Sorry for being AWOL. We lived through the Disney trip. The end on the world did not come and hurricane Alberto did not get us.
We had a great time!
Here is a link to some more pictures...
http://flickr.com/photos/seansco/sets/72157594173973953/show/
Happy belated Memorial Day. Here are some pictures from our long weekend from the Lake of the Osarks.
We did a lot of boating, swiming, and fishing. My son caught the only fish. Down below is a picture.
Don't tell Kelly I posted this picture of her on the intertube!
Here is a picture of me and the kids before we lost Maddie...
For all us Illinoisans...
“The central event of the novel is the murder of a Louvre curator, found in the pose of Leonardo’s celebrated “Vitruvian man”—a figure inscribed in both a circle and a square—which sets in motion an ingenious plot involving numerological symbolism, verbal puzzles and an alternative version of Christianity, wrapped around the legend of the Holy Grail. Brown posits that Leonardo is at the center of a secret society that has maintained a secret from biblical times, namely that Mary Magdalene, far from being a prostitute, was the rightful wife of Jesus; Mary and Jesus had a child and heirs; and finally, the heirs, whose existence threatened church dogma, were protected by a clandestine priory that counted Leonardo among its members. The novel also contends that the Holy Grail, contrary to most ideas that it was the chalice Jesus used as He introduced the ordinance of communion, was actually the pregnant Mary Magdalene, the lost vessel of Jesus’ blood. Thus, the figure sitting on Jesus’ right in Leonardo’s “Last Supper,” generally taken to be the effeminate apostle John, was actually Mary Magdalene. Since there is no object on the table that could be a grail or chalice, Brown contends that Mary symbolizes the actual grail, which is a metaphor for the sacred feminine and a form of goddess worship suppressed by Christianity.”
I saw it happen on his face...
I saw it happen. I was sitting beside the guy and I saw on his face when it happened...
It was ‘eureka’ moment for him...
On Thursday nights we have been going over to a friend’s bible study. Last Thursday there was a new family there that they had invited. As we walked through Mark chapter 2 it became apparent that the night was not about Mark chapter 2. It was about this man that the Lord had brought here so that someone could explain to him the Gospel.
I saw it happen on his face, the moment he realized the full implications (if anyone really could) of Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
It was truly a glorious moment. I wished I could hear the angels rejoicing in Heaven at that moment.
That is what all this life is about. That is why we are still here on this earth. To reach into the gates of Hell and pull out sinners destined for eternal damnation. All else is just hay, wood, and stubble…
Good job to my friend for being bold and inviting a perfect stranger to his Bible study.
Thank you Lord for loving us even when we didn’t want anything to do with You.
For everyone else, there's Mastercard...
Read that slogan again. It says a lot. A whole lot. Those five words strip away a lot of fluff. They speak to the heart of a debt-reliant culture. How reliant? Wrap your brain around these figures:
http://www.mdmproofing.com/iym/brokethink.shtml
This is a real good article. It is kind of off the regular topic here but then again not really. The lust of the eyes and the pride of life are certainly a contributor to this. Anyway this is a good website if you are looking at getting a handle on the finances...
Serious about really getting your finances in shape? Ready to begin relying on a financial plan, rather than blind luck or a momentary whim? Are you dedicated to dumping all debt?If so, then put your mental body armor on, because you're about to be an outcast.
Someting I found... | Eomer If I were a character in The Lord of the Rings, I would be Eomer, Man of Rohan, heir to the throne, nephew of Theoden and brother of Eowyn. In the movie, I am played by Karl Urban. Who would you be? |
"Practice without Theory is blind, Theory without practice is sterile"
-- Karl Marx
A frozen patch floating on the surface of the small lake would have been difficult to distinguish from the unfrozen water surrounding it. The unfrozen water was comprised of the plumes resulting from salty springs situated along the lake's western shore in Tabgha -- an area where many archeological findings related to Jesus have been documented.
Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God. - Matthew 14:33
from below: “We never thought a man could be a soldier & a Christian”
The Prayer at Valley Forge
"I was riding with Mr. Potts near to the Valley Forge where the army lay during the war of ye Revolution, when Mr. Potts said, 'Do you see that woods & that plain? There laid the army of Washington. It was a most distressing time of ye war, and all were for giving up the Ship but that great and good man. In that woods (pointing to a close in view) I heard a plaintive sound as of a man at prayer. I tied my horse to a sapling & went quietly into the woods. To my astonishment I saw the great George Washington on his knees alone, with his sword on one side and his cocked hat on the other. He was at Prayer to the God of the Armies, beseeching to interpose with his Divine aid, as it was ye Crisis & the cause of the country, of humanity & of the world. Such a prayer I never heard from the lips of man. I left him alone praying. I went home & told my wife. We never thought a man could be a soldier & a Christian, but if there is one in the world, it is Washington. We thought it was the cause of God & America could prevail."
