Thoughts on God and life from a Christian perspective
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Finally Master Yoda can fight someone closer to his own size!
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Mark Roberts reflects on his blog about how easy it is today to find and purchase music from the comfort of your own home, as opposed to the “old way” of going out and buying it in a store. He has some good thoughts on the convenience of technology as well as some of the dangers of instant gratification.
His post reminded me of the Herculean lengths I used to go to find music when I was younger. I spent hours browsing the secondhand record stores, searching for out-of-print treasures like People’s “I Love You” and Larry Norman’s “So Long Ago the Garden.” When my mother went to England to visit relatives, I pleaded with her to try and find the European version of Mark Heard’s “Fingerprint.”
When I was in college, I started listening to Canadian guitarist/songwriter Bruce Cockburn. His most recent material could be tracked down in the states, but you could only find his earlier records in Canada. So, while on a family vacation in northern New Hampshire one summer, I took an all day trek into Canada, stopping at every record store I could find buying up Bruce’s back catalogue. I remember coming back to our cabin in New Hampshire with my arms full of record albums I could not play because we had no record player in the cabin. All week long I studied the album jackets, reading the lyrics and the liner notes, wondering what the music was like. When I got home and put the records on the stereo, I was not disappointed.
I still have all of these treasures on vinyl LP. I eventually ended up re-buying them on CD. The vinyl records are sitting in a cardboard box in the storage closet down in the basement, while their CD counterparts sit proudly upstairs in the living room next to the entertaiment center. And now I could find any of these items online within minutes for either purchase or download.
I like and appreciate the convenience of the internet. I wouldn’t want to go back to the old way of purchasing music anymore than I would want to listen to records on vinyl instead of CD or MP3. But, I have to admit, it was a lot of fun hunting them down the old way. Those are good memories. I wouldn’t trade the internet for the old way, but I wouldn’t trade my memories for the internet either. I just might have to break open that box of vinyl in the basement later today and browse some more liner notes.
Related post: Media Access for the Next Generation
“Don’t expect faith to clear things up for you. It is trust, not certainty.” (Flannery O’Connor)
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
Okay, I don’t want to make this a Flannery O’Connor versus the book of Hebrews smackdown, because, as much as I like Flannery O’Connor, the book of Hebrews would win hands down. But I saw this quote by Flannery O’Connor earlier this week and immediately thought of Hebrews 11:1.
At first read, it might seem that the verse from Hebrews is contradicting Flannery, but perhaps Flannery is getting at something different in her quote. I have my own ideas on this, but I will let you all tackle this first.
What do you think? Is Flannery O’Connor’s quote out of line with Scripture? Or is she saying something different than Hebrews 11:1 is saying? (i.e. not contradictory, just different)
I know, you weren’t expecting to come to the blog today and have to think!
HT: Don Bryant
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a missionary Bible translator? I have always been fascinated with missionary organizations like Wycliffe and New Tribes Mission that focus on translating the Bible into the languages of unreached people groups. Missionaries go and live with the people, learn their language, put the language into writing, translate the Scriptures, and then teach the people how to read the Bible in their own language. It is an awesome task.
Wycliffe U.K has put together a set of interactive puzzles where you can actually try your skills at translating a foreign language.
A foreign language is just like a code that needs to be broken especially where you have no textbooks, trained teachers or linguaphone courses…
A new language may seem daunting but try and solve the puzzles - you’ll be surprised at what you can do!
Apart from aptitude, there are two qualities that are needed to learn another language: adequate time to learn, and the motivation. Obviously those can’t be tested here!
These puzzles though will give you a good idea of your aptitude. Even you don’t do particularly well at this, if the other two factors are in your favour then you’ll still be able to make some headway.
Looks like fun! If you do give this a try, come back to the comments here and let us know how you made out.
For those of you who enjoyed last week’s post on the Air Car, you may also find this article interesting. Retired TV station owner and broadcast engineer, John Kanzius, has discovered how to burn saltwater as fuel.
Kanzius was actually working on a way to treat cancer with radio-waves, when he discovered that his radio frequency generator could release the oxygen and hydrogen from saltwater, creating a high temperature flame. The heat generated is sufficient to run a car engine.
You can see the video of John’s invention being tested out by engineers at the APV Company Laboratory in Akron here. If this works, I guess there would no longer be a need to drill under the ocean for fuel.
HT: Instapundit
Click here for related post: The Air Car - A Car that Runs on Compressed Air
Big pig. Talk about bringing home the bacon! 11-year old Jamison Stone shot and killed what may be the biggest pig on record. The Alabama boy was hunting in the woods with his father on May 3 when he came upon the wild pig. The giant boar measured 9 feet 4 inches in length and weighed in at 1,051 pounds. That is even bigger than the famous 800-pound Hogzilla killed in Georgia back in 2004.
