Musings

10:33am

Got up at 6:00am this beautiful Saturday morning. Read a bit out of 1 Chronicles, did some praying, roasted some green coffee bean, made some coffee, started some laundry, put on some steel-cut oats, got Kathy up, ate the oats (with almonds, raisins, cinnamon, brown sugar, and a bit of half 'n' half), went for a jog (until mother-nature called), came home and fixed a leak on Caleb's toilet, took a shower, brewed up some fresh Sumatran decaf, read a bit of Dave Black online, and finally sat down here to write something. Kathy, by-the-way, is cooking up some bacon, biscuits, eggs, and gravy for "second breakfasts" (Bilbo would certainly approve)!

While we jogged, we talked about what we are going to discuss tomorrow in our service: How to hone our focus on the Kingdom of God. If it's sin, we need to get it out of our lives. If it is part of the world system and we are obsessing on it, we need to get it out of our lives. If it is okay but hinders our following the Lord, we need to get it out of our lives (some things are legal but not profitable).

We want our Body of Christ to be a light on a hill, to be salt to the world, to shine in the darkness.

Gold and Silver: An Admonition (to myself)

I have "Our Daily Bread" as my homepage so that I can do their 'Bible In One Year' program. This morning, for the NT portion, the Scripture reading was Luke 12. Luke 12:13-21 caught my attention:

Luk 12:13 And one of the company said to him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
Luk 12:14 And he said to him, Man, who made me a judge, or a divider over you?
Luk 12:15 And he said to them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
Luk 12:16 And he spoke a parable to them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
Luk 12:17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to deposit my fruits?
Luk 12:18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I deposit all my fruits and my goods.
Luk 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast abundance of goods laid up for many years; take thy ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
Luk 12:20 But God said to him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?
Luk 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God.

The reason it caught my attention is because I have been reading a book titled, Guide to Investing in Gold and Silver, by Michael Maloney. I am interested in investing in gold and silver (Without the means to do so in a significant way!) and have found the book an excellent primer on the precious metals market. I also am in the midst of teaching an Investment Analysis course and thought to implement some of the material this semester.

It's clear to me that I can sometimes do the right thing for wrong reasons. It's certainly not wrong to plan or prepare for the future. God wants us to provide for and take care of our families, our brothers/sisters in Christ, and others less fortunate that we come in contact with. But, I want to be careful not to allow my possessions to take hold of me:

Deu 8:18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to thy fathers, as it is this day.
Deu 8:19 And it shall be, if thou shalt at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. Thank you Lord for this admonition to me!

Amazing!

This morning (at church) I am going to talk about the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am going to begin the teaching by showing a picture of and talking about our compost pile. What a simple thing--put some organic material in a pile, add water, and it will eventually turn back into "dirt."

We put a variety of items in our compost pile: Leaves, grass, weeds, plants, kitchen waste, coffee grounds and filters, egg shells, etc. All of these things eventually turn into "dirt" which we then place back upon the garden. This dirt, of course, is full of biological life (redundant, eh?). Again, I want to reiterate that the turning of organic material into dirt is quite easy--throw the stuff in , mix it a bit if you want to, add some water, wait a bit, and "bingo"-->you have dirt (humus).

Easy, easy, easy--we've done this for years.

I am truly amazed at the technological progress that we have had in my lifetime. My first PC didn't have any storage at all--it all went on the floppy disk. In 1987 I purchased my first hard-drive, 20MB for $200! This was the penultimate purchase...it couldn't get much better than this! This morning I am going to carry a 2 GB flash drive in my pocket that I purchased for $9.00 sometime last year. It has 100 times the storage capacity of my first hard drive at about 1/22nd of the cost. I have seen 64 GB flash drives at the store. I am not being sarcastic (though I could be), I really am impressed with our gains in computer technology.

Back to the compost pile...

