.
Are you spending hours worrying over stuff?
Stop it!
Worry does not help.
All of us can testify that it's a waste of time. It achieves nothing good and robs us of joy (and sleep).
'Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?' asked Jesus in Matt 5:27
In that same passage He commands us: 'Do not worry!' (v34)
Rather we are invited to trust God. To have faith that He will take care of us.
Does that mean I just sit back and do nothing?
No, that's complacency.
A golden rule to follow is "do your part, and trust God for His part."
A farmer diligently works his land, but trusts God to send rain.
A preacher prepares a sermon, but trusts God to make hearts receptable.
A student studies for an exam, but trusts God to give clarity of mind.
If, as a Christ follower I've done all I can (and should have done), then all that is left to do is 'have faith in God.' He takes care of the bigger picture.
'But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.' (v33)
3/19/10
2/25/10
Imagine people think you’re dead... but you’re not.
.
"I just want to be alive again. I just want to be brought back from the dead," said a Sandford woman after she couldn't open a bank account or even upgrade her cell phone, because the 'Social Security Administration Dept' had mistakenly declared her dead along with her deceased husband.
For this women it’s an administrative plea to the U.S. government. For us as Christ followers, it’s a prayer that Jesus will answer on His 2’nd coming.
John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies...”
Jesus stated plainly that there is life after death. Even though we die and our earthly bodies decay and turn to dust, we continue to exist in our spiritual bodies. But at His second coming our earthly bodies will be resurrected and reunited with our spirit. It’ll be a miraculous, supernatural experience as we are given glorified bodies. We will be like Him.
1Jn 3:2b But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
Christ died, and his earthly body was laid in a tomb. But by God’s power He was raised again. And He was given a glorified body. One that looked exactly like before, but this time it was perfect, and better, and heavenly... it was a glorious version of the old one.
We who are in Christ will be like Him. We shall rise again and our resurrected bodies be made glorious.
Rom 6:5 If we have been united with Him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with Him in his resurrection.
This ‘resurrection of our bodies’ is a promise we can cling to.
Though we die... we will rise again.
"I just want to be alive again. I just want to be brought back from the dead," said a Sandford woman after she couldn't open a bank account or even upgrade her cell phone, because the 'Social Security Administration Dept' had mistakenly declared her dead along with her deceased husband.
For this women it’s an administrative plea to the U.S. government. For us as Christ followers, it’s a prayer that Jesus will answer on His 2’nd coming.
John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies...”
Jesus stated plainly that there is life after death. Even though we die and our earthly bodies decay and turn to dust, we continue to exist in our spiritual bodies. But at His second coming our earthly bodies will be resurrected and reunited with our spirit. It’ll be a miraculous, supernatural experience as we are given glorified bodies. We will be like Him.
1Jn 3:2b But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
Christ died, and his earthly body was laid in a tomb. But by God’s power He was raised again. And He was given a glorified body. One that looked exactly like before, but this time it was perfect, and better, and heavenly... it was a glorious version of the old one.
We who are in Christ will be like Him. We shall rise again and our resurrected bodies be made glorious.
Rom 6:5 If we have been united with Him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with Him in his resurrection.
This ‘resurrection of our bodies’ is a promise we can cling to.Though we die... we will rise again.
2/18/10
Wired Differently
Remember your school days?
Did you excel at sports or academics? If yes, you were probably in a popular school group. If no, you probably struggled with a low self esteem.
That was the case for me. I’m just wired differently... more of an artist. I learned best when pictures, colour and object lessons were used. I really struggled with learning from pages full of writing which contained only worded theories, arguments and numbers.
I scored high marks in History. But that was because I converted the facts into cartoons, much like newspaper cartoonist would do. My teacher was most intrigued with how I could remember the facts with pictures. To me it was a necessity. My brain just couldn’t grasp it otherwise. It’s something I still do today.
As a pastor, some of my sermon notes have small picture boxes to one side, and bullet points on the other side. Other times I use more document type sermon notes, but then I highlight them with colour markers. Green = headings. Yellow = sub points. Blue = scripture reference. Orange = illustrations.
God made us all different. On purpose! That’s His creative design.
Psalm 139:13-14 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
In a book by Howard Gardner, ‘Frames of Mind,’ he lists 7 types of geniuses (or intelligences). He points out that we all learn differently, and we all excel in different fields. Everyone will be stronger in some areas, and weaker in others. We all have at least one type of genius locked up within us. As parents and teacher we need to help our kids discover what it is, develop it and celebrate their achievements in those respective areas.
I’ll list the 7 types of geniuses here with cartoons that I used for a family service based on Psalm 139.
