Coincidence?

Posted on 16 December 2011 by Richard

Thought of a pretty good message for young people; on the way to church last night, told my wife about it – when we arrived, the message was along nearly the same lines. I still think I’d like to post the thought sometime when I have the time.

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Thoughts About Power

Posted on 27 September 2011 by Richard

The other day, I ran across the phrase Pray for Power.  I’ve seen and heard the phrase several times before, but I this time, I decided to evaluate the phrase in light of Scripture — this entry is the result.

I could not recall reading in the Scripture where believers are instructed to pray for power.  So, I did some research, and, sure enough, there is no place where Christians are told to pray for power… and upon reflection, there’s an excellent reason why it is so:

Christians have the Holy Spirit of God indwelling them (Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. – Rom 8:9).  Furthermore, the Bible teaches, and orthodox Christianity has always believed, that God is a trinity, consisting of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  This means that the Holy Spirit is fully God, just as Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh.  We have God indwelling us! Among God’s many attributes is that of omnipotence (meaning that He is all-powerful).   I think many of this think of this as an attribute of God “way up there” in heaven – but the Holy Spirit, indwelling us, is God, and is omnipotent, and we have that omnipotent power indwelling us.  One cannot get more power than omnipotence, so it makes no sense at all to pray for power.

Yet, with all of that power, the Holy Spirit of God does not force us to do right; He allows us to choose to yield to Him and behave Godly, or we can choose to go our own way. It is all a matter of us yielding to the power within, rather than praying for (more) power.  We have all we need; the question is: Does He have all of us?

The verse I commonly see cited regarding praying for power is Acts 1:8; however this verse says nothing about prayer; it says:

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Nothing about praying for power – Jesus said that his disciples would receive power, and we know that they did, at Pentecost. But there is no hint that they prayed for power.  Even if they did, we know that now the Holy Spirit indwells one at the point of salvation (see the discussion Paul had with the disciples of John in Acts 19).

Some verses about power:

  • Power belongs to God (Matt 6:13)
  • Jesus was given power (Matt 28:18; Matt 9:6)
  • Jesus gave power to His disciples (Mark 3:15; Mark 6:7)
  • God has given us the spirit of power (2 Tim 1:7)

So, let us not pray for power, but rather that we may yield to that Power that works in us (Eph 3:20)

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More weather records

Posted on 15 September 2011 by Richard

In case you cannot tell, I’m interested in weather topics <grin>.

I was doing some research yesterday, and the summer of 2011 (that finally seems to be ending, God be thanked!) set other records.

August 2011 was the warmest month on record (beating July 1980).

August 2011 is #1 for the highest mean temperature, highest average temperature, and the highest “low” temperature.

The entire summer set records for the highest mean temperature, and the highest low temperature.  (It is #2 for the highest average temperature)

In the top ten list of consecutive days over 100 degrees, 2011 is the only year that has two entries in that list.

We set 11 new record highs for this summer (there are still 26 remaining from the blistering 1980 summer)

It didn’t cool off much at night this summer – we set 33 new records for the highest “low” temperature (there are only seven left from 1980).

We smashed the record of number of days with a low temperature of 80 degrees or higher; the old record was 39, and we had 55 days this summer.

The highest temperature recorded here still belongs to the 1980 heat wave (113). However, in the wee hours of 03 Aug, we set a record highest “low” temperature of 86 degrees (no wonder my A/C had to run all night!).

For summer daily temperatures, 2011 has four of the top ten highest mean averages, including the #1, #2, and #4 spots.  2011 owns all of the top 10 entries for the highest “low” temperatures.

The one-line executive summary of the above: It’s been hot here in north Texas!

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Record!

Posted on 14 September 2011 by Richard

After the hot August, it was wonderful weather the week of Labor Day – in the mid 80s during the day and in the 50s at night.  After such a blistering July/Aug, it felt great!

But, it was not to last: it warmed up again… but Dallas/Fort Worth broke the long-standing record for most number of 100 degree days.   It broke 100 degrees on Monday, 12 Sept, which tied the record, and then it was 107 degrees yesterday, which set a new record.  Today is borderline, with the high forecast to be 99 or 100.

After today, it is supposed to cool off, so I suspect that our 100 degree weather will have ended.

 

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Hot August

Posted on 1 September 2011 by Richard

August is over — we didn’t break any absolute records, but we do have several unusual things about this summer.  This is the first time in one summer that there are TWO streaks of consecutive days over 100 degrees.  The first one ended 11 Aug when we didn’t get over 100, stopping the streak at 40, just two days shy of the record of 42.  However, we’ve set a second consecutive streak tied for 10th place at 18 days.  The next three days are forecast to be over 100, so the new streak should, if that holds, be at 21, which will put this second string in 7th place. Three more days will put the total annual days at 68, 1 short of the 69 record. Finally, the most days in a month has both July 2011 and Aug 2011 making the top ten with 30 days (spot #2) and 28 days (tied for spot #3) respectively.

Summary: It’s been a hot summer here.

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Preaching Who?

Posted on 30 August 2011 by Richard

One of the most sobering comments I’ve read recently was a challenge: How much does your church talk about Jesus Christ? Specifically, the challenge was to take a random sermon and count the mentions of Jesus.

For Christians, He is the One that we should be exalting – and that goes both personally and as a church.  If someone recorded my daily “free” conversations – how much is about possessions and people and ideas and how much is about Jesus Christ? (By a free conversation, I am excluding conversations that are work-specific or when you are seeking knowledge, or when you are replying to specific questions).

For our churches, how much of the messages we hear even mention Jesus? The church is supposed to be His.  If I go to the Reagan library, I expect to see a lot about President Reagan (and hear a lot, if there is a guided tour).  If I go to the Lincoln Memorial, I expect to see/hear a lot about Lincoln).  But go to the church that Jesus died for, and how often is His name mentioned?

He told us that if He were to be lifted up, He would draw all men unto Him.  Have we decided that we can do it better?  Or do we truly lift Him up?

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Weather records

Posted on 30 August 2011 by Richard

Tomorrow is the last day of August; it’s been a hot summer here.  Both July and Aug are on the top ten list of “number of days in the month above 100”. July had 30 days over 100 and is in spot #2; Aug looks like it will have 28 and be tied for spot #3. (For those not from this area, 1980 was apparently the hottest summer ever and set all kinds of records; it holds the #1 spot with all days in July being over 100).

Then there is the total number of days over 100… the record is 69 (from, of course, 1980). We’re currently at 63 and there are four more days forecast to be over 100; that will put us at 67, solidly in 2nd place.  3rd place is a distant 56 days in 1998.

When the temperature does drop down to 95, I may need to wear a parka. <grin>

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A More Sure Word

Posted on 28 July 2011 by Richard

The Scriptures tell us that we have a “more sure word of prophecy” (2 Pet 1:19); God gave these words to Peter – Peter, who saw Jesus Christ transfigured before his eyes, and who heard God the Father speak.  For all this great experience, the Scriptures are called “more sure”.

The Bible is “more sure” than:

1) Our experiences; Peter, as noted above, had a great experience.  But still the Bible is “more sure”.  We often tell ourselves that “if only God would speak to me, I would know for sure and never doubt” – sounds good, but I’ll believe God’s word over any statement.  Upon one occasion when God did speak from heaven, some of the people thought it was thunder (John 12:28-19).  Over time, we would begin to doubt.  We should look to the Scriptures – our “more sure word”.

Consider, furthermore, the rich man in Luke 16; at the end, he begged Abraham to send Lazarus to his family, thinking that they would believe if they had an experience of seeing someone rise from the dead.  Abraham agrees with the Scripture and told the rich man that if they didn’t heed the Scripture (the more sure word), they would not believe a man risen from the dead. (Note: we know this to be true – Jesus rose from the dead, and the Jews, at large, rejected Him).

2) Our thoughts; the thoughts of the Almighty, perfect in holiness, are not similar to our thoughts (Is 55:8-9).  God gave us our minds so that we can reason, but we have a “more sure word” against which we can check our thoughts.  When our reasoning, or, more properly, its conclusions, contradict the Scripture, we must believe the Scripture.

3) Our feelings; we are creatures of emotion; some, more than others. However, above all of our feelings is the “more sure word”. When God tells me that my sins are forgotten by Him, it is true, whether I still “feel” guilty before Him or not. When He tells me that the righteousness of Jesus Christ has been placed to my account because of faith in His Son, it is fact, regardless of how I feel.  When He tells me that I am in His hand, and that no man can take me out of His hand, that is true, even during times when I don’t “feel” saved.

Thank God that we have a “more sure word”!

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April is ending

Posted on 30 April 2011 by Richard

How time flies! Doesn’t seem that long ago since I wrote that brief entry in February. So now, April is ending after today.

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Saturday in Feb

Posted on 20 February 2011 by Richard

Did some outside work, trimming bushes — pretty exhausting work, since some of the big ones need quite a stretch.

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