Trying Not To Be A Grinch

Okay, so I decided to write a Christmas blog. I wasn't going to because I didn't want to reveal the grinch side of me. Don't get me wrong I love Christmas. I love giving my kids and grandkids gifts and watching their eyes light up when they get something totally unexpected. Umm underwear is expected. What frustrates me is, that Christmas has to be centered around money. I realize that is when the retailers do the bulk of their business. I have the radio on all night long at work. Do you know how hard it is to find a radio station that doesn't play 24 hours of Christmas music starting the day after Thanksgiving? By the time Christmas rolls around I just want to break the silent night with the loudest scream I can muster. Fortunately I found an oldies station that didn't inflict that torture. On Christmas eve however I did get to hear "The 12 Days of Christmas" by the Muppets, and by the Mackenzie Brothers, so that was fun. Got me back in the mood a little bit. Then, today I read a post from a blog I follow,"A Personal Tao Musings." I've quoted him in the past. Once again he has given me inspiration. He has written how I feel without venting and revealing Mr. Grinch. He started out by saying what we all know but seldom do, that is, we need to live life fully everyday. The whole blog was good, but he had the greatest statement toward the end of the post. He said he loves it when people say "What Would Jesus Do? Well, What would Jesus do if He saw the way we celebrate His Holiday?" I guess that is how I feel. I'm also aware that some people don't make it a "Religious" holiday but, we can all slow down and reflect on the things that are truly meaningful to us. Thanks for letting me vent, Paul

Abbreviations Instead Of Conversations

Long before texting and Twitter the military found it was easier and faster to abbreviate to get a message out. All of a sudden the civilian caught on to this, we call bands by their initials even though they have names, we eat at BK, and I just can't bring myself to say KFC, to me it will always be Kentucky Fried Chicken. But in the last few months I've been told I need to become a part of the new millinium. Well, I have decided to. In a post back in October we talked about kindness. I'd like to expand on that. Although in that post, kindness was more of a balanced lifestyle, and being respectfull. Here, I'd like to remind everyone that there are acts of kindness. I haven't heard the term for some time but remember when the term "Random Acts Of Kindness" was floating around? I'd like to suggest we modernize these acts and simply call them RAK's. As a matter of fact this would be a good time of year to practice these RAK's. Helping people out to their car with their packages, even not being crabby in all the madness would be nice, but use your imagination. What would really be nice, if you see someone perfoming a RAK, let them know, lets encourage one another. Tell them "Hey, nice RAK." Be encouraging but cautious, using abbreviations could get you in trouble some day.

Thursdays Child Discovering The Tao

Since Thursdays Child is about growth, lets look at not only growing in our Christian development but also in our acceptance of other cultures . Growing up in the south in the 60's and 70's there were many opportunities to give in to peer pressure and become a part of the predjudice that was so rampant back then. Fortunately I was raised that people are people no matter what color, culture, or religion. That's why I don't understand why people dislike other people, or treat them wrong just because of the way they look. This really bugs me when people who are suppose to be Christians act this way. That's why I want to shed some light on at least a part of the chinese culture. One of their ancient text is the Tao Te Ching, Tao as we've said before means "Way" or "The Way," Te translates to Virtue or Character, and Ching means Canon or Great Book. So, put together Tao Te Ching translates to The Great Book of The Way Of Virtue. Alot of it reads like Proverbs in the Bible, or Zen teachings. But some of it like I mentioned before reads like you plug in the word God for the word Tao. Verse 4 is an example.
The version I'm quoting is a very modern day english version by Ron Hogan.

How much Tao is there, more than you'll ever need.
Use all you want, there is more where that came from.
You can't see Tao, but it's there.
I don't know where it came from, it has just always been around.

Isn't that the classic question? I don't know of any person who has been taught about God that hasn't asked:
"Where did God come from?"
And the standard answer, "He's just always been around."
Question: "If He created everything who created Him?"
Then, the answer that has always bugged me.
"We don't know, we just have to have faith that that is the way it has always been."
Sadly, I don't have a better answer. But, do we really need one? Why not have faith in a creator? We put our faith in humans and they let us down. Why not have faith in someone who won't.
Like I said at the beginning, this is a text where another culture gets their belief from, just like we get ours from the Bible. I hope this helps to understand their culture. We'll look at other verses later. Thanks for searching with me, Paul

Comparing Strengths

Today I want to immediately follow up with a comparison to Contentment=Thankfullness.
Verse 23 in the Tao Te Ching it says:

When you have nothing to say
You may as well keep your mouth shut
The wind and the rain don't go on forever
If nature knows enough to give it a rest
So should we.

If you're ready for Tao, you can live with Tao
If you're ready for success, you can live with success
If you're ready for failure, you can live with failure
Trust your instincts, and others will trust you

When I read the first paragraph it dawned on me how many conflicts could be avoided if we would all practice this. But, nobody wants to be wrong, nobody wants to concede and show weakness, and everybody wants to have the last word.
The second paragraph is the one I felt was similar. This is a Chinese teaching, and in many of the verses you could substitute the word God for the word Tao and it would read right. So, let's just look at it that way for a minute. Are you ready for God, then you can live with God. Isn't that so true. Noone really ever comes to God until they're ready. It's at that time when they are ready to live their life for God. Now to look at the strength similarities. Are you ready for success or failure. If we accept failure we just give up. If we decide to succeed then we fight, we find that strength. When we accept the fact that we are not going to give up, no matter how over whelming our circumstances may be, the reason to succeed is more important. I feel this verse is telling you to ask yourself what is more important to you . It's all a learning experience, and while we're learning we're searching. Thanks for searching with me, Paul

Thursdays Child Contentment = Thankfullness

I remember when I was growing up and I wanted to have the latest fad or clothes, some of the time I got it, some of the time I was told "You don't want to be like everyone else do you?" I am thankful for that lesson. That's not really the topic of this Thursdays Child, that's just a thankful freebie I threw in. I struggled with the idea of doing a "Thankful" topic for today, because I figured that's what everyone is writing about. As I went about my day on Wednesday however, I became more and more aware of Philippians 4. As we go through life we encounter a variety of circumstances, many enjoyable, many not. If we allow them to, the adverse circumstances could leave us angry and bitter. As Paul says in verse 11, Paul the Apostle that is, whether we have need or abundance we can learn to be content in all circumstances. In verse 13 he says "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." When I think about going from being married and sharing marital duties to being single again and having to take care of everything, it can be quite overwhelming. But, at the end of the day when everything is done I realized that I learned an important lesson God's strength, and contentment, and that in turn made me realize that I am thankful, for my kids, grandkids, and yes, even my kids' mothers, because without them, I obviously wouldn't have the kids or the grandkids. So, if your circumstances seem so overwhelming, take a moment today to search for that strength find the positive things in your life, and all the things you have to be thankful for. Then I believe you to will find contentment. Thanks for searching with me, Paul

Thursdays Child John 1: 40-51

Well, It looks like we're going to have another edition of Thursdays Child on Monday. I started blogging because on an overnight shift there has usually been time to get something written, especially in the fall. Well this hasn't been a typical fall because it seems like it has been a long time since I've been able to write at work. Maybe we're back to normal.
First of all what I find interesting in this passage is, John describes Andrew as Simon Peter's brother, like we already know how important he is going to be, then tells us he went to get him. An interesting note I heard once about Andrew is that you don't hear much about him but the times that you do he is bringing someone to Jesus. Here's something that I found weird. Verse 43 tells us the next day Jesus decides to go to Galilee. Back in verse 28 it tells us that all this stuff is taking place in Bethany. According to the maps in the back of my Bible, oh that's why they're there, that's approximately 100 miles. Now, it doesn't say He made it in a day but it doesn't say He didn't, but once He got there He found Philip and told Philip to follow him, who in turn went to find Nathanael. When he found him he told him they had found the person Moses and the other prophets had written about. His name is Jesus, Joseph's son from Nazareth. Nathanael said "can anything good come out of Nazareth?" I'm going to have to do some research and find out why Nazareth was looked down on. Or if someone knows you can leave a comment.
As they got close to Jesus, Jesus described Nathanael. Nathanael asked him how he knew that. Jesus said He had seen him under the fig tree. Nathanael knew Jesus hadn't been around when he was under the fig tree. As I was reading this I imagined the following dialogue going something like this, Nathanael says "whoa you really are the son of God" and Jesus says, "you believe that just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You ain't seen nothin' yet. You're all going to see heaven open up and the angels of God going up and down on me." Needless to say Nathanael followed. I encourage you to read the Bible in a way that it will speak to you, like how I imagined this dialogue in a humorous way. Anything we can do to make Jesus more personal helps, so He doesn't seem so distant and ominous. Keep searching for your way. Thanks for searching with me, Paul

Final Observation

1 more observation, see other weekly observations below.
You know it's hot in your apartment when the chocolate on back of your fudge striped cookies smears on your fingers and it is 1:20am and you haven't had the oven on or done any cooking since lunch. Better go, more observations start at 6:30 am

Observations From The Week

It is now after midnight Friday night, I was transitioning from day sleeping to night sleeping yesterday (Thursday). Sat down Thursday night about 10:30 to get out a Thursdays Child while it was still Thursday, laid on the floor to get my thoughts in order. Needless to say I woke up at 2 in the morning and went to bed. So here are some interesting observations from the week.
11 year old... Attitude, need I say more.
11 year old turns off attitude, turns on "big brother" to comfort "little sister."
3 year old "little sister" discovers when dad's patience with her is wearing thin, that is the optimum time to give dad a "Daddy...I Looove Yooouu."
Dad: Sighs, kisses, I love You too now get to sleep.
4 year old can he ever be serious? Oh yeah. When nooone is letting him talk. But for the most part goes with the flow, sees fun in everything especially tormenting "little sister."
But the weirdest so far for the week was:
5 year old says: "Dad have you ever thought of blowing someones head off with a rocket launcher?"
Dad: "No I can't say that I ever have"
5 year old: "Oh."
Dad: "What made you think of it?"
5 year old: "Oh, I don't know."
Dad: "Oh"
Where do they come up with this stuff?
Maybe we'll do a special edition of Thursdays Child for 5 year old.
Thanks for discovering with me, Paul

AAHHH! Halloween in South Dakota. Although it was a nice 55 degrees at prime trick or treating time, that's way better than the 30 degree highs and snow we had earlier in the week.

For the past 2 years they have had the choice, costumes and trick or treat or this. This year we were able to do 2 days of getting waterlogged. Guess who the clown of the bunch is.

I hope everyone had a warm and safe Halloween, Paul

Journalists or Lynch Mob

It isn't very often I find political topics worth mentioning, because I feel like, God is in control, prophecy is going to be fulfilled, and as get closer and closer to the "end times" the world is suppose to become more wicked. That includes the United States. As we all vote our conscience we can see that happening. Having said that, I will post things I see that have to do with maintaining balance. I saw this article Saturday night and just had to share it in case you missed it. It has to do with Rush Limbaugh reporting a story about President Obama. Is Rush Limbaugh considered a journalist, or just someone who has a radio show and gives his opinion on things? I used to listen to Rush, and liked it when he stuck to the facts. When he tells what is happening in Washington, what all the political parties are doing, and how the various members of congress are voting, I found him to be pretty informative. Enough I felt to be able to make an informed decision on how I would vote. But, after listening to him for some time I got tired of hearing him constantly attack people. It seems like members of each party are always looking for the opportunity to hurt the other. Fortunately, sometimes it backfires on them. That's where the balance comes in. That's what the article is about. Click on the link and check it out. If you're a diehard Rush fan you won't find this near as funny as I did. Thanks, Paul
http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/93122

Spontaneous Human Combustion Declining

The other day I was listening to Zac Brown Band's The Foundation album. Even though I had listened to the album many times before, when the song "Highway 20 Ride" came on it made me wonder who he is talking to. It is obviously talking to a son or a daughter, and how he regrets having to drive a truck and hopes they don't end up hating him for it. Now we all know musicians are known for storytelling, or using their music to support their cause. That's great for the musically gifted. What about for those of us who have something to say but aren't musical? Blogging. The real question is what happened to bloggers before blogging? Spontaneous Human Combustion? Did the pressure of having so much to say just build up to the point that it was uncontrolable and explode. I haven't done the research but I would guess there were far fewer instances of musicians exploding than non-musicians. Granted there have always been diaries. When I was growing up that was mainly a girl thing. So, now the question is, has spontaneous human combustion affected mainly non-musical males? Then someone (probably a male) decided to change the name of diary writing to journaling. For me, that is still writing to myself and I just may as well just keep it in my head. I see now how big of a gamble that was, whew. A number of years ago I had the idea for Thursdays Child but couldn't find any way to get my information out. Then one day I was playing around with Google and decided to try blogging. Alot of things I read before I started blogging was to read other blogs and leave comments. Not only will that get your name out there but it can also be beneficial to others. You may have an idea about something, someone else hasn't thought of. Regretably there are those few who are always negative, or spammers. We can only hope we can avoid them. I have only been doing this since June but already I can feel the pressure decreasing. Everybody has an opinion, an idea, a recipe like the excellent food over at www.chibisrecipes.blogspot.com, or helpful medical info like over at www.fibromyalgia-journal.blogspot.com. Whatever yours is, if you've never been real successful in Vegas I wouldn't recomend gambling too much longer on that pressure building up in your head, let us hear what you have to say. Thanks for bearing with this, Paul

A Teachable Spirit- Learning Kindness

Click on title to go to separate kindness article
First of all, I naturally feel like I have to throw in a disclaimer to satisfy the christian community I am associated with. I don't know why, I make no apologies for how I feel. I have just heard some people in the christian church I am a member of are concerned that I'm into some weird stuff. Well, you are always free to email me or leave a comment, and I will definitely get back to you. Having said that , no I haven't gone over the edge, but I might be able to see it from where I am :) and yes, I still believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. I do however hope you go to the link and read the article. This is from one of my favorite blogs. I read this guy's stuff alot. He has alot of good things to say.
Next, taking into consideration that the Dali Lama is probably not a christian, I say probably because who really knows for sure where somebody elses heart is. In reality the Dali Lama is the head of state and the spiritual leader of the people of Tibet. They consider him to be a manifestation of the Buddha of Compassion. So that would make the official religion of the Dali Lama, Buddhism.
Notice how the world respects the Dali Lama. He has compassion for all people. He travels the world interceding for civil rights and people who are being persecuted. Noone would dare harm him. He shows love and kindness. He isn't out traveling the world racking up high numbers of Buddhist converts. He's just out fighting for and loving people. Granted, Billy Graham traveled the world and he was just as respected. Maybe because people can tell the genuine from the egotistical.
But, getting back to the article, love and kindness doesn't have to be complicated. Do we always have to have an alterior motive for our acts of kindness? Do we have to make people listen to a sermon before we feed them? As we have said before the world is in a constant state of balance we reap what we sow, law of giving and recieving, etc, etc. Where is the balance in forcing others to convert to our way just to fulfill our ego. I know we are instructed to "Go into the world and make disciples..." Can't we make disciples by planting a seed, or watering a seed in someones heart that was previously planted and just let the Holy Spirit do His job? Eventually that person is going to inquire about these acts of kindness. So, as we go through this adventure between birth and death, let's search for the balance in kindness. How much more of an impact we would make. Thanks for searching with me, Paul

The (Double) Standard of Living

There is something else I wonder. Why are members of a church congregation held to a higher standard of living than the church leaders? Are leaders of the church different than "PAID" leaders of the church? I heard it said too often "Well, he is a paid leader of the church." What does that mean? Shouldn't the leaders of the church be held accountable according to the same criteria. Does God classify one sin as worse than another? I was always taught not. Where do you draw the line between a white lie and a black lie? Doesn't God judge a lie as a lie, not according to the severity of the lie? Ok, so getting to the point, and hopefully after this we can move on from the whole divorce thing. The other night I coined the phrase "House of Gossip" when talking to someone. Which is mistakenly refered to as the "House of Worship" sometimes. What really bugs me is for someone to ask "How are things going? How can we pray for you?" I've found that for the most part they are just looking for gossip fuel. Notice how fast a fire spreads when an excellerant is used. Then for that fire to reach the "PAID" leaders of the church and to have them in turn remove someone from a volunteer leadership role because of family/divorce issues would be acceptible if the leaders themselves didn't have a similar history. I would think they would be a little more sympathetic. Maybe require that person to come in for awhile for counseling, while allowing them to hold their position. Especially when a person has volunteered for a few years and it is well known where their heart is. The hard part to swallow here is, to know that the leaders are just as prone to spreading the fuel as everyone else. So, what is worse? The divorce, the gossip? Look up 1Tim 3. Leadership guidelines, and wives of leaders. "Are not to take part in malicious gossip." Don't sin in the name of Jesus. Don't tell people you are concerned about them, then turn around and go email your address book and tell everyone their business in the name of your prayer chain. I'm not trying to say leaders even "PAID" leaders need to be superhuman. I mean look at the televangelists that have fallen. All I'm saying is, if leaders are concerned about what is being taught, and they should be, then don't expect people to ask for help, require they get it. It is after all your church and you make the policy. And reread James, it says the tongue cannot be tamed, but teachers will be judged with greater strictness. So, maybe all leaders need to take a break to reevaluate their Biblical standards and not put that pious pedestal so high their double standard of living is undermining true genuine Love.
Thanks for bearing with me while we pull on that tug-o-war, Paul

Thursdays Child John 1:35-42

Welcome to Thursdays Child on Monday. It's like Monday Night Football on Thursday Night only different. Do they still do that? I haven't watched football in so long I don't even know. I wonder what John The Baptist was like. As I read this I just had to laugh at how I imagined John was talking. He was talking to two of his disciples and Jesus walked by. I got a whole different picture of him than I did when he was baptizing. In this passage I got the picture of the nerdy kind of guy saying, and not just saying but declaring, exclaiming, "Hey, look there He is again, The Lamb of God. Wow can you believe it we saw the Lamb Of God twice in two days." Or maybe he had been in the wilderness so long, he was so in touch with God that he just couldn't contain himself, like we are when we are excited about the things of God. We just want to scream it to the world. What I was concerned about when I read this was, John's disciples just flat out left him. It was a good choice for them but, how did they truly know John knew what he was talking about. It is my understanding that people claiming to be the Messiah were pretty plentiful around that time. It was a pretty big gamble. My concern is, they seem to me to be kind of fickle. Maybe John encouraged them to go. It doesn't say. It just says they left to follow Jesus. When he saw them Jesus asked them "What do you want?" I wish you could hear expression in text. It makes me wonder how Jesus said this. I can't imagine Him saying it rude but you could read it that way. After reading on, I get the impression He said it in a what is it you're searching for tone. They never answered Him they just asked where He was staying. Naturally He knew what they wanted (He's God after all) that's why He invited them to come along. I would really warn against being wishy washy, or lukewarm and following the current religious trend. Continue to study God's Word so you won't be decieved. Noone really knows when "the last days" will be, every generation has predicted it. The Bible does say many will be decieved in the last days. So, be careful, keep searching, and stay strong. Thanks for searching with me, Paul.

Attitude Of Choice

The past few weeks has made me realize how tiring anger is. Being angry quickly zaps lifes energy right out of you. I don't understand people who choose to go through life angry. Naturally there are times when we're going to experience anger. Neil Anderson of Freedom In Christ Ministries says we experience anger when someone or something has blocked our goal. Fortunately the beginning of this separation hasn't brought too many blocked goals. The ones that have occured are the ones that have shown me how draining anger is. I can only speak from my own viewpoint as a person who internalizes his emotions. I never have been able hold a grudge but it does take me a while to get over anger since I tend to hold it in. Even though we can't necessarily choose which emotions we're going experience, we can choose which ones we're going to hold on to. As christians we're taught to give it over to God. I mean lets face it He created the universe and everything in it in six days, I think He can take on our petty little squabbles. If you read through the book of Psalm, check out David's anger problem. God had to listen to him over and over and still made him king. If you've never prayed something like "OK God, I can't fix this I need for you to take care of it." You should try it sometime it will do wonders for your attitude. Just being able to get it off your shoulders and releasing it to God will clear your head and help you return to managing life. If we let them, our emotions can consume us. So, in our search for the attitude of choice search for the positive ones like joy, happy, and love. Not ones that will destroy you like anger, hate, and unforgiveness. Thanks for searching with me, Paul

Thursdays child-John 1:29-34

As I was reading John 1:29 for this week's Thursdays Child I noticed that John doesn't mention that he was baptizing Jesus when he claimed that Jesus was the Lamb of God. Each of the other Gospels do though. John starts out by by saying Look! When I read this I imagined John speaking in our language of today. I don't think he nonchalantly said "oh look there is the Lamb of God." I think it would have been more like "HEY YO, YO, YO, LOOK THERE IS THE LAMB OF GOD." I picture him saying "THERE HE IS, THERE HE IS, THE ONE I WAS TALKING ABOUT." I find that when I read the Bible I don't always put the expression in my reading that the people are probably putting in there conversation. When we do that, like in this passage, the Bible comes to life a little more, is a little more fun to read. When we read just to get through a daily devotion, some times we miss that personal feeling. Sure, we may get the message God intends for us, but if we can put ourselves in their shoes and think about how we would feel if it happened to us, that message will take on a whole new personalized meaning. So, whenever you sit down to read don't just read to get it over with and get warm and fuzzy. Read to get personal and really do some searching. He won't let you down. He is God by the way, and knows your heart before you sit down. Thanks for searching with me, Paul.

