Lord of lords and King of kings

The following is a quote from Azzam Tamimi, head of the Muslim Association of Britain in regard to a recent police shooting of a suspected terrorist. "This is very frightening. People will be afraid to walk the streets, or go on the tube, or carry anything in their hands."
Excuse me for a minute while I vent my frustrations at this response. According to this guy, the police are a threat to us but people who strap bombs to themselves and/or detonate strategically placed explosives in subway stations, buses, etc. and fly passenger planes into buildings are not? I wish this quote was in regard to the recent suicide bombings in Britain or other terrorist attack but it is not. I think every person with brains should be outraged at the great lengths many in this world are going to to defend terrorists and their acts of murder. Perhaps there is a reason. Do I dare suggest that perhaps these sympathizers are terrorists as well? Perhaps the god these people worship is behind all of it and perhaps we who do not follow this god, should be constantly reminded who the enemy truly is and who the only true God is. Thankfully we as children of the living and Almighty God of the Bible can know the outcome and all will willingly or unwillingly bow down to Him in the end but ALL people will bow and give Him praise, honor and glory as Lord of lords and King of kings.
1 Timothy 6:15 - For at the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

A welcome if you are hot

It is 116 degrees in Las Vegas and near 130 degrees in Death Valley. Many places across the country are heated this time of year, after all it is summertime. I've discussed the weather here before but after seeing these record high temps, thought I'd mention that it is only 52 degrees in Eureka, CA as I write. However, today was also near record breaking for the local bay; a mere 70 degrees. I've heard that people tend to get a little cranky when the temperature rises. So maybe one might say, when the temps go up, the tempers go up!
Since the local temperatures around Humboldt Bay never rise above 75 degrees, I am thankful to be living in a cranky free town. It is the perfect place on the planet. The birds are always happy, the redwoods never complain, the food is mostly fresh and the people are always.....well...um..cranky-free. I suppose if this were completely true then people would be flocking to the area, right? I tend to agree, but they are not. In fact the Eureka area lost nearly 1,000 people last year. A place is what we make of it I think. Not always an easy task I suppose, especially if the temperature is 130 degrees and your skin is melting off your body but I can't say I know much about that. Just know you are always welcome to the small town by the bay where the people are mostly fresh, the birds are cranky-free, the redwoods are at peace, and I think you'll like it here.

Nothing can be Something

At this particular moment, I probably should not be writing an entry because of what I call a current "severe" state of mind. Even though I will not be able to totally explain a "severe" state of mind because I made the term up, I do feel a great need to just complain and wallow for a minute in expressing this. Before I sink deeper into what can also be termed a 'self made pit of patheticness', I want to write about "nothing". "Nothing" could be considered "something" I suppose but i'll just call it patheticness. Pathetic nothingness is made more pathetic because it IS 'something' at the same time.
I am greatly blessed and therefore feel the incredible need to repay someone for these blessings. However, when one does not feel capable in fulfilling such a request to a self satisfying standard, then inevitably self-pity will follow. I believe everyone has felt similar inadequacies or inability at one time or another but for the perfectionist this can be an especially horrific situation. Thankfully it is only for a "moment in time".

Those God brings into our lives

As seen from my previous entry....I had an exciting time at the beach and got some great height on those jumps. Today I am paying for it. I am not feeling all that well and attribute it to a couple of things. Besides my attempt at an aerial ballet gone badly, I am feeling the effects of something bigger. In fact, it is quite huge and once it happens, life in most cases seems strangely fuzzy. I imagine I am no different than many who experience this and even though I feel like I'm floating on an invisible wave of emotions, I thank God that it is happening.

You see, when ones affections face toward another person whom God has wonderfully created, one can be consumed with thoughts beyond anything imagined. In fact, life can appear suspended in time. I think it's at this moment I need to continue trusting God more than ever before even when some earthly realities may seem clouded. God's word stands firm and who Christ is remains the same. Jesus Christ is unchanging. He is the firm foundation on which we can trust and continue to put our hope in. We must do this if we expect to live and get through life. When one's thoughts simply desire to seek God's will, it will certainly be seen in deep contrast to that of the world's popular philosophy of a life deliberately and ignorantly existing to anger a holy and righteous God. In many cases it coincides with their absence of respect for His chosen people: true Christians. The thought of God is pushed out of the unsaved mind without consequence and the mantra of the world is 'I am doing all things for myself, by myself to please myself and nobody can stop me'. Christians I believe can get caught up into a similar self-centered thought process as well and sadly often do, but to know and to be reminded that this behavior is displeasing to God and that it is wrong because the God of Bible says it is wrong is the most important of differences of that of a believer and a non-believer; a crucial difference between a follower of Christ and a follower of Satan.

I thank the Lord for Christians and Christian fellowship. I also thank Him for those he brings into our life who remind us of what is important only through Christ Jesus. God brings His chosen people across our paths. Those who were once strangers to us He sets before us to encourage us, to lift-up one another, to make a connection with on many levels and when the time is right, perhaps to love beyond a godly love. I am thankful to be able to share this with you and know that God is everything and over everything--even when things aren't making sense to us.

"My thoughts are completely different from yours," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. (Isaiah 55:8) nlt

A day at the beach

Ok I didn't find the beach that exciting but look at the height I got there!


My cousin truly seemed to enjoy himself at the beach, perhaps even more than I.

In fact I think I may have been a bit angry at him for taking my picture.

What do you think?

Or...just odd

But overall, I think we enjoyed ourselves and had a good time at the beach.

Money, a Shredder and the Gospel

I cannot recall a time in the past I've used a paper shredder, so today I had an exciting moment. At least I will attempt to lead you to believe I had an exciting moment.
Ok, so I had this piece of paper which desperately needed shredding (ok maybe it wasn't desperate or even desperate for shredding but it wasn't fit to remain in one piece) and so I decided to try it in the shredder. I'm even guessing the paper was looking forward to it maybe half as much as I was.
Shredding paper is simple enough, right? First, you plug in the shredding machine (because this one wasn't already) flip the switch to automatic shred...insert paper and watch the machine "suck" the paper into itself...amazing. I thought so. It says it even does credit cards too but I digress. I inserted the paper and guess what happened next? The paper became shredded just as expected. Truly amazing, huh?
Perhaps not...
But then I came up with this ultra-cool-important idea which I might share with you...someday....wouldn't want to spoil something special...and if it isn't...wouldn't that be embarrassing--to me ideas generally seem better when first thought of rather than letting reality set in and I get time to second guess everything. But this particular idea in a nutshell might have some legs to it. The idea would be perfect for a 30 second video spot...(Lord willing) if I don't talk myself out of it. I will tell you this... it involves money, a shredder and the Gospel message.