A Soul Soaking

What if you were deathly allergic to water? Possible? Well, no. Considering you are made up majorly of water, I guess you wouldn't be alive then. In fact if you really are alive, you not only don't have any aversions to water but an actual craving for it. This is especially pronounced when there is a lack of it in your body.

Water. So underappreciated but so vital. Water. Without it there is death. With it there is life. So simple yet so profound. I can remember playing beach volleyball on the Central Coast in a tournament and my partner and I had been playing for almost 4 hours and I was the thirstiest I had ever been. Although I was drinking fluids, I couldn't get enough and during the last match I started to tingle all over and some of my muscles began to convulse and my mouth was like someone had stuffed cotton in it. We ended up winning but for more than a day I had no energy and drank like a fish until I wasn't nauseous anymore. (do fish really 'drink'?)

This is similar to God. We as humans are spiritual creatures. We desire spiritual connection more than water some times. People can attempt to fill their spiritual thirst with athletics, relationships, drugs, sexual conquest, scientific ponderings or what-have-you but it never really satisfies. Jesus said "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:37, 38) Jesus claimed to be the 'living water' and that whoever drank from Him would never thirst again in a spiritual sense.

Can you say you don't spiritually thirst anymore? Are all your needs and desires for divine connection satisfied. Without Christ they will not be....they cannot be for He is God. How good it is to drink true, pure, unadulterated water....free and freely. How much better to find refreshment for your spirit that proceeds from the Spirit of God.

Drink deeply my friend. Drink deeply from Jesus in His word, the Bible. Find the nourishment for your soul that you crave.

Bottoms up!

your daughter looks like a prostitute--poisoned femininity

A tremendously insightful article from the Wall Street Journal by a woman who grew up in the 'sexual liberation' movement. The movement of the 60's and 70's promised to 'unshackle' women from the home, modesty constraints and free them to be as sexually aggressive as men.

The problem became that it brought women not into liberation but bondage to their new reality. Ironically it helped to solidify men's objectifiying of women as sex objects as they cared less and less about modesty. It also gave men the freedom to view women as men by role and let them 'take care of themselves' as they now were out in the workforce. This reality made it all the easier for men to abandon their wives and families. Although there was nothing wrong with women getting great careers, the family became last priority to money and job and no one was left at home at all.

Now a post-liberated woman writes for the Wall Street Journal (of all places!) about her sexual regrets and how the values from her day have poisoned feminity for her daughters. Great journalism.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703899704576204580623018562.html

radiate

Looking at the devastating pictures coming out of Japan has been heart wrenching. To think that thousands of people lost their lives during the quake and resulting tsunami is tough to consider. Japan is the 10th largest population in the world and the 3rd wealthiest as far as economic production goes. Because they are an island nation and the majority of their national power lies near the coastline, a massive unstoppable wave is a nightmare come true for them.

I have friends who are missionaries in Japan and it is extremely difficult spiritual ground. The vast majority of the nation identifies itself as Buddhist or Shintoist but it is more of a cultural religion than one that most people are devoted to. In reality, Japan is an atheistic society that prides itself on wealth through production of goods and services to the world. After the near fatal crippling of the nation after World War II and the help of primarily the United States to get Japan growing again, they became a world super-power. Since that time they have become focused on education and economic growth. Japan is less than 2% followers of Christ.

Unfortunately both education and national wealth cannot stop a natural disaster and cannot prepare anyone who dies from such an event for the eternal reality that happens after death. All of a sudden Japan is in a state of panic after one large earthquake and wave. One. It is amazing to see that one event can bring a nation to its knees in moments. It is a sobering thought to consider that it can happen to any place at any time.

One thing that has not been fully realized yet is the damage to some of the nuclear reactors on the coastline. I heard this morning that radiation has leaked out into the atmosphere surrounding the reactors and people are told to stay inside until it can be dealt with. Although it seems to be low levels at this point it will be interesting to see how people are affected in the coming years as people were during the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl nuclear disasters.

Jesus has been reaching out to Japan for centuries. So why would God allow this? Just like in our personal lives, it is often the hardest times that are used to break the hardest hearts. The dark is necessary to see the light. Rarely do wealth and ease produce an acknowledgement of God and the resulting pursuit of His glory. The destruction of pride is necessary to precede the desire for righteousness.

Just as the nuclear reactors are spilling out poison because they have cracked, spiritually I pray that the heart of Japan will crack and the poison of an empty, false belief system will pour out so it can be met with the love of God for the Japanese. I pray that the true Christians in Japan and those around the world who will come into contact with them through this disaster will 'radiate' the love of Jesus and bring many to salvation.

"You are the light of the world, a city on a hill cannot be hidden" Jesus, Matthew 5:14

Radiate. Glow with the love of God. May it be true of us today.

God often uses His gentle hands to violently dismantle the hideous construct our sin has built. Then He uses His strong hands to gently rebuild our lives in His glorious image.

Humility is the art of painting yourself out of the picture.

Living with humility is dying to your own agenda which allows the birth of God's plan in your life.

SUPER BO(W)LD

As the western hemisphere (well, at least the U.S.) gets ready for the biggest event on the advertising calendar--the Super Bowl--I am yearly amazed by its massive popularity. For prime time advertising during the Super Bowl, advertisers are paying up to $2.8 million dollars...for 30 seconds! This unbelievable amount of money for air space shows the audience density to watch this game--100 million viewers held captive for 3 hours. Advertisers are bold for their product, often pushing the boundaries of good taste and decency to get their product remembered.

The funny thing is that for most people who do not watch, or care, about football during the season, this game is special only because of the importance it has to those people in their life who really love the game. So for all the wives and girlfriends and others who would never watch 5 seconds of a game usually, they will watch this game because their acquaintances are so excited about it...and they like the funny commercials.