A Little Sense Of Normalcy

It has been a little while since I've posted. I've been in a bit of a funk lately. I didn't really know why until I got a decent days sleep. For no apparent reason, for the past few weeks I would wake up no less than an hour before my alarm clock. Since I usually only set it for 6 hours anyway, this was creating a zombielike state of mind. It wasn't until a couple of days ago when I woke up to the sound of music (not the movie) playing that I realized I had gotten a full days sleep. Woke up feeling good, the cobwebs were gone, blog ideas started rushing back in. Maybe I'm starting to develop a new version of normal. I say that because for a little over a month now my life has been in transition. What I used to call normal is now a memory, and now I'm working on a new definition of the word. Trying to create a normal morning or evening routine with the kids. Since they're homeschooled we don't have to adjust our times with them around a public school day routine and the inevitable homework that goes with it. It makes me wonder what goes on inside a 3,4, and 5 year olds head when they spend part of their day at the apartment with me and the other part at the house with mom. I think Ben the 5 yr. old probably gets it he's pretty sharp. Naturally Brent the 11 yr. old does. Isaiah and Allissa, they are the 4 and 3 yr. olds, it seems like there was some testing going on the first few days but was that 3,4 yr. old behavior or was it because their life was being disrupted? Now they just seem to be going with the flow. It doesn't appear that any of them are weirded out by bouncing back and forth. They run into the apartment the same way as they go into the house they've always known. They seem equally comfortable at both places and that makes me good. Maybe, as I said in "The Inner Self", this is some people's normal. There are as many variations of normal as there are variations of people. Well, maybe the funk is gone, and we can get back to just being funky. It's good to be back and a relief to get back to the business of getting some of this stuff out of my head. Thanks for searching with me this thing we call life, Paul

The Inner Self - Expand The View

I named the weekly posting Thursdays Child as a personal growth tool, because we all have so far to go. My original thought was to go through sections of the Bible and share with you my version of the Bible according to Paul, with God's direction of course. Well, I learned last night there are other things I would like to share with you as well. As I have said before, I have a big interest in martial arts. Some people in the "Christian Community" are skeptical of the martial arts because they are rooted in other religions. I have found that people's prejudice are usually based on ignorance. As I said in the previous "Inner Self" we should take a little time each day to quietly reflect and search for our inner self. I have as much time as anyone else to do this. That's why Tai Chi is a good escape for me. Tai Chi doesn't focus as much on punching and kicking as other Arts. It focuses alot on the mental aspect with a little emphasis on the fighting aspect. Well, last night night at Tai Chi we went through a mental exercise that dealt with finding you within yourself. The exercise itself isn't as important as the end result, which is what I really want to talk about here.
As we began the exercise there was a period of deep breathing to relax and focus and once we began searching for the true person within, I personally felt a sense of sadness. It was weird, in a circumstance like that when you're not affected by outside influences and you are aware of true feelings and emotions, it will surprise you what you can find out about yourself. The question is, why the sad feelings? What was it about myself that I possibly didn't want to see as I looked inward? What was I going to have to fix once I saw it? Well, there were no clear cut hidden demons in my inner closet. I did however emerge from the meditation, I was reluctant to use the term for fear of freaking out the vast hardcore christians that would get the picture of sitting around chanting Buddhists chants, with a brighter outlook or perspective on life if you will. I was going to say more enlightened but I didn't want to push my luck.
The point is, although it can be scary to look, once we do search for our true self we come away pleasantly surprised. Possibly, hopefully having a better, more forgiving attitude toward those around us and the world in general. So remember, keep searching, any change we can make has to be for the better. Thanks for searching with me, Paul

Thursdays Child John 19-28

Well, back to the book of John. I'm feeling a little better, and not quite so churchy, by allowing last weeks distraction. In case you aren't familar with this passage, this is the conversation between John the Baptist and the Temple Priests. They came to him and asked him if he is the Messiah. They told him they needed to know so they could go back and tell those who sent them. The ones that sent them were the Pharisees. I'm sure there are ways to break this passage down, but as I was reading it, what hit me about it was, were the Pharisees genuinely looking for the Messiah? Were they just skeptical because there were alot of people claiming to be the Messiah at that time? Or, was their motive like Herod's when Jesus was born? Were they already looking to kill him for whatever reason? I guess I don't ever remember learning whether the Pharisees were anxious for the Messiah. You always heard about them in a negative "religious" way, and Jesus was constantly opposing them. You just figure the animosity between them is why they eventually were able to have Him crucified. It makes me stop to think, He had to flee to Egypt just after he was born because people were looking to kill Him. When He was teaching at the temple at twelve years old were they already wondering about Him, and since we don't have any documentation on Him from then 'til now at 30, we don't know what He was doing. Was he on the run? Is that why they were wondering if John the Baptist was Him, because they hadn't seen Him for 18 years? We just assume he was learning carpentry from Joseph. What also makes this ironic is, this incident took place at Bethany. This is where He came to alot during the next three years to spend time with His good friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Well, that's a Thursdays Child for sometime in the future. We've raised alot of questions today. Keep searching for those answers. Thanks for searching with me, Paul

More Comparisons

Even though there are drastic differences in the various religions I'm currently on a search to find the similarities. One thing I ran across the other day was an article about "The Law of Cause and Effect." The Buddhist call this karma. In case you're wondering about the name, if you do a search for "The 12 natural laws of the universe," you'll find some interesting info. Some of which we'll touch on here. Having spent a considerable amount of time in different denominations of the christian church I've found them to vary from rigid to open minded regarding their faith. From pumped up and on fire, to apathetic. In the pentecostal denominations they have a saying, speaking something into your life, I haven't been able to find any Biblical basis for this saying. If anyone knows where I might find it please let me know. This is however what the "Law of Cause and Effect" means. Whatever we speak, however we act, will come back to us. If there isn't a biblical basis for it where did the christian church come up with it? From the Buddhist? You could say "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." In Malachi it tells us that if we give our tithe we will be given in return. This is the same teaching as the "Law of Attraction." The two go together in situations other than money. If you are rude and nasty to people that is what you'll probably get in return. That does however go against other biblical teachings. But, along that same train of thought, if you want love, give love, if you want respect, respect others. Another way to put it is, you will reap what you sow, now that is in the Bible, maybe that's where they got it from. I'm finding it hard to understand why there is so much animosity between the religions, when we're similar in so many ways. We teach love each other, why is it so hard to live it? Let's keep searching for it, hopefully we'll find part of it, and maybe make a difference in our portion of the world. Thanks for searching with me, Paul

The Inner Self

The Inner Self Please click on me to go to article

Thursdays Child- Comparisons

I've been feeling kind of churchy lately, following the typical through the Bible routine. That's one thing I feel I am definitely not. When our church had outgrown it's building we had to meet at the local civic center, and a few motel conference rooms. I liked having church like that better. In some ways I'm a routine oriented person, probably because it helps you get through your day on autopilot, but in other ways I'm not. I get bored with routine. Like having the living furniture arranged a certain way for too long. I just need a change. That's how I feel this week, like Thursdays Child may become boring if we keep poking through John week after week. We'll come back to it, but this week I want to look at some comparisons, or similarities of Taoism and Christianity. The main thing I've noticed is, Taoism is translated "The Way." If you read Acts 9, 19, and 24, it talks about the early christian church being called "The Way." The Bible has the Ten Commandments, Taoism has the Ten Precepts. While there are differences, there are similarities as well. The main ones being, do not kill, and do not steal. I've always been interested in the martial arts, in particular the ones that originated out of China like Kung Fu, and Chinese culture in general, so I think it would be a natural tendency for me to research the Chinese based religions. Since the world, because of terrorism, has been introduced to the Islamic, and Muslim faiths I have been trying to read some of the Quran. That's about as easy as reading The King James version of the Bible. There are similarities to the Quran and the Bible. They both talk about Abraham, and the flood, to name a couple. So, it makes me wonder have all these teachings been given from the same God, just interpreted differently? Each religion has its extremes. The KKK uses the Bible to justify their prejudice actions. There are the killings of abortion doctors. Didn't Jesus teach love thy neighbor. I encourage you to check out other religions, it will give you a whole new perspective on the other cultures we share our world with, and maybe, just maybe, we'll learn a little about each other, break down some of those walls of prejudice, and find that illusive peace everyone is talking about. Thanks for searching with me, Paul