With all of our gains in technology, if you asked a group of top scientists to turn back the process in my compost pile and turn a little, itty, tiny bit of it back into one original leaf they would say, "Preposterous, impossible, inconceivable, unprecedented, etc!!!!!" Can't be done! We can send a man to the moon (or can we?) but we can't re-create one leaf that has been through the composting experience.

How then can we say that we understand the concept of the resurrection?

The people in Christ' day were much closer to the earth than we are. They saw the "circle of life" process on a daily basis in their lives...death, change, life. Jesus told them that He had to die and be born again. He showed them that it was possible by resurrecting Lazarus from the dead (Lazarus had been "composting" for four days). Still, they truly had no concept of bodily resurrection, whereby something dead was fully reanimated. Dead "stuff" turned into dirt, was mixed back into the soil, and was used to begin the process of life again. How could it be reanimated back to the same thing that it was before? When they saw the empty tomb, they ALL thought that the Romans had just moved His body.

Ok, ok, ok...the point is this: We can't reanimate one simple leaf that has been turned back into dirt. Let's don't think that we really understand this resurrection thing. We really are just familiar with the conoept. When you meditate on the resurrection of Jesus it eventually should make your head swim--the God who raised Jesus from the dead can take/find all of the molecules that make up your body and put them back together again--no matter how far they are scattered across the universe. Perhaps a Christian Dr. McCoy wouldn't have feared having his atoms scattered across the universe via a transporter (original Star Trek analogy)?

Coffee Anyone?

Full City Roast (Just after the Second Crack)












My wife and I like good coffee. Not vending machine coffee and not coffee that looks like ice tea. This post is not for you if you think that instant coffee is a real drink or that brewing coffee out a can is where it's at.

I looked at some alternative prices for real coffee (Hint: It doesn't come in a can!). Below is what I discovered:

1). Coffee at our local coffee shop: $18.00 per pound
2). Starbucks coffee (whole bean at Walmart): 10.60 per pound
3). Green beans for roasting at Dean's Beans (online): 5.73 per pound

Admittedly, you would have to purchase 15 lbs. of green beans to get this average price per pound. This DOES include the shipping cost per pound. B-T-W, green beans will store for a year without going bad.

OK, so you have to have a way to roast the beans. Roasting your own beans, of course, is both quite easy and enables you to 'cook' them to your specification. We have had an inexpensive home roaster for over five years. Also, you can easily roast green coffee beans in a hot air popcorn popper. We did that for everal years before buying the roaster.

The smell of fresh roasting coffee beans is an olfactory delight. The smell of Organic Green Nicaraguan Coffee roasting can really make your mouth water. I prefer the dark end of a full-city roast, myself.

Oops, I got ahead of myself!

The point is, if you like real coffee, it is much more economical to purchase green coffee beans and do the roasting yourself. You can roast it to your own specifications and save considerably. This would be the value-added side of production: Taking a product/service and adding something to it to improve its value. I.e., roasting your own coffee instead of paying someone else to do it for you. It's quite pleasurable and saves you about 45% of the cost of buying pre-roasted Starbucks coffee (which is quite good, b-t-w!).

Look for me out in my front yard over the Easter break drinking a fresh cup of coffee...I'll put on a pot for all of us (Chemex, of course! :)).

SIFE Regional Competition

Well, we're off this morning for our SIFE regional competition up in downtown Dallas. SIFE stands for Students in Free Enterprise. Our mission is to take the message of free enterprise to our school, our community, and to the globe. We really do try and take a Christian slant on free enterprise.

The competition is about presenting the various projects that the teams did over this past year. Broad categories include market economics, personal finance, sustainability, ethics, etc.

Our SIFE team did over ten different projects this year and will be presenting them to a group of 16-24 judges. We will be competing against 6-7 other teams in our tier. There will be over 60 colleges representing a six-state region.

Free enterprise will fail, men will fail, but the Word of our Lord will remain forever.
Amen

Goodbye Tomatoes and Peppers

When I take the trash out this morning, I'm going to say goodbye to my tomatoes and peppers. It was 28 degrees out this morning--a bit too cold for them. Another year, another lesson not learned.

