No More Horsing Around

Yesterday we buried our old friend, Miss Priss.
Priss was a Missouri Foxtrotter of championship bloodlines and a great horse.

Although it was Chris that took the riding lessons and made the decision to purchase her, it was Hannah that really took over ownership of her. I don't think there was any doubt in the mind of Miss Priss about who her owner was. As Hannah got busy with high school and then moved on to college, primary care fell to me.

For the past few months, Priss shared her pasture with several other horses. A week or so ago, the owners came and took them back for better pasture. As horses are herd animals, I think that a little depression from loneliness combined with the extreme heat and age overwhelmed her.

I guess I'll be posting a couple of saddles and some tack for sale in the near future.

The picture below is a young Hannah riding Priss bareback.

John <><

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Schooled ... by teenagers!

Funny, the things you can learn from kids...

I'm still thinking about the camp that I was at last week; 108 teenagers and about 108 degree temps. Having been a part of a few summer camps, I'll take the heat over rainy or stormy days every time. Most camps today have plenty of air conditioned buildings (not like the old days when I went to camp!) and there is always the pool or a lake to cool off in. But some of the things that this particular group of teens did really impressed me.

Some of them gave up their afternoon free time to go to local nursing homes to visit with the residents. One young boy actually told me that he was looking forward to it. His grandfather had passed away in a nursing home and his grandmother was now a resident in a home and he knew how much the visits would mean to the residents.

Other kids gave up some of their pool time to work around the grounds and give something back to the camp. Some stained decking, others broke down old beds and moved in new ones. Some built benches. Did I mention that it was over 100 degrees?

It's pretty easy to jump on the bandwagon that proclaims the next generation as a generation of takers or as having entitlement attitudes. But you couldn't do that around this group of young people. And they even seemed to genuinely enjoy themselves!

Great job, kids!

John <><

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Civil War

A couple of months ago, we visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield IL. As you might expect, much of the library focused on the Civil War. As I looked at the maps that showed the blue states and the gray states, I couldn't help but think of today's political maps that separate the country into red states and blue states.

We may not be a country that is on the verge of another civil war, but we are a country that is becoming more polarized and less civil. I think that it is time for "we the people" to recognize that we are not enemies; WE are all citizens of the same country, the United States of America!

Celebrate our nation's independence! Be safe! Be Civil!

John <><

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The Preacher That Didn't Preach

Wow! Talk about your oxymoron. Most of the time you can't get a preacher to stop preaching. How rare is it that you can find one that doesn't even get started?

Last week I found myself in the awkward position of getting ready for an evening service at a youth camp but feeling led away from the message that I had prepared for the evening. It was the first full day of camp and I found the morning break out sessions to be very challenging. As a matter of fact, it was extremely unfortunate that there wasn't time in each of them to respond to the lessons that had been taught and learned.

The feeling that this situation needed to be rectified and the students needed the opportunity to respond to the messages they had already heard that day wouldn't go away. I have to say that it is hard to set aside a message that you've worked on and I often have a difficult time figuring out the direction that God is taking me. To be fair and in keeping with the theme of no masks, I have to admit that Tuesday evening's message was the one that I was least prepared for. Maybe it was God's way of letting me know that it was an unsatisfactory message or prepared in a manner unworthy of him. In any case, He took care of things.

I went ahead and opened with my "Jedi Mind Trick" (later wished that I would've skipped that, too) and then shared with the students the struggle that I had been having about preaching for the evening. So instead of preaching, I started my time with an invitation to respond to each of the morning workshops. The response was overwhelming.

All-in-all, the invitation time took more time than preaching would have. Students were talking quietly with adult leaders and praying at the altar for one another. As the band came back to the stage and brought us back to the place of worship in music, I slipped outside for a few moments. I was physically drained, emotionally exhausted. I'm still surprised at how draining preaching can be. Often times it's exhilarating. Sometimes it's exhausting. I was moved by the response of the kids -- not their response to me, their response to the Holy Spirit. I seriously doubt that there is much an old fat guy could say to these teens that would move them the way that were moved that night. Only the grace and mercy of a mighty God could do that.

It was a great week. I was so privileged to be called to be camp pastor for the week. Now to live out the challenges from the week. Yes, that's right. The challenges weren't just for the kids. They were for us, too.
Be real about your Christianity. Be "Christ"-like in all you do. Share the truth of the Bible: God loves you and Jesus died for you.

Do it.
Do it today.

John <><

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Politics and Religion ... again

I know, I know.
I've covered my feelings on religion and politics in the past, posted my personal biases (never without opposition push-back and fallout), and swore that I would never do it again ... until the next time.

Apparently the next time is here.

I'm glad that I was at youth camp last week when the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) announced its ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). With any massive overhaul, there is bound to be opposition. Rarely has it been the total opposition that political parties have made it today.

