Why Aren't Earth's Oldest Trees Older?

This towering giant sequoia stretches 275 feet, about as tall as a 27-story high-rise building, and is 102.6 feet around. That makes it the largest (by volume) individual tree in the world. The general lives in the Sequoia National Park in California. Scientists believe this tree could be anywhere from 2,300 years old to 2,700 years old.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010

The sheer girth of certain ancient, wizened trees can take one's breath away. Although the age estimates given for these antique specimens vary from a few to tens of thousands of years, the majority of them are consistent with a biblical timeframe for earth history.

The oldest individual still-living tree is in California. Appropriately nicknamed Methuselah, the hardy bristlecone pine from the dry and salty high elevation of Inyo National Forest is in a protected area.

Wired Science stated that Methuselah was 4,765 years old.

Why is Methuselah, or any other long-living tree, not a great deal older than this if the earth itself is millions of years old?

The very oldest known tree better fits a biblical age for the earth of thousands, not millions, of years.

1. Ghose, T. The Oldest Trees on the Planet. Wired Science.
2. Earle, C. J., ed. Pinus longaeva. The Gymnosperm Database.
3. Schulman, E. 1954. Longevity under Adversity in Conifers.
4. Lorey, F. 1994. Tree Rings and Biblical Chronology.
5. Vardiman, L. 2008. A Dark and Stormy World.

Swedes "the tragic view". . .

I recall two caricatures of the Kingsburg Swedes — “dour” and “dumb.” But I think both pejoratives, in truth, were not really so pejorative. “Dour” is perhaps shorthand for “the tragic view.” The Kingsburg Swedes understood that no one gets out alive, and that we must brace and endure with dignity the premature death of the good, the unforeseen hail at harvest that ruins the ingenious farmer and misses his less adept counterpart, the market collapse that ensures failure for the otherwise perfect harvest. This is not fatalism, but rather a gallantry in accepting our all too brief existences, rather than raging against the unfairness of it all and expecting “them” to “make it better — or else.”

“Dumb” also was a misnomer. So was “naïve.” Mostly, I heard that Swedes did not go into packing, brokerage, real estate, buying and selling. They sold their crops when they could have gotten more with tougher bargaining, and bought too high when they might have worn down the seller. They paid their taxes, when write offs were to be had. In other words, they never got rich, and assumed that their own amazing capability for hard work might give them leeway, some margin in which they might not otherwise have to be so brutal to others to survive. (-Victor Davis Hanson)

Works and Days » Reflections on Small Town America

(Victor Hanson has captured qualities that have puzzled me all my life about father and his thinking. The tragic view, indeed! And why keep us so poor by doing work and then charging the lowest rate? I was angry for this so many times in my growing up years. Dr. Hanson has proposed a positive spin and my heart says that this tragic view is true to my father, and perhaps to myself too. Why does it take so long to understand? Grrrrrr! - Linda)

"...they are all dumb dogs"

"And tomorrow will be like today, only more so" (Isaiah 56:12 NSV).

"Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant" (Isaiah 56:12 KJV).

Who are they?

"His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and the are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter" (Isaiah 56:10,11).

Sounds like our leaders today, doesn't it?.

Human history vs. Bible history. . .

The question of human history versus Biblical history:

Romans 3:4 “… yea, let God be true, but every man a liar”

1 John 5:9 “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.”

(From Johny Varghese, Grace India Ministry, johnyvarghese@comcast.net)

An excellent mother . . .

Suzie is a Gordon Setter; her official name is “Oh Susannah of Springset Kennels.”

The owner of the kennel taught Sunday school with my husband and we got Suzie as a breeder dog. She provided one litter of puppies and then became our dog for free.

Note: Suzie was described by the kennel owner as being an excellent mother because she didn’t kill any of her children.

By that measure, I’m an excellent mother myself.

(Me, too.)

THE MOST IMPRESSIVE INDIVIDUAL IN HISTORY

When asked which person left the most permanent impression on history, H.G. Wells replied that judging a person's greatness by historical standards: "By this test, Jesus stands first."

"I am a historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history."