- Source: Eyewitness testimony of Isaac Potts, a Valley Forge resident who shared the following story with the Rev. Nathaniel Randolph Snowden (1770-1851), who then recorded it in his "Diary and Remembrances."
And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
(Deuteronomy 28:1-2 KJV)
(1) So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until we had crossed over, that their heart melted; and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel. {Joshua 5:1 NKJV}
(2) At that time the LORD said to Joshua, "Make flint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time."
(3) So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. {Joshua 5:2-3 NKJV}
(8) So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed.
(9) Then the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day. {Joshua 5:8-9 NKJV}
(13) And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, "Are You for us or for our adversaries?"
(14) So He said, "No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, "What does my Lord say to His servant?"
(15) Then the Commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, "Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy." And Joshua did so. {Joshua 5:13-15 NKJV}
March 30
Humble Service
You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.
--2 Timothy 2:3-4
Save me from the error of judging a church by its size, its popularity or the amount of its yearly offering. Help me to remember that I am a prophet--not a promoter, not a religious manager, but a prophet. Let me never become a slave to crowds. Heal my soul of carnal ambitions and deliver me from the itch for publicity. Save me from bondage to things. Let me not waste my days puttering around the house. Lay Thy terror upon me, O God, and drive me to the place of prayer where I may wrestle with principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world. Deliver me from overeating and late sleeping. Teach me self-discipline that I may be a good soldier of Jesus Christ....
And now, O Lord of heaven and earth, I consecrate my remaining days to Thee; let them be many or few, as Thou wilt. Let me stand before the great or minister to the poor and lowly; that choice is not mine, and I would not influence it if I could. I am Thy servant to do Thy will, and that will is sweeter to me than position or riches or fame and I choose it above all things on earth or in heaven.
God Tells the Man Who Cares, 105-106.
"Lord, this prayer of Tozer's seems so contrary to the spirit of today's church growth emphasis, celebrity pastors, and TV personalities. Enable me by your Holy Spirit to make this prayer genuinely mine. Amen."
Rhyme of the Modern Day Parishioner
This is a poem that Dr. Michael Brown read aloud at the end of a sermon during the Brownsville revival.
Listen Now RA -- download MP3
March 22
Pastoral Ministry: We Languish for Men
Then Paul answered, "What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."
--Acts 21:13
The Church at this moment needs men, the right kind of men,
bold men....
We languish for men who feel themselves expendable in the warfare of the soul, who cannot be frightened by threats of death because they have already died to the allurements of this world. Such men will be free from the compulsions that control weaker men. They will not be forced to do things by the squeeze of circumstances; their only compulsion will come from within--or from above.
This kind of freedom is necessary if we are to have prophets in our pulpits again instead of mascots. These free men will serve God and mankind from motives too high to be understood by the rank and file of religious retainers who today shuttle in and out of the sanctuary. They will make no decisions out of fear, take no course out of a desire to please, accept no service for financial considerations, perform no religious act out of mere custom; nor will they allow themselves to be influenced by the love of publicity or the desire for reputation. Of God and Men, 11-13.
"Lord, what would it take for me to be that kind of man? Do in me whatever work You need to do today, that I might die to the allurements of the world and serve You with high motives. Amen."
A Battle to fight. An Adventure to live. A Beauty to rescue. This is what a man longs for. This is what makes him come alive. Look at the films men love. For that matter, look at the dreams of little boys, the games they play. There is something fierce, passionate, and wild in the heart of every man. That is how he bears the image of God. And the reason that most men "live lives of quiet
desperation" (Thoreau) is because men have been told that the reason God put them on earth is to be a good boy. To be nice.
God designed men to be dangerous. Simply look at the dreams and desires written in the heart of every boy: To be a hero, to be a warrior, to live a life of adventure and risk. Sadly, most men abandon those dreams and desires— aided by a Christianity that feels like nothing more than pressure to be a nice guy. It is no wonder that
many men avoid church, and those who go are often passive and bored to death.
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. - Matt 10:34
“The spirit of a soldier, the guts of a gladiator and the attitude of an athlete" are the elements of Christians "fighting the good fight.” That attitude is expressed by Reverend Herb Lusk, a former NFL player who now pastors a church in urban Philadelphia. A stirring message for all of us!
March 14
Pastoral Ministry: Sheep Are Led
Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For he is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.
--Psalm 95:6-7
Cattle are driven; sheep are led; and our Lord compares His people to sheep, not to cattle.
It is especially important that Christian ministers know the law of the leader--that he can lead others only as far as he himself has gone....
