Comfort of Scripture

1 Peter 3:8-17 8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: 9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. 10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: 11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? 14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. 17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

AC World Relief

Check out the new sidebar link to the Apostolic Christian World Relief website.

Good Stuff.

Faith

I believe...Lord help my unbelief.

There is so much wrapped up in that simple statement.

Lord, I want to be all that you call me to be...Lord, help me to be all that you call me to be.

Lord, I want to be obedient to your Word...Lord, help me be obedient to your Word.

Lord, I want a burning desire for you...Lord, give me a burning desire for you.

We know where we should be. We see and acknowledge the target of our behavior being Christ himself, yet we continually fall on our faces as we stretch to reach that target. It takes Christ himself picking us up and pressing us on for us to get anywhere at all.

We know that "without faith it is impossible to please [God]", yet we are powerless to "generate" faith ourselves. It takes a miracle of God through His Word to generate faith in us.

Bottom Line:
Big God - little us.

Power

* In one second, our sun emits more energy than man has been able to create since Adam and Eve.

* Our sun is only an average-size star. One star, the Pistol Star, produces 1 million times the energy of the sun and has 100 times its mass.

* Our sun and entire solar system are just a pinpoint, or small speck, in our Milky Way galaxy.

* Quasars, at the extreme edge of the known universe, some 1,000 times brighter than our Milky Way galaxy, emit as much energy every second as our sun does in 10 million years.

* There are perhaps 200 billion stars just in our galaxy.

* If our galaxy were the size of the North American continent, our solar system would only be the size of a tea cup.

* While estimates continue to rise, our galaxy is just one of more than 125 billion galaxies in the universe, many of which are comprised of 200 billion or more stars.

* Astronomers say that the total number of stars in space could equal or surpass the total number of grains of sand on all the seashores of the world, and in most cases they are separated by trillions of miles.

Through the ancient prophet Isaiah, God said, "My own hands stretched out the heavens" (Isaiah 45:12, NIV).

The psalmist pondered the wonders of creation and asked God, "What is man that you are mindful of him?" (Psalm 8:4, NIV).

Interesting view

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/VATech/story?id=3056168&page=1

I thought this was an interesting article. I'm not sure I agree with everything in it, but the author raises some good points.

so much pain

Very few of us understand.

http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2007/feature-photography/works/byer01_jpg.html

click "next" above each picture to look through them.

For you.

Beautiful voices and beautifully tight harmony. This is Carrie Underwood and Rascal Flatts singing "God Bless the Broken Road" at the Grammy's I believe.
I love the words to this song.

Nothing

I wanted to post something about the V.T. shootings, but I'm finding it really hard to put anything into words.

The truth is, we don't know how they feel.

The truth is, we don't know why this stuff happens.

The truth is, there really isn't anything we can do about it from where we sit.

It's a stark reminder that evil is alive in this world.

It's a reminder that we're not promised another second upon this earth, let alone a day.

It's a cry to love.

It's a call to reach out.

It's a plea to remember Christ's love, forgiveness, compassion, and heart.

How do you treat those people you come in contact with who are "different"?
How do I?

I'm thankful that God is sovereign.

http://www.crosswalk.com/spirituallife/11538424/page1/

New Phone!!

I got back from lunch and there was a FedEx package sitting on my desk!!

I got my phone today!! It's all charged up and ready to talk.

I like it.

A lot.

It's got a lot better camera than my old phone, and it'll record video at twice the resolution. The screen looks about 10x better too. Very bright with great colors.

I thought this was a pretty good pic for a camera phone.

April snows bring facebook issues (apparently)

It's April 11th...and it SNOWED last night. :(

Isn't the saying April showers bring May flowers? I'm pretty sure they weren't talking about SNOW showers!!

In other news, my facebook account got deleted for some reason...I'm working on getting it back up. A bunch of you may get emails to add me to your network...since I didn't confirm that my account was deleted until facebook had asked me to send out a bunch of requests. bleh.

