My Thoughts

My Thoughts on Christianity and Other Things

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15 Aug 2014

Thinking

Radio was a kit, assembled in 1950 by my father-in-law. Amplifier assembled by me in 1980.

Radio was a kit, assembled in 1950 by my father-in-law. Amplifier assembled by me in 1980.

When I was a small boy my Dad took a string and tied it between two paper cups. He talked into one cup as I listened to his voice in the other. He told me that the telephone worked a little like that. As a four year old I thought this was pretty neat. I also reasoned that if the telephone worked like that, then the TV and radio must work like that also. After all, all three of them had a wire going into the wall. Then my Dad brought home a battery powered radio. Now what? My 4 or 5 year old mind couldn’t understand how it could work without a wire for the voice to go over.

In 1980 I saw a couple of guys working on a Mazda with a rotary engine (sometimes called a Wankel). I never seen a rotary engine before. I watched these guys working hard trying to that engine running. They tried everything they could think of to get that rotary engine running but couldn’t. I knew nothing about these things, so I started asking questions. “Which way does this distributor turn” “Which way does that one turn?” (This engine had two distributors.) “Which spark plug sparks first?” I asked other questions and they answered them.

Then I said, “If everything you say is true, then why not connect this wire here, and that one there, and turn this, this way, and this that way, and…” They tried my suggestion. Why not? Everything else they tried failed. The engine started. They were amazed. They knew more about that engine than I did. I just used the information they give me.

Some years later I was taking a class in electronics. One of the lab experiments, we were not allowed to do. Why? Because we didn’t have all the parts. We were missing an induction coil. In this class we learned this, that and other things. So now I’m thinking; if a transformer is made of two or more coils, why not see if I could use that. So I tested a couple of audio transformers on a fancy test meter until I found the coil measurement I needed, and used it in the lab experiment. It worked perfectly. The teacher however was upset that I was able to do it. You would think he’d be happy. After all I was using the information he gave us.

Also growing up and into young adulthood, I believed in evolution. And I was very interested in it. As a young man I read books on it. One day I started noticing things that just didn’t make sense. Chimpanzees have a cranial capacity of about 388cc (cubic centimeter) which is just under 1-1/2 cups. Gorillas have a larger one but then they are larger animals. People today have the average cranial capacity of about 1360cc. OK so far so good. But the Neanderthal which are suppose to be primitive man from no sooner than 30,000 to 45,000 years ago had an aveage cranial capacity of 1600cc. Some were as high as 1800cc, which almost as much as a 2 liter soda bottle. Why would a caveman have? a bigger brain than modern man?

Another thing I remember from reading these books 40 years ago, is that there is evidence of a world wide flood about 30,000 years ago. This book was written before politically correct thinking was widespread. But reading them lead me to believe the Neanderthal and the Cro-Magnon were killed in the world wide flood, about 30,000 years ago. This roughly sounds like the story of Noah’s Ark.

Random act of nature, or did someone make this?

Random act of nature, or did someone make this?

But another thing that got me thinking was, if millions of years was able to produce something as complicated as life, why couldn’t it produce something as simple as a coffee mug? After all, a coffee mug is just clay that’s been formed and heated. What about nails? Here we’re talking about only one element; iron. But we don’t go mining for nails. We mine for iron to make nails out of them.

After thinking about evolution, I came to believe that evolution is fraudulent. It’s nothing more than a fantasy. The only thing logical is, God created. After reading the Bible objectively, not with an agenda, I found the Bible to be true.

I believe the Bible is the word of God. I believe God created and that evolution is only an evil fairy tale. Also I believe that we have a sin nature and we need to be redeemed. The only way to that is through Jesus.

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Posted in Christianity, Creation, Uncategorized and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
15 Jul 2014

Revelation 15

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Looking back at my last post Revelation 14, I said something that may have been misleading. I wrote: “I believe that these people that are ripe for God’s judgment, are those who have worshiped the beast.” This made it sound like the people who worshiped the beast, were destroyed right then and there. But Revelation 16:2 clearly shows this isn’t so. I do not want anyone mislead. And I’m sorry if you were.

And now for Revelation 15. It’s a very short chapter. In fact the whole chapter fits quite nicely on my laptop screen.

There are seven angels holding the seven bowls that will complete God’s wrath. What I find interesting is the sea of glass in Revelation 15:2. It seems to be like glass mixed with fire. But the sea of glass in front of God’s throne was sparkling like crystal. So, in the area of the angels holding God’s wrath; what was causing the sea of glass to look like it was mixed with fire? Was it the angels, or was it the bowls of God’s wrath? What was the glass sea reflecting? I believe its the bowls of God’s wrath, which will be talked about in chapter sixteen.

Anyway standing on the sea glass are all the people who were victorious over the beast and his statue. (some versions say image) This is clear that not everyone will fall for the beast. And all these people will be given harps and will sing the song of Moses and of Jesus. Revelation 15:3-4

Then in Revelation 15:5-8 John saw the Temple in Heaven thrown wide open. God’s glory filled the whole Temple. And the four living creators that I talked about in Revelation 4, were handing out the seven bowls of God’s wrath to the seven angels. Also because God’s glory filled the Temple, no one could enter it until the angel finish pouring out the plagues.

Job 26:7-8

Job 26:7-8

Looking ahead, is interesting and baffling. Some time ago I came to believe the part of the Bible was written only this point in time. For an example: some people seem to think that none of the Bible is true. They say none of it can be trusted. Also they say none of it can be backed scientifically. Well they can think that. But they may have a problem with with Job 26:7 God stretches the northern sky over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing. Either they except the fact that the Bible says the earth floats in space or they better start explaining why they don’t believe it.

About prophesy, the Bible sometimes talks about Israel and Jerusalem in the end times. For many, many years people thought that Israel and Jerusalem were going to be some vague, or spiritual place. But now after 1900 years, we have Israel with Jerusalem. I know many people don’t like the idea of Israel and may believe that Israel has no right to exist, but it does. And there is nothing anyone can do about it. Israel is here to stay.

Posted in Christianity, Prophecy, Revelation, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment
03 Jul 2014

Revelation 14

Washington State University

Washington State University

One day many years ago there were three 9 year old boys picking on one seven year old boy. Nothing physical, just a lot of name calling and teasing. This young boy ran into the house very upset. What these nine year old boys didn’t know, was this little seven year old boy had a very big eighteen year old, 6 foot 4 inch (193 cm) brother. Me!

I ran after these boys and chased them up the street, up their driveway, and through the gate going into the backyard. I don’t know what I would have done if I had caught up with them. I hadn’t thought that far along. When I went into the backyard, I very quickly came to a stop. There stood their parents and their friends parents standing by the BBQ grilling. Now what? I did say in front of their parents to stop picking on my little brother.

The point to this is when God has had enough of the world picking on His people, He’s going to do something about it. But with God no one can stop Him. His wrath will be unstoppable.

Revelation 14 is the beginning of God’s wrath. It won’t happen all at once. Just like when He brought judgment against the Pharaoh of Egypt when Moses asked to let the Hebrews go. When God did this, then the Pharaoh did that. Then God did something else, and Pharaoh mocked God some more, and did something else. Pharaoh never repented so finally God killed the Pharaoh’s army. This is basically how the next several chapters will be, until God will finally kill His enemy’s army.

Revelation 14 starts with Jesus standing on Mount Zion with the 144.000 Israelis/Israelites standing with Him. These people have been kept pure, and alone have been purchased from among the people.

Now there is an angel flying through the air telling everyone on earth to turn to and worship God. But why would the angel tell people to repent if God is about to do judgment? Because God really doesn’t want anyone to die.

Then another angel is flying, shouting that the City of Babylon has fallen. I wonder where is this Babylon. Many think that it’s Rome. Maybe. But I wonder; if the Anti-Christ restores a country, (and I believe he will) then could he also rename a city? Again, like I say many times before, I don’t know.

Now there is a third angel saying that anyone who gets the mark of the beast, or worships his images will be tormented forever with fire and burning sulfur. People, this is very scary stuff. Imagine every part of your body burning. Even your sensitive parts. And unlike being burned here on earth, where your nerves burn then became numb, there your nerve endings will never burn. Therefore you will always feel pain.

People, any of God’s people still here by this time must stay true to God. Ezekiel 18:23-24 “Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. However, if righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful things and act like other sinners, should they be allowed to live? No, of course not! All their righteous acts will be forgotten, and they will die for their sins.