--H.G. Wells, British writer, 1866-1946

The Great Souls of Our Era

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

Leonard Cohen Sings "Anthem"

http://americandigest.org/mt-archives/grace_notes/the_great_souls_of_our_er.php

It's May, and apple blossom time . . .

I'll be with you in apple blossom time-The Andrews Sisters

(Picture taken in cousin Betsy's place in the wonderful Upper Peninsula of Michigan, or home to me.)

America, like a hero. . .

I am, proudly, a culturalist.

My culture, American, is vastly superior to every other. All things considered.

Those Scandinavian countries, whence my ancestors, are ever so wonderful, as all of Europe must be, if you just want to get by, you know, hoping not to be invaded, and maybe some great but unnamed power will keep you safe, or rescue you.

Now who might that be? No matter. Point is, American character -- not diet -- is like a hero in the book of Judges. A great cry comes unto the Lord, and a savior rises up. America.

(- from Forgotten Prophets blog, article: Zoom.)

(I think so, too. America to the rescue? Maybe not again. You're on your own, nice people of Scandinavia. - Linda.)

Sisyphean

Def: Endlessly laborious and fruitless.

Albert Camus wrote an essay The Myth of Sisyphus in which he compares man's eternal and, in his view, futile search for meaning to the task that the mythical king was compelled to perform for all eternity. He concludes by saying that life is itself the end: "One must imagine Sisyphus happy." From: Gowri (via Wordsmith Talk bulletin board)

(I thought of all the explanations of the modern philosophy of our day, the above quote from Camus, the unbelieving existentialist, sums it up quite succinctly. It is most depressing. No hope. Sisyphus was confined to push a boulder up a hill and then have it fall back only to push it up again...forever repeating... and the religion of existentialism concludes that "one must imagine Sisyphus happy." That's sad. Very sad. - Linda)

Sisyphus in popular culture:

WALL-E, 2008, Academy-Award-winning animated movie directed by Andrew Stanton featured a robot who continually builds towers of trash-compacted cubes; these towers erode and collapse in the wind. Pixar creative team referenced Sisyphus in planning the character of WALL-E.
Cool Hand Luke, a popular movie starring Paul Newman in which the title character is a defiant prisoner at a work camp. His futile efforts to challenge authority, such as his escape attempts, result in equally pointless punishments, such as digging holes and filling them back in.
1866 Sisyphus, asteroid
Stone of Sisyphus, the previously unreleased album by the band Chicago
Sisyphus (dialogue), a dialogue ascribed to Plato
“Sysyphus,” an instrumental by Richard Wright of Pink Floyd
“Carve Away the Stone,” track 11 on the album Test for Echo by Rush. Lyrics written by Neil Peart.

FYI: Sisyphus is pushing that rock from the deepest depth of the unseen world, the Tartarus of hell. To hear a series of messages on hell visit the website of Grace Life Bible Church and click Online Messages, and get ready to have your hair stand on end!

Occam's Razor

There’s a thing in philosophy and science called Occam’s Razor. It’s a principle that says the simplest answer is the right answer. Occam’s Razor is generally accepted to be 99.99 percent of the time true. Medical students are told, for example, "When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras."

The phrase in Paul’s epistles that matches is II Corinthians 11: ‘the simplicity that is in Christ.’

Most the time we think life is extremely complicated because we get our plate so full. We think there are 50 million different reasons for failure and for sin or for success.

It does not matter what your specific circumstances are; there are really only three fundamental points of being tested:

• the lust of the flesh,
• the lust of the eye
• and the pride of life.

When Adam and Eve were tested and fell, it was in those three points. In Matthew 4, when Jesus Christ was tested of Satan, it was in those three points He was tempted.

When sin attacks you, it attacks you on one of those three points. The whole course of the world is based upon focusing an attack on YOUR thinking and YOUR soul under those three points.

(Knowing Occam's Razor makes the success of standing against the wiles of the devil an easier fight, I think. - Linda)

(From R. Jordan via Lisa Leland . com)

RESPONDING TO PRINCIPLES

I may no longer depend on pleasant impulses to bring me before the Lord. I must rather respond to principles I know to be right, whether I feel them to be enjoyable or not.

--Jim Elliot(evangelical Christian missionary to Ecuador who, along with four others, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Waodani people through efforts known as Operation Auca).