I am appalled at the amount of misinformation that is being spread and at the total opposition from conservatives to what was originally a conservative proposal.

As the election cycles towards its November culmination, I will be slowly but steadily removing "friends" from my Facebook news feed. It's not that I don't want to be your "friend," I just want to guard my mind and attitude from too much negative crap. Of course, you are free to do the same.

My greatest dismay comes from our religious leaders that continually feel the need to weigh in on the politics of the nation. The implication that one side is more Christian than the other is absurd. The followers of such leaders take their words as truth and feel they can openly condemn anybody with an opposing view. When will we stop expecting non-Christians to act like Jesus?

One leader wrote (in his response to the SCOTUS ruling), "The court's actions today reflect the secularization of our society..."

WHAT?

Since the SCOTUS is not a religious organization and the United States is not a religious government, what would a reasonable person expect the High Court's decision to reflect?

When political activities, political parties and governments become effective tools in the expanding of the Kingdom of God, I'll jump back into the fray. Until then, I'm going to urge my Christian brothers and sisters to focus on sharing the love of God and the Good News of the saving gospel of Jesus. I'm not asking you to suspend your political rants. I'm just asking that you give the God that has saved our worthless souls equal time.

John <><

Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. 2Tim 2:23-25

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More on Deception

It's weird how something as simple as introducing an artificial light source can mess up the simple navigation system of a moth. If you stop to think that some insects use the bright distant light of the sun or moon as reference points for navigation and can fly a relatively straight line by doing so, it becomes easier to see that a close light source like a light bulb or flame might cause the same insect to spiral inward to its demise.

Unfortunately, our brains are just as easily deceived when it comes to artificial shadows or shading. We use the shadows and light to determine depth and color in most things that we see. When the shadows are false or not really there, our brains act as if they are real and present us with false truths.

For example:
In the picture below, the shaded yellow square on the front of the cube is the exact same color as the brown square on the top of the cube that appears to be in the light. We "see" the light and shadow and perceive the colors accordingly. But the reality is that it is just a two dimensional picture that only appears to have a light source.

The best way to see this for yourself is to copy the picture to your computer and then open it with Microsoft Paint or a similar program that will allow you to cut a piece out and move it to over lay the other color.
You can do the same thing for this picture that shows that both A and B are the same shade of grey.

Cool, huh?

This last one (for today) is one of my personal favorites.

You can just cover the middle area with your hand or fingers (or a narrow strip of paper). By removing the shading, you can see that A and B are, again, the same shade of grey.

If our natural perceptions can be so easily manipulated and tricked into false beliefs, doesn't it also make sense that our spiritual perceptions can be fooled. When we look at the things of the world through the eyes and perceptions of a natural man, we see things as men. We need to see the world as God sees it. We need to remember that, as believers, we are new creations, new beings in Christ Jesus our Lord and we need see and act as Jesus would act.

John<><

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. Prov 16:25

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July 1, Post 1

It's July. It's hot and dry in the Midwest.
And I have managed to come down with a summer cold...

I don't think that it's allergies since the posted numbers for pollens are low in every category. It's been so dry that I don't think that molds are the problem. Whatever it is, I'm just glad that it wasn't with me last week at youth camp!

Speaking of youth camp, I may as well start my July posting quest by talking a little about the week I had at Grand Oaks camp. I was there for the Linn-Livingston Association's youth camp. We had 108 (I think) students, two adult cabin leaders for each small group and a great volunteer kitchen staff; all led by two well organized and  Spirit led camp directors. I was blessed to be called as camp pastor and doubly blessed to serve with four talented young men in the band Calling Glory, our praise and worship band for the week.

"Trade the Show for the Substance" was our theme for the week as we focused on setting aside the masks that we wear and actually becoming more like Jesus rather than just going through the motions. The students were challenged to boldly stand up for what they believe whenever they may find their faith and convictions questioned.

Our theme verse was Galations 6:3, "If any man thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself."

We started the week talking about deception; how we are deceived, how easily we are deceived and how we can even deceive ourselves. I showed several optical illusions and explained how our brains are tricked (deceived) by functioning naturally in a situation when our eyes are viewing something unnatural. I'll share some of these in the coming days.

We can also be deceived when we look at our situations through our own understanding--our natural way of seeing the world, rather than through the Holy Spirit's understanding. Proverbs 16:25 says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death."

We have to train ourselves to see things through the eyes of our Lord rather than as man sees them.

All-in-all, it was a pretty incredible week!

John<><

The ball at the top of the picture is the same size as the ball at the bottom of the picture. Even though this is a two dimensional picture, our brain interprets it as three dimensional. Therefore our brain "sees" the second ball as larger.

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