Posts

Showing posts from July, 2015

Tolstoy, after Rousseau, on Knowledge and Wisdom

“Real wisdom is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of which things in life are necessary, which are less necessary, and which are completely unnecessary to know. Among the most necessary knowledge is the knowledge of how to live well, that is, how to produce the least possible evil and the greatest goodness in one’s life. At present, people study useless sciences, but forget to study this, the most important knowledge.”

The Freedom of True Spirituality (part 3)

Image
What does true spirituality look like when the Holy Spirit has His way? True spirituality looks like freedom! “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:17) Rev. Eric Foley, CEO of Seoul USA, asked members of the North Korean underground church how Americans could pray for them. They answered, “You pray for us? We pray for you!” When I asked why, they responded, “Because Western Christians often put so much faith in their prosperity and political freedoms that they don't know what it's like to have to depend completely on God. And because of that, they often do not get to know Him in all the ways He invites us to.'" One North Korean prisoner described the pitiful conditions he experienced, but being a Christian in prison is the on

A Piece Of Pizza Pizza

Image

The Freedom of True Spirituality (part 2)

“But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. . . . Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:14, 17-18) When Christ removes the veil, our lives are transformed and we can be truly spiritual. We can be free to do everything we should spiritually. If we remove the veil ourselves, we momentarily ignite our own glory but this eventually fades. The world talks of “secrets” to success;well, here’s the secret to true Spirituality: we don’t create our own spirituality ourselves. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Cor 3:17) Here’s another way to look at it: if I can’t control my body functi

The Existence of God and the Power of The Mind

Image
The mind is a powerful thing, but can it stop an on-coming train? So it is with denying the existence of God--no mind is powerful enough to make the Great "I AM" suddenly not "be". One must move, or be flattened by the reality of His existence. Notice the man shaking his fist in defiance as the train brings reality to his senses.

A Fitness Puzzle

Image
How does one use this piece of equipment?  Yikes!

The Game's Afoot!

Image
Many who follow us on social media notice from time to time a photograph of this fellow in some very strange places. I suppose now is a good time (as any) to explain: After moving into our new our new home, this gnome was adopted into the family. Someone came up with the idea to "hide the gnome" so he tends to disappear from time to time. When he is discovered, that person posts a photograph on social media, tagging all players of the game. On rare occasions, visiting friends may discover him. There is a trick, however. When he is discovered and photographed and posted online, the finder must immediately hide him again. This is a challenge when there are so many family members in the house at any given time--and the more people there are, the more cautious one must be. If he is not found after one week, he is placed in an agreed-upon "home base," which signals everyone that he has successfully remained undiscovered for that period of time. It's fun for

Prophecy and the Reliability of Scripture

"The Bible has a total of 31,103 verses, 8,352 of which are prophetic; they speak of events yet to come. All biblical predictions about the future can be grouped into 737 different predictions. Of the 8,352 verses, 6,312 (or 522 different predictions) have already happened exactly as God's Word said they would. About 2,040 verses, with 215 specific predictions from God about the end of the world, are in process of being fulfilled. . . . These prophecies can be further divided into eighteen chronological categories (by the timing of the events). There are only five categories of the eighteen left to be fulfilled. Here are the categories: church prophecies, Second Coming prophecies, Millennial prophecies, Final Judgment prophecies, and New Jerusalem prophecies. Each of the prophetic signs that Christ and His apostles gave is very specific. Jesus has explained that as we get closer to the Second Coming, we will witness these events, which will begin at the same time, run conc

Can't Get No Saggier, Yo!

Image

What'cha doin' this Summer?

Image

"Life Lessons From a 7-Thousand-Mile Bike Ride"

Excellent reasons to do something different.

The Freedom Of True Spirituality (part 1)

Image
True Spirituality is SPIRITUAL (hence the name “spirituality”). If we produce spirituality out of ourselves, then it’s really“HUMANISM” and we lock ourselves down to this realm in which we die. “ . . . not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end.” [2 Cor. 3:13 ESV] Moses veiled his face when he came down the mountain for two reasons (Ex 34:29 ff). The first reason is that the people were afraid to come near him. Paul elaborates that Moses veiled his face because the glory faded revealing he was not a spiritual superhero, but human--and humanity comes to an end.  When we create our own spirituality, we put up a veil, a false front that protects our reputation, our humanistic individuality. Remember the Wizard of Oz telling Dorothy, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!” There is no freedom in hiding. “But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old cove

I Had "Mediocre" Last Week. Let's Try Something Different.

Image

God Bless America!

Image
The Land of Freedom One of the great blessings we enjoy in the United States of America is freedom. We all have the freedom to live our own life, choose our own path, and use our abilities for our own gain as well as for the good of others. We have the freedom to choose our leaders and the freedom to worship God without fear of interference from the government. Freedom’s Cost All of these freedoms are great blessings, but they were not won without a cost. Our forefathers took a stand for these freedoms and defended them, whatever the price. Since then, countless brave men and women have stood up to protect this great country, to secure its freedoms, and to promote the cause of freedom around the world. Many of them have paid the ultimate price, and we honor their sacrifice. A Greater Freedom There is an even greater freedom which can be possessed and enjoyed by every person on the face of the earth, regardless of their social standing or nationality. This is freedom from

True Spirituality (part 7): Hearts and Stones

“You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all . . . Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end.” (2 Cor 3:2, 7) Have you ever thought of your spirituality as a letter that can be read by anyone? Paul contrasts two kinds of letters: one written on the heart and the other written on stone. Spirituality conveys a message as if it were a written message. The difference between a heart and a stone include the fact that one is warm and the other is cold. One is soft, the other is hard. It is also true that a heart can be hard and cold but a stone can never be warm and soft by itself. When we engrave words on a stone, the words are locked into the stone’s face. These words are unforgiving because they do not change or move. A stone cannot respond to the message it receives or communicates.