Thor, angry at Loki?

"If I was a Viking living in Iceland a thousand years ago, and I saw some of this stuff, I would be pretty sure that Thor was angry at Loki again, or maybe he was mad at Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. But I would be pretty sure there was an angry god of some kind in that volcano."

Jonah Goldberg The Corner - National Review Online:

Vanity Fair

MEANING:
noun: A place characterized by frivolity and ostentation. ETYMOLOGY: After Vanity Fair, a fair that lasted all year long in the town of Vanity, in the novel Pilgrim's Progress by writer and preacher John Bunyan (1628-1688). In the fair were traded houses, honors, titles, kingdoms, pleasures, and much more.

Sounds like ebay, eh? (from A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg)

Let's remember The Preacher of the Bible..."Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2).

But don't ever read this Book without reading the last verse..."Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (12:13).

Today, in the age of God's wonderful grace, our only command is to trust in the Lord for the finished work of Calvary where all our sins were paid for. This is not vanity, this is life!

A big IF. . .

"If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done," says the Lord. (Jeremiah 31:37 KJV).

Now, that's a most remarkable promise. God has bound himself, by the faithfulness of his Being and of his Word, that Israel shall have a place in his program as long as the heavens and the earth remain. God will never cast them off as long as the sun and the moon maintain themselves in their courses and as long as long as the scope of the heavens remains to be measured and the interior of the earth remains unexplored.

So, where is Israel today? Today is the Mystery age of the Body of Christ where there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile. But, one day, maybe soon, this age will end with the Rapture of the church, and then the prophecy of Israel will again be foremost in God's redemption of the earth.

The Bible is written to reflect the time we are now living and where we are to get our living instructions. Today this is in the Epistles of Paul, Romans to Philemon.

Chart courtesy of Johny Varghese:
Grace India Ministry
9834 Maynard Terrace
Niles, IL 60714
johnyvarghese@comcast.net

Thoughts courtesy of The Berean Call

The Master, even in Golf. . .

Sunday, relaxing in my chair reading the GR Press. Cubbies were out of town and WGN was broadcasting the Sox (: (), so tuned in the Master's and enjoyed the trial and error of play among the greats. Who knew even the pros could miss a foot shot to the flag?

Anyhoo...picked up Tiger's comments as he sliced into the trees...I know I heard him blaspheme the wonderful name of our Lord Jesus Christ. News outlets have picked up his out of control temper, but no one mentioned the slander of "the name that is above all names."

Can we say to pray for the man...evidently he knows not what Master his tongue will acknowledge some day.

"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow...and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" ( Philippians 2:10-11).

Meditations on Good Friday

Yet I must not forget that I too am greedy, that I too seek to control others and manipulate my world for my own benefit and betterment. We hate most in others what we see in ourselves, and our instincts scream to return evil for evil. Yet by so doing, I enslave myself to those who would enslave and destroy me.

The Cross teaches me another way. It teaches me, quite simply, that God is in control of all things, and that His ways are not my ways. It teaches me that the darkest hour comes before dawn, that God can use evil for good, and that only by bending my will and my knee before Him, no matter what the cost, can my own victory and deliverance, and that of others, be purchased.

We are at war. This is a war, not merely of bombs and guns, nor of words and arguments, nor of politics and power. It is an ancient war, from the very beginning of time: a war between the will of man and the will of God.

Meditations on Good Friday

And God created . . tulips!

Piano song

YouTube - Musique sans parole " Neige " Piano song

Can we change?

Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be. -Thomas à Kempis, Imitation of Christ, c.1420

I like the wisdom of us trying to fix others and cannot, but I refuse to believe the life lived in Christ is unable to work effectually to change me.

I'm a New Creation in Christ and now can put on the new nature, and put off my old nature as I walk around in my flesh body. I'm not the person I was, and I do hope I have some years to allow the outworking of the salvation I have received already, in Christ.

"Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth...in the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him:" ( Colossians 3:5 - 10).

I can't make myself as I want to be, but I have the power of God working within me to transform me if I allow Him to work. I'm transforming every day. Praise the goodness and power of Christ.

Movie: In the Valley of Elah

Elah is where David meets Goliath (I Samuel 17). Not sure exactly the meaning of the title in relation to the film. The story of David and Goliath was mentioned a couple of times but who was David and who was Goliath representing? Don't know. I was hooked by the title, but agree with the review below. Pass on this one.

The premise: Four tough guys go out, get drunk and rowdy, which leads to a fight, murder and cover-up. Good start for a crime mystery. As the movie goes on, we find out why the above occurred: The guys were in the army; soldiers are psychopathic torturers, drug addicts and child killers; this occurs because war is immoral, the military is immoral, and the United States of America is a horrible place.

Otherwise, nothing to see here, move along folks. One incident summarizes the disrespect and cluelessness of the filmmakers: Near the end, Tommy Lee, a veteran with two dead veteran sons, hoists a U.S. flag that had been in battle, upside down. NO veteran anywhere, anytime would commit that act. Sickening.

# 1 Song on the date I was born - March 14, 1947

YouTube - Ted Weems Orch. - Heartaches, Decca 1938

From what movie?

“Dellow Felegates…” Jar Jar

Experience

We had the experience but missed the meaning...
- Eliot, The Dry Salvages

Don't miss Pastor Bryan's Resurrection Sunday's message on lots of folks who had the experience but missed the meaning. Soon to be posted at: www.gracelifebiblechurch.com Click ONLINE MESSAGES and then the April 4 message.

Perfect pattern. . .

Majestic sweetness sits enthroned upon my Savior’s brow,
His head with radiant glories crowned,
His lips with grace o’er flow,
His lips with grace o'er flow.

No mortal can with Him compare among the sons of men;
Fairer is He than all the fair
Who fill the heavenly train,
Who fill the heavenly train.

Majestic manhood, perfect pattern.
Live again thy life through us.

(Samuel Stennett, 1787)

Satisfied (Jesus Satisfies My Longing)

YouTube - Satisfied (Jesus Satisfies My Longing) - Gaither Vocal Band

Good Friday

Over and over again
we sit in our courtyards,
our mouths speaking what our hearts are full of . . .
WE DO NOT KNOW HIM.
DONOTDONOTDONOT
KNOWHIMKNOWHIMKNOWHIM echoes loudly
emphatically
filling time and space
heaven and earth;
and yet
the saddest part is
when the cock crows
we don't have the ears to hear
TOHEARTOHEARTOHEAR.
At least Peter had the ears to hear
and the heart to weep.
(-Ann Weems, Kneeling in Jerusalem)

"And He bearing His cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:" On arriving at the place, "they gave Him vinegar to drink mingled with gall (wine mingled with myrrh, Mark 15.23), and when He had tasted thereof, He would not drink" (Matt. 27.34). This potion was stupefying, and given to criminals just before execution, to deaden the sense of pain.

Fill high the bowl, and spice it well, and pour
The dews oblivious: for the Cross is sharp,
The Cross is sharp, and He
Is tenderer than a lamb.

But our Lord would die with every faculty clear, and in full sensibility to all His sufferings.

Thou wilt feel all, that Thou may'st pity all;
And rather would'st Thou wrestle with strong pain
Than overcloud Thy soul,
So clear in agony,
Or lose one glimpse of Heaven before the time,
O most entire and perfect Sacrifice,
Renewed in every pulse.
(-Keble )

"...they crucified Him" John 19.17-19

Calvinism is back

"When things go through this upheaval," Ms. Tickle says, "there's always those who absolutely need the assurance of rules and a foundation."

Christian faith: Calvinism is back / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com

I've been at the place where I said to the Lord....just tell me what to do and I will do it. It doesn't work!

What works in God's program for today? Grace.

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured-
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace , grace, God's grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!

Grace trumps Calvinism (Law keeping) in what we need today.

Pride

C. S. Lewis writes that pride is the first and greatest sin of all because it seeks to elevate us above the One who gave us our gifts.

In the Book of Job God speaks of Satan. . . "He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride." (Job 41:34)

Passover

"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." (I Corinthians 5:7,8)

The feast of Passover - Leviticus 23:4,5

"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:" (I Peter 1:18, 19).

Why pray?