The minister must experience what he would teach or he will find himself in the impossible position of trying to drive sheep. For this reason he should seek to cultivate his own heart before he attempts to preach to the hearts of others....
If he tries to bring them into a heart knowledge of truth which he has not actually experienced he will surely fail. In his frustration he may attempt to drive them; and scarcely anything is so disheartening as the sight of a vexed and confused shepherd using the lash on his bewildered flock in a vain attempt to persuade them to go on beyond the point to which he himself has attained....
The law of the leader tells us who are preachers that it is better to cultivate our souls than our voices. It is better to polish our hearts than our pulpit manners, though if the first has been done well and successfully it may be profitable for us to do the second. We cannot take our people beyond where we ourselves have been, and it thus becomes vitally important that we be men of God in the last and highest sense of that term. The Price of Neglect, 151-153.
"Lord, today let me stop, step off the busy treadmill, and look to the condition of my soul. Help me to listen to You and be spiritually nurtured, to have my soul cultivated by You in silence and solitude. Amen."
The Grove in Peoria, Illinois, America’s first church to publicly and unashamedly target men, is growing. According the pastor, “Coach D,” average attendance has nearly doubled since the grand opening in September. Giving is up, and the church may soon acquire an abandoned nightclub as its new home. Coach D is investing weekly in a small group of men, and he reports that these guys are growing in faith as never before.
Most people assume that men are just less religious than women, but this is untrue. Other religions have little trouble attracting males. Jesus was a magnet to men. But today, few men are living for Christ, even as many are dying for Allah. Why do rival faiths inspire male allegiance, while ours breeds male indifference?
A business guru once said, “Your system is perfectly designed to give you the results you’re getting.” Christianity’s primary delivery system, the local church, is perfectly designed to reach women and older folks. That’s why our pews are filled with them. But this church system fails to stir men’s hearts, so men (especially masculine ones) stay away.
Iran threatens reprisals if punished in nuclear row
What does everyone think about this issue?
Should we draw a 'line in the sand' with Iran about this nuclear issue risking high oil prices and more war?
Is doing nothing just going to cause more serious problems down the road?
Should Iran have the right to refine nuclear material if the want?
One: Don't miss the boat.
Two: Remember that we are all in the same boat.
Three: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
Four: Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
Five: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
Six: Build your future on high ground.
Seven: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
Eight: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
Nine: When you're stressed, float a while.
Ten: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
Eleven: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting.
Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
-- George Santayana
by Peggy Noonan. It is turning out to be a pretty good book. The people of Poland, he suggested, had been chosen for a great role, to understand, humbly but surely, that they were the repository of a special "witness of His cross and His resurrection." He asked then if the people of Poland accepted the obligations of such a role in history.
The crowd responded with thunder.
"We want God!" they shouted, together. "We want God!"
What a moment in modern history: We want God. From the mouths of modern men and women living in a modern atheistic dictatorship.
The pope was speaking on the Vigil of Pentecost, that moment in the New Testament when the Holy Spirit came down to Christ's apostles, who had been hiding in fear after his crucifixion, filling them with courage and joy. John Paul picked up this theme. What was the greatest of the works of God? Man. Who redeemed man? Christ. Therefore, he declared, "Christ cannot be kept out of the history of man in any part of the globe, at any longitude or latitude. . . . The exclusion of Christ from the history of man is an act against man! Without Christ it is impossible to understand the history of Poland." Those who oppose Christ, he said, still live within the Christian context of history.
Christ, the pope declared, was not only the past of Poland--he was "the future . . . our Polish future."
The massed crowd thundered its response. "We want God!" it roared.
Sex, of course, can mean many things, but the etymology of this top search term is elusive. The word sex first appeared in English in the 14th century, adopted from Old French sexe, in turn from Latin sexus, a derivative of the verb secare 'to cut'. The relation of sex to cut is that the human race is "cut" or separated into two genders.
This Sunday, over 400 congregations in 49 states in the USA will participate in what could be called a “Darwin praise service.” They will be celebrating (yes, that’s the word that could be used for many of the churches) the 197th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. It’s called “Evolution Sunday.”
Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: "There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. "The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. "But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. "And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him." So David's anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! "And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity." Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 'I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! 'Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight?…
(2 Samuel 12:1-9)
So David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." ...
(2 Samuel 12:13)
I have recently listened to this audio book. This is an AWSOME audio book. If you have not listened (you must listen, not just read this book) to this you are missing something in your Christian life. These speeches chronicle how one man, with his authority the God of the Bible, spoke out against the injustice of racial prejudice and discrimination and call them what they are, social immoralities. This is a soul-stirring journey through those days via the speeches. Each speech also starts with a commentary by people who were there when the speeches were given. This book should be call to action for Christians today to speak out on the immoralities of today. |  |
Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.