Thursdays Child John 1:14-17

Well, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is over and Thursdays Child can resume as planned. Today as we look at John 1:14 we read, "The Word became human and lived among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son of God." Verse 15 talks about John the Baptist again. Verse 16 talks about how we have all benefited from the blessings He has given, then 17 says Moses brought the law, unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. If we think about verse 16 and the countless blessings He has given to us, it's hard to comprehend sometimes. We take so many things for granted that a large percentage of world doesn't have, like food, a roof, a soft warm bed. I think about the standard answers given to the typical Thanksgiving question. But how true those answers really are. Family, health, good jobs to provide lifes necessities. These are just some of the blessings. Take a look at a sleeping, or laughing baby sometime. We won't talk about 2 o'clock feedings though. Notice how babies look at their parents, that is that unfailing love. Notice then how they look at their parents as teenagers. They still love them but they no longer have that innocence, and dependence, and in most cases are starting to become influenced by worldly values. Naturally there are things that can affect our relationship with God, but that love never leaves. It makes me wonder why Jesus couldn't have come to begin with. Probably because we had to see for ourselves that we couldn't keep the law. Just like everything else we do. We try to do it on our own, then we come running back to God to bail us out. If we could just find that connection in the heart where the love starts pushing out the world, think of the possibilities. Keep searching for it. Thanks for searching for it with me, Paul

Test

This is a test, this is only a test, if this had been an actual blog topic it hopefully would have said something worth reading, but since I added a new gadget to my Google home page I had to test it out before I posted an actual blog. Thanks for bearing with me, Paul

Unwinding From the Chaos

Well Thursday has past, and with it, what should have been Thursdays Child. In South Dakota, the first week of August brings 100,000 or more motorcycles to the town of Sturgis. Sturgis, and Rapid City are at the foothills of the Black Hills. There are other bike weeks across the country but, Sturgis is the original. Next year will be the 70th anniversary. It seems like the past few years attendance has dropped off, although I haven't heard any official numbers yet. The Black Hills area, and even towns near by are affected by the major increase to their populations, most places naturally have special events for the week. A few places have concerts, the most popular being The Buffalo Chip Campground. The headline news this year was when Steven Tyler of Aerosmith fell off the stage and was taken to one of the hospitals. I work the overnight shift which usually allows me enough time to get Thursdays Child written, but this week, with the hours the bikers keep, that just wasn't possible. Having the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is like having family visit, you're happy to have them come but you're happy to have your routine back when it's time for them to go home. Hopefully we will be back to normal next week and Thursdays Child will be also. 'Til then, keep searching, Paul

Death of an Ego

The past couple of days has brought to my mind the saying "life is fleeting." Most of the time we hear it and dismiss it as cliche', but no longer will I take it so lightly. Friday was the day that I was personally affected, Friday and Saturday was helping kids deal with death. Last week my wife's cousin passed away at the age of 29 from a disease he found he had when he was 18. Kids' questions regarding the viewing, and funeral been common, and frequent. I experienced death in another way also. I saw a man awake, alert, and talking. An hour and a half later he had passed away. All efforts to try to revive him were futile. Some family members weren't even able to make it to see him before he died. It left me with the realization that how we treat people one moment could be how they remember us forever. Now that's not necessarily a new concept either but, events like this help us to remember these lessons, and why do we stray from these lessons? I thought about how our ego affects our relationships. If it weren't for egos would there be conflict? Isn't living in harmony what everyone seems to want? Why is that so hard to achieve? EGO that's why. I recommend we just get over ourselves for awhile, and see what kind of difference we can make in the lives of others, even if only for just a day. Thanks for reflecting with me, Paul

Thursdays Child-Gifts of the Spirit

This week on Thursdays Child we'll take a look at the gifts of the Spirit. As we talked about last week, these are some of the things we've inherited by becoming children of God. They are listed in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. Instead of quoting the scripture word for word I'll just list them. Wisdom, knowledge, special faith, power to heal, power to perform miracles, prophesy, ability to know whether a Spirit is of God or another spirit is speaking, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues. Verse 11 says "It is the one and only Spirit who distributes these gifts, and He alone decides which gifts each person recieves." I know there is some debate whether these gifts are active today. I used to work with a lady who believed when the last of the apostles died, the gifts ceased. I personally believe, as I have said, that since we have been adopted by the Father, His gifts are available to us. We also have to remember the last part of verse 11. He decides who gets these gifts. I also wonder, once you have recognized your gift do you always have it like Benny Hinn and the other healers, or does He allow you gifts in certain situations, never to use it again? I know there have been times when my wife and I have prayed for people and they have been healed. Does that mean we could travel and make a ministry out of it? Maybe, but I don't think we have been given that "special faith" gift because we are much more comfortable with the security of jobs with steady paychecks. The previous question can possibly be answered in Hebrews 2:4. The last part of that verse says "He gives the gifts whenever He chooses." This section is actually talking about how our salvation is verified whenever He has chosen to give us these gifts. That doesn't mean we aren't saved if we never recieve a gift, but I do believe that the more we search for God and become closer to Him the more He will allow us to experience. So keep searching for Him, and keep searching for your gift. Thanks for searching with me, Paul

Unlikely Defender

Unlikely Defender

Alejandro was patiently, or not so patiently, waiting for his mother to come home from work. All summer he has spent his days with his grandmother. He is only six years old so he can't stay home by himself yet. Some of the other kids in the neighborhood do but he is happy to stay with abuela, grandma. Even though his teachers have made it clear he is to speak English at school his abuela prefers spanish at her house.Today is an exciting day. When his mom gets home they are going to pack up the car and go away for the weekend. They usually get to do this one time during the summer. They go to the beach on Sunday sometimes when his mom isn't too tired. His mom works two jobs and alot of time she gets overtime. So, she even has to work some Saturdays and some nights even past supper. On the nights when she gets home really late he knows those are the days she gets to save extra money for their weekend.

They don't ever drive too far because, even though she takes an exta day off she said she wants to have alot of time to have fun, not spend time driving. They always go somewhere away from Miami. They live in a part of Miami called "Little Havana". He doesn't remember living in Cuba because they came over here when he was just a baby, but from the stories he's heard he is glad to live here. Even though it's better here mom says she just needs to get away and forget about the city for awhile.

Fear, and sadness washed over him as he heard the phone ring. He just knew it was going to be his mother saying she was going to have to work late. Just then as his abuela was talking on the phone his mothers car pulled into the driveway.

"Mami!, Mami!, Abuela!,Abuela!,madre esta' aqui'!" Alejandro screamed as he ran around the house looking for his grandmother.
By the time his grandmother finished her phone call Alejandro's mother was already in the house. She was just as anxious to leave for their weekend as he was so they said goodbye to Abuela, grabbed Alejandro's stuff and hurried home. They threw their suitcases in the trunk, grabbed a sandwich, chips, and a drink, and were out the door again.

As they started driving Alejandro's mother asked him how his day was. It was pretty much the same as every other day in the summer. Play a board game or cards with abuela, watch some t.v while abuela rests after lunch, then just hang out and do whatever until mom comes to pick him up about supper time. Miami's rush hour traffic lasts longer than an hour so it seemed like it took them forever to get out of the city, but they still made it to Fort Lauderdale in a little over an hour.

They found their motel, and went up to their room. Alejandro liked for their room to be on the highest floor possible. This time they were on the eighth floor, and got to look out over the beach. After getting settled in, and checking out the room, they headed to the beach. Over the course of the weekend, they had drinks with umbrellas in them, seashell hunts, shopping in gift shops, playing games in arcades, eating whatever they wanted, late night T.V., and the sunrise over the ocean (which meant naps if necessary in the afternoon). It was such a fun time, both of them got sad, and quiet when it was time to pack up Sunday. It was also a quiet ride back to Miami. So, when they got close to home mom decided to get them each ice cream since she needed to stop and get gas anyway. They came out of the store and started toward the car when suddenly a car came out of nowhere, speeding between the store and the gas pumps. The driver had no other place to go, and Alejandro had no time to get out of the way. The next thing Alejandro knew he was waking up in the hospital. His mom told him he had been there four days. The doctors and nurses had done a bunch of tests on him and, even though he didn't understand everything, he understood it when they said his legs didn't work anymore from the waist down. Over the next few weeks the phone rang almost constantly, newspapers wanting an interview, amusement parks offering free days, and companies offering free stuff. The best thing was a brand new motorized wheelchair. The day it was delivered everyone was so excited. His whole family came over to check it out. They helped him figure it out and he took it for a test drive. He was really excited about it because, school had started and he wasn't able to be there for his first day of first grade, now he would be able to go to school. They lived close enough to the school so Abuela could walk him there in the morning, since his mother had to go to work so early. He was a little worried because he remembered last year in Kindergarten some of the bigger kids picking on the littler ones. When they got there he was surprised, everyone was happy to see him, and offered to help even with stuff he could do on his own.

One day as he and his grandma were leaving school it started to rain. They thought they could make it home before it got too bad, but just the opposite happened. It started lightning really bad and there was no place to get inside so they just had to keep going. One flash of lightning was so close it made his wheelchair shut off. Fortunately they were close enough by then, that it wasn't too hard for his grandma to push him the rest of the way. Grandma called for his uncle to come over to check out the wheelchair. When he got there there the chair started up like normal and seemed fine. He said it must have been too much electricity from the lightning, and that messed up the

That night after supper Alejandro was going to go outside. This was really the first chance he had to ride it since the storm, because his mom puts it in the car to go home. When he started it up, he thought it sounded different but decided it must have been his imagination. Well, when he pushed the lever to go forward, he did a wheely and almost crashed through the front door. He was so stunned that, when he finally landed back down on all four wheels he had a hard time catching his breath. After he settled down and thought about it for a few minutes he decided this was one secret noone was going to know about.

It took him a while to get used to his new turbo power. He really had to be careful not to forget about it at school or when other people were around. He didn't need anyone finding out and ratting on him. One day though at Abuela's house she let him go outside after his snack. He was cruising up and down the sidewalk, when he heard yelling. He went around the corner and found his friend Hector being picked on by two older boys. Hector had gotten a new hat and they were playing keep away with it. Alejandro decided he couldn't keep his chair a secret any longer. He shoved the lever all the way to the forward position, the motor screamed to life. What was once a low humming sound, was now a roar that definitely got noticed, especially by two bullies. Alejandro wheelied about ten feet, and when he came down he had one of the bullies on the run. He threw Hectors hat to him and turned up an alley as fast as he could go. Even though he had the speed Alejandro didn't exactly have the manuverability so he had to let him go. He spun around to see the other punk laughing at his friend being chased by a kid in a wheelchair. Well, his laughter turned to screams of fear when he saw Alejandro coming after him. Unfortunately for him Alejandro was between him and the alleys so Alejandro quickly caught up to him. As he got beside him he turned into him just enough that his front wheels bumped the bully's left leg into his right leg and he went rolling down the sidewalk, tearing his pants and scraping his knees and elbows. He got turned around just in time to see the second punk limping away, wailing on his way home.

He went back to make sure Hector was okay,and Hector was just standing there with his mouth hanging wide open.

"How did you do that?" he asked

"I don't know, after a thunder storm I had this burst of power,please don't tell anyone, I don't want them to take it away from me." Alejandro replied

"Oh, don't worry about that." Hector said "You keep guys like that away from everybody and we'll all keep your secret."

The two headed home, laughing all the way, remembering how those punks looked being chased by a little kid in a wheelchair.

Thursdays Child-John 1:12,13

This week on Thursdays Child we'll continue on with John 1: 12. It says "but to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God." As I was reading this I remembered a sermon I heard a few years back. I don't remember the preacher, but he was actually talking about John 3:16 and the way the word "believe" is used. I remember thinking that anyone could say "Sure, I believe in Jesus I must be going to heaven." Well, if you put in that context Satan believes in Jesus. He actually talked to Him in the desert, and we know where he ends up. So, I looked up the word believe in my new favorite bible study tool, the Lexicon, on Crosswalk.com. I found that there are 3 Greek words for the word believe. The one used here in verse 12 is pisteuo. It is used 85 times in the book of John alone including John 3:16. It means "to place confidence in. To trust in Jesus or God" Now, looking at it in that way we can see that wouldn't apply to satan. Another way to define it would be "to have a relationship with. Maybe it should say "to everyone who has accepted Him and has a relationship with Him, He gave the right to be children of God." Do we really understand what the last part of that verse means? To be a child of God. To be a member of God's family. Usually to be a member of a family means you get all the benefits and the inheritance of that family. Especially if you are adopted into a family,as we are in God's family. To those who may not be familiar with adoption, if a child is adopted he or she is legally guaranteed a portion of the inheritance. Children born to a man and woman can be left out of the will, but adopted children have to be included. Verse 13 says "We are reborn, it is not a physical birth resulting from human passion but the rebirth comes from God." Just think about what we're inheriting by being reborn or adopted into God's family. Basically everything Jesus was capable of is available to us. We need to get past the limitations of our human mind and venture out and be available to let God use us. Since we know God can perform the supernatural, then we need to let Him do it through us, and don't be surprised when it happens. Amazed maybe but not surprised. Next week we'll look at the gifts of the Spirit, to see some of the things that are available to us. Thanks for searching with me, Paul

Thursdays Child-John 1:10,11

This week on Thursdays Child we're going to skip over verses 6-9 of John 1because they deal with John The Baptist, and we'll talk about him in more detail later. So, this week I would like to start with verse 10 which says, "although the world was made through Him the world did not recognize Him." 11) Even in His own land and among His own people He was not accepted. The key phrase here is "being accepted." Of course, they recognized Him in the literal since of the word. So how was it they didn't they recognize Him? As the Messiah. As their Savior. Now a big question would be, why didn't they? As I was thinking about this I applied it to my own life. I left Florida at 18 years old. If I had gone back at 30, and I came upon my cousin baptizing people in a lake, and he started saying "look, there is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" I don't think I would get such a warm welcome either. I could imagine being ignored at first then if I would have done the same things Jesus did I could imagine being treated the same way. Granted, Jesus grew up living a sinless life, and none of us can claim that. But still they knew Him as just a carpenter's son. Fortunately alot of people outside of His own town did believe. I think we need to remember that all through the Bible there are stories of God using the so called "lower class" of people to do the greatest things. So, never forget that even though we may not think we have what it takes to do great things God sometimes has a different plan. Thanks for searching with me, Paul

Thursdays Child- What's In A Name

This week on Thursdays Child I'd like to try to answer a question I've been having since we started in John. The question is, why is John calling Jesus "The Word?" I mean why couldn't he have just said "In the beginning Jesus already existed etc. etc." Well, on Crosswalk.com there are bible study tools you can go to. So, I went looking around and found a lexicon. I didn't know what that was but I checked it out anyway. I found that it translates English words to Greek and Hebrew. I also found that there are quite a few words used for the word, "word". Two that I was kind of familiar with were Logos, and Rhema. Rhema is used for the written word. Logos is used for the spoken word. There was also a note that said a philosopher named Heraclitus first used the term Logos to designate the divine plan which coordinates a changing universe. That is why John was using it here. Jesus spoke creation into existence, which changed the world, and He also came to earth as a human to change the world. If they would have written back then like we talk today it would be so much easier to understand, but I like being able to figure these things out. I just hope that you find it as interesting as I do, and that your questions are being answered as well. As I look over John 1:1-5 it looks like we've squeezed as much out of that as we possibly can, so we'll continue on next week. Thanks for searching with me, Paul

Sudden Revelation

One day back in March I was driving across Wyoming, coming back to Rapid City from Gillette. I was listening to a preaching cd. The preacher was was talking about God as Father and His love for us. He was saying that God is love. Now, that's a pretty common saying, but he went on to say something that really triggered something in me. He said, It's not like God has a pitcher of water that He distributes out love as we need it. He is love, He is the water, and the closer we get to Him we begin to experience that love more and more, and are able to share that love more and more. I've never been to Montana but Montana is called Big Sky Country. From what I have seen of Wyoming I think it could be called the same thing. Basically, I think that just means there is nothing to get in the way of seeing for miles,and miles. It's mostly prairie, and farm land. For me on this day that was an advantage. As this preacher was preaching I looked out of my windshield from left to right all along the horizon, and all I could see was blue sky as far as I could see. Not a cloud in the sky, just a round blue ceiling covering all of us, and it suddenly hit me that God literally is covering us with his love and all we need to do is just connect with Him and tap into that love. Could you imagine if we all did that how much better off this world would be? Shortly after my revelation I looked down noticed I was doing 82mph, noticed the flashing lights in my rear view mirror, pulled over, got my warning ticket, and continued on to Rapid City, but even that couldn't ruin my day. Thanks for searching with me, Paul

Thursdays Child-John 1:4,5

This week on Thursdays Child we'll continue with the gospel of John. Starting with verse 4. It says, "Life itself was in Him, and this life gives light to everyone. 5) This light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. If we stop there for a moment and notice that just as we saw last week, verses 1-3 sent us back to Genesis. I think it's the same with verses 4 and 5. If we look back at Genesis 1:3, what was created on the first day? The very first thing created was the heavens and the earth, then on the first day God said let there be light, and there was light, and He separated the light from the darkness. As we also saw last week Jesus created everything that exists, so it's only natural that The Light (Jesus) created the light. Without getting off track too much let's just note that by the time this happened the angel Lucifer has already been kicked out of heaven, and now we have Satan (darkness) in the world as the opposing force to the Light. I think it's so cool that when we finally accept Jesus as our Savior we feel like the light bulb has finally come on and we realize that we were living in darkness all along, and this is how life was meant to be. We are actually living life like Adam and Eve knew it to be before they sinned, we just need to keep searching to be able to experience that one on one closeness with God. Thanks for searching with me Paul

Thursdays Child- John 1:1-3

This past week I've been trying to decide what Thursdays Child should be about. I remembered something I heard on the radio the other day. This one preacher said "when we start a book, we start in chapter one, page one, paragraph one, word one. Why don't we do that when we read the Bible? So, I'd like to start in the Gospel of John. I've heard it said that John is an important book for a christian to read to learn about the love of Jesus, so that is where I'd like to start.
From the New Living Translation John 1:1-3 says "In the beginning the word already existed. He was with God and He was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that He didn't make." Lets stop there to jump back to Genesis 1:26 which says, Then God said "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness." This is a verse alot of people say mentions Jesus for the first time, and it would also confirm that John 1:3 is true. I'd like to sidestep for a minute and give my opinion on a concern I heard recently. The concern was "How could God, who is love, send His son to die? What parent could do this?" Yes, we say, "The Father,Son, and Holy Spirit," and yes, Jesus did come as a baby, and grew to be a man and suffered and died and is now sitting at the right hand of the Father. As we just read though Jesus was in heaven from the beginning, He decided to become a man. As God, He came to die for His children, and now He has gone back to to His rightful place where He started. The best part is He did it as a total act of love, so now we can spend forever with Him instead of separated from Him. I'd be interested to hear how everyone else feels about this. Thanks for searching with me,
Paul

Thursdays Child Matt.27:44 & Mark 15:32

This Thursday I'd like to look at Matthew 27:44 and Mark 15:32. These are a couple of verses that I can't ever remember being taught. You always hear Luke 23:39-43, which talks about the thief on the cross asking Jesus for forgiveness and Jesus says "Today you will be with me in paradise." We use that verse to teach, that when we die we go to heaven right away. Both of the other verses say "Even the two criminals who were being crucified with Jesus ridiculed him." People usually say that since Luke was a doctor he was more detailed in his account of what happened. We tend to just accept that and move on. Well if you read the other two they are almost the same word for word. Now, I'm not doubting that the Bible is true, but, it is another one of those things I have questions about. Why do we teach something from one book when two other books say something different? I am a strong believer in not taking the Bible out of context to suit your needs, so I've read this over and over to make sure I'm not missing something and I don't see any other way to take it. If anyone can shed a little light on this one please let me know. Thanks Again for searching with me.

Paul

Sand Pearls

Sand Pearls

Tara sat on the side of the sand dune gazing out over the ocean, when suddenly she realized she couldn't remember how she got there. All she could remember was running out of Anthony's house in shock. He had just told her the worse news she could imagine, yet he was being so calm about it. She has never known anyone with cancer so she doesn't know much about it. Now her best friend has just told her he has to have surgery to remove a brain tumor and the doctors are almost positive it is giong to be cancerous

"Oh my gosh." she thought to herself "how could I have been so selfish?"

As she started to get up to go back to Anthony's house she felt something on her shoulder. She had been so lost in herself that she hadn't even noticed that Anthony had walked up behind her.

"I'm so sorry." she cried, as she turned to give him a hug. "I was so freaked out I didn't even stop to think about how you must be feeling."

"Hey, it's okay."Anthony said "You should have seen me yesterday when the doctors told us. I totally lost it, my mom had to chase me down after I went running out of the his office.

"So that must be why you've been getting all those headaches!" Tara exclaimed

"Yeah, but I don't know what's worse, having headaches and taking aspirin all the time or knowing what's causing the headaches and know that it's something alot worse."

Tara pulled him down onto the sand, laid his head on her chest, softly stroked his brown shoulder length hair, and held him as they lay quietly, enjoying the comfort and security they get from just being together.

Anthony wasn't sure how long they had been laying there but when he started to feel a chill in the air he opened his eyes and noticed the sun beginning to set. When the sun reached the horizon and the reflection stretched across the water it seemed as though the sand started bubbling. After watching for a few minutes they saw it wasn't bubbling at all. What they were seeing was sea shells popping to the surface. They got up, started walking toward the water and as far as the eye could see there were little black and white sea shells scattered all over the beach. Tara picked up one of each. She noticed that even though they each had a top and a bottom, the black was so black that it seemed like empty space that went on forever. The white was such a bright white that it was blinding to look directly into.

Tara gave the white one to Anthony, and with hardly any effort at all they were able to open each of their shells. Inside they found the roundest, smoothest, most perfect colored pearls. The black just as deep and black as its shell, and the white just as bright white. They turned and looked at each other with shocked amazement. Tara reached in, took out her black pearl and placed it in the palm of her hand.

What was once a pearl was now the most beautiful being you could ever imagine. It is hard to describe, almost angelic like. It had a black human face so perfect, smooth and shiny like the pearl. It had a long, silky, white, flowing gown. Long, silky, salt and pepper, colored hair, and black paper thin wings that looked so fragile you wouldn't dare touch them. It stood about four inches tall with no distinct male or female features but, because of it's beauty you got the feeling it almost had to be a female.

It startled Tara so bad, she let out a yell and jumped so high she almost dropped it. Anthony had to grab her hand so she wouldn't. Still shaking, she lifted her hand to her face to get a closer look at it. Finally after studying it a moment or two, she asked "Who are you? Do you speak?"

"Yes I do." it said "I'm glad you asked I thought we were going to just sit here and look at each other all night."

"Oh, look Anthony a smart alec angel fairy" Tara said

"Actually I am a nebbia, my name is Meng" it said. " And yes, humor is a universal language. I get that reaction so much I have to break the ice somehow."

"How did...why...where... did you come from?" Tara asked

"Well, lets start at the beginning." Meng said. "As I said, I am a nebbia. We are formed when the spray you feel from the crashing waves soaks into the sand, settles down below, and forms our dwelling, what you call a sea shell. Over time, we develop into the sphere that you saw when you first opened my dwelling. Once we have matured we are able to come above and perform the task we were created for. Well now, I believe that covers the how, and the where, now the why. I am here for you. The two of you to be more specific. I am a comfort nebbia. There are other types but you are in need of the comfort that I provide, so that is why I have been brought to you at this time. What you are about to experience is going to create such emotional turmoil within you that you will return here often and use this place as your source of strength, and security.

"Why can't we just take you with us?" Anthony asked. "If it's going to be that bad we are going to need you with us all the time."

"No, no, no, I must never leave the sand" Meng said "The moment I am removed from the sand I return to the salt water from which I was created. I am going to be here for you. Every time you return I will come to you, and since you will be looking for me, check the sand around you and I will be there."

Over the next few days Anthony had appointments at the doctors office and hospital to get ready for his surgery. He spent late afternoons and evenings with Tara and Meng. Meng helped them make sense of the things to come. She taught them that sometimes it's okay to laugh and have fun even when facing a serious situation. She taught them it's okay to cry even when you don't know why. But the most important thing she taught them was,out of all the emotions the greatest is love. It is the wisdom behind your decisions, it is the compassion you feel for the hurting, and it is the source from where you get you strength.

At last the day arrived when Anthony was to have his surgery.Tara was with him and his family right up until the moment they came to take him to surgery. Once he was out of her sight she wanted to run to Meng, but couldn't bear to leave for fear the doctor would come out with some news and she wouldn't be there. Time passed so slowly, but finally after about three hours the doctor came out. Tara could tell by the look on his face that the news wasn't good. He told them they weren't able to get all of the tumor. It had gotten so deep that they dare not go any further. Either way the end result isn't good. If they stop now, at least Anthony would be able to go home and spend his last few months with his family and friends. If they kept going he would probably never leave the hospital, so his mom and dad agreed that this was the best decision. They would rather spend the time he had left with him at home instead of in the hospital.

The day came when Anthony was able to go home. As the weeks passed he and Tara spent hours upon hours on the beach. They even took his parents to meet Meng. Meng explained to them how wonderful life is on the other side, and that even though they will miss him and be extremely sad for awhile, he will be in a beautiful paradise. It comforted them the most when Meng assured them that eventually they all would be together again.

Anthony gradually grew weaker, and weaker until he wasn't able to go with Tara to the beach. She would go in the mornings so she could see Anthony in the afternoon. Although he missed going he enjoyed hearing about her visits with Meng.

When Tara didn't show up for a few days Meng knew that Anthony was finally cancer free,and in paradise. Tara still goes to the beach. Sometimes her and Meng talk. Sometimes they just hang out saying nothing at all, but every time they know that Anthony is always there with them.

Thursdays Child- John 14:12

Thursdays are going to be a regular segment called "Thursday's Child." If you're not familiar with the poem it says;


Monday's child is fair of face,


Tuesday's child is full of grace,


Wednesday's child is full of woe,


Thursday's child has far to go,


Friday's child is loving and giving,


Saturday's child works hard for a living,


But the child born on the sabbath day,


Is wise, and witty, and good, and gay,


I'm calling it Thursday's Child, because no matter where we are, we still have so far to go.


Throughout most of my adult life, I've taught in church. All age groups from adult sunday school down to two and three year olds. The latest being seven to twelve. The coolest verse I've tried to get them to understand is John 14:12. Jesus tells to his disciples that anyone who has faith in him will do the same things that Jesus did, and greater things, because He will be going to the Father. To do something greater than feeding 5000 people on five loaves of bread and two fish, or raising someone from the dead. It's kind of hard trying to imagine topping that. The question is, how could we possibly accomplish this? I won't even try to pretend that I have that answer. It's hard enough to continue a daily christian walk and be a Christlike example. Some topics are just good food for thought to get people searching. There's the verse that says; Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you. That's the main purpose behind Thursdays Child, to keep us all seeking, because we all have so far to go.


Thank You For Searching With Me,


Paul

2Corinthians 5:8 Revealed

Well, let's start this off with something that has been bugging me for a few months now. Someone had told me they were having a conversation with others about death, afterlife, reincarnation etc., and could I shed a little light on it. So, having been in some form of "christian" church all of my 50 years, with the exception of a few years here and there. I quoted, "To be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord." But, I wasn't sure where to find it. I went to look it up, and the only thing I found was 2 Corinthians 5:8. Well, to my surprise it doesn't say that at all. Paul is saying, "I would rather be absent from the body, and to be home with the Lord." Well, I think that probably applies to most of us. But he isn't saying that is what definitely happens. Up in verse 6 it does say that when we are at home in this body, we are absent from the Lord. Another no brainer. But, it could lead one to believe that the opposite would happen. Still, it is not concrete enough for me to use this for an afterlife debate. I mean this isn't just one fluke church that missed it. I have heard this from church, T.V., radio, you name it. So naturally, I took this as truth. Well needless to say, I was pretty irritated when I discovered this for myself, not just because of this, but it just gets one to wondering what else is being used to deceive and try to manipulate people. So we should never take things we hear as gospel truth, until we search them out for ourselves. If you know where I may find a similar verse, please let me know, because I couldn't find one.