Marriage is weird

What was God thinking? "Let's put a sinful man and a sinful woman in this thing called marriage and see what happens".

Gary Thomas wrote Sacred Marriage: What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy? Well that first sounds like a stupid question. Isn't marriage supposed to make me happy? Sure it is, but it is a byproduct not a prime product.

I've heard people say before that God uses our spouses as His heavenly sandpaper. Are you timid and soft spoken? My wife was. Who'd she marry? A talkative loud person. Ah! God knew she needed some bloomage. Have a tendency toward laziness or procrastination? I do. Who'd I marry? A highly motivated and punctual person. Ah! God knew what I was lacking and brought me a wife who can help mold me.

Sowing Seeds

Step 1: Put one compressed peat moss disk at the bottom of each plastic pot. Cover each with 2 teaspoons of water. Allow at least 5 minutes for the disk to absorb the water.

Step 2: Sow 4-6 seeds into each plastic pot (2 pots for basil, 2 pots for parsley, and 2 pots for chives). Cover the seeds with the moss.

Step 3: Place in a bright sunny spot. Spritz with a spray bottle daily, do not over water. Rotate bin daily so they sprout up straight.

Day 2: The sprout in the upper right pot is our basil!

My Snapshots

Good morning mister bluejay.


Small hidden flowers.


Tall purple flowers.


Little berries look like miniature bushels of pumpkins or tomatoes.

Fun Photos

Recently Kyle and I were at Walgreens. I love fall and this bowl filled me with fond thoughts of the upcoming season. The lights added a special touch. Plus, Walgreens was time that Kyle and I got to spend together being creative.
Two days ago I lit those candles again. I heard a sputtering and looked to see what happened. When the wax in the center got all used, the candle got a hole in it and filled with water. No worries about the candles lighting anything on fire, they put themselves out:)

It is getting darker here sooner. A while ago we went on a long walk. This was the view we had as we rounded one of the corners.

Isn't is amazing how all things can be used for play?

Reverend Elms' Bible

I mom sent me my great grandpa's Bible, Rev. W. L. Elms. Many pages are tattered and its binding loose from many years of use. I took it to church today and found notes spread throughout it in his handwriting. I also found a humorous business card in it. I guess that businesses back then didn't think it would hurt their business if they had anything spiritual on their business cards. Now a days it is a dilemma deciding whether or not to put an ichthys on one.



You can really tell it is dated because the speed limits are so low. I think we'd have to increase the mph up 10 to make it modern.

The Long Awaited Hair Cut!!!

Two years ago around this time I cut 10 inches of hair and donated it to Locks of Love. I had Kyle cut it again that November, however due to my response as he cut it exactly where I asked him to, he declined my request to cut it again. Let's just say it was shorter than I expected. So, I went in search of a brave hair dresser who wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg. You see, I've never paid for a hair cut before. I've always had family or friends cut my hair. Since we moved, I searched high and low (after my sister's wedding of course... I wasn't going to do a major overhaul on my hair right before the big day) and I found the perfect one to do my hair. A good friend of mine has a daughter going to beauty school. I offered to let her cut my hair and pay her $20. She'd get to practice on a real person, and I wouldn't be paying out the nose for a hair cut.
Before:

After:



Kyle and I love my hair! Plus, I got to share with tons of people that I did it for Locks of Love. I had a friend thank me, because she has a friend who is in chemo and she appreciated that I'd donate my hair.

Red Flag!

While reading "The Sermon not the Mount" by Dale C. Allison, I came across something that did not settle well with me.

"Perhaps the best thing to do here is to recognize the humanity of our text. We have gotten used to the fact, established by the historical-critical method, that the Bible is not a coherent whole but a collection of diverse documents by various authors with different opinions on a multitude of subjects." (pg. 70)

I began wondering what Allison was getting it. What did he mean? Three questions came to mind.

1) Is Allison using "humanity" referring to the authorship of its books or is he denying the belief of divine inspiration?

2)What is this "historical-critical method" he refers to but does not explain?

3)Is not the Bible inerrant? How does Allison propose that it is not “coherent”?

I googled "historical-critical method". I found an essay written by a Harold S. Martin titled The Bible’s Deadly Ememy: The Historical Critical Method of Interpretation. (http://www.brfwitness.org/Articles/1993v28n1b.htm) I am not holding his essay as a define-all but his idea of what this method is and does was shocking and quite disturbing.

Here is an excerpt from Martin’s essay.

Some of the primary assumptions held by most scholars who use the historical-critical approach to Bible interpretation are these:

1) The books of the Bible may not have been written by the persons to whom tradition (or the Bible text itself) assigns them.

2) Certain passages in the Bible could have been interpolated (altered or corrupted) by someone other than the author.

3) Some statements ascribed to Jesus may be the writer's idea of what Jesus might have said, rather than a record of His actual literal words.

4) A number of Scriptural statements are the result of cultural conditioning, rather than a definite word from God.

5) The Bible is the result of an evolutionary process; early Christians used pre-scientific depictions of reality in formulating their beliefs, and so today one must use critical reason to decide what is reality in the Bible and what cannot be reality. (To scholars this process is known as "demythologization.")

If you'd like to look into this term demythologization, then the person who you'll need to look at is a historical critical theologian by the name of Rudolf Bultmann.

In conclusion to the five presuppositions which Martin provides he writes, “The presuppositions of the historical-critic lead to devastating results. Instead of objectivity, there is almost unrestrained subjectivity. Final authority regarding what is true, according to the historical-critics, is determined by the trained, informed, critical intellect. And so Scripture is subordinated to human reason. The historical-critical method humanizes the Bible and downgrades the concept of divine authorship. The method is frequently used to radically change the traditional understanding of Bible truth.”

If final authority is dependent on human reason then we as finite beings are putting a question mark where God intended there to be a period. We are bringing God down and lifting humankind up in a form of humanistic gnosticism. I stand convicted that the Bible is the Word of God. Its authority is not dependent on whether or not we believe it to contain authority.

Double Meaning Words

'nuff said.

Joni Eareckson

My class is reading the story The Waterfall this week.  We were talking about diving into pools of water from the height of waterfalls.  The discussion was great and I was able to share tidbits of what I know about Joni Eareckson, a lady I learned about when I was a kid.  She became a quadriplegic in a diving accident.  The kids were fascinated with the story and how she would get around.  I found some photos.  One had her and Nic V., a guy living for God that was born with no arms or legs.  While looking for more info. I found this blog that shares a semi-recent account of Joni's passion for God despite being paralyzed for 38 years now.  Check it out http:/www.eucatastrophe.com/blog/archives/2005/10/11/i-saw-joni-dance-by-sam-storms/

Click on the word photo to see what I was able to show my kids.  You can look in the gallery to see other pictures that inspired my kids.   Since I've seen the movie about Nic, so I was able to share that he can throw a ball, cook, type, and swim!!!  

How to Be a Spy

Below is a list of thirteen steps on how to become a spy.

1. Learn to read lips if the enemy is far away. If you do this you might want to have a pair of binoculars handy. (you can do this by watching a DVD on mute with the subtitles on to get used to the mouth shapes. Then turn the subtitles off and see if you can interpret what the characters are saying)
2. Know the people your spying on.
3. Learn to read and write in multiple languages and styles of communication; learn to understand body language.
4. Get the hardware and software of the pros. Spy and Surveillance gadgets are essential to the job.
5. Blend in. If you want to spy, you should blend in with crowds and communities. Seem like you belong. If you're spying on a location, have a good reason to be there. Wear jeans and shirt. Mix smart with casual. Or create a character, like gardener or librarian.
6. Gather intelligence; it's good to have satellite maps of the area. Take the weeks before your official "mission" to casually scout the area, learn the common routes, and get people used to seeing you. (This is where your good reason to be around comes in handy, and this will help you blend in further.)
7. Learn the habits of anyone you're spying upon. Don't be nervous or react if they see you. Don't let them notice that you are looking at them or following them.
8. Alter your daily routine each day as so any person following you cannot pick it up.
9. It's good to have more than one spy to observe the area and watch your back.
10. Be aware of your surroundings at all times. Learn to think on your feet and be resourceful. Try to practice new, useful ways to use items you carry with you, or replace them with other ones that cover a broader range of useful functionality.
11. Include in your team a team captain, security guard, some one that does the spying and a backup person.
12. Train yourself and your team.
13. Always have a bag with essentials packed up around so in case of emergency is ready to take. Include a type of survival kit, all weather clothing, form of communication, for example, a phone, a note pad to write down any info you and your team find and a source of entertainment - maybe some cards.

SOAP Deut. 30:19-20

S: "I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them. " Deut. 30:19-20

O: There are several places God commands us to love Him with everything in us.  Deut. 30:6 says, "And the LORD your God will circumcise our heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live."

A: The word circumcise in verse 6 reminds me of what Jesus said in John 15:2, "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit."

God is in the molding business.  Like it says in Isaiah 64:8,

"But now, O Lord,

 You are our Father;

 We are the clay, and You our potter;

 And all we are the work of Your hand."

P: Lord, 

I thank you for not leaving us in the muck and mire we create.  I thank you for molding and shaping our hearts to seek Your kingdom.  Please help us to not grow weary, for this process is not always easy to bear.

In Jesus's Name,

Amen

One Way

John 10:27-29

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.

Picture Time

Sir Isaac

Sir Issac will soon be celebrating one year of living with us. He used to go though 10 or more crickets a week. Now he goes though maybe 10 a month. The pet store says he has entered his mature stage. Whereas while a juvenile he ate lots and moved lots, he eats little and moves little. He used to spend most of his time out of the water. Then he began soaking his rear end in the water for a good portion of the day. Now he spends maybe 90% of his time in the water. The line where the red on his belly meets the black skin used to be very crisp. Now that line blurs in spots and is an orange color.

Parallels of Twitterpation

We have been working with the youth group for a number of weeks now. It is humorous to watch them interact with one another, especially when in mixed groups. Perhaps I notice these things because my system is not being bombarded with hormones like theirs. There are a few boys in particular that are entirely clueless that half the girl population drools at the sound of their name and break out into giggle fits when they happen to make eye contact with them. There are girls that are able to interact with the boys which the shy girls envy but act as though they don’t. Many conversations are about whom likes whom, liked whom, talked to whom, and/or smiled at whom.

This week began my third semester at Fresno Pacific. It is very humorous to watch the parallels between the youth I interact with and the adults I have class with. I am so glad that I am married to my wonderful wife. I know she loves me and I love her. I don’t have to try to impress her although I haven’t given up on showering regularly and occasionally combing my hair. All this week I’ve watched my classmates be overly conscience about their clothes, hair, and accessories. Men are just as concerned about these things as women are. Especially on a campus which has a 4 to 1 women to men ratio.

As I sat waiting for one of my classes to begin, I people watched. It is funny what being twitterpatted does to the inhibitions. A great example was a pair of friends that sat adjacent to me. One was getting her pen and notepad out while the other one finished texting on her cell. The girl texting was interrupted by movement in front of her and happened to look up as a guy entered the room. Without thinking she said aloud, “He is cute!” I was surprised by the outburst and couldn’t help as a smile slid across my face. Her friend saw that I had heard and seen what had happened. Periodically throughout the rest of the class I’d make eye contact with the girls and nod towards the guy or whisper, “He is looking this way”. This made for great entertainment.