HARMLESS THOUGHTS

Last night I finished the "doodle" for Abraham / Isaac. Recognize?

Representing Creation: Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. Representing the Fall: The Forbidden Fruit and the Serpent. Representing the Flood:  Noah's Ark and the Flood. Representing the Scattering of the Nations: The Tower of Babel.

"Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool,  but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered." Proverbs 28:26

Around Christmastime, when getting a new phone for my son, I found this amazing holiday deal at AT&T that came with an Android Wear watch. I didn't really need a watch like this or even want one, but they said the magi words... "for free."   The model I ended up with is a LG Gwatch. One of the first things I wanted to do was to find a cool watch face. Thanks to "Facer" I think I found my favorite watch face. Some of you might recognize it because of its similarity to the Commodore 64. Love it. It takes me back. 

I just finished listening to Christian Audio's version of  Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus  by Kyle Idleman, and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Any time there is a book that seems to grab a measure of popularity, my tendency is to steer away from it. All it takes for me is seeing the rubber bracelets or the stickers or other paraphernalia in random places. No direct offense to the kids I saw wearing these bracelets, but honestly, before I knew this was the title of a Christian book, I thought that "not a fan" had something to do with getting off the bench at a sporting event. (i.e. I wasn't noticing a correlation between bracelet wearers and students who were obviously followers of Jesus Christ.) This perception of the book caused me to avoid listening to it for quite some time, but last week I finally started the book... and like I said, I was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting shallow theology and some sensational...

This is on my desk at school... Open Bible... Cross...

Spheres in every section...

This is my first zentangle...  I have always been a bit of a doodler. My dad was also (and still is) a major doodler. My youngest son has turned into a serious doodler. So, when I saw a book called Zentangle at Barnes and Noble, I knew I had to check it out. What is ZenTangle?   Click Here  to find out.

If you've never read it... Here is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham Jail: (Until January 21st, 2015, you can  Click Here for ChristianAudio.com's offering of a free download of this letter in audio format.) 16 April 1963 My Dear Fellow Clergymen: While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.

Our new Bible Study books showed up on the porch today. For our new Tuesday night Bible Study time, I picked a book from the Journible Series (or the 17:18 series). There are several editions of the Journible Series, but I picked a nice short one for the introduction to our Bible Study. The one I chose was Journible Through Psalm 119 because I love Psalm 119 and because Psalm 119 emphasizes the Psalmist's passion and love of God's Word... a passion that is seriously lacking in many, who claim Christianity as their faith. Pouring over the scriptures, pondering them, and reading them were a natural response to my genuine introduction to Jesus. I wanted to get to know him. And what is important is that I attribute this attachment to the Bible... not to some inherent quality within myself... or as a result of what the Spirit of God does in just a handful of His followers... but to the natural response to anything that we come to value.

I love my wife. I love being married to her. I love her as a person. I love spending time with her. I usually wouldn't care if I was with anyone at all, but if I have a chance to spend time with her, I always take it if I can. I am not going to lie to you.... this isn't a chore in any way shape or form... she brings me great joy. Does this make me selfish? Am I only loving her because of the joy she brings me? On the contrary, doesn't it bring her greater honor and a greater sense of love if I enjoy my love? Consider these words of John Piper: