Blaise Pascal's Journal Entry....

Blaise Pascal, founder of projective geometry, devisor of the first calculating machine, discoverer of atmospheric physics, inventor of the barometer and the hydraulic press, became a man desperate for God and his truth. He turned to the Bible, and during the night of November 23, 1654, God came very near to him, and he wrote down on a piece of paper his impression of those hours:

In the year of Grace 1654 
On Monday, 23rd of November 
From about half past ten in the evening until about half past twelve FIRE 
God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of the philosophers and scholars. 
Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy. Peace. 
My God . . . 
Forgetfulness of the world and of everything, except God. 
He is to be found only by the ways taught in the Gospel . . . 
Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy . . . 
Jesus Christ. 
Jesus Christ. 
I have fallen away. I have fled from Him . . . 
We keep hold of Him only by the ways taught in the Gospel . . Total submission to Jesus Christ . . . 
Eternally in joy . . . 
I will not forget Your word. Amen.

Hope in Christ.....

I'm sure by now many of you have read the story about the airline attendant who lost it and opened the hatch and ran off the plane. What made him snap? He must have known the consequences of his behavior. Why would he throw away a good job like that over a silly argument with a passenger? But the question I have is why more people just don't snap like him?

I often imagine what my would have been like if I didn't have hope in Christ. What would I be living for if I didn't have hope in the coming King? I'm sure like the rest of the world I will do my best to block that out and just fix my hope on immediate gratifications. I imagine I would be dreaming about the next vacation to this or that place. I would be thinking about how I was going to fill my weekends so I would feel like I am doing something worthwhile with my life. The latest gadgets always seem to brighten up people's lives for a short while. But in the big scheme of things what would get me out of bed every morning other than sheer habit and necessity to pay my bills and continue "living". Why am I here? For what reason do I endure life when things start to unravel? The fact that the world continues to plug along without ever coming anywhere closer to answering this fundamental questions for existence is a mystery to me. You would think that after thousands of years of philosophizing about life and also thousands of years of scientific inquiry that the world would be at least a little closer to answering that question. What a depressing thought, to not know why you need to get up each day. How would I have adjusted if Christ did not open my eyes in 1983? What vacation spot, what weekend activity, what gadget or sports team would have filled that gnawing voice in me for my reason to live?

1 Tim 4:10

For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

LIfe Saved....

I saved a life this morning. It was a tiny little bug that was squirming around my bathroom. Normally I wouldn't have thought twice about squashing it. I have been training my boys, even little Isaiah, not to be afraid of bugs and just stomp on it. This is what men do!

But today I was watching the little bug in our bathroom. He began to squirm as soon as I turned the light on as if he knew what was coming next. I watched him wiggle around to find a safe place but he was moving a millimeter per every 5 seconds. He had no chance. My first thought was to pick something up that I can smash it with. But as I began to watch that hideous looking thing squirm I began to wonder what sin looks like in God's eyes. To someone so pure and perfect every imperfection, every rebellion must seem so grotesque. What prompted Him to not crush us? What moved Him to send His only begotten Son to not squash the sinner but to squash the sin in us? Then I had a thought. Maybe I'll let this one go today. I'll save his life and place him outside of my house instead. I began to look for a piece of paper to pick it up but couldn't find anything. So the next thought was, "this is silly, I should just squash him". I wrestled to force myself to not squash him at that moment. Why not? It's just a bug. Who would call me cruel or unjust if I squashed this thing. Who would say that I'm gentle and loving if I didn't squash him and placed him outside. What did it matter one way or another. It was just a bug. In other words, I wasted a minute of my life because of this dumb, grotesque looking creature. I finally found something to pick it up with and then proceeded to place it outside. It had no idea what just happened, the thoughts that went through my mind that lead to his life being spared. All it knows is that it did not die today.

His love is amazing. WHY?? Why did He look on us with compassion? Why did He plan to inflict His Son to save us? What thoughts went through His mind that would cause Him to do such a thing? I may never fully understand His thoughts but I do understand that I live today. I live because He chose not to crush me. He sent His son as the blood sacrifice for my sins and sprinkled me clean. He is the high priest where I find my refuge. He is the curtain that lead me to the throne of grace. He is my Savior and closest confidant. He is beyond words....

Nothing lasts forever?

The younger a person is the easier it is to impress them. A child will be impressed with a simple card trick but to impress an average adult it would have to be something really amazing. But no matter how amazing something is at one point it eventually loses it's luster. A new car eventually will experience it's first ding or it's first scratch and the new car smell will eventually fade to other odors. After over 42 years of being wowed by various things and all of them eventually fading into the old category its much harder to get truly amazed by anything now. When I talk to younger people they always seem to be excited about something whether it's a new movie or a new relationship or a new place they are traveling to. You rarely hear that kind of excitement about anything when you are chatting with older people. It's usually "been there and done that" type of attitude. There is always more energy with youth because they are more easily excited about everything.

I don't mean to depress you but everything eventually fades. EVERYTHING. No one stays young and youthful forever. Now that a bigger portion of our church is moving into their 30s the energy level definitely is not the same. The church is harder to mobilize because it's harder to get people excited about anything.

All this only reminds me further of the constancy of our Father. I woke up thinking about the sun and how it didn't burn out again. As I write this I am aware that "something" or "someone" is keeping this earth at a constant distance from the son/sun so that we don't burn out. There is a perfect amount of oxygen around me to sustain my lungs all day today. But the most amazing thing is the constancy of God's love for me. I am more and more amazed by the consistency of our God. He amazes me. He is truly praise worthy.

Kingdoms in Conflict

As most of you already know, Prop 8 has been declared unconstitutional by the courts. It's in the appeals process so the fate of this is up in the air. Most likely it will end up in the Supreme Court and the whole country will have to wait to see what the final judgment will be.

Though the prospect of having homosexual marriages legalized and the ramifications this decision may have on our schools, work places and even our churches is unsettling, we should not be more alarmed than we should have been before. Which sin is worse, homosexuality or worldliness or bigotry or idolatry or apathy or believing and preaching false doctrines or......................

We are not alarmed when we see idolatry in our own hearts or worldliness and apathy in our churches and yet when we see sin being embraced by a world who has publicly rejected Christ we ought not be surprised and caught off guard. I am concerned for my children sending them back to public school and what they will be exposed to there. But I am equally concerned that they will grow up to embrace a nominal faith holding to a form of godliness and yet know nothing of its powers.

Jesus said that His kingdom is not of this world. If it was He would not have given Himself to sinners to be crucified. He could have easily summoned legions of His angels to fight for the control of this condemned world. Instead He calls His church to be the light and to call the world through the preaching of the "foolishness" of the cross to another kingdom. A kingdom which president does not change every four years. A kingdom whose king is perfect and immutable. A kingdom that will not fade or change with time. A kingdom where the perfect law will be ruled by a perfect judge with a perfect advocate standing as our perfect mediator.

We should be good citizens of Rome but never forget that our true citizenship is somewhere else. Soli Deo Gloria!!!!