Quote

Quote of the day from my niece Bethany, while talking to her grandma, after seeing a stray cat across the yard:

"Bethy can't pet that kitty cat, that kitty cat is very old, like you grandma."

[FYI: The twins talk about themselves in the 3rd person. I'm not sure if all kids do that. Kinda cute, but I would hope they grow out of it at some point...]

Following Christ

A friend sent me this excerpt from “New Way to Be Human” by Charlie Peacock:

Charlie speaking:

“Here’s what I’ve figured out for myself: My life is going to tell a
story whether I try to or not. It’s going to tell a story that says,
'This is what a follower of Jeus is , this is what he or she is
interested in, this is what he or she believes and trusts, this is what
he or she thinks is important.' Because this is going to happen and can’t
be stopped, I’d better make sure I know my role and my job description-a
student-follower of Jesus is a living explanation. As I go about living,
I will either make the teaching about God the Savior attractive, or I
won’t. It’s attractive on its own. I make it attractive to others by
living it out. My work should be to represent it accurately. This
doesn’t mean that my life will look just as his looked. That’s not even
possible. I’ll be doing well if I can, stepwise, become the kind of
person he’s teaching me to be.”

Tharseo

"Tharseo is an Ancient Greek word that means "Have Courage!" or "Be of Good Cheer!" or "Take Heart!" Jesus uses this term often after healing people and in John 16:33 (NIV): "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.""

Prayer

LCMS President's Statement about Virginia Tech

As I think about people asking "Where was God?", I can't help of a book I read stating the natural follow-up to this question is "Where are God's people?" May God and God's people be a light to those affected by this tragedy, and may they portray God's love and peace to those who are hurting. Keep them in your prayers.


This weekend, International Justice Mission is hosting a Global Prayer Gathering this weekend. IJM is an amazing Christian human rights agency consisting of professional lawyers, social workers, and investigators who seek to rescue people from horrendous injustices. Here are some resources and a prayer guide if you want to keep their mission in your prayers as well.

Temporary Shiite Marriage

I just read about a Shitte Muslim custom that really appalled me. It's called "mutaa", a temporary marriage contract for the sole purpose of having intimate relations, believed by Shiite Muslims to be sanctioned by Islamic law. Apparently it's becoming more widespread in Iraq, now that there is religious freedom, instead of Sadaam's Sunni-led control. Those who practice mutaa say these types of marriages are beneficial for reduce promiscuity among youth and help support widowed or divorced women. I don't understand how people justify these things. Washington Post article here.

Good Ol' Abe

Here are some words to ponder from Lincoln's speech when appointing a National Fast Day in March 1863:

It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentence will lead to mercy and pardon and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord. We know that by His divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world. May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end our national reformation as a whole people? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have daily imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

Scattered

"Jesus said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit come on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to all the ends of the earth." Acts 1:7-8

"On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria....Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went." Acts 8:1-4

We talked about these verses in Bible study this week, and the note in my study Bible really caught my attention. "Chapter 8 (where the church is persecuted and scattered) is the beginning of the fulfillment of the commission in 1:8 -- not by the church's plan, but by events beyond the believers' control."

How reassuring to be reminded that everything is in God's control. The church was scattered and persecuted, but thankfully the believers didn't give up. They continued preaching and spreading the message of Christ, regardless of their location or well-being. What passion and dedication!

Very Deep New Blog Post

I spent a lot of time pondering the other day, and came up with some deep thoughts I thought worthy of sharing on the blog:

"What do you get when you graduate from scuba diving school?...A deep-loma."


April Fools. Nothing deep here. Move along.