Sovereign Hand of God

Place Your Marriage in the Hands of a Sovereign God

Kim Wier

Engaging Women Ministries

I certainly wasn't thinking twenty years down the road when I said "yes" to the young man kneeling in front of me on the wooden bridge on Tall Pines Trail. Twenty years later, and a lot of water under the bridge later, we revisited our past and discovered just how much difference a couple of decades can make. It was like a trip down memory lane, or at least down the hiking trail, as we took our family camping at the same state park where my husband proposed.

I remember it like it was yesterday. We were both in the last semester of our senior year of college. We had been dating almost six months. Neither of us really had a plan for life after graduation, or so I thought. I hadn't even begun to seriously consider my employment options. After all, life was good as a student. My dad paid for my car and my part time job covered all my other financial obligations. I was content living in my state of limbo between student and responsible citizen.

I didn't know that my boyfriend was about to shove us both into full fledged adulthood with those four simple words, "Will you marry me?" Quite unexpectedly, as we were hiking down the Tall Pines Trail at Lake Ratcliff, he paused on a footbridge long enough to gain from me a promise that would determine the direction of the rest of my life. With only the squirrels as eye witnesses, I accepted his bended knee invitation to become Mrs. Tony Wier.

From that day forward, we began to plan; first for the wedding and then for real life. It was such a thrilling time to face a world of possibilities and have someone beside me to share my dreams.

Twenty years later we stood on that same footbridge, only this time we weren't alone. Our three teenagers hiked along. As Tony and I shared a sentimental moment, reenacting that pivotal point in our lives, the significance was lost on our children, but not the humor.

"Careful, Dad. You're not as young as you used to be. You want me to help you get up off your knee?"

"Mom, did you have that many wrinkles the last time Dad proposed?"

"No," I insisted, "and I didn't have three smarty pants kids tagging along, either."

Despite their groans and rolling eyes, and even the ravages of time, I wouldn't turn the clock one minute. Planning for life was fun, but living life has been the far greater adventure - made up of things we expected and things we never saw coming.

As we dreamed about our life it included children and a home of our own. We planned for good jobs and enjoying some of life's comforts; we dreamed of baseball games and backyard cook-outs. All that and more we got. Of course, I also dreamed of a summer house in Spain for which I am still waiting.

Then there were the things we hadn't planned for, but came all the same (and I'm not talking about the mini van and the cellulite). We got -- but didn't plan for -- saying goodbye to friends who moved away and mourning the loss of people we loved. We faced trials at work, financial strains and health crisis'. There were disagreements, disappointments and disasters, none of which were on our list of hopes for the future.

Yet every expected and unexpected moment has created something far more valuable than "happily ever after." As we discovered that not every thing in life can be planned, we also discovered by God's grace that everything in life has been planned for - and we can trust the Planner.

I am the LORD; there is no other God. I have prepared you, even though you do not know me, so all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am the LORD, and there is no other. I am the one who creates the light and makes the darkness. I am the one who sends good times and bad times. I, the LORD, am the one who does these things...This is what the LORD, the Creator and Holy One of Israel, says: "Do you question what I do? Do you give me orders about the work of my hands? I am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it. With my hands I stretched out the heavens. All the millions of stars are at my command." Isaiah 45:5-7,11,12

No matter how carefully we orchestrate the details, life will always hold the unexpected. Our confidence doesn't come in being able to plan for such times, but in trusting the One who commands the stars and who superintends good times and bad. Those who do, find the same peace Job discovered in the midst of his trials when he declared, "Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?" Job 2:10

God, who holds all things together by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3), will surely hold our families together as we brave the trail set before us.

Gadget Fix

I just ordered a new phone from Verizon. Every two years they give you a $100 credit towards a new phone if you renew your contract with them. Plus I got $50 off for ordering online. I've been really pleased with Verizon's network, so I have no problem renewing with them.

I'm excited to get it delivered within the next 2-5 business days. I'm kind of a gadget nut at heart, but I don't indulge myself much, so this is a lot of fun for me. :-)

the wonder of it all...

"We need to not just recognize Easter as a celebration of God’s power to raise His son from the dead, but also the wonder of the resurrection of all who are saved and the call for those who are not to be resurrected with Christ."

-Ron Messner-

Reality Shadows

I thought this picture was really interesting. Click it for a larger view.

Spring time swing

On Monday I was playing baseball in the park beneath a sunny sky in 70+ degree heat. Now it's freezing out. :( *sigh*

My spiritual life can be like that sometimes. I can be on a mountaintop and feel so on fire for the Lord, and then within a few hours a storm can blow in, darken my sky, and have me struggling to breathe. Praise God for His loving hand to uphold us.

I'm ready for spring.

Something to chew on

Here's something to chew on on this cold dreary spring day. :-)
Granted, some of my readers will be bored before they get past the question, but I think some of you will like it. I found it a thought provoking explanation. (but then again, I'm a nerd)

I got this off of straightdope.comDear Cecil:

I have a question about the inability of matter to exceed the speed of light.

Suppose I am in a spaceship traveling at the speed of light minus five miles per hour. What would happen if I fired a gun in the direction that the ship is moving? Or tried to run forward at six miles per hour?

Would I prove Einstein wrong? --John B., Niles, Illinois

Dear John:

There are two ways we can go about this.

First there is the Way of the Wimp, wherein I simply tell you no, you wouldn't prove Einstein wrong, and we leave it at that. This avoids distracting complications, but leaves something to be desired from the standpoint of intellectual rigor.

Then there is the Way of Righteousness, which requires mental tenacity and moxie. Fortify yourself and we'll give it a shot.

You probably have the idea that if you are standing in a bus moving at speed u, and you walk forward at speed v, your total forward speed w is expressed by the straightforward sum u + v. Alas, this is a cruel illusion.

In reality, what we might call "addition of velocities" is governed by the awe-inspiring equation

w = (u + v)/(1 + uv/c^2)

where c^2 is the speed of light squared. (This may give you pause next time you hike to the can on a Greyhound.)

At so-called Newtonian (i.e., slow) speeds, the term uv/c^2 is pretty close to 0, and the equation reduces down to the familiar w = u + v.

However, if we are traveling at, say, 0.9c (nine-tenths the speed of light), and we shoot a bullet forward also at 0.9c, we discover via the above formula that the slug does not attain an overall speed of 1.8c (i.e., more than the speed of light), but rather a modest

(0.9c + 0.9c)/(1 + [0.9]^2) = 0.994c

(roughly).

Does this mean the bullet just dribbles out of the gun like a freaking gumdrop, for Chrissake? Not at all--to you, the space traveler, everything looks normal.

However, a stationary observer would note that you were suffering from the unique effects of the Fitzgerald contraction--which is to say, (1) time would slow down for you (although you wouldn't realize it), and (2) you and your spaceship would get compressed like an accordion along your axis of travel.

The following poem may help to illustrate this:

There once was a racer named Fisk
Who took a considerable risk
When his dragster got traction
The Fitzgerald contraction
Reduced his wazoo to a disc

Sorry, couldn't resist. Anyway, if you ponder this matter awhile, you will inevitably come to the following conclusion: the faster you go, the slower you go. Ergo, the speed of light cannot be exceeded.

And you wonder why physics is my favorite subject.

--CECIL ADAMS

Good Times

So yesterday was an absolutely beautiful spring day. I took off work at 4:30, and Tommie, Kenton, and I went out to the park to shag flies. The ball fields were freshly mowed, the sun was shining, and the bats were cracking.

I don't know if it can get much better.

Today I'm incredibly sore and it's storming. :-) Gotta love spring.

In other news...

My mom bought Heidi and I a freezer this weekend!

Yay! Now I can buy large quantities of beef. :-)

Yep, that makes me happy.

Plus there's frozen strawberries, raspberries, applesauce, etc...


However, ours didn't come with all this stuff in it that this picture shows. I'm a little bummed about that.

The first thing I'm putting in here is a quarter of beef from my nephew.

Score.