One lesson that I hope we learn from the teaching this morning is this: People are dying and going to hell. There is an absolute distinction between those who walk in the light and those who walk in the darkness. The final antithesis will come when Jesus separates the sheep from the goats...there will be no more chances to change your mind. Our agenda needs to be that of presenting the gospel to the lost. May the Lord be glorified in this!

Today's Salad

Today is March 28th, 2009. (Which, coincidentally is my mother's birthday. She passed away about 22 years ago at the age of 51. I am now 53 years old myself. )

This is the first real harvest of the Spring. We have eaten a few green onions, but today we will have a full salad from our small home garden. Out of view are some mint sprigs boiling in (filtered) water for ice tea. I am pretty much always thankful to the Lord for His provision; but, am generally more emotional about it when it comes directly from our garden. "Thank you Lord of the harvest for this beginning meal, through which we remember your ever-constant provision for us...Amen."

A Few Spring Pictures

1. Onions, garlic, spinach, broccoli, and day lilies are going strong.
2. The lettuce is ready for us to start picking and eating.
3. If you enlarge the picture of our main sidewalk, you will see a fire-ant bed that began a few days ago.
4. This is a picture of our Lady Banks Rose. It will be in full bloom for about two weeks. We have to trim about 3-4 feet off of it every year so that we can get through the gate. It harbors a variety of birds year round.

Let God be God

I believe that God will turn the "bad things" that happen to Christians to good in His Kingdom. I believe that He is omnipotent and good. I believe that He "allows" bad things to happen in the world. I believe that he is able to bring glory to Himself through all of this. I believe this through faith.

I am going to start teaching at our local body next Sunday. This is the first topic that I am going to deal with...by faith. I, however, was almost overwhelmed at one point last week by the pain and suffering revealed to me:

1. The brother of one of my students was suddenly diagnosed with Stage 4 (very bad) cancer
2. One of my student's wife kicked him out and is selling her body for drug money (there is a 1-year old baby involved)
3. One of my students told me that she has been fainting sporadically for a few weeks and that the doctor wants to do an MRI on her brain (last Friday)
4. Another student emailed he that he could not make it to class because he was having a biopsy done the next day (last Friday)
5. Someone else just (during Spring Break) had her inner ear operated on to "fix" her ear-bones (she is a wonderful singer)...she is doing well, b-t-w
6. Another had his best friend killed in a motorcycle crash last month
7. One of our AWANA students has gone from being a blessing to a curse...we love her

Scripture says that the Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We are generally only able to see that one step ahead...we don't have the Big Picture. I feel that I usually don't even have the little picture! Praise the Lord that we have Someone who has both the Big and Little Pictures down pat. We don't want to turn into practical deists.

Look, there is pain an suffering...I just hit the tip of the iceberg of what goes on around me all the time. Also, I'm not willing to call bad good.

There is a good answer to all of this; however, we still only see in a mirror dimly.

How then should we live?

I am getting ready to start a series at church. Rick has done a good job teaching us about love and obeying the commandments of Jesus. 1 John is quite a load! Obeying the commandments is somewhat difficult, but not nearly as difficult as the loving your brother part.

Brothers have a tendency to do things that make them unlovable. They tend to say things that are offensive. They tend to argue about things. You get the picture. They also have a tendency to sin.

Wow, we really are a mess. This is not the every body else we, this is the all inclusive we. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.

We need to get it together. The Lord has us gathering together in local bodies for a reason. We need each other. The church is the group that does the work of the Lord. It is the pillar and foundation of truth. It is the group from which the message of good news goes forth into the world.

How then should we live?

I have to make a confession

Ok, ok ok...I know that I shouldn't have done it...but!!!the temptation was way too great. Please don't quote the "No temptation" verse to me-->I have it memorized. Yes, I gave into temptation and planted my tomatoes and peppers today...BUT, I didn't plant any summer squash....Do I still maintain partial righteousness?

I know it's time to plant garlic and onions when the ones I missed last Fall start to grow in late January. My neighbors, on-the-other-hand, know that it's three weeks off to planting tomatoes when I get mine in the ground.

I have been gardening for about 26 years and still get the itch every Spring to get those tomatoes out early. Up in Denver we had these plastic tomato "walls" you could fill with water and place around your plants. It could snow and your tomatoes would survive. Of course, tomatoes won't start growing rapidly until the ground is around a certain temperature.

Found a lot of things in the garden this afternoon-->I found some round squiqly things that looked like worms and burrowed into the earth when I turned the soil over. I think that we should call them earthworms. I found a few (more) grub worms (which are June bug larvae). I also found one "hidden" fire-ant bed, with only one subsequent bite. Also found quite a few pill bugs (sow bugs).

Please remember that real gardeners shouldn't plant their tomatoes and peppers until after Easter (we ALWAYS seem to get an Easter freeze).

New Pet Peeves

Here are a few of my new pet peeves:
1. When you buy a new clothes' dryer, you have to PURCHASE the "right" cord as well
2. When someone besides you picks the length for the cord, it will inevitably be too short
3. Laying on the ground, screwing (or unscrewing) in the new cord, is not one of the "acceptable positions" when you have bi-focal lenses--> you might as well be doing it by feel
4. Wondering how you could misplace a screw right in front of your eyes (see # 3 above, apparently) AND how that screw could be different from the other 20 screws on the dryer
5. When you can immediately find several of the "right" screwdrivers, you should consequently realize that you really won't need them--> you will, however, need another tool that has conveniently disappeared
6. People who swerve into your lane because they are "texting" while driving
7. People who turn left (suddenly) from the center lane
8. People who, though they are in the left turn lane by the library, really want to take the next right, AND expect you to get out of their way when they make a mad dash for it

Hope you had a good morning too!

Be Content With What You Have

I was talking with a friend last night about a past situation at church that is bothering him quite severely. It crowds out the things that he should be thinking or praying about at times (Phil. 4:8). My counsel to him was to look at the good things that are going on in the life of the Body.

• We have reunited in the bond of Christ with a number of believers. Some, of whom, I never thought we would have fellowship in Christ with again
• There is a pervasive atmosphere of love, care, grace, mercy, and freedom flowing throughout the whole Body
• The AWANA ministry is flourishing, with many new children hearing and responding to the good news about Jesus Christ
• Evangelism is happening, with many non-believers hearing the Word of God concerning salvation
• A brother is able to use and sharpen his gifts, including teaching the Word and the gift of administration
  
• "Stuff" is getting done without scolding, nagging, micromanaging, or ADMONITION from the pulpit
• We are able to focus on ministering to our brothers around the world through mission organizations, instead of worrying about building an edifice to our personal glory

We have many responsibilities to accomplish as a Body. One of them is NOT to worry about what God has promised to take care of. We need to strive to bring Him glory in all that we do and let him take care of that which is now outside of our scope.

For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever (Rom 11:36).

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31).

Just wanted to post a few pictures of the work that I did this morning in the garden: Planted a few white onion bulbs, planted some potatoes, planted some lettuce (not pictured), and turned under two of the raised beds.

In the picture to the left, along with a partial of my left shoe, lies a garden de-chlorinator. Chlorine in city-water can kill beneficials in the soil, so I thought I'd try one of these this year. I don't know how I'll measure its benefits because there are so many other variables that affect plant growth.

All you gardeners remeber, Keep your spade fork in the ground! And remember my mantra...I will not plant tomatoes, squash, etc., until after the last frost date...ditto, ditto, ditto... :)

Hindsight

You know, we really don't have hindsight. Yes, we can say, "I would have done thus and such had I the knowledge that I have today!" That, however, does little to fix the current situation.

