Something From Nothing

I saw this video on facebook.  You may have also.  I thought it was well done, and it reinforced for me how small and insignificant we are relative to the vastness of all creation.  The complexity of space is matched by the intricacy of the human body.  My tag for the post was: "must have been a pretty big bang."  One of my friends had this reply: "Indeed. And Nothing caused it. That Nothing is some powerful stuff. Well, it's not stuff exactly, because it's Nothing. But how Nothing can make something is one of the great mysteries of science. The phenomenon of Nothing making something has never been repeated (as far as we know), but I've got an experiment going with my wallet."  It reminded me of the words of the great Billy Preston - "Nothing from nothing leaves nothing...".  Merry Christmas

Nothing More

Our small group wrapped up our study of Colossians last night.  I was encouraged by the author, Paul, who despite being in prison, wrote a letter to a church that he had never visited to instruct them and encourage them.  Apparently, some of the people in Colosse were confusing ideas from other philosophies and religions with the deity of Christ.  Paul reminded them (and us) that Christ is fully God and fully man, and that his grace is sufficient to cover us.  Nothing more is needed. 

Reward Levels

Last night our small group from church got off on a spirited tangent talking about different "levels" of heaven.  All of us had heard in the past about the idea that the more obedient we are on Earth, the higher the level we would be assigned in heaven.  All of us also agreed that this seems counter to the idea that all that is necessary for entrance to heaven is belief in Jesus as God's son and our personal savior.  We did a little digging to find this reference in 2 Corinthian 12:2 where Paul says:  “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows.”   Our study sources revealed that the word translated as heaven, could also be translated as "realm".    If Paul was describing the "third realm", he was likely just been describing the one and only heaven.   Revelation 22:12 states: “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done” .  This could also be interpreted as higher rewards for cleaner living on earth.  I prefer to think of it this way.   I love music.  Another person may love visual art.  I believe that in God's infinite generosity, he could reward us with those things that mean the most to us.  One gift isn't better than another, it is just "according to what we have done."  This may or may not be the way it will be.   But I feel strongly about two things.  1) God loves that we are curious about him and desire to know him more.  2) Anything great or beautiful that we could imagine about heaven while on earth will be dwarfed by the surprises God has in store for us when we meet him face to face. 

82 Years of Faith

Billy Graham celebrated his 98th birthday last month.  After declaring Jesus as his Lord and Savior at the age of 16, his unwavering faith has impacted more people than any other mere human.  Over 215 million people have seen and heard his message in person and 100's of millions more through books, television and other media.  Over 3 million people have documented that he was responsible for their new life in Jesus.  I never had the chance to hear him speak in person, but YouTube gives us glimpses of his brilliance.  Happy belated birthday Billy.  Your message will be with us forever.

Music of the season

I have to admit that I don't love that XM radio is playing Christmas music already.  Luckily for me, there are 100's of other options to choose from.  Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas music.  I am just not ready to enjoy it before Thanksgiving.  I can't wait to pop in the Amy Grant Christmas cd that I first enjoyed on vinyl, but there is nothing like a little live music.  From carolers stopping by the house to singing worship hymns in church, live music is special in that it only happens just that way once.  And once the note is sounded, it is gone.  If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know that Caroline and I play in the Georgia Wind Symphony.  On December 10th at 7:30pm, we will be performing our Christmas concert at the Cambridge High School Performing Arts Center in Milton.  The concert is our gift to the community, so there is no admission charge.  If you can free up an evening during the busy holiday season, I promise that you will not be disappointed.  Let me know if you can make it, so we can make sure to thank you for attending afterwards.

A Welcome Respite

One of the great things about being in a small group at church is that I have a group of people looking out for opportunities to inspire me.  One of our members shared this video of one young man's response to the massacre at the Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, SC last year.  In the wake of all of the rioting going on in our nation over the past week, this is a welcome respite. The video is 17 minutes in length, so make sure you have time to see this one through to the end.  You won't regret it.  Thanks Katie.

This is Us

In researching speakers that will be leading sessions at Pine Cove Chimney Point, I came across the bio for Barrett and Jenifer Johnson.  They will be  hosting week 2 at the family camp in summer of 2017.  Their website is INFOforFamilies.com and includes great resources for families seeking to cope in a world that is constantly pulling us away from God.  Barrett posted this glowing recommendation for the new NBC series, This is Us.  If you haven't seen it yet, This is Us is about the struggles and triumphs of a family, but what makes it unique is the way it integrates the current day with flashbacks to when the adults were young revealing the effects their parents had on them.  This was done so seamlessly that my wife, Caroline, had to explain to me what was going on in the first episode.  Patrick continues in his post to talk about things we can do to help ensure that our legacy to our kids and our grandkids is something to be proud of - and not something to be ashamed of.