Found bees. Remember the vanishing bees story from last month? Well, it looks like they found some of them: in an attic, in a jet engine, and at a fundraiser.
Space trip. Do you want to take a trip into space? Virgin Galactic hopes to start testing it’s space passenger ship in 2008 and begin passenger flights in 2010. Can’t afford the $200,000 price tag? Not to worry. Virgin Galactic’s chief operating officer, Alex Tai, said the costs should drop to $100,000 or even lower in later years.
Here are some of the results from a January-February 2007 Lifeway Research study on American teens and Christian faith.
How to get to heaven:
Attendance/participation in church activities in the last 30 days:
Some results show a decline compared with an identical 2005 survey:
Age and gender differences:
As a pastor and parent of teens, I am concerned to see the confusion over how to get to heaven, the decline in areas of faith and participation, the radical drop in participation from older teens, and the lesser involvement of young men in church life. These should all be areas of concern, prayer, and action for churches in America.
HT: PastorBlog
Yesterday’s message was the sixth in the Doing Church Together series from the book of 1 Timothy. The message was called, Choosing Qualified Elders, taken from 1 Timothy 3:1-7.
1 Timothy 3:1-7 - Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap. (NIV)
The main idea of the message was that we should choose qualified elders to lead the church. Here is a brief recap of the message:
If someone wants to be an elder, Paul says they desire a good thing. But not everyone can be an elder. The oversight of God’s church is a significant responsibility, and there are certain qualifications a person must meet in order to be an elder. So what are they? Paul gives us five basic qualifications in this passage.
1) An elder must be a man of godly character. (verses 2-3)
We find a whole list of character traits in verses 2-3. These are traits that should be present in every Christian’s life. Not everyone is called to be an elder, but everyone is called to godly Christian character. Elders do not have a higher calling in these areas, just a higher accountability. You are not disqualified from being a Christian if you struggle with any of these areas. But you would be disqualified from being an elder. Now an elder does not have to be perfect in all these areas to be an elder. If you had to be perfect, then we wouldn’t have any elders! But an elder should have recognized spiritual growth and maturity in each of these areas before he may serve as an elder.
2) An elder must be able to teach. (end of verse 2)
What kind of teaching must the elder be able to do? Titus 1:9 says the elder must “encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” The elder must be able to teach the Word of God and at the same time guard the church against false teachers and false doctrine. This is one of the things that distinguishes the elder from the deacon. The elder’s function is to provide biblically based oversight and teaching for the local church body.
3) An elder must manage his own family well. (verses 4-5)
The family is one of the testing grounds for an elder’s ability to lead the church. This is part of the resume that a prospective elder brings to the job. What do you look for in an elder’s home? You look for the following things. Does he manage his family well? Does he exercise godly leadership in the home? Do his children respect and obey him? If a man’s family is out of order, he should not serve as an elder. If he can’t take care of his family, how can he take care of God’s church?
4) An elder must not be a recent convert. (verse 6)
The word translated “recent convert” here means “newly planted or newly sprung up.” Someone who has just come to faith often has a lot of enthusiasm and excitement for the Lord. That is great! But it should not be mistaken for spiritual maturity. If you put someone into leadership too quickly, they may not be mature enough to handle it. They may become puffed up with pride. Pride was the devil’s downfall, and it has been the downfall of many a leader as well. We should be discipling new believers, not throwing them into leadership. Give them time to mature and to learn God’s Word and to grow in their understanding of God’s grace in their lives. Then see if they are qualified to be elders.
5) An elder must have a good reputation with outsiders. (verse 7)
The church’s reputation rises or falls with the reputation of its leadership. An elder ministers to the flock, but he represents the church to the outside world. If he does not have a good reputation in the community, he should not serve as an elder. His bad reputation will become the church’s bad reputation. The devil would like nothing more than to discredit the church through its leaders, because he knows it is one of the most effective ways to keep people from coming to Christ.
If you aspire to leadership in the church, you desire a good thing. The qualities required of an elder are qualities that all of us should strive for, whether we ever serve as elders in the church or not. A church is only as strong as its leadership. Therefore, a church should choose its leadership wisely and carefully.
Note: To read the complete message, go to the Sermons tab at the top of the blog.
As a fellow pastor, I got a chuckle out of Mark Roberts’ blog this morning. He mentions going to the Open House at his daughter’s school last night and seeing an oversized “No Whining” badge hanging on the wall.
How great! I wish I had a few of these, both to wear and to hand out to others. Yes, sometimes even I need to be reminded not to whine.
