In My Garden,
The other day while working in the yard we were covering our newly planted vegetable garden with paper and then grass clippings to keep the weeds down. Some of the grass was dry and easy to work with but some of it was decomposed and pretty slimy. While working with it I started thinking that this slimy stinky stuff is a lot like our world. The whole of creation is in a state of decay in one way or another. Everything we see or use is dying or using decayed matter to grow, for a while, and then to become the decay itself. The whole cycle relies on decay and rot. The circle of Life in this earth is based on death.
While I was thinking of the scripture Isaiah 64:6 "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all of our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."
Ever since the Garden of Eden the world has been in entropy. Death has been the underlying theme of human existence. We, through Adam and Eve chose death and decay over everlasting life in the immediate presence of God. Ever since and possibly before that point God had a plan to redeem us.
Throughout human history it is estimated by http://www.prb.org/ that 106,456,387,669 people have been born in "human history" though that is admittedly a guesstimate. Of thta 106 trillion people, only 1 was born who was holy. Not born of decay and rot but the First Born of God. Only He was capable and thankfully willing to die to take away our sins.
How totally awesome is our God. He is not like us. He is holiness defined. His nostrils must burn at the stench of our very existence in this world of life through death. I imagine the Prodigal father did not like the way his son smelled when he returned to him smelling of the pigs. And yet he put his cloak and signet ring on that son who had turned away from him and accepted him back into the family. Restored and whole as though it never happened.... wait, that's not true. Restored as though it did happen and all had been forgiven. Maybe that is what bothered the other son so much. He never tested his father, never went against him to find out just how forgiving he could be. I am not advocating rebellion. I am saying that since we have fallen we can know first hand the overwhelming grace and unquenchable love of the Father.
All I can say in closing is thank You Father. Amen
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
A Few Thoughtful Vignettes
If you can't see love until it kicks you in the head you will find that you may be forcing love to kick you in the head. Wake up and look for love. It often looks suspiciously like the thing you feared the most. The chastisement you know you deserve but dread more than you can put in words. The person you think is kicking you in the head for the joy of it. It takes many forms but only one purpose; Bringing you back into the arms of love.
We have abbreviated our lives into neat little bites. We are proud of our ability to multi-task and yet we are losing our ability to focus on one aspect of anything for more than a few minute...
Sports are a great metaphor for life......
Uhmmmm. Oh! Where was I? Oh yeah. We are losing our ability to stay focused on any one thing for more than a few minutes. We have assigned our deep thoughts to those who are deep thinkers. We have put off philosophy as a College credit and not an overarching method of living and understanding life. If you attempt, in polite conversation, to put more than one concept on the table, you will clear the table. You are labelled as a "Brainiac" or some kind of head case. We should be able to think through several concepts and link them together into an intelligent thought. If you want to do that you should be in college or something.
Maybe it's because we are embarassed for ourselves in the presence of intellligence. Maybe we just don't think we have time for it. I am seeing it more and more in our teens. They think in short bursts the length of a text message. Just like a sound bite on the news. No context, just sayin' and then on the the next snippet. I believe we are losing the ability to engage our brains. I know I am. That's part fo the reason for writing this blog. To show you that I have lost my ability to think.... No, wait, that's not what I'm doing. I am writing to keep myself thinking.
That's all for now. I have lost interest in this.....
We have abbreviated our lives into neat little bites. We are proud of our ability to multi-task and yet we are losing our ability to focus on one aspect of anything for more than a few minute...
Sports are a great metaphor for life......
Uhmmmm. Oh! Where was I? Oh yeah. We are losing our ability to stay focused on any one thing for more than a few minutes. We have assigned our deep thoughts to those who are deep thinkers. We have put off philosophy as a College credit and not an overarching method of living and understanding life. If you attempt, in polite conversation, to put more than one concept on the table, you will clear the table. You are labelled as a "Brainiac" or some kind of head case. We should be able to think through several concepts and link them together into an intelligent thought. If you want to do that you should be in college or something.
Maybe it's because we are embarassed for ourselves in the presence of intellligence. Maybe we just don't think we have time for it. I am seeing it more and more in our teens. They think in short bursts the length of a text message. Just like a sound bite on the news. No context, just sayin' and then on the the next snippet. I believe we are losing the ability to engage our brains. I know I am. That's part fo the reason for writing this blog. To show you that I have lost my ability to think.... No, wait, that's not what I'm doing. I am writing to keep myself thinking.
That's all for now. I have lost interest in this.....
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Faith Based In Fact
Just got back from an all night moving pizza and activities party. Bowling, swimming, Hockey Game and Ice Skating. None of those in the same place. The event was sponsored by Word Of Life Ministries.
