1 John 2:23

 

No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

What Happens to the Lie?

 

The time came when he could no longer lie. He was a thief. Maybe you are too. He confessed. He told on his cohorts. He would no longer hide the truth. It came out of him like floodgates had been opened and he let it. Suddenly the facts mattered more than the fiction of his entire life, the trying to make something that is not, is. Only God can do that, yet man tries over and over again. He spoke. His friends were appalled. His enemies gloated, though they were guilty too. He told everyone what they had planned, the theft of us all, our very souls. Nevermind the wealth. True wealth is breath in our lungs. He was certain that now he would not even have that. But. He drew a deep breath and his friends drew back from him and left him alone. The truth had defended him, though moments before he had not imagined it would.

All Who Wander are Lost.

 

I have this hat.

It says, "Not all who wander are lost."

But I disagree

with my hat.

All who wander are lost.

Try it.

 

For by grace you have been saved

through faith. And this is not from

yourselves—it is the gift of God.

Ephesians 2:8

She was changed. Do you want to know how it happened? She went forward at a church where a minister stood preaching the Gospel. He said you must be born again, by faith, by giving yourself to Jesus. It's a simple prayer, but if you truly give your life to the Lord scales will fall from your eyes and you will see like you have not seen before. Purity will engulf you. You will be different than you were up until then.

🍁

 

I am so thankful for all of you.

Have a blessed holiday, those who celebrate Thanksgiving and those who don't.

1 Peter 1:3-7

 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Psalm 122:6

 

May 

those

who

love you

be at peace.

 

There are many ways out there.

Ungodly ways all.

But just one way that is godly.

Daniel 3

 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, 

“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” 

Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 

Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. 

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

Words of Jesus

 

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. 

No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6

Have you ever?

 

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, 

for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 

Hebrews 13:2

Hebrews 12:1-2

 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 11:32-24

 

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Hebrews 9:27 & 28

 

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Hebrews 7:15-17

 

This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, 

but by the power of an indestructible life. 

For it is witnessed of him,

 “You are a priest forever,

 after the order of Melchizedek.”

More

 

Part 1: here.

She stepped through the wall like before, entering the past from the distant future. Her comfortable apartment became an old office in an old building in the capital of an old nation. Yesterday had a distinct aroma.

"What are you doing here?" The leader asked, surprised at her reappearance. At least this time she had come through on purpose, yet still dressed too casually. 

"I need a hero," she said.

He winced. He made a terrible hero.

"Not you," she explained.

"Oh."

He drew a long, reluctant breath, then asked, "Why do you need a hero?"

"Something unexpected has happened."

"So you came to the past to look for a hero?" He understood immediately her problem was fear and said, "Perfect love casts out all fear." 

He wasn't sure how he knew that until she reminded him it's in the Bible. "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 1 John 4:18."

He must have read it when he was a child.

"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6," she said. 

He nodded. 

She was the one who was trained up, but here she was needing to be reminded. 

He didn't make such a terrible hero afterall.

I did it, People.

 

I roasted chestnuts. 

How do they look? 

They taste like...like...like nothing else in this world. 

A fluffy acorn? Chewy bread? 

Bland. Warm. Toasty. Nice. That's the word. Nice. 

The Internet said they can be dipped in mascarpone cheese. Hmm.

I salted one of mine. An improvement. 

They were a delight and, curiosity cured, pretty okay.

There. That's my food review. 

I think I should be doing this on TV. Does anyone watch TV anymore?

Знамение Сына

 

Isaiah 1: 18b-20

 

  ...though your sins are like scarlet,

  they shall be as white as snow;

  though they are red like crimson,

  they shall become like wool.

  If you are willing and obedient,

  you shall eat the good of the land;

  but if you refuse and rebel,

  you shall be eaten by the sword;

  for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Just something.

 

 

Have you ever roasted chestnuts?

 

How to Swim from Michigan to France

 

When I was a child I could have swum across Lake Huron all the way to France. Don't bother me with geography, my sister assured me she could see it. In my twenties I visited Bourg-Saint-Andéol. The cool breeze made it feel like Michigan. Turns out, we are at about the same latitude.

This is also where the Soviets were going to land with their parachutes at any minute. The things they told us in the 1970's. The Ice Age was upon us. We would live on the moon in the year 2000. Cars would fly. We'd have scanners at the grocery store that would know how much each item...wait a second. 

We drank sugar. We sat too close to the TV, but not as close as you are to your phone. We ate hot dogs straight out of the refridgerator! Milk was 5 cents at school, 6 if you wanted chocolate. There is no cents symbol on my keyboard. We had roller rinks. I am not even going to define that. If you know, you know.

I had a tiny red Bible given to me at school. The Gideons handed them out. 

I wonder if they still do that.

A Little Reminiscing

 

Park 1 and Park 2 were joined by this simple wooden bridge in my day. Now it is one big park and no one seems to remember it was once different worlds. The gully between them was deep. It's full of poison ivy now. There are warnings posted. It may have been then too. I seemed to catch it most summers.

Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock beamed down here often. This planet is just like Earth. If we had friends over we'd have Sulu and the Russian guy too. Sleestaks chased us, though they were from another show. I spelled Sleestak right without even looking.

Now our whole world is like this big ditch. 

One side, and another, needing someone to beam down and put things right. 

Jesus said the Shema

 

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. 

Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, 

“Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: 

‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

(Mark 12:28-31, New Testament)

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

(Deuteronomy 6:4-8)