But now I’ve got to stop blogging and get back to finishing my sermon for this weekend. I always have to do a sermon. My church maaaakes me. It isn’t fair. Nobody else at church has to do a serrrmon. And they want a good one too. Every week. Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!
Okay pastors, you’ve heard your word for today. Quit your whining and get back to your sermons - and I’ll get back to mine!
(Part 25 in a series of posts on Habakkuk.)
We have reached the end of our journey together through the book of Habakkuk. In many ways Habakkuk’s journey mirrors our own journey through life. We saw that Habakkuk began his journey with a lot of questions. “Does God care? Is God fair? Is God there?” But instead of running away from God with his questions, Habakkuk kept bringing his questions to God, and finding the answers that he needed. Habakkuk began his journey in the valley of doubt and fear, and ended his journey scaling the heights with God in freedom and faith.
It is a beautiful journey, and one that is open to all who will come honestly to God with their questions, and seek him with all of their heart. God promises in Jeremiah 29:13: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” So wherever you may be in your own personal journey from doubt to faith, let me encourage you, keep seeking God. Keep coming to him with your doubts and with your questions.
And I pray that God will also lead you to a place where you will learn to trust him no matter what, where you may run along the heights in God’s presence with the feet of a deer. May God help us to learn the beautiful lessons that he has recorded for us in the book of Habakkuk.
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I hope you have enjoyed this blogging series through the book of Habakkuk. I have posted the accompanying sermon series under the Sermons page if you would like access to the complete messages.
I would also be interested in your feedback on this series. What have you learned from the book of Habakkuk, and how has studying this book helped you in your life? Was it helpful to blog through the book a little bit at a time? Would it have been more helpful just to have the sermons posted and to read through them? Which would you have been more likely to read – the sermons off the sermons page or the daily blog installments? Did you read the posts regularly, or did you find that these were ones you tended to skip over? Thanks for your comments in advance! It will help me as I plan future series for the blog.
Here are the links to the whole Blogging with Habakkuk series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25.
In the search for a viable alternative to gasoline-only driven cars, research has so far focused on ethanol, electricity, hybrids, and hydrogen. Now you can add yet another alternative to the mix. Check out the Air Car, the world’s first car that uses compressed air to push its engine’s pistons and produces zero, that’s right, zero emissions.
The Air Car has a range of 125 miles and can go up to speeds of 68 mph. Not bad considering you can fill up the tank in minutes with compressed air for only $2. Or you can plug your car in overnight and let the car’s built-in air compressors refill the tank in about 4 hours.
The Air Car was developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre for Luxembourg-based MDI. It is currently in production and 6000 units should be availabe in India by next summer.
HT: Instapundit
Click here for related post: How Would You Like to Run Your Car on Saltwater?
(Part 24 in a series of posts on Habakkuk.)
Habakkuk 3:19
How do you exercise faith in God even in the worst of times?
1) Wait patiently for God even when you are afraid. (verse 16)
2) Choose to rejoice in God even when everything in life goes wrong. (verses 17-18)
3) Find strength in God to scale the heights even when you are down. (verse 19)
Look at verse 19: “The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.” Habakkuk had learned to find his strength in God, not in his own resources or ability. Habakkuk was about to go through some rough times. The thought of it scared him so much that his heart pounded and his legs trembled beneath him. Yet as he rejoiced in God in the midst of difficult circumstances, he found new strength from God to deal with the trial ahead.
What is this strength like that God gives you? Habakkuk said, “God makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to go on the heights.” Habakkuk paints the picture of a female deer running on the heights of the mountains, steady and surefooted, uninhibited and unafraid, full of freedom and confidence as she scales the heights. Do you long to enter the higher places with God? Then find your strength in him alone. Trust God to lift you up when you are down.
There is an old devotional book based on this final verse in Habakkuk written by Hannah Hurnard called Hinds’ Feet on High Places. The word “hind” is an old English word for a female deer, so it refers to the feet of the deer on the heights. Hinds’ Feet on High Places is written as an allegory, similar to John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progess. It tells the story of a girl named Much-Afraid and her own journey from doubt to faith. Her story begins as she leaves the Valley of Fear. It is all she has ever known, but in faith she embarks on a new journey. Her path is marked by much sorrow and suffering along the way, but through it all she learns to depend on God and to find her strength in him alone. And as she learns to trust God no matter what, he leads her to the higher places of fellowship with him that she has always longed for.
How do you exercise faith during the worst of times? Wait patiently for the Lord even when you are afraid. Choose to rejoice in God even when everything in life goes wrong. Find strength in God to scale the heights even when you are down.
(Looking ahead: Tomorrow we will wrap up the Blogging with Habakkuk series with one final post.)
Here are the links to the whole Blogging with Habakkuk series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25.
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