I wondered about Revelation 14:14 where it says “someone like the Son of Man”. It’s either Jesus or it’s not Jesus. After reading it several times and also reading several commentaries, I think I understand. I believe it’s like seeing several people at a distance and going, “ Hey, isn’t that so-n-so?” Anyway, He is seated on a cloud, has a gold crown and a sickle.

Another angel came from the Temple in Heaven and shouted to the one on the cloud, “Swing the sickle, for the time of harvest has come; the crop on earth is ripe.” and it was done. If the one sitting on the cloud is Jesus, then the angel that came from the Temple might be relaying a command and not giving one.

Old winepress. Once used at Nichelini Winery in California

Old winepress. Once used at Nichelini Winery in California

The rest of the chapter says that another angel came with a sharp sickle, and then still another one came that can destroy with fire. And he shouted to the angel with the sickle that the harvest is ready. The grapes are ripe for judgment. The grapes went into God’s winepress and the outcome was a lot of blood.

The grapes of course are the people of the earth. I believe that these people that are ripe for God’s judgment, are those who have worshiped the beast. This sounds like the end, but it’s not. There are seven plagues coming.

Posted in Christianity, Prophecy, Revelation, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment
06 Apr 2014
1 Comment

Computers, Love Them, Hate Them

Screenshot of my very old Ubuntu computer

Screenshot of my very old Ubuntu computer

Years ago there was a young man in Redmond, Washington who said something like “Computers will make life so much easier.” Hum, who was that man? I know! Bill Gates. The former co-owner and founder of Microsoft. In some ways computers do make life easier, much easier. But when they break down… Oh boy!

A few weeks ago I wanted a new laptop to replace an old one that I used to have Windows XP on it. A few years ago I installed a Linux operating system on it and I love it. But this computer is old and I wanted a new one. By the way the bistro is Ubuntu and I have the 12.04 version. After doing some research I decided on a Dell laptop. To be honest I choose the bottom of the line model for four reasons. One, it was on sale. Two, the processor is very Linux friendly which means it will work well with Ubuntu. Three, I am not going to be playing video games, so why pay for a computer that can do that? And four, I do not want a touch-screen.

I know many of you are thinking, “OK, So what’s the problem?” When I finally got the new laptop, I noticed that I couldn’t adjust the brightness of the screen. Well I don’t like that, but I could live with it. After I installed Ubuntu on my new laptop, I was happy. But after being online for awhile, my new computer locked up. There was nothing I could do but force it to shut down. The next day I was using it again for a couple of hours, and it locked up again.

I called Dell Computer, and found out that even though they can remote access Windows and Apple computers, they can not access any type of a Linux computer. Well Dell replaced the laptop and to my surprise, sent me the second one by next day shipping. (A very happy and unexpected surprise.) Their customer service was great.

After I got my new, new laptop, I tested screen brightness, good; and the Wi-Fi, good; and I even left the computer on all day. So far so good. Then somehow I messed up the trial version of Microsoft Office. Oh man, what else could go wrong?

Our other computer is a desktop with Windows 7. The monitor is old and wearing out. No big deal, I’ll just replace it. So I bought a new monitor locally, brought it home, hooked it up to the computer and… Hey this thing is worse than the monitor I’m replacing! So back to the store I go for a replacement, only to find out there are no more. They’ll have to order it. Oh great!

So now I’m home again and after placing an order for a starter motor for a customer of mine, the old monitor died. Now the desktop computer is useless until I get that second new monitor.

By the way I forgot to tell you that the wireless burned out on the old former XP now Ubuntu laptop. And when I installed the software that should make the wireless adapter work with my computer, it didn’t.

So in three weeks time, I went through one wireless adapter, two laptops, two monitors, (hopefully the next one will work) what else can go wrong?

So now I grab an old paper Bible because after all I still have to do another post on Revelation and, oh no… I can’t believe this. It seems like someone must has broken into my house and replaced the Bibles with ones with small print! Why would they do that? Now I know some of you may say that I’m getting old, but come on. I am no way as old as my parents!

Now to answer a couple of questions you may have. Why do I not want a touch-screen laptop? Simple, I am a mechanic and I do not want dirty, grubby, greasy fingerprints on the screen.

Next question, how did I do this post? I do have another laptop, but I’m still using the old Ubuntu laptop. To go online I use Netgear Universal Wi-Fi Adapter, model WNCE2001. Thing is meant for entertainment centers, but I use it for my old laptop.

I keep thinking about that guy from Redmond, Washington saying, “Computers will make life so much easier.”

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17 Feb 2014
2 Comments

Dance Night

dance night

On February 15, 2014 there was a Sweetheart Dance at a community center in Kirkland, Washington put on by Friendship Adventures. Our church is active in Young Life Capernaum so a few weeks before, my wife and I as well as a few others from our church were asked to be chaperones. By the time my wife and I arrived at 5:30, it was already packed with people wanting to have fun. We waited in line for pasta with meat sauce, salad and a roll with cake afterward.

Soon a DJ was yelling something and people got excited, then there was music (I think it was music) and some dancing started. I asked my wife if she wanted to dance. But she said ‘later’.

Looking around I saw a young woman in a wheelchair who comes to our church. She is part of the Young Life Capernaum group Bible study. Now before any of you get funny ideas, my wife and I did talk about it in the car on the way over there. So when the “music?” was going full volume and young people were kicking up their heels, I went to my wheelchair bound friend and asked her if she wanted to dance. She said “Yes”.

So I grabbed both of her hands and kicked up my heels. She was swinging her hands back and forth and was having fun. Then I let go of one hand and raised her other hand up above her head and gently spun the wheelchair around. She was surprised, but she loved it. After awhile another chaperone from our church danced with her for awhile.

Watching some of these young people was interesting. I watched one couple and the girl wanted to kiss the boy she was dancing with. But every time she tried, he would duck back. She was definitely more into him than he was into her. Most every one else either danced or watched, or ate more cake.

After awhile I decided to dance with the gal in the wheelchair again. So I went out to the dance floor, grabbed her hands and kicked up my heels again. Then the music paused and began again and after still kicking up my heels, I noticed every one else doing the… Slow dance??? Wait a minute! I may have a slight hearing problem, but I do know the music for a slow dance it should have a slower pace sound! Now what? I wasn’t planning on this.

Happy_Dancing_Cat_400x394_6916_png-1

Well I did the only thing I could do. I bent over, put my right hand on her left shoulder and held her right hand and slowly moved her around the dance floor. Guys let me tell you. When you stand at over 6 feet 3 inches (1.9 meters) tall, it’s not easy to bent over a wheelchair like that for the whole song!

I danced with my wife a few times, both a slow and otherwise. After awhile she told me to stop copying other people. But I couldn’t hear the music! How am I suppose to know how to dance if I don’t watch other people? Instead of music all I heard was noise, like that of an extra loud carnival. In fact the slow music and the fast music sounded the same to me. Once I was sitting watching the people, and with all the random noise, everyone on the dance floor jumped at once! Then with all the random noise they started doing the “YMCA” sign with their arms.

My wife and I left a half hour early. I couldn’t take any more of the sound. Before we left though I went over to my friend in the wheelchair and thanked her for the dance. Then my wife and I left and had a bite at a Mexican restaurant on the way home. I think it was quiet, I’m told it was. My ears were ringing. In fact they were still ringing all through church the next morning. But it was fun. After church I saw the gal in the wheelchair and she found the evening very enjoyable.

Posted in Christianity, Hearing Loss, Uncategorized and tagged , , ,
06 Feb 2014
3 Comments

Lip Reading?

Hearing Loss Symbol

Hearing Loss Symbol

Last Saturday at a men’s group at church, I was sitting at a table with a few guys eating breakfast. They were talking about football and then started talking about the deaf player on the Seattle’s Seahawks team. Then the guy across the table from me said “Steve here” (meaning me) “is really good at reading lips.” The men at the table knew I have a hearing loss, and that I do not wear hearing aids, (although I used to) and yet I can communicate very well with others. I told them I really don’t read lips that well. I got a lot of weird looks from them about that.

So… If I don’t hear well, and I don’t wear hearing aids, and I don’t read lips very well, how do I know what people are saying? I speech read.

First let me tell you about lip reading. Most people, whether they are hearing, deaf, or hard ‘of’ hearing, can not truly lip read. (I found out one day that there is the word ‘of’ between ‘hard’ and ‘hearing’) Lip reading is very difficult. Let’s say we’re on a farm and you’re deaf or very hard of hearing and someone says “We should butcher the ____.” You say “What?” Again you hear :Go butcher the ____!” now you’re wondering, were you told to butcher the cow, or the sow??? Look in the mirror. Both words look the same.

With football or any other sport, you already know the subject matter. That helps a lot. Another thing is you only need to see a few words to guess what the other team will do. Front, forward, back, right, left, all look very different from each other. In a restaurant I have seen and understood a waitress asking someone on the far side of the room if they want sugar or something else. But this is rare. One interesting thing I must add is women will move their lips more than men. Look around, you’ll see what I mean.

My outdoor power equipment repair (lawn mower repair) business has over 800 customers. Only a very few know I don’t really hear them fully. Even on the telephone. How do I get away with it? Sometimes I don’t and then things ends badly. Once a customer was upset with me because I didn’t fix the noise. I didn’t know there was a noise.

Speech reading is taking in everything. Lips, facial expression, body language, and what’s going on at the time. For an example; you know when eating in a restaurant and your mouth is full and the waitress comes up is says, “Blah-blah”. You’ll know she’s asking if everything is OK. Speech reading is much like that. Do I make mistakes? Yes.

When I see a customer and if I don’t understand them, I watch. (Some people I have no problems understanding. Others are impossible.) People always point to the problem and they talk with their hands. Soon I understand the problem with their equipment whether it is electrical, engine, transmission, or something else. I fix the problem and most of the people have no clue I didn’t understand them verbally.

The telephone presents another problem. Too many letters sounds the same. Numbers however all sound different. If they are a repeat customer I will ask for their phone number and look up on my Excel spreadsheet the information I have on them such as name, phone number, address, and the type of equipment they had last time I saw them. Also, fortunately many of the streets in this area are numbers, like 2nd, 3rd, even up to 320th. So I get by. Barely. I have great trouble with voice-mail. I have to listen to them 5 or 6 times and often I still won’t understand.

So if you are hard of hearing or even deaf, please take my customer’s advice, and tell people you don’t hear them. I finally started doing this a couple of years ago and life is so much easier now.

If you know someone who is hard of hearing or deaf, always look at them, let them see your face. And please don’t yell at us. We don’t like that. It’s often insulting. Also please don’t pull this stunt of turning up the car radio to hear your favorite song and then start mumbling before turning the radio down again.

If you would like to learn more about hearing loss, here are three places to check out. There are lots more of them out there.
Hearing Loss Association of America
Association of Late Deafened Adults
Hearing, Speech, & Deafness Center (servicing Western Washington)

Also if you’re interested, read the post I wrote: Not Hearing, Not Deaf

Leviticus 19:14
“Do not insult the deaf or cause the blind to stumble. You must fear your God; I am the Lord.
New Living Translation

Posted in Hearing Loss, Uncategorized and tagged , , ,
27 Dec 2013

New Years Resolution

Christmas is now over and 2014 is almost here. Many of us are making New Years Resolution. Dieting, going to school, getting in shape, and others things. This dieting business is hard to do. Even the Pink Panther knows this.

Just over a year ago I made an interesting discovery. For quite awhile my blood pressure has been a little high. Not high enough to take medicine, just high enough for the doctor to say “watch it”. So we have been watching our salt intake. I love to eat crab and shrimp and other types of shellfish, but partly because of the cost of such stuff and other reasons I haven’t had any for a long time. I struggle to get the blood pressure down. Nothing worked.

Then for some reason, (I’m not sure why) we hadn’t had any pork for about a month. When I went into the doctor’s office for a checkup; I found my blood pressure down. Not just down, but right in the middle of normal! Later my wife went in for her checkup and her numbers were close to normal also. Why?

I found the answers to be in these verses:

Leviticus 11:2-4
“Of all the land animals, these are the ones you may use for food. 3 You may eat any animal that has completely split hooves and chews the cud.

Leviticus 11:9-10
“Of all the marine animals, these are ones you may use for food. You may eat anything from the water if it has both fins and scales, whether taken from salt water or from streams.

In other words kosher foods. (There are more verses on the subject. I just didn’t list them.) So we will try to eat only kosher foods, more or less. What I mean is, if someone offers me some BBQ pork, well, I’m going to eat it. Because, well I really like the stuff. Another reason is to turn it down would be rude. The third reason is, Jesus said we could. That means that if we really want to, we can even eat little creatures called grubs. Yummy. (Yes I did try it once. I even had seconds.)

