Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Fire And Ice

I'm working on a couple of longer posts, at least, I'm trying to with pain and fatigue draining any reserves I may have had. Still, while you're waiting, take a look at this amazing footage from the Iceland volcanic eruption.



If you thought that was cool, check out these photographs!

I always liked volcanoes even as a boy in 2nd Grade when I first discovered them in a book. They're so powerful and untamed! I love studying them! Just another big, noisy thing that goes fast (well, at least the lava does at times).

Friday, April 9, 2010

What Matters Is Who He Says I Am

Jim May, whom I have a great deal of respect for, just shared a bunch of quotes in his newsletter. This one I've found it to be true. “The way to conquer rejection is to come to the God of all comfort.”

What does that mean? By coming to the God of all comfort, we exchange someone's judgment about us for Someone Else's. Not only that, but we exchange an imperfect, fallible, limited, faulty, impudent, ignorant, self-satisfied, egregious, arrogant, wretched, wicked, immoral, hateful, stupid, insufficient, imploding, bombastic, furious, putrid, evil, little, shrewish, horrid, demeaning, boring, insolent, witless judgment for a new judgment that's perfect, infallible, unlimited, faultless, prudent, knowledgeable, self-sufficient, exceptional, confident, content, good, moral, loving, wise, sufficient, structured, succinct, peaceful, pure, holy, King-sized, good-tempered, beautiful, valuable, creative, polite and witty. And don't think I didn't drag out the wiktionary on that one!

What does that Someone say about me? If I go by what the Bible says, He says a lot! I am His child, His very own, bought with a price. More than that, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Christ lives in me! I don't have to accept what they say about me because I have died! I don't answer to them, because Christ takes my place. In Christ, I am already righteous, already holy.

He also says that I am the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. I have comfort no human can give me. His Spirit speaks to my spirit and bears witness to the truth. His Spirit shows me life as it can be. Reading Romans 8 in the Message paraphrase gets me all excited!

Who you are as He sees you is vastly better than the highest flattery and praise that anyone else could ever say. The love He has for you is better than a thousand romances. He pursues your heart as a suitor, no matter your race, no matter your gender. He seeks your heart. He wants it with all He has, with all He is. What will you say to Him? Will you give Him your heart? Will you give Him all of it?

Monday, April 5, 2010

That's My King

I love this speech by S.M. Lockridge and the visuals back it up well. On Easter Sunday or any other Monday, that's my King!



And I hope I get to see this painting someday...

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Higher Heating Bills For Colorado Guaranteed By Ritter And HB 1365

Rarely do I cross-post between blogs because my personal blog is, well, personal. This time, the issues intersect both blogs. Colorado's Governor Bill Ritter will sign H.B. 1365. This bill  not only will cause the loss of railroad jobs, but it will cause a jump in our home utility bills.

Did the Democrats fail economics? This bill eludes common sense! If the population has less money to spend as a result of just trying to stay warm, it tends to make a recession worse, not better. What's worse, businesses considering adding jobs have to consider that their facility costs are way up, which means they might not expand in Colorado like they might elsewhere.

Ritter has indicated that he will sign this bill. I think Coloradoans need to look at who are the winners and losers on this bill and then drop Governor Ritter a line.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Unwanted: A National Standard For Human Beings

As a father of three home-educated children, I take an active interest in homeschooling and educational issues. I've come to understand that each child is a unique gift from God. Because they're unique, any classification for a child, from school grades to performance grades degrades and even removes their characteristics and abilities. While I can appreciate a need for standards and groupings, this is not something I want to subject my children to.

I believe these folks are working towards a legal way to force me to let them test and classify my children, and I don't think that's right. Here is what I told them in their survey: