The Universal Laws Of Physics

 "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground...." Genesis 2:7

The fact that man was formed from dust is a very profound issue. This is the genius of the Genesis version of creation. It reads like a child's story, but it is deep with meaning to anyone who can mine it's depths.

Mankind will never travel to distant worlds or planets because we are tied to the Earth. We are, by nature, earthbound. Interstellar travel is impossible, not because of engineering problems, but by basic physics problems. A trip to Mars is by physics a one way trip. Travel at near speed of light speed is fraught with difficulties. It's not aliens or monsters out there. It's physics.

God created the heavens and the earth. All of it is His design. The whole universe is governed by the same set of rules and laws. Light is always light, gravity is always gravity. The laws that govern the natural world on earth govern the natural world on every distant planet and solar system. The rules governing the natural world are universal and not different in different parts of the universe.

Man is set up by God to govern planet Earth. We are connected to the place where we live. We are dust.

In Christ we have hope to be free from this constraint one day. When He shall appear, we shall be like Him. This mortal shall put on immortality. We shall be changed. There shall be a new heaven and a new earth. Heaven is not the end, it is only a new beginning.

But for now, do not sign up for a trip to Mars. You may get there, but you will not make it back.

On Being A Good Story Teller

 There was a man who lived an interesting life. He lived in interesting places, met interesting people, did interesting things. Whenever he told his friends where he had been or who he had met invariably someone would say, you ought to write a book someday. So he did. He sat down and wrote a book. And no one would buy it to publish it. One editor kindly told him that his book was boring from beginning to end. He didn't know it yet, but living an interesting life does not make you an interesting writer.

There are disciples who are on fire for God. They have been born again. They speak in tongues. They are in every service and they are on every outreach. They have won people to Christ. And when they get a chance to preach, it is boring and disorganized.

To be a good writer you need to have a plan and a structure to your story. You need to know where you are going and you need to know the tools on how to get there. It's never enough to have good material if you do not have the right tools.

To be a good preacher you need to have a plan and structure to your sermon. You need to organize your thoughts. You need to have illustrations or poems or real life stories to illustrate your point. Using a three point outline gives structure to your sermon. An outline helps you not to get bogged down one one minor point. It's never enough to be anointed by the Holy Spirit. You need to speak in a way that people want to hear what you have to say.

I have endured sermons that I was glad when they were over. I have heard other sermons that I wished would never end. The anointing does the work if people hear what you have to say all the way to the end. The anointing is God's part. The sermon is your part. Do your part to tell a good story.

The Abortion Non-issue

 One thing that surprised me when I moved here was finding that abortion was still a hot button issue down here. I don't remember pastor Mitchell making abortion a big deal for years. Abortion was not a big political issue in Arizona for years. So when I found people getting all wound up over it here it surprised me.

People are sinners by nature, not by what they do or do not do. Salvation is not to make us politically conservative. Salvation is to make us brand new and to make us right with God. The work of God is to believe in Jesus Christ, not to defend the unborn.

So I do not get upset over abortion. Why do you? There are worse things that a person can do than to terminate the life of a human fetus.

Some take Genesis 2:7 to mean that people are not fully human until they breathe.

"And the Lord God formed the man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." 

Man was fully formed, but not yet a living being. A fetus is a human fetus, like a seed, with all of the potential of a life not yet lived, but is not fully alive until it exits the womb and breathes. This line of doctrine has satisfied me for a long time. 

So this is all that I will say about abortion. It is a non-issue to me.

When No News Is Good News

When it comes to my health care, no news is good news. I had a doctor's visit yesterday where the doctor had little to say or to do with me. We talked about my health, he listened to my heart and my lungs, shook my hand and left. I am not feeling 100% healthy, but a good 95% overall.

I remember those dark days of heart failure when I spent 6 days in the hospital. Those days are behind me. I am not as young as I used to be, but I have taken steps to deal with normal aging. My family is helping with that. And I thank God for good health. Between God and my meds I live a good life.

The Gospel is good news to a lost world. But no news from a doctor is good news to me!

Those Pesky 400 Years

They tell us that between Malachi and Matthew there is a period of 400 years. No prophet spoke, no word from God. This seems like a long time. It is somewhere between 13 and 16 generations of people. There was no amount of prayer and fasting that would have changed that time period by even one day. God had a calendar and a timetable to adhere to and He did.

I wonder if we, because we have seen God move, expect to see God do something that is not on His timetable. We pray for revival. We fast for revival. But life goes on with no revival. What if we had to go 400 years with no revival?

Even in the modern era revivals happen from time to time with years in between times of real revival.

We assume that we can pray down revival and that God will move in answer to prayer. We cite experiences from history where this seemed to happen. When God began to move in Prescott there was no prayer meeting going on. Any fasting in Prescott was in spite of what God planned to do. God did not pour out the Spirit because people were fasting and praying in Prescott.

Revival depends on God having the right man in the right place at the right time. Only God knows for sure who that man is and where that place is and when that time is.

We are the fruit of a great revival. We have churches out that have experienced new convert growth. We are continuing to do what we were taught to do as a local church.

No revival lasts forever. Hopefully we will not have to wait 400 years to see God move again.

Lesson To The Wise

 I wanted to share a preaching or teaching tidbit with you today. This is not a unique thing to preaching. In society this seems to be the way stories are told everywhere. You cannot tell a story without telling the history or the back story first. Can I tell you a secret? Some of us already know the history, and the others do not care about the back story.

In a sermon or a lesson you are allowed to only quote part of a verse. You do not have to read every word to call it a quote. You can lift out the part that you want to focus on and just use that part. I do it here all the time. Also, you can lift one part of a Bible character's life without having to tell everything there is to know about that Bible character.

I have heard sermons on In the beginning God... where it talked about God without telling the whole creation story or trying to explain the unexplainable.

I think it is funny that we focus like a laser beam on one topic and then we belabor another topic to death telling the back story.

It seems obvious to me that some know and the rest don't care. Either way, it's better to cut it short for the sake of your audience. The mind can only understand what the seat can endure.

Monday Ramblings

I suppose that if we need to be focused like a laser beam on one thing evangelism is not a bad thing to be focused on. The New Testament focuses on love one another. So loving the world enough to win them to Christ fits that mold.

We have a song leader who is full of enthusiasm and fire and he wears me out. Too many words sung too fast for me to keep up. At least it's not too loud.

Pastor was gone for two weeks in a row. He came back and preached like he had never left. But time has moved on and we have changed while he was gone. It's up to him to get to know us all over again.

It's better to marry than to burn. But say that to some people and they think you are twisting scripture. Read 1Cor. 7:9

Some people are the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral. They are the center of everything in their outlook on life. Talk to them for two minutes and you will hear them talk about themselves.

I go to church whether I need something or not. I go because it is right to go. Some people are Sunday Mourners. They only come on Sunday morning, and they have just enough of Jesus to make them miserable.

I am a good listener. But I do like to talk sometimes. This venue lets me talk without interruption or being ignored.

God bless y'all.