Canticle of the Turning

We Christians talk about the *gospel*, the good news, that God has done all that is necessary so that we may be reconciled to Him, but on the flip side this means we are completely weak and must depend solely on His provision. I believe this flip side is the ultimate stumbling block to accepting Jesus as Lord. Some might argue that the block to Christianity is *Fairy Tales*; I say to this person, investigate before you condemn. You may be surprised at the answers. Others may argue a pantheistic theology; I submit that Christianity is the only belief system that is internally consistent.

The Lord says that His Spirit will not always *strive with man* though:

And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. (AKJV, Genesis 6:3)

Our existence in this world is the only chance we have to freely choose Him, without being overwhelmed with His presence.

One of the lesser evidences I see for the existence of God is the deep sense we humans all have of justice, and of hopeful things, despite evidence in this world to the contrary. This is a great song that I hope you enjoy, that discusses some of these things. This particular recording is sung by Gary Daigle, Rory Cooney & Theresa Donohoo.



Lyrics:

My soul cries out with a joyful shout
that the God of my heart is great,
And my spirit sings of the wondrous things
that you bring to the one who waits.
You fixed your sight on the servant's plight,
and my weakness you did not spurn,
So from east to west shall my name be blest.
Could the world be about to turn?

Refrain:
My heart shall sing of the day you bring.
Let the fires of your justice burn.
Wipe away all tears,
For the dawn draws near,
And the world is about to turn.

Though I am small, my God, my all,
you work great things in me.
And your mercy will last from the depths of the past
to the end of the age to be.
Your very name puts the proud to shame,
and those who would for you yearn,
You will show your might, put the strong to flight,
for the world is about to turn.

Refrain

From the halls of power to the fortress tower,
not a stone will be left on stone.
Let the king beware for your justice tears
every tyrant from his throne.
The hungry poor shall weep no more,
for the food they can never earn;
These are tables spread, ev'ry mouth be fed,
for the world is about to turn.

Refrain

Though the nations rage from age to age,
we remember who holds us fast:
God's mercy must deliver us
from the conqueror's crushing grasp.
This saving word that our forbears heard
is the promise that holds us bound,
'Til the spear and rod be crushed by God,
who is turning the world around.

Refrain

Did Jesus Rise From the Dead?

Christianity is based on the life of one person (Jesus) and the historical events that occurred during his lifetime.

Historical events are FACTUAL. In other words, they are true for everyone, all of the time.

For example, it is a FACT that JFK was shot and killed in Dallas in 1963. A person can't say, "Well, I believe JFK wasn't shot in Dallas in 1963. For me, he died in 1969. But for you, it's true he was shot and killed in 1963."

Jesus either DID or DID NOT rise from the dead.

Some people might say that Christianity is based on subjective truth or belief in Jesus as a good man. However, Christianity's own writings unequivocably state that Christianity rises or falls on the RESURRECTION OF JESUS:

"And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead... If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins... If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
--- 1 Corinthians 15: 14, 15, 17, 19

I came to my faith through a skeptical position, and was frankly blown away by the evidence. I've written about some of my thoughts and the sequence I went through to reach this conclusion on my website HERE, and there are of course tons of other resources. It comes down to this: if God exists, then this world is not all there is. A radical statement for a scientist...

Cool Image

For those of us fascinated by the Shoemaker-Levy comet crashing into Jupiter 15 years ago, here's a fascinating recent image of the impacted region. This was identified by amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley. You can read a little more about this HERE.

Grace

I've put this up before, but just love it. It's a fun short that clearly illustrates grace.

Letter by Lou Pritchett

Hi Everyone,

I apologize for reprinting so much political stuff. The truth is that I am truly alarmed at what seems to be happening in the government these days, from bailout packages that cause unemployment to rise, to public health care that grows wildly unpopular, to a lack of attention in national defense. I have never been terribly interested in politics, but this seems now like watching a train wreck. The Lord is Sovereign and is quite aware of all of this, but still...

It seems so sad to think of the disrespect our country is showing the millions who sacrifice greatly for this great experiment of a country to exist and continue. I hope we can leave it in good shape to the next generation.

OK, here is today's entry...

*

TRUE - CHECK: http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/youscareme.asp


This letter was sent to the NY Times but they never acknowledged it. Since it hit the internet, however, it has had over 500,000 hits.


Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America 's true living legends- an acclaimed author, dynamic teacher and one of the world's highest rated speakers. Successful corporate executives everywhere recognize him as the foremost leader in change management. Lou changed the way America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to be known as "partnering." Pritchett rose from soap salesman to Vice-President, Sales and Customer Development for Procter and Gamble and over the course of 36 years, made corporate history.


AN OPEN LETTER TO
PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.


You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.


You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.

You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America ' crowd and deliver this message abroad.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.


You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spe nding proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett

Tea Party

I apologize to my blog readers who also received this email from Will, but I simply couldn't resist putting it up. Awesome! So profound.

Here it is:

*

This resulted from a Mom in Alabama asking her high school son to help with a commercial for the Tea Party she was involved in organizing.

Boy, does it slam the message home. Very impressive. Here is her note:

"I asked Justin if he could help me make a commercial for my group's Tea Party. He sat down at the laptop for about an hour, and then brought this to me and asked, 'is this okay, Mom?' "

After I finished watching it, my stomach was in my throat.

Everyone that I have sent it to has really enjoyed it, so I
wanted my friends to see it. I am so proud!"

A very powerful video...turn up the sound & sit back...!!!

Leaders versus Controllers

Leaders versus Controllers

Ron Edmondson wrote an interesting article contrasting the characteristics of LEADERS versus CONTROLLERS. So, which are you, really?

Here's a list of characteristics to help you decide:

Characteristics of leading people:

Encourages creativity
Develops people rather than programs
Builds healthy relationships with followers
Models a healthy way
More focused on needs of followers
People follow by choice
Empowers people

*

Characteristics of controlling people:

Stifles personal growth
Discourages creativity
Keeps followers at a distance
Insists on a set way
More focused on needs of the controller
People follow by force
Devours people