10 Timeless Values of Christ

Our pastor at our church has been emphasizing 10 Timeless Values of Christ over the last several months.

• Prayer
• Fasting
• Study of Scripture
• Partaking of the Lord's Supper
• Being Baptized
• Joining in Christian Fellowship
• Witnessing for Jesus Christ
• Involving yourself in Acts of Mercy
• Regular periods of Sabbath (spiritual renewal)
• Practicing Faithful Stewardship

One comment he made after he read over them one morning was to look at the list and think about the different values. Which one's do you do well at? Which ones are real struggles? Then he encouraged us to pick one or two of those we struggle at and really make an effort to make the needed changes to improve that area or areas.

So all that to say that my goal over the next couple of months is to improve my Study of Scripture - and so I've been writing a small date in my Bible next each time I've read a section and hopefully that will help remind me to keep at it and stay focused. The other area I'd like to improve dramatically is my Prayer time. Thought I'd share this with you so maybe you can shoot me an email as a small way of accountability and also so you can reflect on your own life.

Community

"There can be no maturity in the spiritual life, no obedience in following Jesus no wholeness in the Christian life apart from immersion and embrace of community. I am not myself by myself. Community, not the highly vaunted individualism of our culture, is the setting in which Christ is at play."

Eugene H Peterson

Why I enjoy Blogs

I was thinking this evening about why I enjoy both posting and reading other blogs. I would consider myself a highly relational person. So in thinking about blogs I believe that blogs help me keep connected to friends who I may not talk to on a regular basis. Blogs also help keep me reminded that the world is so much larger than the day to day issues or distractions that are really overall fairly petty. I also enjoy reading blogs because they help me remember or help me to see some exciting events that are happening in my friends families and lives. To me this is way more refreshing after a long day than turning on the TV or reading news via the Internet. I can look at photos, check out a video, laugh at someone's humor, reflect over someone's photos and most importantly I can share a little of my life when I choose to do so. I can "connect" to someone who lives in my immediate community... I can "connect" to someone who lives multiple states away... and I can "connect" with others who live on the other side of the globe. Finally I think that the blogs I read regularly help remind me just how many ways that God is working in the world.

$11.7 Million One Year Old Horse

Just in case you haven't read the news lately:

At Keeneland's September yearling sale yesterday, a bay son of Kingmambo out of the Seattle Slew mare Crown of Crimson was bought for $11.7 million. The buyer for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum made the purchase. (By Bill Straus, Special to The Courier-Journal)

What sports car are you?

I was a Ford Mustang.... what are you?

http://www.tomorrowland.us/sportscar/

Irreproachable, Reason, Order & Law vs Grace, Forgiveness, Kindness & Humility

I finally completed reading Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I read and read the last two days because I wanted to get finished as I’ve been working on this novel from before Benjamin was born – about 7 months before. It is by far one of my favorite novels, movies, and productions. I’ve seen the movie multiple times and a Broadway production of it… but the novel – despite its intricate details into French and Paris history – far outweighs the other two.

My favorite character is Jean Valjean but my favorite transformation is in Javert. Javert has some thoughts in the 4th book – “Javert off the Track” that I thought I’d share:

“Javert’s ideal was not to be humane, not to be great, not to be sublime; it was to be irreproachable…. He was startled; his balances were disturbed; one of the scales fell into the abyss, the other flew into the sky…order was his dogma and was enough for him; since he had been the age of man, and an official, he had put almost all his religion in the police… He had a superior, M. Gisquest; he had scarcely thought, until today, of that other superior, God… He had lost his bearings in this unexpected presence; he did not know what to do with this superior…He could not understand himself. He was not sure of being himself. The very reasons of his action escaped him; he caught only the whirl of them. He had lived up to this moment by that blind faith which a dark probity engenders. This faith was leaving him, this probity was failing him. All that he had believed was dissipated. Truths which he had not wished for inexorably besieged him. He henceforth be another man. He suffered the strange pangs of conscience …He saw what he revolted at seeing. He felt that he was emptied, useless, broken off from his past life, destitute, dissolved. Authority was dead in him. He had no further reason for existence. … What was passing in Javert was … the throwing of a soul out of its path… hurled in a straight line and breaking itself against God.”

Saturday

Sarah and little Benjamin went to visit with her parents for the day. That left me with all kinds of time on my hands today. Everyone I talked with on the phone said I could relax and enjoy my day. I did enjoy my day - although until now there was not much relaxing. I worked steady all day - about half outside and the other half inside. I managed to use our little Accord to help pull a huge 16-20 long - 8-10 in diameter limb that fell - from the middle of our yard to the road. I did it early in the morning so none of our neighbors would think too bad of me. A couple of yellow tie straps and a little pressure on the gas pedal and you would have thought I had a 4 wheel drive truck instead of an Accord. I caught up on mowing and spent a little while working on two electric weed-eaters that the previous owners left. I managed to get both of them working but neither is really adequate for the yard we have. I'd really like to purchase one - something pretty durable and something that should hold up - but haven't decided yet. One of our neighbors insisted that I use his riding-lawn mower for the large flat section of our yard. I realized that it has been at least 6 years if not more since. It really made for quick work but I reverted back to the push-mower for the more detailed work. The other larger project I tackled was installing a baby gate at the top of the stairs. Benjamin finally figured out how to push our "temporary"boxes out of the way when he wanted to go by. This new gate is attached to the wall and should do fine until he jumps up & down on it a few times.

A while back we recieved some really neat cards from designed by Susan Loy at Literary Calligraphy. She and her husband now have blogs and a link to their website. You can click
here to read more.

A couple of notes on little Benjamin. Lately he has discovered magnets. He'll take one off of the refridgerator and then try to put it on a cabniet door, then he'll discover it sticks to the oven and later his one of his toy buckets (that's the good story) - the other item we're struggling with some right now is that just about every time he gets into the car for more than about 10 minutes he starts to have a little melt-down. He likes to be so active that I think he feels a little restrained. Changing toys and changning music and talking to him really doesn't seem to help. I'm really hoping this is a stage that he will soon pass through - could make for some very long road trips.

Insights from the Kentucky Fishing Guide 2006

Turtles – “turtle traps may be one of two kinds: either a barrel or drum with a tilting trigger board or a floating log raft with an enclosed twine or wire mesh bag. Turtle traps must be inspected daily. All turtles must be removed daily except on decoy turtle may remain. All other species (except softshelled and snapping turtles) caught in a turtle trap must be released unharmed”

Tickling & Noodling – Tickling and noodling means taking fish directly by hand, or with the aid of a handled hook.

Frequently Asked Questions: How many fishing poles am I allowed to have while fishing?” The answer is – as many as you want.

Organic baits include: insects, minnows, fish eggs, worms, corn, cheese, and cut bait

Single hook is a hook with only one point.

Fish may not be taken with use of a firearm.