So I finally hung pictures on my walls today. HUGE difference. I mean not as much as if my walls had been white (they are wood paneled). But definitely a nicer 'lived in' effect.
[I have to assume that this is where having a significant female in my life would have prevented me from going 6 weeks with no decorations. Amongst other things.]
Very productive day already and I leave shortly for "work" a.k.a. going to hang out with some student leaders. Love it. Then the rest of my week I'll be attending a staff conference. God's been pointing out today that for as much as I can grip about things He's given me a pretty stinking wonderful life.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Cooked up a storm!
Yesterday I got a hankering to do some cooking. So I went nuts. First I made chili. Jon's-it-would-be-famous-if-he-ever-shared-chili-con-carne. The stuff is amazing. Who can go wrong with 3+ pounds of shredded beef chili?? Its awesome. So for several hours yesterday the house had wonderful smells of chili wafting in the air.
Then I decided to live on the edge and try something new. Apple Butter. Who knew you could make it yourself and that it only takes 3 or 4 ingredients??? Of course peeling and chopping apples took me an hour and I have some sore muscles in odd places from it but it was worth it. Because this morning I went out to check on the crock pot and after stirring it for a few minutes it actually looks just like apple butter you get in the store. Then I tasted it. Sublime.
Seriously I disappoint myself that I cook so rarely. Or rather that I'm lazy and just cook simple things. When I get ambitious with my cooking is when things get tasty! Now I just need someone who likes to buy me ingredients and clean the kitchen when I'm done. hehe.
I think I want to grill a turkey for Thanksgiving again. As I recall last time I did that it was one of the better turkeys I've had - which is saying something because my mom can cook a mean turkey!
Any suggestions of what I should direct my budding culinary prowess at next?
Then I decided to live on the edge and try something new. Apple Butter. Who knew you could make it yourself and that it only takes 3 or 4 ingredients??? Of course peeling and chopping apples took me an hour and I have some sore muscles in odd places from it but it was worth it. Because this morning I went out to check on the crock pot and after stirring it for a few minutes it actually looks just like apple butter you get in the store. Then I tasted it. Sublime.
Seriously I disappoint myself that I cook so rarely. Or rather that I'm lazy and just cook simple things. When I get ambitious with my cooking is when things get tasty! Now I just need someone who likes to buy me ingredients and clean the kitchen when I'm done. hehe.
I think I want to grill a turkey for Thanksgiving again. As I recall last time I did that it was one of the better turkeys I've had - which is saying something because my mom can cook a mean turkey!
Any suggestions of what I should direct my budding culinary prowess at next?
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Watch
Can I get a show of hands how many of you are 'watching' as Jesus directed?
I'm not being alarmist here at all just sharing something that actually gets me super excited.
The bible tells us to 'keep watch'.
(sorry for the KJV of these quotes but I just grabbed them from another page)
Mt 24:42-WATCH THEREFORE.
Mt 25:13-WATCH THEREFORE.
Mt 26:41-WATCH AND PRAY, THAT YE ENTER NOT INTO TEMPTATION.
Mk 13:33-WATCH AND PRAY.
Mk 13:34-A MAN...COMMANDED THE PORTER TO WATCH.
Mk 13:35-WATCH YE THEREFORE.
Mk 13:37-AND WHAT I SAY UNTO YOU I SAY UNTO ALL, WATCH.
Mk 14:38-WATCH YE AND PRAY, LEST YE ENTER INTO TEMPTATION.
Lk 21:36-WATCH YE THEREFORE, AND PRAY ALWAYS, THAT YE MAY BE ACCOUNTED WORTHY TO ESCAPE ALL THESE THINGS.
1 Thes 5:6-LET US NOT SLEEP, AS DO OTHERS; BUT LET US WATCH.
Rev 3:3-IF...THOU SHALT NOT WATCH, I WILL COME ON THEE AS A THIEF, AND THOU SHALT NOT KNOW WHAT HOUR I WILL COME UPON THEE.
Mt 24:43-IF THE GOODMAN...HAD KNOWN...HE WOULD HAVE WATCHED.
Lk 12:39-IF THE GOODMAN...HAD KNOWN...HE WOULD HAVE WATCHED.
Lk 12:37-BLESSED ARE THOSE SERVANTS, WHOM THE LORD WHEN HE COMETH SHALL FIND WATCHING.
Lk 12:40-BE YE THEREFORE READY.
Heb 9:28-SO CHRIST WAS ONCE OFFERED TO BEAR THE SINS OF MANY; AND UNTO THEM THAT LOOK FOR HIM SHALL HE APPEAR THE SECOND TIME.
What are we watching for? Why the 'blessed hope' of course (Titus 2:13). Jesus to return.
So some of you are probably rolling your eyes or saying "Bro you can't know when he's coming back so just be a good Christian and dont worry about it".
Why then are we commanded to keep watch? I agree that the scripture does say 'no one knows the day or the hour' (Matthew 24:36) but right before that in Matthew 24:32 we are told that there are lots of signs given and when we see them we know he's about to show up.
What I like to describe it as 'We can know the season but maybe not the particular day or hour'. I think this means WATCH carefully for the season to arrive. As you see it coming prepare yourself and dont just keep it to yourself but tell others.
Thats what I'm doing now. Telling you I think the leaves on the trees are just beginning to turn bright colors warning us that the 'season' of the end is arriving.
This morning I was reading Matthew 25:1-13. Its about 10 people waiting for Jesus. In the end he arrives and 5 of them really aren't ready (if you notice Jesus response he says he never knew them) which I take to mean that they think they know him but have not actually made him Lord of their life. What struck me most as I read that passage was this: if only one of the five 'wise' ones had woken up just a little early and urged the 'foolish ones' to truely be prepared maybe they would have had time to make it. Because clearly in the story once Jesus arrived it was to late.
To summarize my thoughts - watching without telling anyone is useless because you will be held accountable for them. Ezekiel 33:7-9. But for the believer watching is also joyous thing because we see our salvation at hand.(Luke 21:28)
Ok so in a practical sense what does watching involve? Well I think the bible offers quite a few examples of what our world will look like at the 'season' of the end. So to me watching means reading the bible with a newspaper open next to me. (or vice versa watching the evening news with Scripture in mind).
For example. The bible seems to indicate a global financial system around the time of the end. Headlines this week talk about Sarkozy and Brown (France and England) trying to get the US (and whichever president is elected) to join them in solving the financial melt down by instituting a global financial solution. (If I hear Sarkozy right he is suggesting we get rid of most of the currencies of the world and just have a small handful of currencies). So does that mean Jesus comes back tomorrow?? No but it might just be a few yellow leaves on an otherwise green tree indicating "fall" is approaching.
Taken with dozens of other stories like this for the past few years I'd offer this analogy - pretty much all the trees around have some leaves colored but few have completely changed color. Meaning nearly all the prophecies and word pictures given of the end times have seen something happen in the past 5-60 years to set the stage as it were but few have been outright fulfilled. the outright fulfilling of things though could happen in a matter of days or weeks when the time is just right so dont take to much hope from the fact that things haven't all been setup. itll happen fast.
if you ask me i could probably put together a list (or find one online) of all the word pictures describing the 'stage' at the time of the end.
for now I'd suggest checking out two other blogs: http://prophecynews.blogspot.com/ which mostly just posts headlines that in some way relate to prophecy. Occasionally there will be commentary offered as well. The other one is http://joelrosenberg.blogspot.com/ though it looks like he hasn't posted recently. He can get a bit political so if you are sensitive to that wait til after the election to read him :-) His stuff on the middle east and russia is what I pay attention to.
Ok I'll end my rant here. But I welcome your comments.
I'm not being alarmist here at all just sharing something that actually gets me super excited.
The bible tells us to 'keep watch'.
(sorry for the KJV of these quotes but I just grabbed them from another page)
Mt 24:42-WATCH THEREFORE.
Mt 25:13-WATCH THEREFORE.
Mt 26:41-WATCH AND PRAY, THAT YE ENTER NOT INTO TEMPTATION.
Mk 13:33-WATCH AND PRAY.
Mk 13:34-A MAN...COMMANDED THE PORTER TO WATCH.
Mk 13:35-WATCH YE THEREFORE.
Mk 13:37-AND WHAT I SAY UNTO YOU I SAY UNTO ALL, WATCH.
Mk 14:38-WATCH YE AND PRAY, LEST YE ENTER INTO TEMPTATION.
Lk 21:36-WATCH YE THEREFORE, AND PRAY ALWAYS, THAT YE MAY BE ACCOUNTED WORTHY TO ESCAPE ALL THESE THINGS.
1 Thes 5:6-LET US NOT SLEEP, AS DO OTHERS; BUT LET US WATCH.
Rev 3:3-IF...THOU SHALT NOT WATCH, I WILL COME ON THEE AS A THIEF, AND THOU SHALT NOT KNOW WHAT HOUR I WILL COME UPON THEE.
Mt 24:43-IF THE GOODMAN...HAD KNOWN...HE WOULD HAVE WATCHED.
Lk 12:39-IF THE GOODMAN...HAD KNOWN...HE WOULD HAVE WATCHED.
Lk 12:37-BLESSED ARE THOSE SERVANTS, WHOM THE LORD WHEN HE COMETH SHALL FIND WATCHING.
Lk 12:40-BE YE THEREFORE READY.
Heb 9:28-SO CHRIST WAS ONCE OFFERED TO BEAR THE SINS OF MANY; AND UNTO THEM THAT LOOK FOR HIM SHALL HE APPEAR THE SECOND TIME.
What are we watching for? Why the 'blessed hope' of course (Titus 2:13). Jesus to return.
So some of you are probably rolling your eyes or saying "Bro you can't know when he's coming back so just be a good Christian and dont worry about it".
Why then are we commanded to keep watch? I agree that the scripture does say 'no one knows the day or the hour' (Matthew 24:36) but right before that in Matthew 24:32 we are told that there are lots of signs given and when we see them we know he's about to show up.
What I like to describe it as 'We can know the season but maybe not the particular day or hour'. I think this means WATCH carefully for the season to arrive. As you see it coming prepare yourself and dont just keep it to yourself but tell others.
Thats what I'm doing now. Telling you I think the leaves on the trees are just beginning to turn bright colors warning us that the 'season' of the end is arriving.
This morning I was reading Matthew 25:1-13. Its about 10 people waiting for Jesus. In the end he arrives and 5 of them really aren't ready (if you notice Jesus response he says he never knew them) which I take to mean that they think they know him but have not actually made him Lord of their life. What struck me most as I read that passage was this: if only one of the five 'wise' ones had woken up just a little early and urged the 'foolish ones' to truely be prepared maybe they would have had time to make it. Because clearly in the story once Jesus arrived it was to late.
To summarize my thoughts - watching without telling anyone is useless because you will be held accountable for them. Ezekiel 33:7-9. But for the believer watching is also joyous thing because we see our salvation at hand.(Luke 21:28)
Ok so in a practical sense what does watching involve? Well I think the bible offers quite a few examples of what our world will look like at the 'season' of the end. So to me watching means reading the bible with a newspaper open next to me. (or vice versa watching the evening news with Scripture in mind).
For example. The bible seems to indicate a global financial system around the time of the end. Headlines this week talk about Sarkozy and Brown (France and England) trying to get the US (and whichever president is elected) to join them in solving the financial melt down by instituting a global financial solution. (If I hear Sarkozy right he is suggesting we get rid of most of the currencies of the world and just have a small handful of currencies). So does that mean Jesus comes back tomorrow?? No but it might just be a few yellow leaves on an otherwise green tree indicating "fall" is approaching.
Taken with dozens of other stories like this for the past few years I'd offer this analogy - pretty much all the trees around have some leaves colored but few have completely changed color. Meaning nearly all the prophecies and word pictures given of the end times have seen something happen in the past 5-60 years to set the stage as it were but few have been outright fulfilled. the outright fulfilling of things though could happen in a matter of days or weeks when the time is just right so dont take to much hope from the fact that things haven't all been setup. itll happen fast.
if you ask me i could probably put together a list (or find one online) of all the word pictures describing the 'stage' at the time of the end.
for now I'd suggest checking out two other blogs: http://prophecynews.blogspot.com/ which mostly just posts headlines that in some way relate to prophecy. Occasionally there will be commentary offered as well. The other one is http://joelrosenberg.blogspot.com/ though it looks like he hasn't posted recently. He can get a bit political so if you are sensitive to that wait til after the election to read him :-) His stuff on the middle east and russia is what I pay attention to.
Ok I'll end my rant here. But I welcome your comments.
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