We took the usual youth group, most of the kids are already saved but we usually get one or two who are not. Well there was a new kid and he was one of the "nots" The evening starts with about a thousand kids at a farm team hockey game where we all cheer for the fights and ignore the game. That's followed by prizes being thrown to the kids and then an evangelist. It's a bit odd to have the evangelist on ice at the arena where we were just yelling for the fights to continue. I guess it's kind of like the Roman coliseum. That's scary...
Tonight the evangelist took the aspect of salvation related to your eternal home, heaven or hell. It was a good basic message based on the wages of my sin being death and that being paid for by God through Christ. He gave an alter call and then a few more, a little bit of a hard sell on getting out of your seat. It was not overdone, some kids just need time and encouragement to quit worrying about what everyone else thinks and just go do it. Well "New Kid" ,here to fore know as NK, didn't get up and go do it, and that's perfectly fine.
I was listening to him in the car on the way to the event and I knew he was a thinker and was interested in world events. He seemed like a pretty good kid. On the ride to the next venue the saved kid who brought him asked him about the altar call. He has already let on that he was nervous about the whole thing and felt like he was the only one in the arena who didn't believe in God. Well because of the subject of the speaker's message the conversation was about getting to heaven. NK didn't see much value in getting oneself to heaven, he kept saying, "I just want to help people and that should be good enough." I was driving and my mind was racing through all the things I'd like to engage him on. I didn't want to team up on him though and was praying for time later to speak to him. As it turned out, I didn't have to team up on him, the other kids took care of that. I finally had to step in just before we got to our stop and let the pressure off. NK, you don't have to make a decision tonight. It's ok. You are a thinker and you don't see the logic in this act of placing faith in an unseen God. I can tell you that if you really follow the logic you will be left with only one true conclusion. There is one God who is Loving ,Compassionate and Just and has taken it upon Himself to do something about our sin problem. The fact is that He is the only one who could do something about it. All other beliefs have a god who is either angry at us or disinterested and must be made aware of our plight and appeased if he is to become involved.
This the the result of the human condition of sin, we know we have sinned and fallen short of perfection and yet we have an inner desire to be "perfect" Try explaining that Mr. Darwin. the bible explains it that God has put His law in each of our hearts. No human has ever conceived on his own of a God who is actively and personally engaged in the daily lives of His creation. Who would even think of that? That's why no other religion has that God. Judeo Christianity is unique because it is God breathed, not man condeived.
I later explained to NK why we teamed up on him:
The most exciting and fulfilling thing for a Christian is to see someone else come to the understanding that we have and know the peace we know. That is why we do what we do and what these type of events are all about.
Andy A.K.A Any D. Yo Yo Yo!!!
We took the usual youth group, most of the kids are already saved but we usually get one or two who are not. Well there was a new kid and he was one of the "nots" The evening starts with about a thousand kids at a farm team hockey game where we all cheer for the fights and ignore the game. That's followed by prizes being thrown to the kids and then an evangelist. It's a bit odd to have the evangelist on ice at the arena where we were just yelling for the fights to continue. I guess it's kind of like the Roman coliseum. That's scary...
Tonight the evangelist took the aspect of salvation related to your eternal home, heaven or hell. It was a good basic message based on the wages of my sin being death and that being paid for by God through Christ. He gave an alter call and then a few more, a little bit of a hard sell on getting out of your seat. It was not overdone, some kids just need time and encouragement to quit worrying about what everyone else thinks and just go do it. Well "New Kid" ,here to fore know as NK, didn't get up and go do it, and that's perfectly fine.
I was listening to him in the car on the way to the event and I knew he was a thinker and was interested in world events. He seemed like a pretty good kid. On the ride to the next venue the saved kid who brought him asked him about the altar call. He has already let on that he was nervous about the whole thing and felt like he was the only one in the arena who didn't believe in God. Well because of the subject of the speaker's message the conversation was about getting to heaven. NK didn't see much value in getting oneself to heaven, he kept saying, "I just want to help people and that should be good enough." I was driving and my mind was racing through all the things I'd like to engage him on. I didn't want to team up on him though and was praying for time later to speak to him. As it turned out, I didn't have to team up on him, the other kids took care of that. I finally had to step in just before we got to our stop and let the pressure off. NK, you don't have to make a decision tonight. It's ok. You are a thinker and you don't see the logic in this act of placing faith in an unseen God. I can tell you that if you really follow the logic you will be left with only one true conclusion. There is one God who is Loving ,Compassionate and Just and has taken it upon Himself to do something about our sin problem. The fact is that He is the only one who could do something about it. All other beliefs have a god who is either angry at us or disinterested and must be made aware of our plight and appeased if he is to become involved.
This the the result of the human condition of sin, we know we have sinned and fallen short of perfection and yet we have an inner desire to be "perfect" Try explaining that Mr. Darwin. the bible explains it that God has put His law in each of our hearts. No human has ever conceived on his own of a God who is actively and personally engaged in the daily lives of His creation. Who would even think of that? That's why no other religion has that God. Judeo Christianity is unique because it is God breathed, not man condeived.
I later explained to NK why we teamed up on him:
The most exciting and fulfilling thing for a Christian is to see someone else come to the understanding that we have and know the peace we know. That is why we do what we do and what these type of events are all about.
Andy A.K.A Any D. Yo Yo Yo!!!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
What You Think, Aint Always What Is
I have noticed a trend among our youth that bothers me.
Whenever they encounter something they dislike or like strongly they don't say I like that or I dislike that. It is most often stated as "They stink." or "That is the worst music I have ever heard." It's not so bad when it is stated in the positive but the problem still exists.
Here's what I mean.
The statement is made as though they are the arbiter of what is good or evil. As though what they have said is true in spite of what can be proved objectively. My son has said that a particular band is the "Worst band ever!" and he wasn' t talking about Meat Loaf. I pointed out to him that this particular band is a very popular group and makes a lot of money doing what they do. I don't think he understood my point, which is precisely the problem.
Our culture is losing the ability to discern their enviroment from a point of view outside their own experience. Most adults 35 plus grew up in a culture where we understood that there is a wide world beyond our sphere of influence. Furthermore there is a Supreme and Holy God who is apart from our universe because He created it. Though He is intimately involved in our daily existence. When we have this broader understanding of the universe at large we understand the limitations of our influence over it.
This has two primary effects:
1. We realize more readily our need for God because it is after all HIS universe, we are just using it for a while.
2. We more readily understand the limits of our opinions. The universe is just too big for our opinion to matter that much. It is pretty much just for us and our immediate surroundings.
The new generation is in a paradox. They live in a world which is shrinking because of the ease of communications across the planet. They assume that since they can communicate with the whole globe that the globe somehow cares what they have to say. Therefore they state their opinions in the public forum and believe they are being understood and accepted by millions.
It seems at first that this makes their understanding broader than the old generation because it is global. Notice however that I made the point that the Older Generation has a Universal point of view. The new generation has only a global point of view. Universes are much larger than globes. The Global point of view doesn't necessarily include God. Since, after all, their opinions have global impact, who needs God anyhow? They have fame and thousands of "friends" everyone hangs on my every word, don't they?
Don't think for a second that the irony of my writing my opinions out in this blog has escaped me. I know that I am only writing to 3 to 5 people. I am here for my own peace of mind. Read my earliest blogs to see what my purpose is.
I have pointed out a problem but I don't have a solution. I will continue to try to explain my point of view to my own kids while I still can. I hope they understand. I guess it's just something to keep in mind when dealing with the Younger Generations.
Andy
Whenever they encounter something they dislike or like strongly they don't say I like that or I dislike that. It is most often stated as "They stink." or "That is the worst music I have ever heard." It's not so bad when it is stated in the positive but the problem still exists.
Here's what I mean.
The statement is made as though they are the arbiter of what is good or evil. As though what they have said is true in spite of what can be proved objectively. My son has said that a particular band is the "Worst band ever!" and he wasn' t talking about Meat Loaf. I pointed out to him that this particular band is a very popular group and makes a lot of money doing what they do. I don't think he understood my point, which is precisely the problem.
Our culture is losing the ability to discern their enviroment from a point of view outside their own experience. Most adults 35 plus grew up in a culture where we understood that there is a wide world beyond our sphere of influence. Furthermore there is a Supreme and Holy God who is apart from our universe because He created it. Though He is intimately involved in our daily existence. When we have this broader understanding of the universe at large we understand the limitations of our influence over it.
This has two primary effects:
1. We realize more readily our need for God because it is after all HIS universe, we are just using it for a while.
2. We more readily understand the limits of our opinions. The universe is just too big for our opinion to matter that much. It is pretty much just for us and our immediate surroundings.
The new generation is in a paradox. They live in a world which is shrinking because of the ease of communications across the planet. They assume that since they can communicate with the whole globe that the globe somehow cares what they have to say. Therefore they state their opinions in the public forum and believe they are being understood and accepted by millions.
It seems at first that this makes their understanding broader than the old generation because it is global. Notice however that I made the point that the Older Generation has a Universal point of view. The new generation has only a global point of view. Universes are much larger than globes. The Global point of view doesn't necessarily include God. Since, after all, their opinions have global impact, who needs God anyhow? They have fame and thousands of "friends" everyone hangs on my every word, don't they?
Don't think for a second that the irony of my writing my opinions out in this blog has escaped me. I know that I am only writing to 3 to 5 people. I am here for my own peace of mind. Read my earliest blogs to see what my purpose is.
I have pointed out a problem but I don't have a solution. I will continue to try to explain my point of view to my own kids while I still can. I hope they understand. I guess it's just something to keep in mind when dealing with the Younger Generations.
Andy
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