Majestic Creations

 

Caroline and I were lucky enough to visit the Pacific Northwest with friends for the past few days. We are still there returning on Friday. We started in Banff Canada, rented a car, and made our way through the Canadian Rockies to Victoria on Vancouver Island.  This has to be some of the most beautiful topography that I have ever seen. The word that keeps coming to mind for me is majestic. The beauty that we have witnessed confirms for me that there is a God, and he is an amazing artist. The majesty of his creation can only be surpassed by his own majesty.   Praise Him.  Worship Him.--

Child's play

 

On Saturday, Caroline and I had the privilege of hosting my grandson, Evan's soccer team and their families at Lake Hartwell.  That added up to about 45 kids and adults.  I spent some time with the adults, but the kids stole the show.  It was so much fun seeing them play with each other and encourage one another.  At one point we had 15 of them on tubes behind the boat, and as far as I know, they all made it back ashore.   We also had some of the kids trying new skill sports behind the boat. And jumping off the top of the dock catching a football mid-air went on for hours.  In the gospel of Matthew, Matthew reports that the disciples approached Jesus and asked "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"  Jesus called a child over, placed the child in their midst and said, "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever humbles himself like this child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  And whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me."  I want to try to find all of those childlike qualities that Jesus loved.

The Shot Seen Round The World

On Tuesday, February 7th, Andrew Bernstein snapped this iconic photo of Lebron James releasing the shot that broke Kareem Abdul-Jabar's life time NBA scoring record.  You will notice a row of professional photographers seated along the edge of the court who no doubt got multiple photos of this shot from every angle possible.  You will also notice a sea of metal rectangles held by adoring fans who needed their own photo.   Many probably missed witnessing the shot with their own eyes as they were staring into the small screen in front of them.  Why?  I think most would say they wanted to capture the moment. But why?  Wouldn't the hundreds of professional photos do that?  Or maybe they want to prove they were in the arena.  If they told a friend they were at the game, would the friend not believe them?  I think we all know why.  They wanted to post a photo to social media so 20 people might "like" it.  But it's not Lebron or even the photo that needs to be liked.  It's the person that posted it.  It seems a lot of us are captivated by ourselves. I wasn't at that game, but I have posted photos of me doing fun things that I hope people will like.  I try not to focus on who responds, but sometimes I give in to the temptation.  Most of us should do this less.  There is ultimately one thing we should be captivated by and that is God, our creator, who sent His son to live in a broken world and die for the sins of each one of us.  I want to try to do that more today.

The idea for this post and my thoughts were inspired by Marshall Segall at desiringGod.com.

Idol's Idol

 

I watch too much television, and one of my guilty pleasures is American Idol.  It's no surprise that the entertainment industry is largely void of anything remotely religious.   You may hear about celebrities believing in some undefined higher power, but it is rare that you hear anything about Jesus.  I was surprised and delighted by one of the current American Idol finalists, Megan Danielle, from Danielsville, GA.  She was a bar singer until her grandfather encouraged her to start singing about her faith instead of whatever was in the bars on weekend nights.  In her audition, she sang Lauren Daigle's "You Say".  She did a great job with it and was surprised when Lauren herself showed up half way through her audition.  It was a sweet moment.  I love that Megan has the guts to let her faith show.  Click here for the video, and vote for Megan to keep her in the competition.