Perceptions

Teaching Greek on Monday raised some interesting questions.  We were discussing the passage in 1 John 2:12 "I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake." (NAS95).  The question was raised about forgiveness because the Greek uses the dative case " to you all" and not the accusative or genitive as might be expected (you all or your).  It raised the question of perspective, "what do we think happens when sin is forgiven?"  Does it simply drop off this plane of existence?  Is it tossed into a deep sea and never seen or experienced by anyone again?

The fun thing about translating Greek into English is that we must read the Bible more slowly, thus we give our brain the opportunity to actually think about the words we are reading!!!  Maybe we should try reading backwards in English, or upside down, or anything that lets the Word of God penetrate our cerebral cortex.

Just thinking about thinking.

Storms, Fear, and Faith

As I sit at my comfortable table and type on this modern contraption of a computerized keyboard, I ponder the last hour's events.  A planned trip to Wichita by my son's school group, the threat of severe storm, and the washing away of the expectant travel opportunity.  Why, when the threat of a storm is present, do we tuck our heads and run for shelter?

Doesn't the most growth come through the most difficult pressures?  Isn't the saying "No Pain, No Gain?" a commonly accepted moral?  Don't the strong persevere through the difficult times? 

The reason, I feel, for our response to storms is that we lose sight of the goal! A plant pushes through the soil to bring forth life, the athlete sets her heart on successful competition, and the difficult persevere because they hold something in front of them.

Romans 5 declares that the end result of suffering is hope, hope that doesn't disappoint. When we are disappointed in life because the storm washes away our hope, we have only our eyesight to blame.

Friends and Missions

We just finished a lovely evening catching up with our friends Russ and Etta Bauck.  Friends at KSU Russ and Etta serve with OCI in the Philippines.  It is a real sign of the friendship that God builds that we can spend 4 hours together catching up and pick up as though no time had passed since our last meeting.  That kind of friendship is not built in a brief moment, but through shared experience and through a divine link with one another.  Pursue God, and he will build those friendships in your life.

Beginning Blog

Hey, Its a great day to start a blog.  This is actually just a test blog so that I can recommend it to my pastor when we start our own church website.  Hopefully you aren't disappointed.