I am a meteorologist and a former youth leader at church…I have a lot to say on both subjects…and then some
The Daily reading from a podcast and a separate website that I read for Today (Jan. 29)…
Mark 4:21-25
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Would you bring in a lamp to put it under a tub or under the bed? Surely you will put it on the lamp-stand? For there is nothing hidden but it must be disclosed, nothing kept secret except to be brought to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to this.’
He also said to them, ‘Take notice of what you are hearing. The amount you measure out is the amount you will be given – and more besides; for the man who has will be given more; from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away.’
A statement in the podcast was, (paraphrasing here) Jesus would heal someone and then tell them to remain quiet about it, as if to hide it, but they never seemed to be able to do it. It was as if He was the living example of this passage. “Would you bring in a lamp to put it under a tub or under the bed? Surely you will put it on the lamp-stand? For there is nothing hidden but it must be disclosed, nothing kept secret except to be brought to light.” He could no more keep himself hidden because He was a light to the world.
Are you being a light? So if you tried to remain quiet about things that you do that would please God, would they be shown to the world anyway?
I’m glad the youth of America want the unvarnished truth:
And research suggests teens do want the awful truth: Three-quarters say they would like the media to talk more about the consequences of sex, according to a 2007 study by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
‘Secret Life of the American Teenager’ explores teen pregnancy – Los Angeles Times
I just hope that Hollywood would get the message and not send us more unrealistic stuff. I’m middle of the road on the series. It has good moments and statistics, but sometimes falls back on stereotypes for some of the dialog. However, it’s not bad.
A portion of the poem that was read at his funeral:
These are the things that measure the worth of a man, as a man, regardless of birth.
The whole post is here:View Original Article
If we retain only what can be justified by standards of prudence and convenience at he bar of enlightened common sense, then we exchange revelation for that old wraith Natural Religion. – C. S. Lewis
Rick Warren Interview: On Gay Marriage and Divorce – Beliefnet.com
Rick Warren nails my views on gay marriage. My thought has been that gay and lesbians can have civil unions, but as a church, we do not have to bless them, just as we need to deal with two heterosexual people living together before being married, or deal with someone who is doing x. Sin is sin we should not bless it. We should love the person, respect them, and pray that the Holy Spirit will convict them of their sin.
I saw this on the NY Times page today, thanks to BW3:
Dr. Beckworth, a macroeconomist, posited another theory: though expanding demographically since becoming the nation’s largest religious group in the 1990s, evangelicals as a whole still tend to be less affluent than members of mainline churches, and therefore depend on their church communities more during tough times, for material as well as spiritual support. In good times, he said, they are more likely to work on Sundays, which may explain a slower rate of growth among evangelical churches in nonrecession years.
Bad Times Draw Bigger Crowds to Churches – NYTimes.com
The first part is great. I see that in our own church. We help those that have a need. However, there are two things about the part I highlighted. Either it is good, because we are finding people who come to know Christ after trying to do it their way and working 7 days a week, with no rest; or it s bad because we are forgetting who truly provides for us, and become swept up in the consumeristic hype of prosperity. This would almost signal a cycle that the nation of Israel had in the Old Testament.
Commentary: I know what Illinois governor feels like now – CNN.com
I like this quote from Mr. Colson:
At the height of Watergate, a dear friend of mine, Tom Phillips, then CEO of Raytheon, invited me to his home. As we sat in his kitchen, Tom read to me a chapter on pride from a little book by C.S. Lewis titled “Mere Christianity.”
Lewis wrote, “There is one vice of which no man in the world is free. … The vice I am talking about is Pride or Self-conceit. …. Pride leads to every other vice. … A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you. … Pride is a spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.“
I couldn’t agree more. I see it in the mirror in the morning and I see in the kids we work with.
I feel blessed this morning. I have a post that is brewing about justice and Christmas, but that can wait for a day or two. I was beginning to feel frustrated lately with the media again. It has to do with the typical things that are job related. Public perception of the forecast, the media’s role in causing the confusion, and trying not to call someone a moron over the phone, while representing the government.
However, as I was on my way into work, I was listening to my usual string of podcasts. My mind was way too distracted during my Bible reading podcast, but when I got to the Pray-as-you-go podcast, I payed attention for some reason.
Matthew 11:28-30 © Jesus exclaimed, ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’ – Universalis Mass reading.
I realized that my frustration stemmed from me wanting to labor on my own projects, rather than letting go and laboring on the projects that God has given me. I have learned to let things go. After discussions with Brandon today, and yesterday, I don’t worry as much about him. We still have some financial problems, but they are manageable. So I am making sure that I have Christ’s yoke on me.
I have a Google gadget on my iGoogle page that daily gives me C. S. Lewis quotes. Sometimes if I like them I twitter them. In this case it is too big to fit the 140 characters. Here it is:
Tyra ‘shocked’ by risky teen sex – Parenting & Family – TODAYshow.com
I guess Tyra doesn’t get out much. While I don’t doubt some of the information, this survey is skewed by who goes and takes it. It doesn’t have any scientific validity, so I question the statistics.
Well, some of them may be telling the truth, but knowing that people fake stuff just to get on Jerry Springer, then I think that Tyra is really naive.
