Which is more important

Souls:

“You were made to last forever” (Warren, The Purpose Driven Life).

“[God] has also set eternity in the hearts of men” (Solomon, Ecclesiastes 3:11).

“And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures… had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before” (C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle).

Works:

“[A]ll achievements are eventually surpassed, records are broken, reputations fade, and tributes are forgotten” (Warren, The Purpose Driven Life).

“There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow (1:11). For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten. Like the fool, the wise man too must die! I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? (2:16, 18-19) ‘Meaningless! Meaningless! … Everything is meaningless!’ (12:8).” (Solomon, Ecclesiastes)

“I know that everything God does will endure forever” (Solomon, Ecclesiastes 3:14).

Survey

Hi all,

I have made this 10 question survey to see what you think about me. Anyone can do it, no matter how long or how well you've known me. All I ask is that you be completely honest.

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB...V

Thanks for your help.
Kendall

Fear

I am thinking about my motivations.  What is it that motivates me to do the things I do.  Specifically, how does fear motivate me.  This morning I read that God commanded Joshua (and the Israelites) to "be strong and very courageous" (Joshua 1:7), where as Jericho and the rest  of Canaan was "melting with fear" (Joshua 2:9).  The two stand in stark contrast - God's children are to be courageous, but the children of this world are fearful.

In the new testament, Paul reminds Timothy of this contrast when he says that "God did not give us a spirit of timidity (other translations read 'fear'), but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline" (2 Timothy 1:7).

I can see where fear motivates me.  I don't want to be poor and broke, and I would like to retire from secular work at some point, so I discipline myself with my money.  I don't want to be physically broken down in my old age, so I discipline my body with diet and exercise.  I don't want to fall into the trappings of addiction, so I stay away from activities that trigger addictive behavior.  I don't want my children to be delinquents, so I discipline them.

It seems that sometimes fear can be a healthy thing - that it helps us make good decisions.  Perhaps that is because healthy fear is not really fear at all, but an acknowledgement of the power something has (or can have) in our lives.  A healthy fear is really more of a respect than a fear.  This must be why God commands us not to fear, but then, through the words of King Solomon, he says "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10).

Sometimes, however, I am motivated by unhealthy fear.  Those are times that lead to some action, but I do it because I fear what others will think, or I fear I wont be able to complete it, or that it will take up too much time, or...  In these cases my fear is not built on respect, but on disrespect; what I am actually saying is, "God, I know you are leading me to go here, but I don't really think you can handle what I am about to get myself into."  Indeed, in these cases my fear is really a lack of faith.  And in these cases, the courage to move beyond  the fear is simply a testimony that I serve a God who is able.

It seems that when God says not to fear, what he is really saying, is have faith!

God, may I have the faith to show that you are able.

Creation Museum

We went to the Creation Museum in Kentucky today.  We all had a good day, although, as Jeffrey said, “Aubrey and I had our ups and downs.”  The whole museum is based on Genesis 1 through 11 (with a few references to the New Testament thrown in).  It is run by a ministry called “Answers in Genesis,” and designed to give logical, scientific, and biblical answers to the evolution debate in support of a literal 6 days of creation viewpoint (which I tend to support). They make a lot of good points, many of which I am still thinking about.  If nothing else, it is very well done; I haven’t been to many better natural history museums.  It may very likely lead to future postings. 

In the short term, let me summarize the 7 points the museum is based on. 

1. Creation  (Gen Ch 1&2)
2. Corruption  (Gen Ch 3&4)
3. Catastrophe  (Gen Ch 5-10)
4. Confusion  (Gen Ch 11)
5. Christ  (4 Gospels)
6. Cross  (4 Gospels & Romans)
7. Consummation  (Revelation & other scriptures)

Some things that I’ve been learning lately

Some things that I’ve been learning lately:


1) God is awesome. He alone is worthy of praise and adoration and He alone is deserving of our awe, respect, and fear.

2) We are not under the law, but under grace. We don’t approach God on Mt. Sinai or Mt. Horeb, but on Mt. Zion, in the New Jerusalem. We can enter the Holy of Holies, and while we are there, we need not approach the Judgment Seat, but can instead come to the Throne of Grace.

3) Anything done in life is meaningless unless we remember that there is a God and life does not end at death. Without these two things, nothing is worthwhile.

4) God has a plan, and I am part of it.

A list for Jeffrey on the eve of your wedding

Yesterday was my anniversary. Jennifer and I went out for dinner and had our annual discussion “On a scale of 1 to 10, what would you rank our marriage this year?” Anyway, this morning I was too distracted to read a lot of scripture during my devotional time (NOT because of our conversation!), so I started looking through an old journal, where I found the following list. I have to say, it drew me up short. I guess I know what I’ll be working on during this year of marriage.


On a side note, I have no idea what I was thinking or what verses I was studying when I wrote this. Also, although I put this list together in my own words, the ideas are definitely not original to me. Based on the way the list appears in my journal, I don’t think these are arranged in any order than the order I thought of them. I hope you find this list as challenging as I did this morning.

Journal entry from December 2, 2009:

A list for Jeffrey on the eve of your wedding:

1) Love is a choice. Choose love everyday, no matter how hard it is or how bad things seem. The more you make the choice to love, the easier the choice will become. Make love a habit.

2) Tell her you love her. Tell her everyday. Tell her in the morning when you wakeup, tell her at night when you go to bed, and tell her at least once somewhere in between. Tell her; she needs to hear it.

3) Learn how to fight, and do it often. There is a way to fight that is not hurtful or damaging. Make rules for fighting and follow them. Don’t be afraid of fighting and don’t let things fester. If something is wrong, get it out in the open and work through it.

4) Never let the sun go down on your anger. Keep the ratio of fights to make-ups at 1 to 1. I have found that making up is the best part of fighting!

5) Show her you love her in a way that is meaningful to her. Does she like flowers? Buy some. Does her back hurt? Rub it (without expecting sex). Is she overcommitted and tired? Do the dishes. Find some way everyday to show her you love her. Sometimes the best gift you can give is a break from each other.

6) Be considerate of her needs in the bedroom (including her need to sleep). Learn what she likes, what she doesn’t. Learn when she likes some things, and when she likes others. Learn her pace and her language. Nothing is a greater puzzle than the physical needs of a woman, but they are worth discovering!

7) Keep a servant’s heart. There will be times when you are tired or mad and don’t want to do things; do them anyway, and do not expect anything in return. Remember, love is a choice.

8) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength, then love your wife. Keep your priorities straight. She is not #1 in your life. It is a hard lesson, but sooner or later you must learn that if something were to happen, you could live without her, but you can never truly live without God.

9) Pray together daily. Prayer is an intimate thing and doing it with your wife will build intimacy with her. Pray for real: What’s on your heart? Do you need to repent? Have you thanked God for the person you are praying with?

10) Find excuses to be together, and laugh often.