Critter Watching

I've tried to develop a schedule for writing so maybe I'll be a little more frequent with my posts. I'm aware of how bizarre this post is going to appear, but noone has ever accused me of being very normal, so you decide. Here goes.
As of the first of April the kids and I moved from a second floor apartment to a ground floor apartment. Which means they can step right out of the sliding glass door to go play instead of having to go down the stairs and having to yell up to be let in, since it is a secure building.

Living on the ground floor, and the weather getting warmer, has already brought out of hiding some of the summertime critters. We have already had a few ear piercing events from the youngest member of the group. Well, the other day I was pondering where to go next in a story, and noticed an ant on the floor. It's a tile floor with the 1" ceramic tiles with grout. I watched this ant as he (he is the generic term, I didn't actually pick it up to check) walked on the tiles and grout. When he was walking on the grout it was like he was in a valley, it would be similar to us walking in a maze with high walls. I started wondering if they instinctively find their way, or if they leave a scent, because I didn't see breadcrumbs. He would start down one path turn around and go another, like he knew it was the wrong way. Through trial and error, he made it from one end of the room to the other and went into the opening he had come out of. Instinct? HMMM. Fascinating none the less. Or maybe I just need to get out more. Being the environmentally conscious person that I am, I got the bug spray and sprayed the spot where he disappeared. Sorry but, preventing the four year from freaking out at bugs and in turn giving me a heart attack wins out every time over eco-friendly. Okay, I agree it was a little too bizarre, but fun. Thanks for sharing the bizarre with me, Paul

Thursdays Child John 3:18-21 Heaven or Hell It's Our Choice

This passage is pretty deep. Almost makes you want to skip over it and go back to changing water into wine. But I guess if we're going to go straight through we can't pick and choose, so we better suck it up and get started. Verse 18 says "There is no judgment for those who trust Him (Jesus). But those who do not trust Him have already been judged for not believing in the only Son of God. This is a good argument for those who want to debate whether a loving God would actually send people to hell. It says if we don't believe we are already judged. I think they are using the word judged to mean condemned. If you have kids I don't know how you can't believe in God. When each of my six kids were little and I held them to feed them or sat and watched them sleep I knew there was a God. The human body is too detailed and intricate. It has to have been designed. Something so precise couldn't have just evolved from a fish that walked up onto shore millions of years ago. I remember specifically looking at their ears-I don't know why the ear- but I remember noticing the circular shape and how each one is essentially the same. Some may be bigger, smaller or different in some way but all have the same basic design. Then if you think about how our body's organs function to keep us alive, we have to have been created. So if we admit there is a God, then we either have to accept or deny Jesus. Whichever one we choose decides where we spend the rest of forever. You know, I hate salvation scare tactics, but this is one of the passages that teach it. Plain and simple if you don't believe Jesus is the Son of God you are condemned to hell. The way I have always looked at it is, God created the universe including us, why wouldn't we worship Him? Verses 19-21 talks about Jesus being the light, and those who don't believe, love the darkness more than the light. When we sin we want to sin in darkness, because the light will expose our sin and we will be punished. One thing we have to remember is that we weren't born Christians. We were born without Jesus, so it is our nature to sin. We have to decide. That's why God gave us the freedom to choose, or free will. So ultimately heaven or hell it is our choice. We're all searching for something to worship. Money, power, status, why not worship the one who created you, it's a lot more fulfilling. Keep checking back and we'll search together. Thanks for searching with me, Paul

Thursdays Child: John 3:13,16,17 Round Trip Ticket

As I mentioned last time, I purposely stopped at John 3:16. I also omitted verse 13 in the last post because I saw that they go together.
Verse 13 says, and this is Jesus talking "For only I, the Son of Man have come to earth and will return to heaven again."
I wrote in one of my first posts, how I have heard it bothers some people that God sent His Son to earth to die. The thought was "How could a loving God do this?" This scripture explains it. God the father didn't make the Son do it. All three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are God. So, it was basically Jesus' job to make the sacrifice. Yes, He was born the way all humans are born, and no we don't know at what age He realized He was God. We do know that at 12 years old He was teaching the church leaders in the temple, and when His parents were looking for Him He said "Didn't you know I would be about my fathers business." That leads me to believe He knew then.
John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world the He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." In human terms this statement is true. The Holy Spirit got Mary pregnant. Jesus grew inside of her -I'm not even going to try to figure out they accomplished that-and was born as a human baby. They knew that the human race would never be "good enough" to go to heaven, so they had to give us a way to not burn in hell forever. That's why verse 17 says "God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save it. Maybe this is a good time to talk about this. It's been a few weeks since Easter. We're back to the daily routine. It's probably a good time to remind ourselves what Jesus did for us. As we learn other things all year long, it's a good idea to get back to that Easter feeling periodically. Keep searching for that Easter feeling, and thanks for searching with me, Paul

Thursdays Child John 3:1-15 A Humble Leader

This time on Thursdays Child I'd like to talk about Nicodemus. As John 3 starts out it says, "after dark one evening." I wondered if that meant Nicodemus went to Jesus in secret so the other Pharisees wouldn't know, because the next sentence says "WE ALL KNOW that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are proof enough that God is with you." It's funny how you read things over and over and, and different things come to mind at different times. This is the first time I noticed Nicodemus saying "We all know." I just always thought the Pharisees thought Jesus was a fake and killed Him for blasphemy, and defying Jewish law. This tells me they were worried they would lose their power, and their ability to control the people. They felt that the people would discover that faith in God is about love, not following a strict law. Next Jesus tells him, "Unless you are born again you can never see the kingdom of God." Where did that come from? Why did He say that? His divinity showing again I guess. Nicodemus never asked anything about that. All I can think is, Jesus knew Nicodemus was going to ask it. Then Jesus explains to him that born again doesn't mean going back into the womb. It means being given a new life by the Holy Spirit. It's the same as being able to hear the wind and you can't tell where it comes from or where it's going, it's impossible to explain to people how to be born of the Spirit. Nicodemus once again asked Jesus what He meant. Jesus just told him if you don't believe the things that I tell you about what is happening on earth how will you believe what's going on in heaven? It makes me wonder why they were so wrapped up in the law set down in the old testament. The also had the stories of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Daniel, and others and how they were devoted to God and prayed hours on end. I'm sure these guys understood what new life from the Holy Spirit was all about. It is all about your connection with God. The Pharisees were all about themselves and their power and control. If you look at things that have happened even in our modern times, and the preachers that have fallen because of money and power. Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggert, and the ones that have stayed true to God and have continually been blessed by God, Billy Graham, Greg Laurie, and many more. Fortunately there are more that have stayed true than have been consumed by power. That connection with God is what we're searching for here. I intentionally stopped at verse 15 so we can start at John 3:16 next time. I know I've said it before but, as I search for a deeper connection with God, I hope this also helps you in your search. Thanks for searching with me, Paul