I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time- waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God- it changes me.
-C.S. Lewis

Me too.

Analysis of the Fifth Commandment . . .

“Honor your Father and your Mother” (5:16).

The word “honor” in the Biblical Hebrew comes from the word “Kabad”, meaning literally “to make heavy.”

We honor our parents not by loving them, but by making them “heavy”, i.e. making them people of substance and not “making light” of them.

The phrase “make light” of someone means a way of belittling or humiliating them.

Remorse

As Lady MacBeth spake on just such an occasion:
"Out Damned spot! Out, I say"
~ Macbeth, Act V. Scene I.

Stupak spelled backward is Kaputs.

Stupak's Original Sin:
Kathleen Parker

The Lives Of Others Soundtrack - Main Theme (Das Leben Der Anderen)

YouTube - The Lives Of Others Soundtrack - Main Theme (Das Leben Der Anderen)

♫ Erik Satie - Gymnopédie No.1 [piano] ♫

♫ Erik Satie - Gymnopédie No.1 [piano] ♫

Thad McCotter

Thad does it again

Salmagundi

Def: 1. A heterogeneous mixture. 2. A mixed salad of various ingredients.

For a fun spring party invite friends to a Salmagundi gathering.

In a very large mahogany salad bowl add green leafy things.

Each invitee is required to bring an unusual item to put into the huge salad.

What is dined on depended on the creativity and imagination of the guests, and each Salmagundi is always a new and surprisingly salad.

Bon appetit! and happy Salmagundi!

Things to think on. . .

Four things you can't recover:

• The stone after the throw.
• The word after it's said.
• The occasion after it's missed.
• The time after it's gone.
  
  God has a list of things also:

"These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto Him:

• a proud look,
• a lying tongue,
• hands that shed innocent blood,
• an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
• feet that be swift in running to mischief,
• a false witness that speaketh lies,
• and he that soweth discord among brethren."
  

PROMINENCE OF THE SECOND COMING

Nothing is more prominently brought forward in the New Testament than the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

--John Nelson Darby (Anglo-Irish evangelist, and an influential figure among the original Plymouth Brethren)

Svenska Scripture

Luke 6:43-45 Ett bra träd kan aldrig bära dålig frukt, och ett dåligt träd kan aldrig bära bra frukt. Trädet känns igen på den frukt det bär. Man hittar inte fikon på tistlar eller vindruvor på törnbuskar. På samma sätt visar en god människas ord på den godhet som finns i hennes hjärta, medan en ond människas ord avslö...jar den ondska som finns inom henne. Munnen talar ju det som hjärtat är fullt av.

Love to try and figure out verses written in Swedish.

Isn't it amazing how God's Word is translated in different languages and more amazing that people are reading and God is working in them, through this Word in their language? God is good to all.

Nothing but Calvary

That I did always love,
I bring thee proof:
That till I loved
I did not love enough.
That I shall love always—
I offer thee
That love is life,
And life hath immortality.
This—dost thou doubt, sweet?
Then have I Nothing to show But Calvary. - Emily Dickinson

The measure of God's love to us is the cross of Calvary. "...God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). And, "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice to God) for our sins" (I John 4:9,10).

Blessed Calvary! Precious Calvary!
'Neath thy shadow I'll ever abide.
Blessed Calvary! Precious Calvary!
'Twas there Jesus suffered and died. - Christian B. Anson

Mendelssohn Songs without Words

YouTube - Sviatoslav Richter plays Mendelssohn Songs without Words Op.19 No.6

The Christian Witness

To those for whom the intellect alone has force, such a witness has little or no force. It bewilders and exasperates them. It challenges them to suppose that there is something greater about man than his ability to add and subtract. It submits that that something is the soul.

Plain men understood the witness easily. It speaks directly to their condition. For it is peculiarly the Christian witness. They still hear it, whenever it truly reaches their ears, the ring of those glad tidings that once stirred mankind with an immense hope. For it frees them from the trap of irreversible Fate at the point at which it whispers to them that each soul is individually responsible to God, that it has only to assert that responsibility, and out of man’s weakness will come strength, out of his corruption incorruption, out of his evil good, and out of what is false invulnerable truth.