I believe the reason Jesus said we could eat anything is because without the food barrier, it made it easier for the early Jews to spread God’s plan of salvation through Jesus to the Gentiles. Sharing the same food makes it easier for fellowship and talk about Jesus as commanded in Mark 16:15-16.

So now a couple of thousand of years later, because of these early Jewish Believers, there are now Gentile Believers all over the world praising worshiping the same God as the Jews themselves. And this fulfills the prophesy in Isaiah 49:6 and is still being fulfilled.

Isaiah 49:6
He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me.
I will make you a light to the Gentiles,
and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

And this brings us to the next part of my New Years Resolution. I want to go through Revelation bit by bit. I’ll be making notes and may be writing about it as I go along. Please remember that I am not a theologian, nor was I trained in any Bible college. I pray that I won’t mess up. Because even though Revelation 1:3 says God will bless those who read, listen and obey the prophesy in this book; Revelation 22:18 says that if we add or take away anything; we’re in trouble. And now I’m thinking, am I crazy for doing this? Please pray that I won’t mess up, and also if I do mess up and get something wrong, please tell me.

Getting back to kosher foods; if cod is kosher, is lutefisk still kosher?

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16 Nov 2013

California Trip

The last few weeks I have been distracted. Not because of anything bad, but because my nephew was getting married in Berkeley California. I am not going to show who they are because I respect their privacy. (That and the photos didn’t turn out good.)

The trip started with deciding whether to drive or fly the 1800 mile (2897 kilometers) round trip to Berkeley or not. After talking it over my wife and I decided to drive for several reasons. The drive and the hotels would have been cheaper than flying. Plus we wouldn’t have to rush to the airport or the car rental. We could also carry what we want too.

We left home at about 7:30AM on November 7th. Things went pretty smoothly until we drove through Lacy, Washington. That was when the ‘CHECK ENGINE’ light came on. “Oh No! Now what!?” I had it checked out and found that maybe one of the oxygen sensors was faulty. We decided to keep driving. After about 50 miles (80 kilometers) the light went out and everything seemed fine.

Fine until we made it to southern Oregon and northern California. There we were driving through the dark night, in the heavy rain, and fog. At one point I had to slow down to about 30 MPH (50 KPH) because of poor visibility. We couldn’t see squat.

It was about that time when my wife, Karen grabbed the cell phone to call Best Western in Yreka, California where we sent the night. It was nice to crawl into bed.

The next morning we were on the road again. The scenery was beautiful. Instead of going straight to Berkeley, we detoured to Santa Rosa. On the way we stopped at Nichelini Winery. What an enjoyable stop. After some wine tasting, Karen stayed inside and talked to the owners about whatever, and I was outside exploring.

Nichelini Winery

Filling the new barrels with water so the wood would swell, so it would later hold wine.

Filling the new barrels with water so the wood would hydrate and swell, so it would later hold wine.

Myself by wine press. The pole is the lever that's used to crush the grapes in the tank. Much like a giant garlic press.

Myself by an old wine press. The pole is the lever that’s used to crush the grapes in the tank. Much like a giant garlic press.

After the night in Santa Rosa we arrived in Berkeley and stayed at the Berkeley City Club. The next morning while the bride and groom and their parents were doing whatever needing to be done; I was off exploring the site. Every door that wasn’t locked, I tried. Almost. There was one small door outside going into a crawl space area that looked interesting. However if the hotel found out somehow, I’m sure they wouldn’t be too happy. And if I came out all dirty, my wife would be most displeased.

The wedding was good. Simple with plenty of food before and supper after the wedding. They had beef and chicken to choose from. The reception went until about 11:00 that night.

Berkeley is a nice place to visit with some good eating places. Karen and I ate at a great Cajun restaurant just a few blocks from the hotel.

After a few days we took our long drive home. It was fun, but it’s good to be home again.

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25 Sep 2013
3 Comments

Dark Fire?

Pipe

Luke 16:24
24 “The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’

Matthew 22:13
13 Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Many of you are familiar with these parables Jesus told. For a refresher, click on the links. Both of these parables talk about people not going to Heaven, but instead going to the other place.

So what will Hell be like? Will it be dark? Will it be fire? Is there a contradiction here? If so, why would Jesus contradict himself? Or did He? If both are true, then that would mean there is dark fire. But, what is the pipe up above all about?

I have seen dark fire. In fact many mechanics (like myself) and welders and plumbers that have been around for a while have seen dark fire. Also those who cook with natural gas or propane.

Just over 30 years ago, I was outside in the dark heating something up with a propane torch. I was amazed at how little light the flame put out. (WARNING – THIS IS VERY, VERY DANGEROUS. IN THE DARK ACCIDENTS DO HAPPEN. YOU COULD GET 3RD DEGREE BURNS, OR DEATH. YOU COULD BURN DOWN YOUR HOME, OR WORSE. IT’S BEST IF YOU DON’T DO IT.)

When I light my oxygen-acetylene torch, and only the acetylene is burning, the flame is very bright. Bright enough to hurt your eyes. But when I turn on the oxygen the flame gets smaller. When the flame gets to be only a ¼ inch long, it’s no longer as bright. But it’s very hot. If I remember correctly, it’s about 5000 degrees Fahrenheit. (2760 Celsius) When I cut the pipe above, the flame wasn’t that bright. But the melting steal glowed so blinding bright, that dark goggles were a must.

Acetylene only burning

Acetylene only burning

Acetylene with oxygen burning

Acetylene with oxygen burning

Right now some of you are very interested, but some of you are bored. Sorry. But the point of all this is that it shows that dark fire is real. Which gives credit to what Jesus says in the two parables in Luke 16:19-31 and Mathew 22:1-14.

Revelation 20:15
And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Now this is scary. And when you consider Luke 16:19-31 where the rich man is not being consumed by fire but suffering endlessly; well that’s very scary.

The good news is none of us really have to go there. God loves us enough that He sent us His son Jesus so that who ever believes in Him will have ever lasting life with Him and not in the Lake of Fire. This is good news. Good enough for us to be telling others.

Posted in Christianity, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , ,
27 Aug 2013

Following The Lord Is Hard To Do

But why? And why is it so hard to trust the lord?

We all know about the Ten Commandments as listed in Exodus 20:3-17. A lot of dos and don’ts. It true we don’t like rules, but what about the fourth commandment?

Exodus 20:8-11
“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

You would think we would have no problems with this one. Laying back and taking it easy for the day. But we do work. Or we think about work. Some of us think more about work on our day off than we do when we should be working.

When Adam and Eve first sinned, why did they do it? They knew they were created. They knew everything around them was created. They knew God personally. So why would they make the decision to stop following God. Why would they decide to trust a snake more than they trusted God?

Moses did trust God enough to follow Him, and because of it lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, across a sea bed after the waters had been parted, through the wilderness with God feeding with food from Heaven, and on to the promise land.

King David committed adultery, then murdered the man whose wife he had the adultery with. Yes David sinned. But David repented. David trusted God enough to follow Him. Even to the point of standing before a giant to kill him when he himself was only a boy.

What about Joshua at the town of Jericho? The Lord told him to walk around the town with his men for 7 days then shout on the 7th day, and the walls of the town will fall. How does that work? When I was in the military, if my commanding officer told me to do this; I would wonder if my commander had flipped his led. And everyone else would wonder the same thing. Yet Joshua trusted God enough to follow orders. No matter what.

Joshua 6:20 said what happened when Joshua trusted God.
When the people heard the sound of the rams’ horns, they shouted as loud as they could. Suddenly, the walls of Jericho collapsed, and the Israelites charged straight into the town and captured it.

When a woman was net by Elijah, she trusted him because of God. God had told her to feed Elijah.
1 Kings 17:8-9
8 Then the Lord said to Elijah, 9 “Go and live in the village of Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. I have instructed a widow there to feed you.”

The widow and her son were about to run out of food. But even though it made no sense to do so; she trusted God and fed Elijah anyway. Read what happened next.
1 Kings 17:8-16

I would like to say I am good at trusting the Lord. But I’m not. Instead I am like one of the very many Israelites that roamed around for 40 years after leaving Egypt. After everything God has done for His people, they were still whining about this and that, not trusting God and therefor not always following Him.

In the book of Haggai chapter 1, it talks about how things may not go well for you if you don’t take care of God’s temple. We all know the temple is in ruins, and it’s not yet time to rebuild it. But we still go to a church or a synagogue. Is there something you can do to help fix it up if it needs it? Paint, cut grass, maintain the church or synagogue van, upgrade something? Fix the lawn mower maybe?

I choose to do something. It doesn’t always make sense, but I choose to trust my Lord, my God, and follow Him.

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