Verbal Linguistic:
A person gifted with a natural ability to read and write. Gifted to gather and share information. E.g. journalists, writers, attorneys and teachers.
Spatial:
Creative thinkers, artists and designers.
They think in pictures, and have a natural ability to perceive and create art in its various forms, like music, painting, design and productions.
Entrepreneurial:
Folk who have a gift in commerce or business. They are able to see a niche in the market. They are able to take calculated risks and build businesses out of very little, and thereby employ many others. Just think of Richard Branson from the Virgin group. He failed at school, but is one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our times.
Interpersonal:
People who talk easily with others. They are the great communicators of society. They often end up being great communicators, singers, sales people or preachers.
Environmental:
This is the genius that emanates from human beings to the things around them. It's people who are naturally gifted in dealing with things like trees, plants, fish, the ocean, animals and the land. Think of farmers, park rangers, animal trainers and oceanographers. (Like Steve Erwin... the famous crocodile hunter.)
Did you excel at sports or academics? If yes, you were probably in a popular school group. If no, you probably struggled with a low self esteem.
That was the case for me. I’m just wired differently... more of an artist. I learned best when pictures, colour and object lessons were used. I really struggled with learning from pages full of writing which contained only worded theories, arguments and numbers.
I scored high marks in History. But that was because I converted the facts into cartoons, much like newspaper cartoonist would do. My teacher was most intrigued with how I could remember the facts with pictures. To me it was a necessity. My brain just couldn’t grasp it otherwise. It’s something I still do today.
As a pastor, some of my sermon notes have small picture boxes to one side, and bullet points on the other side. Other times I use more document type sermon notes, but then I highlight them with colour markers. Green = headings. Yellow = sub points. Blue = scripture reference. Orange = illustrations.
God made us all different. On purpose! That’s His creative design.
Psalm 139:13-14 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
In a book by Howard Gardner, ‘Frames of Mind,’ he lists 7 types of geniuses (or intelligences). He points out that we all learn differently, and we all excel in different fields. Everyone will be stronger in some areas, and weaker in others. We all have at least one type of genius locked up within us. As parents and teacher we need to help our kids discover what it is, develop it and celebrate their achievements in those respective areas.
I’ll list the 7 types of geniuses here with cartoons that I used for a family service based on Psalm 139.
Verbal Linguistic:
A person gifted with a natural ability to read and write. Gifted to gather and share information. E.g. journalists, writers, attorneys and teachers.
Numerical:
Someone who loves dealing with data that is measured in numbers. E.g. mathematicians, computer programmers and engineers.
Physical:
Those who are gifted to be great in mechanics, building trades and sports people, like athletes and dancers. Often people who learn better with 'hands on' learning. They love doing more than they love sitting behind a desk.
Spatial:
Creative thinkers, artists and designers.
They think in pictures, and have a natural ability to perceive and create art in its various forms, like music, painting, design and productions.
Entrepreneurial:
Folk who have a gift in commerce or business. They are able to see a niche in the market. They are able to take calculated risks and build businesses out of very little, and thereby employ many others. Just think of Richard Branson from the Virgin group. He failed at school, but is one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our times.
Interpersonal:
People who talk easily with others. They are the great communicators of society. They often end up being great communicators, singers, sales people or preachers.
Environmental:This is the genius that emanates from human beings to the things around them. It's people who are naturally gifted in dealing with things like trees, plants, fish, the ocean, animals and the land. Think of farmers, park rangers, animal trainers and oceanographers. (Like Steve Erwin... the famous crocodile hunter.)
2/11/10
Our God IS an awesome God!
There's a few times I've tried to comprehend how big the sun is, and how relatively small our planet earth is. And then to think how relatively small I am compared to the size of the earth. I look at the mountains, and the ocean and nature all around me... to think, it's been here for thousands of years before me and will be here for thousands of years after I breath my last breath.
Man, I'm really small! And my life IS but a vapour.
Then I look at the stars, and I'm blown away by its size and brilliance. And to think God knows each star by name... now that's mind blowing!
I can't help but echo the words of the psalmist; "what is man that You are mindful of him?"
Then He reminds me of the words... "I know your name."
In the end, that's all that matters... He knows my name. (John 10:3)
Even if you cannot comprehend how big the universe is, or how long the earth has been in existence. The one thing that matters most is this - that He knows your name, and that your name is written in His book of life. (Rev 20)
Isaiah 40:25-26
"To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.
Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
and calls them each by name.
Because of His great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing."
Our God IS an awesome God!
2/4/10
The Wonder of Laminin
Sometimes I come across emails that people forward to me, and this one is worth publishing here!
Shared by an anonymous doctor
A couple of days ago I was running (I use that term very loosely) on my treadmill, watching a DVD sermon by Louie Giglio... And I was BLOWN AWAY! I want to share what I learned... But I fear not being able to convey it as well as I want. I will share anyway..
He (Louie) was talking about how inconceivably BIG our God is... How He spoke the universe into being.... Then He went on to speak of how this universe creating God ALSO knitted our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder. At this point I am LOVING it (fascinating from a medical standpoint, you know.)... And I was remembering how I was constantly amazed during medical school as I learned more and more about God's handiwork. I remember so many times thinking.. 'How can ANYONE deny that a Creator did all of this???'
Louie went on to talk about how we can trust that the God who created all this, also has the power to hold it all together when things seem to be falling apart..how our loving Creator is also our sustainer.
And then I lost my breath. And it wasn't because I was running my treadmill, either!!! It was because he started talking about laminin. I knew about laminin. Here is how Wikipedia describes them: 'Laminins are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue.' You see... Laminins are what hold us together.. LITERALLY. They are cell adhesion molecules. They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell. Without them, we would literally fall apart. And I knew all this already. But what I didn't know is what they LOOKED LIKE.
But now I do. And I have thought about it a thousand times since (already).. Here is what the structure of laminin looks like.... AND THIS IS NOT a 'Christian portrayal' of it... If you look up laminin in any scientific/medical piece of literature, this is what you will see..
Shared by an anonymous doctor
A couple of days ago I was running (I use that term very loosely) on my treadmill, watching a DVD sermon by Louie Giglio... And I was BLOWN AWAY! I want to share what I learned... But I fear not being able to convey it as well as I want. I will share anyway..
He (Louie) was talking about how inconceivably BIG our God is... How He spoke the universe into being.... Then He went on to speak of how this universe creating God ALSO knitted our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder. At this point I am LOVING it (fascinating from a medical standpoint, you know.)... And I was remembering how I was constantly amazed during medical school as I learned more and more about God's handiwork. I remember so many times thinking.. 'How can ANYONE deny that a Creator did all of this???'
Louie went on to talk about how we can trust that the God who created all this, also has the power to hold it all together when things seem to be falling apart..how our loving Creator is also our sustainer.
And then I lost my breath. And it wasn't because I was running my treadmill, either!!! It was because he started talking about laminin. I knew about laminin. Here is how Wikipedia describes them: 'Laminins are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue.' You see... Laminins are what hold us together.. LITERALLY. They are cell adhesion molecules. They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell. Without them, we would literally fall apart. And I knew all this already. But what I didn't know is what they LOOKED LIKE.
But now I do. And I have thought about it a thousand times since (already).. Here is what the structure of laminin looks like.... AND THIS IS NOT a 'Christian portrayal' of it... If you look up laminin in any scientific/medical piece of literature, this is what you will see..
Now tell me that our God is not the coolest!!! Amazing. The glue that holds us together..... ALL of us.... Is in the shape of the cross. Immediately Colossians 1:15-17 comes to mind.
'He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible And invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in Him all things HOLD TOGETHER. ' (Colossians 1:15-17)
Call me crazy. I just think that is very, very, very cool. Thousands of years before the world knew anything about laminin, Paul penned those words. And now we see that from a very LITERAL standpoint, we are held together... One cell to another... By the cross. You would never in a quadrillion years convince me that is anything Other than the mark of a Creator who knew EXACTLY what laminin 'glue' would look like long before Adam breathed his first breath!!
What an amazing God!
1/28/10
you ARE A MIRACLE
Psalm 139:13-14 For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
The human body's design is absolutely miraculous! Here are 30 mind blowing facts:
The female human body is capable of having 35 children in one lifetime.
The average females ovaries contain about two million eggs.
Each egg contains the genetic code of countless generations of human beings.
The largest cell in the human body is the female egg and the smallest is the male sperm.At the moment of conception, you spent about half an hour as a single cell.
When you were born, you had 350 bones in your body, and after childhood 144 of these bones fused together.
Your jawbone is the hardest bone in your body.
The spinal cord is 45cm in length and is the same diameter as your index finger, yet the spinal cord contains over 10 billion nerve cells.
You use 200 muscles to take one step.
A pair of human feet contain 250,000 sweat glands.
The acid in your stomach is strong enough to dissolve razor blades. (THAT DOES NOT MEAN IT IS SAFE TO SWALLOW THEM)
Your stomach produces a new lining every 3 days in order to avoid digesting itself in its own production of acid.
The human brain cell can hold 5 times as much information as the Encyclopedia Britannica.( AS YOU GET OLDER THE PAGES FALL OUT)
The enamel in your teeth is the hardest substance in your body.
Your thumb is the same length of your nose. (go ahead - try it.)
The length of your foot is the same as from your wrist to the crease at your elbow.
The nervous system transmits messages to the brain at speeds of 290 km per hour!
The human nose can remember 50,000 different smells.
The human eye can detect over 10,000,000 different colors!
We are unable to taste our food until it is dissolved by saliva, of which we produce around 35000 litres during a lifetime.
Our middle fingernail is the quickest one to grow. It takes about 150 days to grow out a full length fingernail.
There are over 650 muscles in your body. A smile uses 17 muscles, a frown uses 43!
It takes approximately 200,000 frowns to create one permanent brow line.
The average adult has about 9,000 taste buds on each surface of the tongue, roof of the mouth, and throat.
The human body contains up to 4,7 litres of blood. Red blood cells are formed at a rate of 2 million per second.
About every seven years, your body replaces the equivalent of an entirely new skeleton.
Ever wonder if you stood on your head while eating at the same time if your food would go down or not? Well, your food would actually go up because the muscles in the esophagus will still pull the food into the stomach.
A person at the age of 70 will have shed approximately 18 kg of dead skin.
Blood type A can receive blood types A & O safely.
Blood type B can receive types B O.
Blood type O can receive only O blood but are "universal donors" because O is acceptable to all other blood types.
Blood type O is the most common blood type worldwide.
The eye muscle is the fastest reacting muscle of the whole body. It contracts in less than 1/100th of a second.
The brain requires large amounts of stored energy for thinking. This is why you may feel the same exhaustion with intense thought processing as you do with a physical workout.
1/22/10
Stand in Awe.
The Southern Cross
Zoom in on the left star of the cross. Northern star glare still visible.
Left star of the "cross" close-up. Cluster of stars appears to the left of the screen.
*Notice the thousands of stars appearing in what we see as the black sky.
Zooming in on the cluster of stars.
Close up of the star cluster called 'The Jewel Box.'
Zoom in on the Jewel Box. Notice the specs of light around and behind it.
Some are stars, some are actual galaxies.
'The Jewel Box' - Hubble Space Telescope.
Psalm 8:3-4 I think about the heavens. I think about what your fingers have created. I think about the moon and stars that you have set in place. What is a human being that you think about him? What is a son of man that you take care of him?
*Notice the thousands of stars appearing in what we see as the black sky.
Zooming in on the cluster of stars.
Close up of the star cluster called 'The Jewel Box.'
Zoom in on the Jewel Box. Notice the specs of light around and behind it.Some are stars, some are actual galaxies.
'The Jewel Box' - Hubble Space Telescope.Psalm 8:3-4 I think about the heavens. I think about what your fingers have created. I think about the moon and stars that you have set in place. What is a human being that you think about him? What is a son of man that you take care of him?
Tonight, when it’s dark, take five minutes, walk outside and look up at the stars. Wait for your eyes to adjust. Let your eyes take in as much as possible of the brilliance displayed in the skies above you.
Stand in awe of God's creation.
(Pics thanks to Google Earth’s Sky viewer. You can try it too. Just type “Crux” in the search box. Remember to change your view to “sky.” Zoom into the left arm of the cross.)
1/14/10
Creation Calls
Have you been down to the beach lately?
It's a shame how close some of us live to the beach, and yet rarely do we go out and enjoy it.
Maybe you're like me and you've gotten used to it... taking it for granted.
Let's be different this year. Let's appreciate the blessings of God's creation around us. Take a moment. Look intently. See His craftsmanship. See the wonder and beauty of His creation. Be amazed! And think - He gave us eyes and ears to take it all in.
God's the greatest Artist I know, and He left His fingerprint on all of creation - so we could find Him there.
*A friend of mine sent me these amazing pictures taken by the number one photographer of surf, Clark Little.
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Psa 148:7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
It's a shame how close some of us live to the beach, and yet rarely do we go out and enjoy it.
Maybe you're like me and you've gotten used to it... taking it for granted.
Let's be different this year. Let's appreciate the blessings of God's creation around us. Take a moment. Look intently. See His craftsmanship. See the wonder and beauty of His creation. Be amazed! And think - He gave us eyes and ears to take it all in.
God's the greatest Artist I know, and He left His fingerprint on all of creation - so we could find Him there.
*A friend of mine sent me these amazing pictures taken by the number one photographer of surf, Clark Little.
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Psa 148:7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
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