Witness - Whittaker Chambers

Good hope through grace. . .

"Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work." 2 Thessalonians 2:16, 17

Psalm 144:1

"Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:"

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand" (Ephesians 6:10-12).

Sonnet 94

"They that have power to hurt and will do none / That do not do the thing they most do show,"

Those who have the ability to hurt but choose not to, who do not use that power even though they look most certain of having it,

"Who, moving others, are themselves as stone / Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow,"

Who, when moving others, are themselves still, unmoved, emotionally cold, and slow to temptation,

"They rightly do inherit heaven's graces / And husband nature's riches from expense;"

It is they who rightly inherit heaven's graces and spare nature's riches from ruin;

"They are the lords and owners of their faces / Others but stewards of their excellence."

They can control their facial expressions (thoughts and emotions), while others merely serve their emotions.

(A fool's wrath is presently known: but a prudent man covereth shame" (Proverbs 12:16).)

"The summer's flower is to the summer sweet / Though to itself it only live and die,"

The summer flower is sweet to the summer, though the flower lives and dies only for itself;

"But if that flower with base infection meet / The basest weed outbraves his dignity:"

But if that flower should develop an awful infection, the worst weed would outshine the flower in dignity:

"For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds; / Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds."

For it is those things that are sweetest that can become sourest by their deeds; lilies that rot smell far worse than weeds.

Arizona

I'm here in Arizona with new granddaughter, helping as Mom & Dad are working spring training with the Cubs.

Everyone should visit Arizona after a long Michigan winter. It lifts the soul to breath in the warmer air, feel the sun with palm trees and cactus everywhere, and seeing the orange and lemon trees colorfully decorated with fruit. Outside our condo a tree has orange size fruit, but the fruit is yellow...maybe grapefruit? A bit sour, but good to eat if you avoid the rine.

God created Arizona. What are these hills and mountains seemingly pushed up from under the crust? Or were they dragged by the glacier of ages past? Do the residents of this place get used to seeing all this beauty? Maybe fresh eyes appreciate it best.

Like my new granddaughter...people call her a "fresh" one...she is seeing the world with all its wonder as new. Her and Amma.

Give me patience ...

by Esther Homoki (now at home with the Lord)

"…to never relax the self-watch. Never to indulge in unkind or thoughtless criticism of others. Never to utter the hasty word, or permit the sharp retorts; never to complain, except to God; never to permit hard and distrustful thoughts to lodge within the soul; to always be more thoughtful of others than of self; to detect the one blue spot in the clouded sky; to be on the alert to find an excuse for those who are forward and awkward; to suffer the aches and pains, the privations and trials of life sweetly, submissively, trustfully; to drink the bitter cup with the eyes fixed on the Father’s face, without a murmur or complaint. We cannot live such a life till we have learned to avail ourselves of the riches of the indwelling Christ."


I chose to print this in The Grace Messenger. My sister read it in her Bible study group and she said they all laughed incredulously that anyone could live up to such a high standard. I was convicted that maybe the statement was too lofty for mere mortals to aspire, but many times Esther’s words have come back to me.

The key I believe is the last line: We cannot live such a life till we have learned to avail ourselves of the riches of the indwelling Christ.

I love Esther’s words, and though I fail, they still ring true to what I want to attain to in my walk, in the Lord.

It's March...

spring is only weeks ahead!

Darkness...

You may be afraid to face the years ahead. You’re not the only one, but if you extinguish the light of your faith and wisdom, you consign others to darkness.

Hot Air » » A prayer from the living world

I suffered from a crippling depression in 2003/4 that came after a traumatic event. In my hopelessness, I turned to my faith in God. My belief that God cared about me and had a greater purpose for my life inspired me to get up off the couch. I began walking each day. First it was 100 yards…and eventually I could walk around the block, and then more.

I memorized scripture, in particular, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:(For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."

My stronghold was the erroneous belief that things would never get better. I learned that I was not defined by my fears…that Truth was not only worth listening to, but worth living for.

It took 9 months of discipline to recover from the deepest hole of my life…and months beyond that to be 100%. God did his work in me as I paid attention and chose to take my thoughts captive. There is hope. I found Hope.

(From a comment from LEBA on February 27)

Lent

The number "40" has always had special spiritual significance regarding preparation.

On Mount Sinai, preparing to receive the Ten Commandments, "Moses stayed there with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights, without eating any food or drinking any water" (Ex 34:28).

Elijah walked "40 days and 40 nights" to the mountain of the Lord, Mount Horeb (another name for Sinai) (I Kgs 19:8).

Jesus fasted and prayed for "40 days and 40 nights" in the desert before He began His public ministry (Mt 4:2).

Dust and ashes. . .

Pantheism offers a different sort of solution: a downward exit, an abandonment of our tragic self-consciousness, a re-merger with the natural world our ancestors half-escaped millennia ago.

But except as dust and ashes, Nature cannot take us back.

Treasure

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us." (2 Corinthians 4:7)

What treasure?

"...the light of the knowledge of the g l o r y of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6)

On this Monday the earthen of me is a bit creaky and a bit cracked, but the glory is always constant, in which I rejoice.

(Friend Laura Wetherbee chose the verse today on Facebook. Thanks, it's a good one to have in my mind today.)

William Tyndale (1494-1536)

William Tyndale (1494-1536)

William Tyndale was the Oxford-educated polyglot theologian and reformer who produced the first printed Bible in English.

His translation was from Erasmus' Greek-Latin Bible, the same one which Luther used to translate his German Bible. Tyndale's Bible was banned in Britain: you can't trust the rabble to read it themselves. He famously said that he wanted a Bible that "every plowman" could read himself.

Tyndale was executed by Henry Vlll for his efforts. It is believed that Thomas More was pushing for the execution.

It is thought that up to 80% of the King James Bible - the most printed book in the world - is Tyndale's product.

Voice recognition. . .

Satan knows of our inborn desire for the supernatural and the mystical, and he will oblige.

I think sometimes (not always) that the phrases “The Lord showed me” or “The Lord led me” can be used to sort of ward off any challenges. If the Lord “showed” someone, who can possibly question them?

WORLDmag.com Voice recognition (An interesting article written by Andrée Seu)

Euro, one size does not fit all . . .

Countries that are highly uncompetitive are normally able to slash interest rates and devalue their currencies to prop up their economies.
But this is not possible within the euro, given its one-size-fits-all economic governance.
The implication is that weak, peripheral eurozone members will have to suffer years of painful deflation and tumbling living standards, as well as draconian budget cuts, in order to adjust.
Harvard University Professor Martin Feldstein, a long-standing sceptic on the euro, yesterday said the single currency 'isn't working' because member governments have no incentive to keep their public debts under control.
'There's too much incentive for countries to run up big deficits as there's no feedback until a crisis,' he said.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1250433/Greece-debt-bailout-EU-leaders-split-euro-crisis.html

Star Chamber

PRONUNCIATION:
(star CHAYM-buhr)

MEANING:
noun: A court or group marked by arbitrary, oppressive, and secretive procedures.

ETYMOLOGY:
After the Star Chamber in the Palace of Westminster in London. It was the site of a closed-door court appointed by King Henry VII of England in the 15th century. Notorious for its abuse of power -- rulings made in secret, no appeal -- it was abolished by the Long Parliament in 1641. The chamber was so named because its ceiling was decorated with stars.

Universal wish. . .

Robert Fulghum, OFFICIAL Website - Recent Entries:

IT’S NOT THE SIZE OF THE LOSS,
BUT THE SIZE OF THE SORROW.

"So what’s this all about?

I’ve been asking myself that for the last few days.
My frustration in this small matter mirrors, I think, a deeper universal human wish that any one of us could make things better for all those in pain wherever, whenever, no matter how small the loss or large the sorrow."

"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God" (II Corinthians 1:3,4).

Israel, a nation...

“So there are some Believers in Israel, but Israel is there mainly in rank unbelief.

But it is still a nation, and if it is a pre-cursor, a foreshadowing...certainly before the Anti-Christ comes Israel has to be there as a nation."

(Lisa Leland) Still trying to link...but won't work : (

Sometimes it hurts. . .

"To the end He may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints." I Thess. 3:13

From friend Laura Wetherbee in Chicago.