We were in a situation in which many have now had hindsight. Let me tell you, if I knew then what I know today, I never would have gotten into that mess at all--would have steered clear of it like the plague. You know, though, something else would have cropped up--that seems to be the human condition. What do we do when that "something" else crops up? Do we wait for that new batch of hindsight to brew up? No!

He has show thee, o man, what is good and what the Lord requires of thee: But to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8).

If you find someone who is not doing the above, you don't need hindsight, you need foresight...deal with it, and if you can't, then get out of it.

My measure of hindsight is full of foresight when I see someone still wanting to lord it over others, someone who continues to scheme and whisper behind people's backs (They need prayer so let's talk about them!), someone who can't walk around town without seeing people they have offended...

Hindsight NOT needed...Just proceed with caution.

(Read 3 John for an example of someone to avoid like the plague)

It's Time to Plant Onions

How do I know that it's time to plant onions? Onions from last year are growing. I accidentally turned over some onions while preparing the soil for this year's batch and found extensive roots on last year's onions. Also discovered were a few grub worms (June bug larvae) and some adventurous earthworms.

The garlic that we put in and mulched in the Fall are looking good. Nothing like fresh-squeezed garlic on your food.

Okay, here's a promise...I will not plant tomatoes or squash until after the last frost date on the calendar. I will not plant tomatoes or squash until after the last frost date on the calendar. I will not...

The Truth

A few thoughts about the truth.

We are doing a study, at home, over 2 John and 3 John. In the 27 verses that make up these letters, John uses the word truth 10 times. I thought, "This word truth is important in the writings of John!" Sherlock Holmes would have been impressed, I'm sure (cynicism intended!).

I thought to myself, "But truth is an abstract concept! How do I explain an abstract idea in concrete terms?"

I then turned my a attention to the gospel of John, wondering how Jesus used the word truth. I discovered several things:
1. In John 3:20-21, Jesus contrasts evil with truth. I generally think of good as being in opposition to evil. In the sames verses, He implicitly contrasts darkness with light. Jesus, of course, is the light that comes into the world. The world preferred darkness over light because they desire to do evil rather than obey the truth. The light, therefore, may be seen as the source from which truth emanates as evil originates from darkness.
2. Jesus unabashedly claims to be the truth (See: John 14:5-7). Ah-ha, this is the point whereby the abstract becomes concrete! Jesus is the truth, who has come from the Father. If you know the Son (the Truth) then you will consequently know the Father. He is the fleshing out of the ideal (truth).
3. Jesus, however, is currently not physically present in the world (He does live in our hearts through the Holy Spirit). How can I know that I am following the truth with Him gone to be with the Father. The answer is found in John 17:17-19..."sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" (John 17:17; KJV).

We have to start our understanding of "What is truth?" through an understanding that Jesus is the truth. We then have to understand that He speaks to us today through His Word (and the Holy Spirit, etc.).

If He intends for us to know the truth, be the pillar and ground of the truth, and spread the truth (light) to the world (darkness), would He have left us without a 'manual' of truth? I don't think so.

I was talking with Colin this morning about a statement his teacher made in his Old Testament class--that we could not "prove" the Creation story (don't judge his teacher, he is trying to get his students to think). I agree with this. I could only "prove" the Creation account by being physically present when it occurred. The only other way would be to have a reliable source who was there give an account of the events. Moses, who wrote Genesis, was not there...so, he cannot personally attest to the Creation events. Who was there? The Creator of Creation Himself is the only One who was there.

Whether you believe in Creation or in an impersonal beginning, you have to start with a basic presupposition: There is a God, there is not a God. If you begin with the concept of a God, then you should have no problem with the Creation account. If you begin with, "There is no God", then you certainly can't come to the point of a personal beginning for the universe.

For the Apostle John, this would have been easy to understand. Those who walk in the light believe the Word of God and, therefore, are able to walk in the truth. Those who walk in the darkness prefer their works of darkness and refuse to acknowledge the truth.

Let's hold to the idea of antithesis here: There is a light (truth) and a dark (evil). Those who follow Jesus are able to follow the truth and those who follw the dark cannot know the truth.

"My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:18).

Looking Forward to the Kingdom

I am looking forward to the Kingdom. No more of the junk that we have to put up with right now. I missed one of my good friends (Stan) coming through town today because I was sick. I mean, really sick. I got some bug and was up until 5:30 this morning doing one of those things I won't miss in the Kingdom. I made three trips up to school to introduce classes to students and slept in between each course and solidly after I was finished for the day. Now I have a splitting headache. Not as bad as some people get, but another thing I won't miss in the future.

Heard from friends that we knew in Denver, John and Cheri, the other day. Hadn't really communicated with them in about twelve years. That's another thing that I'm looking forward to--reunion with old friends.

Our small local Body is having a reunion of old members in a couple of Sundays. You know, in the world we will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for Christ has over come the world. We hope to have more people attending than we have current members. It will be a time of dedicating ourselves to healing and service to the Lord. I don't think things will be this "messy" in the Kingdom.

Pray that you too are looking forward to the Kingdom.

I'm Back

Like the Terminator, I knew that I'd eventually be back.

Our small local Church went through a tough time at the end of last summer when we had to discipline one of our brothers. He had exhibited a pattern of attacking and destroying (or getting rid of) anyone whom he thought would hinder his plans. Laughingly, his destructive pattern of behavior was the main roadblock in his vision to running a mega-church.

His pattern included deceiving those around him and using his family as a means to end discussions of his behavior. Eventually, however, even his ardent supporters were attacked and realized the grossness of his sinful behavior. A decade of deceit and lies was uncovered and he was "disciplined" out of the Body, with the caveat that he could return as a member upon true repentance.

Several members left with him (the Body was not large...his behavior continually ran off wonderful Christians). One of them simply stuck his head and the sand and REFUSED to look at any of the supporting documentation for the discipline. Any real godly leader would have taken the time to examine the data and make an informed decision.

Discipline is always difficult, especially when you have to deal with a church leader. It reminded me that Jesus set the example by being a servant-leader. We had quite the opposite...one who wanted everyone to follow him without question.

How has the remaining Body responded to the discipline?

1. All of the women in the Body feel a sense of relief that he is gone. One of his patterns was to attack the man through his wife, using his (supposed) authority as a *church-leader*. Disobey him and you were disobeying the Lord.
2. Some of us have contacted former (disciplined) members to ask corporate and personal forgiveness in an attempt to reconcile with them. We met (out-of-town) with one former member who has not attended a church since his dismissal, about 3 1/2 years ago. He is still dealing with bitterness with the former church-leader and has issues trusting other church leaders.
3. We are in contact with many more former members and are going to corporately meet with a group of them in the near future to reconcile. We desire to have the bond of unity with believers in Jesus.
4. Our AWANA program started strong in the Fall and slowly grew. Many teenagers are coming and hearing the good news that Jesus came to save us from our sin (Thank goodness that we didn't listen to Mr. Head-in-the -Sand). The Lord is in the process of saving these children from a present life of misery as well as from eternal damnation.
5. There is a general feeling of freedom in Christ that we didn't have while he was around. There was a pervasive atmosphere that made you ask the question, "Am I the next to be attacked?"
6. The ministry is now being shared. People aren't being micro-managed. We feel comfortable inviting and receiving guests into the Fellowship.
7. Fellowship, evangelism, and other ministry is happening on a daily basis among the believers. We want all that we do to bring glory to the Lord.

It would be a gift from the Lord if the disciplined one would find true repentance and forgiveness from the Lord for his sinful behavior over the past decade. I would open my arms to gladly welcome his back into fellowship. Pray that the Holy Spirit will work in his heart and life to bring him anew to the Father.

"For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries" (Hebrews 10:26-27).