Line Upon Line

My son, Jason, came home one afternoon a few weeks ago and asked me if I'd seen the "pirate ship," docked near the Military Street bridge in downtown Port Huron, Michigan. I told him, "That's not a pirate ship--it's a replica of the Nina, one of the three ships that brought Christopher Columbus across the Atlantic to the new world."

The 93-foot-long ship was built in Brazil in 1991. Since that time, it has stopped at over 450 ports throughout the world. That particular weekend, the ship was moored at Desmond Marine on the Black River.

What amazed me was how small the ship is. The Nina was Columbus' favorite ship, and he logged 25,000 miles with her. As I walked the deck of this replica, I imagined what it must have been like to step aboard, leaving comfortable places and familiar faces for the danger of the sea and worlds unknown. I wondered what type of person would dare risk their very life to embark on such an adventure.

After my tour of the ship, I had the opportunity to meet and talk with a very special member of the Nina crew. Miss Ellie is 73-years-old, and has been sailing on the Nina for 4 years. What an amazing story she told me--and what an amazing woman she is!

You can read more about Miss Ellie on the Nina website. She is an inspiration! You can learn more about the Nina here, and view some photos I took while the Nina was docked in Port Huron, here.

Cruisin' Port Huron

Port Huron hosts an annual Classic Car Cruise and Show each summer. This month an estimated 500 vehicles made their way through town, to the delight of thousands of people--young and old-- who lined Military Street and Pine Grove Avenue.

It Really Works!

Speaking of clean machines, I decided to give the new Mr. Clean AutoDry car wash system a try. Maybe you've seen it advertised recently. Now, I have to say, I was somewhat skeptical of Mr. Clean's claims of a spotless rinse with no drying--but, I've become a believer! I've always enjoyed washing and waxing my car, but I can't say that drying has been a favorite part of the process. Target has the best price I've found for the system, and they just lowered their price on the soap and replaceable water filter. Wash it, rinse it, and walk away! Hey, if it works this great on my black Pontiac Grand Prix, it will work on whatever you're driving, too!

Something else that works well is the new Gillette M3Power Razor. Yeah, I know...the commercials are kinda' stupid, and the razor and replacement blades are fairly expensive--but the razor gives the best shave from a blade that I've ever had. Actually, it's even better than my $130.00 Braun Synchro System shaver. Just thought some of you guys might like to know.

Read Any Good Books Lately?

Here's one I encourage you to check out. It's titled, Posterity: Letters of Great Americans to Their Children, by Dorie McCullough Lawson. My brother-in-law, Efren, gave me this book as a gift recently and I have enjoyed it immensely. Posterity is a collection of personal letters written by well-known people, such as Thomas Edison, George Washington, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Woody Guthrie, to their children. I have found many of these letters absolutely fascinating! Here's an excerpt from a letter written by Abigail Adams to her son, John Quincy Adams:

These are times in which a Genious would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed. Would Cicero have shone so distinguished an orater, if he had not been roused, kindled and enflamed by the Tyranny of Cadline, Millo, Verres and Mark Anthony. The Habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. All History will convince you of this, and that wisdom and penetration are the fruits of experience, not the Lessons of retirement and leisure.

Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised, and animated by scenes that engage the Heart, then those qualities which would otherways lay dormant, wake into Life, and form the Character of the Hero and the Statesman.

Here's another, from "Great Awakening" theologian, Jonathan Edwards, written to his fifteen-year-old daughter, Mary, while she was visiting friends in New Hampshire, 150 miles away from their home in Massachusetts.

Dear Child,

You may well think that it is natural for a parent to be concerned for a child at so great a distance, so far out of view, and so far out of the reach of communication; where, if you should be taken with any dangerous sickness that should issue in death, you might probably be in your grave before we could hear of your danger.

But yet my greatest concern is for your soul's good. Though you are at so great a distance from us, yet God is everywhere. You are much out of the reach of our care, but you are every moment in his hands. We have not the comfort of seeing you, but he sees you. His eye is always upon you. And if you may but be sensibly nigh to him, and have his gracious presence, 'tis no matter though you are far distant from us. I had rather you should remain hundreds of miles distant from us and have God nigh to you by his Spirit, than to have you always with us, and live at a distance from God.

Is that good stuff, or what?

Happy Birthday to Line Upon Line!

It was a year ago that I started writing this weblog. I hope you've been encouraged in your faith and walk with God by some of the over 150 entries that I've posted. I will continue to publish "stuff" as I am inspired, but for the present time, I am turning my time and attention to some books I've been wanting to write, and also, to some studies of God's Word that are on my heart. In the meantime, my prayer for you is that God would fill your heart and home with His awesome love and amazing grace!

think on these things...

Matthew 6:25-34 (NLT)
"So I tell you, don't worry about everyday life-whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn't life consist of more than food and clothing? Look at the birds. They don't need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not. And why worry about your clothes? Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won't he more surely care for you? You have so little faith! So don't worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today."

"Don't just keep the faith--live it and give it away!" RG

// posted by theChurchGuy @ 7/26/2004

I found the following item from Charisma News Service, while going through my email early this morning.

Christian "American Idol"-style Talent Show Coming to TBN

Best known for its televangelists, Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) has announced plans for a Christian version of the popular "American Idol" TV show. "Gifted" is scheduled to debut in October on the world's largest religious TV network. The Wright Entertainment Group, is part of a joint venture with Matt Crouch, son of TBN's founders, to search for a singer with a divine voice.

"God gives us so many gifts, but we reach for the one with the prettiest wrapping. In a world where MTV dictates trends and pop stars become idols, Christianity seems to be wrapped in conditions and judgments. It is our goal to wrap God's message--His love--in acceptance, and in a way that blends seamlessly into 'pop' culture while still upholding the values we, as Christians, value most," Wright Generation's mission statement reads. Crouch said that "quality programming is what Christian broadcasting has been waiting for desperately."

The new show will be "the first time ever that a Christian show would rival the quality of network broadcast production," he said. A summer bus tour to 11 TBN stations is planned, where auditions will be held for solo singers, ages 18-24. Contestants will perform gospel or contemporary spiritual songs.

Is It Just Me?

Now, is it just me, or does this seem like a really bad idea?

Dr. Joseph Chavez, Sr., Pastor of Phoenix Inner City Church in Phoenix, evidently doesn't think so. He's almost giddy at the thought, saying,

"What a powerful and positive message this is sending our community of believers around the world! To have Trinity Broadcasting Network lead the way in crossing over dynamic programming and motion pictures while creating a visible presence in a secular marketplace that has been closed for so many years is outstanding. We rejoice with TBN and WDC in this awesome collaboration."

Dr. Chavez is rejoicing, and I am grieving. Go figure.

In my humble opinion, the search to find the "most gifted" singer will only encourage envy and jealousy, and who knows what other carnal things. And I imagine there will be heartbreak and tears and disappointment along the way, too, as the "rejects" are tossed aside. We can only hope they'll be let down "easy." How about:

"Sorry, dear sister, you're not as good as the rest.
You have failed the ultimate 'gifted' test.
You don't measure up, so you're out of here,
But, remember, God loves you, so be of good cheer!"

Coincidentally...

I subscribe to A.Word.A.Day, an email newsletter that features a new "word" each day. Today's word is "zany." Zany is defined as, "amusingly strange, comical, or clownish." How apt--especially after reading about TBN's "Gifted" competition. Many things have been done through the years "in the name of Jesus" and "for the sake of the Gospel"--but this, my friend, has got to be one of the zaniest of them all!

The King James Version of 1 Peter 2:9* might be appropriate here, "But ye are a...peculiar people." Little did the apostle know just how peculiar we would become.

God save the Church.

think on these things...

2 Kings 17:13-15 (NLT)
Again and again the Lord had sent his prophets and seers to warn both Israel and Judah: "Turn from all your evil ways. Obey my commands and laws, which are contained in the whole law that I commanded your ancestors and which I gave you through my servants the prophets." But the Israelites would not listen. They were as stubborn as their ancestors and refused to believe in the Lord their God. They rejected his laws and the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they despised all his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves. They followed the example of the nations around them, disobeying the Lord's command not to imitate them.

1 Corinthians 3:1-4 (NLT)
Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn't talk to you as I would to mature Christians. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life. I had to feed you with milk and not with solid food, because you couldn't handle anything stronger. And you still aren't ready, for you are still controlled by your own sinful desires. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn't that prove you are controlled by your own desires? You are acting like people who don't belong to the Lord. When one of you says, "I am a follower of Paul," and another says, "I prefer Apollos," aren't you acting like those who are not Christians?

Philippians 2:3 (NLT)
Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.

*Note on 1 Peter 2:9: In our modern language, to be "peculiar" means: "to be odd, queer, weird, or different in a quirky sort of way." But the word, peripoiesis, translated "peculiar" in the KJV, actually means, "purchased or acquired." We are a people who have been acquired by God through the blood of Jesus Christ. We are His possession." Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary says "peculiar," as used in the phrase "peculiar people" in 1 Pet. 2:9, is derived from the Lat. peculium, and denotes, as rendered in the Revised Version ("a people for God's own possession"), a special possession or property. The church is the "property" of God, his "purchased possession" (Eph. 1:14; R.V., "God's own possession").