This got me to thinking about the things that people get excited about. I love football and played football most of my life and get excited to see a great game. But I know the game will only last a couple of hours and if it is a lame game then I will lose interest faster than that. I will invite people to my house to watch a game or spend $70 a month to have cable TV so I can get the games or put on special jerseys or buy special food for the game or cancel other obligations if the game is important enough.

All this for a game that will last about 2.5 hours. All this for a game that has no real bearing on my everyday life. All this for players and broadcasters and advertisers who don't care about me or my family or if I will drop dead tomorrow. All this excitement and focus for very little payoff. All this time and money for a piece of fleeting entertainment.

Am I bold with my 'Product'? Do I tell others about the Greatness of what I know? Do I get this excited about the things of God? Do I get this overwhelmed with looking forward to being at church hearing God's word and being with God's people? Do I arrange my schedule so nothing interferes with my time with Him and other believers? Do I spend my money on things that glorify Him and am I generous to the church so they can facilitate ministry? Do I really care about things that last more than 2.5 hours a year? Do I really focus on things that will go on into eternity or just some temporary entertainment that may or may not be exciting at all?

God is the ultimate excitement. Get excited for God. You are the advertising. The sacrifice Jesus paid for you was greater than $2.7 million...and His life lasts longer than 30 seconds. 

LOL. The humorous side of God's creatures...

"ALAN, ALAN, ALAN, ALAN, AL, ALAN..." "eh, John I don't think we are allowed to wee here..."

Pastor Jim from the Temple Mount!

This is the video we shot for Revive church while our crew was in Israel.

Science recognizes 'Noah's flood' but calls it 'the great dying'! Read this.

Talk about not being able to see the forest for the trees. Scientists see what they call a 'great dying' of a massive amount of animals (both land and aquatic), plant life (both land and aquatic) in a fossilized state.

No one knows how they got there. No one knows why land and sea creatures and land and sea plants got buried together in a massive graveyard. No one knows why some creatures survived the 'great dying' and others did not. No one knows why it hasn't happened again. No one knows why it happened the first time.

Read the AOL article here http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/22/fossil-find-shows-how-life-recovered-after-great-dying/?icid=main|hp-desktop|dl1|sec3_lnk3|191577&a_dgi=aolshare_email

The reality is that for something to become fossilized it takes a very specific set of parameters (quick burial, permanent sealing of the organism, mineral 'swap out' of organic material, etc.). In other words, something does not just 'die' and become a fossil. Though fossilization does not take a long time with the right circumstances, very few fossils are being made today. Why? Because it usually takes extraordinary circumstances to make a fossil. This is not to mention how land and sea creatures (as in 'millions') could be buried in the same place which is unheard of given the earth's current reality. This finding mirrors the 'Cambrian Explosion' fossil sites as well.

An excellent article on this fossilization phenomena is described here http://www.lewisdt.com/research/fossil3.html

Even the idea that volcanos or a huge meteor could have created a death scenario for the atmostphere of the earth to bring about death all over the earth does not explain fossilization. It just means there would have been a lot of carcasses to lay around and rot.

But the bible says in Genesis 7 that the fountains of the deep were opened which caused upheaval of the subterranian plates not only causing flooding but the quick burial of land and sea creatures together.

Read the tragic account of the earth's darkest days here. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+7&version=NIV

Yet again, modern scientific findings support the biblical story that has been around for 4000 years.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Science disproves evolution.

Check this out.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I found it oddly hilarious that scientific research has definitively concluded that a fully-matured chicken must have come first because in order to form the egg shell from which a chicken must develop, it first needs a protien only found in a hen's (female chicken) ovary. The only other option was...just a random egg sitting on the ground waiting to hatch to bring about 'chickendom'?

I also found the expression at the end of the Brian Williams video oddly hilarious as well when he reiterates that the scientists have not figured out where the first chicken came from. Although couched in humor, it shows how people are resistant to accept the plain testimony of Genesis where the uncreated God created all things 'up and running' with full grown adults capable of procreating.

Here is the article. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38238685/ns/technology_and_science-science/
Strange how science proves the premise of scripture.

Israel day 10 (click on any picture below for HD)

An old olive tree in the garden of Gethsemane (which means 'oil press') which is the place where Jesus spent His last night before He died. It was in this garden that He prayed if there might be another way for God's wrath to be satisfied than to be poured out on Him for the sin of the world. There was not. His Father sent Him to die out of this garden once He was arrested after being betrayed by Judas in Luke 22:39-54.

I am standing next to a first century example of the tomb Jesus was buried in after being tortured and killed on a cross. It was in here that Jesus spent three days (died on Friday, dead over the day of rest--Sabbath, then rose on the morning of Sunday, which is why most Christians get together for worship on that day) as told in Luke 24. Once He arose He went to tell His disciples who were so scared they were hiding lest they be crucified as well.

The front of the modern-day Mount of Olives (Gethsemane). There are thousands of above-ground tombs scattered all over the mountain. Mostly, these are people who believe they will be the first to resurrect when the Messiah appears. We know this as Jesus who will return to the Mount from which He left after leaving for heaven as recounted in Acts 1. I like the fervent belief.

The Lion's Gate (you can see the lions facing each other on each side of the door). This gate dates from the 1500's being built by the conquorer Suleiman. Once you enter, the Temple mount is directly to your left. It has no real biblical significance, I just thought the gate was cool!

This ends my tour of Israel. I will be posting more pictures when I get back to the States as well as keeping everyone updated on the over 40 videos we shot in the land from which many of these pictures were from the locations. You will be amazed to see these places all shot on location in high def!

Blessings!