The Great Separation

Confounding things like Sky, Rocks, Seas, & oh yes, Women.

Scripture for the Week: Proverbs 30:18,19. - Do you ever read a piece of God's Word and laugh out loud?

I did this morning.

Now I know that I may receive criticism from some of my female readers for this verse choice, but as a guy I couldn't help but laugh and nod my head with a hearty, 'Amen!'

What is more confounding than a man's and woman's relationship?

This is of course my initial reaction to this verse and for those of you who are close friends, well... you know me.

Lord knows I've received criticism, and rejection too, from females throughout my life, but hopefully if everyone sticks with me on this one perhaps you too will give a hearty, 'Amen!', as I take a more thoughtful look at these two verses.

“There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden.” (Pr 30:18-19 NIV)

Three things, no wait a minute, there's four things that totally confound me.

The writer seems to say, "That fourth, boy that one takes the proverbial cake."

That puts a smile on my face as I nod in agreement.

Lest you become to judgmental of me note verse eighteen states that these things are "too amazing". King James uses, "too wonderful".

Strongs defines the Hebrew word used here, "pala’", in terms, "to be marvelous, be wonderful, be surpassing, be extraordinary...."

So these things that are related, even married, to each other - the eagle in the air, the snake upon the rock, the ship sailing the sea - are marvelous works of God. Even and perhaps more wondrous is the "way of a man with a maiden."

It is sky beneath the eagle's wings that allows it to soar.

It is the rock that keeps the snake warm and alive.

It is the ocean that takes the ship to worlds far and rich.

And it is the maiden who gives strength and help to the man.

Likewise it is the eagle which harnesses the wind.

The snake that protects its rock because it knows that it is shelter and life, day and night.

The ship which finds purpose and profit from the ocean.

And the man, like Christ does the Church, sees the wondrous value in the maiden and would in godly love lay his life down for her glory.

The Great Separation continues.

Sin and its Exponential Effects in the World Today.

Only one cure. - This week has been filled with a number of interesting news headlines.

Here's three that are worth looking at:

Daily Mail | Hospital admits to burning aborted babies in waste incinerator.

What's interesting here is: one, the obvious lack of value placed upon life; two, that some who aborted their babies are upset that the hospital would treat the aborted children in this manner.

New York Times | Worrisome New Link: AIDS Drugs and Leprosy.

Sin begets death. Always. What gets me is that the medical community and government continues to ignore the simple fact that sexually transmitted diseases can't be beat by drugs. The historical proof is that when an apparent cure is found for a STD a worse STD arises.

ScienCentral | Inherited Pollution.

This is a must read article and I suggest you watch the video too.

Science seems to have once again stumbled upon a Biblical fact. The fact being:

“You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,” (De 5:9 NIV)

A principle in this verse one should recognize, besides the generation consequences of sin, is that the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children and the children's children. Ie., if your father was an alcoholic then you probably have a greater propensity for alcoholism yourself.

In fact, your propensity could be greater than that of your father's.

What one generation excuses in moderation, the next excuses in excess.

Minor Cosmetic Change Here at TGS.

Scalpel.... Suction.... - Okay. Just for heads up. I've changed the look of the blog just a bit. Hopefully to make it easier to read.

Though I've heard from one who said she didn't have a problem before.

I however did. Or maybe I just desired change. Or maybe it's this old monitor I use. Whatever the case I longed to make the changes for a while and finally it dawned on me how to manipulate the TypePad template to do so.

I won't bother you with the details. Needless to say it was easier than I thought it would be. Which is likely why it took so long for the light bulb to come on.

Basically I changed the center column background color and enlarged the text. And a couple of other minor tweaks.

If you still are seeing the grey background behind these words right now, your browser needs a hard refresh because the old style-sheet settings are cached on you computer.

To do that hold down the "CTRL" key and hit the "F5" key. That should refresh it.

Scripture for the Week: Jeremiah 29:11.

Striving forward. - Do you ever get sick at heart?

Unfortunately I sometimes do. And have been of late. Worse, I've been sick now for the past week and a half with a pretty bad cold.

I'm not a good sick person.

Some can soldier through their colds and flues with incredibly good spirits. It's not always so with me. I tend to get grumpy and short. "Just-leave-me-alone" sort of attitude. Pretty much the opposite of what I typically am with people.

The trouble with this illness I've had lately is that it's magnified my sickness of heart.

No. I take that back. It's not a "trouble" it is a blessing.

For this cold I thank you, Jesus.

Through it and the ministering of friends who have been listening to the Lord, I know that the sickness of heart I've been feeling really is an issue of trust.

Do I really trust God with my desires, my hopes, my loves, my future, my life?

I haven't been. And I've known it for sometime. But it's a very difficult thing to accept.

Last night I turned, as has been my practice, to Proverbs and Psalms for comfort. By the time I was ready to turn the light out, I still was troubled in spirit.

That's when my cell phone chimed with a text message.

My good friend Sara who lives seven hours by car from here with her husband Caleb and their sweet little Hannah sent me this message:

Good verse is Jeremiah 29:11. As encouragement- I need to remind myself of it daily.

So I opened my Bible again and turned to that scripture. I had underlined it at some point in the past.

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jer 29:11 NIV)

Wow. How awesome is my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?!!

I sent back a message asking Sara why she sent that to me. She responded,

We always need encouragement! I just felt like sending it.

That I'm sure was the Lord talking to her.

She had heard the verse early that morning at church and she said it had stuck with her all day. Then at that moment, that night when I was about to switch off the light for the night, she was moved to send that verse to me.

How amazing.

I needed that verse. I needed that reminder. How sweet my prayer with the Lord was last night. I'm thankful for the struggling.

I'm thankful for the hope Christ gave me right when I needed it. I am thankful that the Father has a plan and hope for my life.

Write your Word unto my heart, Lord God.

May your desires, Father God, become my desires. May your joy become my joy. May your love become my love.

Prove your Spirit in me, Christ.

Egyptian Muslim Religious Leader Jailed for being Born Again.

They hate you because of me - Dhimni Watch has a report on a man who was a Muslim sheik in Egypt and is now a brother in Christ.

The religious police in Egypt have arrested him for insulting Islam for being born again through belief in our Lord Savior Jesus Christ.

Furthermore:

Egypt’s secret police transferred Bahaa el-Din Ahmed Hussein el-Akkad, 57, to the Wadi el-Natroun Prison last month. He was told he would remain there indefinitely unless he agreed to work as a government informer against other converts to Christianity.

Say a prayer for this brother in Christ and for those who imprison him that they too may discover life in Christ.

The Great Separation continues.

For further information on Christian persecution around the globe the Persecution Blog is a good source.

Old Text Books=Bullet Proof Children.

Raise the Oxford-Dictionaries Captian! - I wonder if Bill Crozier of Union City, OK, was schooled by this great nation's Public-Embarrassment School System?

He's running for superintendent of education, and alas he's a Republican. Man, what was he thinking.

According to WFTV.com, in his race against the incumbent he's suggesting old text books be used as shields by students in the event of a gun attack in schools.

If elected, he said he would put thick used textbooks under every desk for students to use in self-defense.

Yeah, yeah. Anything to help save a life. Well, anything short of armed guards and morning friskings.

The idea is somewhat reminiscent to me of the cold war Nuke alarms where kids ducked-and-covered under their desks.

Though admittedly the books are a bit more practical at stopping bullets than desks stopping an H-Bomb.

Frankly, if we've come to such a suggestion for protection, the battle is probably well lost. I don't even think it treats the symptom much less the source of the problem.

On the brights side, perhaps frequent tests of the Book-Shield will result in stronger children.

Who knows, they might even wonder what the shields were used for prior to enlistment as shields.

Persecution Blog Round-Up.

They hate you because of me - Today is Friday.

Which means that the Persecution Blog has a Round-Up of blogger posts from around the web that are about Christian persecution across the globe.

Be sure to check it out, it's well worth it.

And continue to remember the persecuted Church in your prayers.

The Great Separation continues.

Christian Singer Hospitalized Resulting from Physical Mistreatment.

They hate you because of me - Sadly, it was back on 2004.06.07, that I first mentioned the mistreatment and imprisonment of Helen Berhane. She was 29-years-old when I first posted about her over two years ago. Now she is 31 and apparently going through a serious health problem because of what she has endured these past two years.

Helen is a Christian singer in Eritrea. Because of her faith, the government of Eritrea imprisoned her without charges or trial. This government has moved her from metal shipping containers to hidden underground cells over the past two years because she refuses to deny Christ and promise never to participate in any Christian church again.

Christian Today, has a report on her current status in their article, "Popular Gospel Singer Hospitalised as Eritrea Persecution Intensifies."

Here's a snippet:

Helen Berhane, the Eritrean gospel singer jailed since May 2004, has reportedly been transferred to a hospital in Asmara in a serious condition, Christian Today has been told.

According to reports, Berhane, who showed signs of having suffered physical mistreatment, was seen in the hospital on a wheelchair. She has also not been allowed to receive visitors, tells Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

The article goes onto report about further arrests of other Christians.

Please say a prayer for Helen today and these fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray also for her captors and the Eritrean government.

The Great Separation continues.

For further information on Christian persecution around the globe the Persecution Blog is a good source.

HP's Slimming Cameras.

Instant Weight Loss. Instant Gratification. - This is a what I will dub a technological oddity. An oddity being something that amuses and strikes my fancy in some way.

Carolyn McCulley gets credit for bringing it to my attention via her godly singles inspiring weblog, Solo Femininity.

The oddity is a feature on a line of HP digital cameras that makes the subject look thinner than they are!

Want that bony runway model look! Take the pic, dial in the "Artistic Effect" and bingo!

You are now twenty, thirty, fifty pounds lighter.

Just think. All that time I've taken over the last year to exercise and drop poundage after poundage could have been accomplished with a mere push of a button.

I think I'll go make some brownies now.

Large Earth Quake Strikes Hawaii.

Earth Moving - Say a prayer for our fellows in Hawaii. There's been a series of earth quakes there. One rather large:

USGS Earthquake Hazards Program � Latest Earthquakes M3.0  in the USA - Past 7 days.

MAP 6.3 2006/10/15 17:07:48 19.842 -156.059 24.0   14 km ( 9 mi) NNW of Kalaoa, HI

[hat tip: Assorted Babble]

Update: Fox News TV Just reported that the quake was upgraded from a 6.3 mag to a 6.6.

Update: State of Emergency declared by Governor Linda Lingle.