I found mumbo jumbo

I never thought I could trust the label
Expired three ninety-five
Living on canned food and cable
There's a channel looking fine

I found mumbo jumbo
And he's right on my back
I found mumbo jumbo
No mistaking that

It's remote control nirvana
Anything you want you'll find
500 preset real life dramas
Remember when it was only 99?

I found mumbo jumbo
And I've lost something here
I found mumbo jumbo
Make it all disappear

I found mumbo jumbo
Somehow Lord, it's not right
I found mumbo jumbo
Someone turn on the light

Its sad that many Christians, myself included, often spend more time being influenced by the world than by Jesus Christ.

When we do that it's probably hard to take us serious if we exclaim, "I found Jesus!" when our somniloquoy goes something like the lyrics above.

Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing and perfect will - Romans 12:2

What did Jesus say?

He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water - John 7:38

The believer has the Holy Spirit in his heart and He changes our heart into a good spring. How much more then should we guard what we put in our heart and mediate on day and night.

Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it spring the issues of life - Proverbs 4:23

The quick and the dead

So many times when faced with a burden or a difficult times or fears the natural response is fight or flight. Jump in and solve the problem or when it feels like everything coming too fast or its too heavy we run or stick our heads in the sand. There is another option and its unnatural but its the key to life.

Stop take a moment to breathe and then pray. This seperates the spiritually alive and the dead.

Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. - Psalm 55:22

I love the record of 2 Kings 19: 9 - 37

Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king [of Egypt], was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’ Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them: the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?” - 2 Kings 19: 9 - 19

Hezekiah would've felt fear and doubt when he read this message. What to do? Ignore it? Call a friend? Strike first?

Nope. Confront the brutal facts head on and pray.

Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16Give ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
“It is true, O Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men’s hands. Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God.” - 2 Kings 19:14-19

God answers Hezekiah's prayer...

Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
“‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you.
The Daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee.
Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
By your messengers you have heaped insults on the Lord.
And you have said,
“With my many chariots
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its pines.
I have reached its remotest parts,
the finest of its forests.
I have dug wells in foreign lands
and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
“‘Have you not heard?
Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned it;
now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
into piles of stone.
Their people, drained of power,
are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
like tender green shoots,
like grass sprouting on the roof,
scorched before it grows up.
“‘But I know where you stay
and when you come and go
and how you rage against me.
Because you rage against me
and your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
by the way you came.’
“This will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah:
“This year you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
Once more a remnant of the house of Judah
will take root below and bear fruit above.
For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
“Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:
“He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp against it.
By the way that he came he will return;
he will not enter this city,
declares the Lord.
I will defend this city and save it,
for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.” - 2 Kings 19:20-34

It feels so good when someone stands up for you, how much more when that person is the Living God. I almost feel sorry for Senacharib. He broke into the wrong country as we see when we hear the end of the story...

That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king. - 2 Kings 19:35-37

Be quick to pray.

Mettle

Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,

For I wait for You. - Psalm 25:21

I read Genesis chapter 3 today and two thoughts stood out for me: 1) That there are some things that believers should be unreasonable about and 2) That husbands should not abdicate their spiritual leadership.

In the garden of Eden Eve ran into someone "more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made" and was essentially able to be reasoned into eating the forbidden fruit. All of us are limited in knowledge, understanding, wisdom and cunning therefore we will always be at risk of running into someone more intelligent or more cunning armed with a fine-sounding argument. If the debate is about a matter of faith we need to follow Jesus' example and stand on the word of God and not the arguments of man or the serpent of old.

Adam seems weak and appears to have abdicated his leadership. The bible says Eve was deceived but it doesn't say that Adam was. I think it's worse than that because it sounds like he stood idly by and said nothing when it was happening.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened,... - Genesis 3:6-7a

He was with her... and said and did nothing.

How can I learn from his example? When I'm watching a movie? Or maybe in conversation? Or making important decisions? Surely there's a time to apply this lesson today. And when we are alone it's just as important to rely on God's word to make a stand and demonstrate the mettle of our faith.

Integrity is nothing until its tested and the truest test is when no one's looking.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. - Ephesians 6: 10-13

Molly's last week

Tuesday morning Dad drove me to our beach.

And then Stories beach at night. Lots to smell there.

Dog party at the dog park on Wednesday night. Niko and Milo came.

Mocha was there

We had treats and drinks

Taz came too

Last walk with Grampa

Good sleep tonight



Thursday is steak night. Nice night to eat a couple steaks on the porch.

And then to the beach for some more interesting scents.

Friday morning, the last day of summer. Those seagulls wouldn't stand a chance 10 years ago.

Nap by the couch

 And my favourite spot by the table

Last walk with my family

Pizza lunch by the creek.

First one to walk on the new lawn

Molly

Some time ago I wrote about my dog Molly. Today it is with sadness that I write about her life.

Molly is a great dog, she loves us and we love her. She guards our house, she has guarded our children... especially our oldest daughter. When she was born she would sleep by her crib and no one got to her without Molly's approval. This year she helped our youngest daughter get over her fear of dogs by being her lovely self.

When we first got her she was a ball of energy. She would pull you whenever you took her for a walk and if you left the front door open and a cat or dog walked by the house she would take off like a bullet after it. She never attacked a cat or another dog but she was really excited to run up to it as fast as possible.

One night at our old house we left our window open at night. She and I woke up at the same time at a sound. Her head was up and her ears pointed alert to some threat. I could just make her out in the light of the moon. Then I heard the sound of little claws running down our hall on the laminate flooring. A RAT! Molly lept into action and she chased it out of our house in a matter of seconds.

I'll never forget the day when her years started to catch up with her. I took her for a run and instead of pulling me the whole run, on the way back she slowed down and wanted to walk the last part of the run. Molly wasn't a young dog anymore.

When we were selling our house she stayed there alone every night and took care of it until it sold. When we moved in with my parents til our new house could be built my Dad took her for a walk every day. I am so thankful my parents allowed us to bring Molly with us.
Then when we moved into our new house she started to have trouble walking and climbing stairs. So now she spends her days in the house and takes a short walk across the street to go to the bathroom.

When we finally planted our lawn someone left the door open and she quickly marched out into the middle of the lawn and went to the washroom. Now I think maybe she was marking the lawn so there would be no doubt that this was her home.

I hope she doesn't remember the days when I got mad that she got into the garbage or ate our ham or haggis or salmon or cake. Or chewed the door frame of our bedroom. Or when she chased the cats and wouldn't come back when we yelled. I hope she remembers the walks and the times we took her to denman island or the many trips to the beach or to the forest.

It was so hard to make the decision to let her go. But we did and we're counting down the days until her appointment hoping they don't go too fast. We're taking her somewhere special every day and giving her lots of hugs and treats. I feel a deep sadness that is not only for the loss of her companionship. I think maybe its a longing for the past and a fear of the future.

But I'm definitely a miracle man and I see signs. I feel like I saw a sign that this is the right time to let Molly go. She's been such a good dog.

Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth? - Ecclesiastes 3:19-21

God's faithfulness

I'm learning what the real meaning of love is right now.

I looked into a mirror and saw the spectre of my selfish love and it didn't make me feel very good... to say the least.

Mercifully, at the same time I was given a glimpse of how great God's love is.

Before boarding the airplane, You knew me
Maybe I was deformed, maybe I had a few rotten teeth?
But You still left the family that loved You and chose me

I spit in Your face, I kicked and threw little fits constantly
Covered in blood and unwilling to walk You carried me
Did Your heart break when I looked back, unable to grasp what You were offering?

Fear of rejection had built a great wall of stone around my heart
You spoke and Your words fell like a hammer breaking it apart
How great is Your faithfulness and You didn't ignore my crying

Room 1207 is fine but its not my home I know there's something better
I'll close my eyes, put in my earphones and when we land breathe the sea air
How great is Your faithfulness and the price paid to redeem me

Dew falls, the light dawns, Your mercies are new every morning
Streams from a rock, my weakness gone, and now my heart is a wellspring
How great is Your faithfulness, Christ's love flows through me.

The orphan <>< #2

This is a remix of something I wrote quite awhile ago but I'm thinking about again...

Imagine if you lived in a place where you had to kill your baby if he was a boy.

And then you had a baby boy.

You hid him but it would only be a matter of time before you were discovered. If he is discovered he'll be drowned in the river. Fear strikes you as you ponder that. Looking at his little face you know what you need to do and it breaks your heart. I'm sure you'll never forget how he looked at you when you laid him in the basket and pushed it gently out into the river.

Was he smiling, thinking it was a game? Was he crying?

Fear and dismay filled your heart as he drifted out of sight. Your daughter followed the basket closely along the shore, eyes alert for danger. She must ensure this package reaches its destination but what if they catch her and connect her with the baby? You could lose two children today. How did you go through with it?

The Orphan - Newsboys

Maybe I push when I'm meant to be still
Maybe I take it all to personal
Jesus, how to reconcile
The joyful noise
The ancient land
The tug from some invisible hand
The dying mother weaving bulrushes
Along the Nile

Float her basket over the sea
Here on a barren shore
We'll be waiting for
A tailwind to carry an orphan's cry
Don't you worry, child
I wrote a lullaby

I try to settle, but I just pass through
A rain dog, gypsy a wandering Jew
All those homes were not ours
Then I slept one night in Abraham's field
And dreamt there was no moon
The night he died
Counting stars
Selah

Building you a home
Building you a home
Building you a home
We're building you a home
Selah
Lam. 5:3 - We have become orphans and waifs

For me this story opens a a small window into God's heart. What He must feel as he weaves our spirits and places them in our fragile bodies to be floated into the world with the desire that we will one day return to Him. He has promised that we won't be left orphans, He sent His Spirit to watch and guide us across the sea. Comfort us and run interference with the crocodiles.

John 14:18 - I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you
Rom 8:15 - For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba Father"

God's plans are perfect. Not only did Moses survive but he became the instrument of God's freedom for the people of Israel, a spider in Pharoah's palace. There are two key messages that I take away from all this; One is that we are children of God and heirs to His blessing and if heirs then joint-heirs with Christ. Imagine for one moment the best parent on earth... how much more will God look after and love His own children? The second is that my earthly children are really God's children and I am their spiritual foster parent... no pressure!

Now return to the Nile. You look up and see your daughter running towards you, she's crying and your heart sinks, you fear the worst... No, she's carrying something... and smiling...? Tears of joy are falling when she returns your baby boy to your arms. Alive and safe!

Up from the stoney ground

Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently;
He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you,
So His visage was marred more than any man,
And His form more than the sons of men; so shall He sprinkle many nations.

Kings shall shut their mouths at Him;
For what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider.
Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground.

He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. - Isaiah 52:13 - 53:7

The youth pastor at our church preached recently on Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem and then how He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. He drew a connection between that and the common saying tt March sometimes comes in as a lion and goes out like a lamb... I have never thought about that before.
 
This year where I live, March came in like a lion, roared most of the month and then went out like a lion as well. Perhaps thats fitting as well. Jesus allowed Himself to be mocked, spit upon, tortured until ultimately His body was marred more than any man. Throughout all this and when He defeated death and ascended into heaven He was definitely still the Lion of Judah. This makes what He willingly endured even more amazing.
   
But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.

He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honour. - John 12:23-26

Twilight

Today in church the kids in youth group were relating something that was emotional for them. 

Some time ago they had been helping out at one of the retirement homes in town. They were discussing with the people there what their wishes were. To many of the people that lived there, their greatest wish was simply that their family would come and visit them.

"Do you know someone that stares at the walls..."

Entanglement

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. - Hebrews 12:1-13

A few things strike me about this passage; we are encouraged to cast aside evertthing that hinders and entangles us, run with endurance, endure punishment as necessary, take strength and make "straight paths for our feet".

One of the most common injuries in a workplace are slips, trips and falls. And anyone who works on a ship knows this can be fatal. Best case scenario you twist your ankle and render yourself unfit for service, worst case scenario, you trip and fall overboard. So a constant effort is made to ensure every rope and other hazard is coiled up and stowed away. The vessel must always be kept shipshape and ready for action.The mariner that ignores this, puts himself and others in danger.

Incredible design

I'm learning about genetics right now and I find DNA fascinating. Do you know that DNA is basically digital code? And it's more complex and than our binary digital code (1's and 0's) for one reason (or four) its quaternary digital code (Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine and Guanine or A,C,T,G).

There's also quite a cool way that DNA replicates and preserves all the information each time. The base pairs can only connect one way, A to C and T to G and so whenever the DNA double helix unwinds to replicate the code the information is always semi-conserved because it can only join up again the same way.

I wish I had paid more attention in school... here's a video that demonstrates this and the complexity of the cell. 

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.

My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. - Psalm 139: 14-15

Who am I?

I have a question on my mind right now that I don't know how to answer.

Who am I?

I guess the first thing I can do is eliminate who I'm not.

I'm not my job. Men tend to believe they are what they do and alot of times our self-worth is tied up in being in a profession that the world views as sucessful. Ergo why its the first question after What's your name when two people meet at a party. But if I don't do anything or decided to do something different does that mean I cease to exist or become someone else? Of course not.

I'm not my body. If I were my body, flesh and blood then how could I speak to someone over the phone or be present in a video conference or an IM. If I were my body then people wouldn't say "He's gone" when I die and they put my body in the ground. And so my body is a vehicle for me but its not me.

I'm not my words or my creations. These are expressions of who I am. They are like the fruit of a tree and they say alot about who I am but they aren't me.

I'm not even my thoughts because disease or genetics or chemicals can affect my thoughts. Rene Descartes said I think therefore I am and that's logical to serve up as a proof of existence but I don't think it necessarily follows that I am what I think. It may be true that what we think repeatedly we do and in the words of Aristotle, what we repeatedly do we become. But that still doesn't answer the question of who I am.

I'm not my name. If I were then if you and I have the same name are we the same person? If someone changes my name do I become a different person? I believe God changes names so that people think differently about themselves or receive a picture of how He sees them. Jacob means "Supplanter" and God changed his name to Israel which means "Wrestles with God".

I'm not my children but a small part of me lives on in them. In their memories and in their genetic code. My physical body lives on in their DNA but not alot of people know that what I did in life lives on in their messenger RNA. Good or bad some of that code is rewritten and passed along.

I don't expect to answer this question fully in this life but I find it helpful to focus on the light of scripture and God's Spirit to learn about myself and not the things written above. If I had to answer the question today this might be the best answer...

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. - Romans 8:16-17

Purpose

Few things inspire more melodrama than the day you 're too old to fulfill your childish dream. Mine was to be a fighter pilot.
Every other day you can psychologically leave the door open but then one day you reach an age when you can no longer make your dream real. Only because you've had one too many birthdays.

Even if I imagine pursuing a childhood dream... lets say I acheived every goal and dream. If that was my life I imagine I would still leave be empty and unfullfilled the day I asked myself the question "Is this it?"

And if chasing dreams isn't "it" what is?

Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,

Before the difficult days come,
And the years draw near when you say,
“ I have no pleasure in them”:

While the sun and the light,
The moon and the stars,
Are not darkened,
And the clouds do not return after the rain;

In the day when the keepers of the house tremble,
And the strong men bow down;
When the grinders cease because they are few,
And those that look through the windows grow dim;

When the doors are shut in the streets,
And the sound of grinding is low;
When one rises up at the sound of a bird,
And all the daughters of music are brought low.

Also they are afraid of height,
And of terrors in the way;

When the almond tree blossoms,
The grasshopper is a burden,
And desire fails.
For man goes to his eternal home,
And the mourners go about the streets.

Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed,
Or the golden bowl is broken,
Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,
Or the wheel broken at the well.

Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,
And the spirit will return to God who gave it.
“ Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,
“ All is vanity.” - Ecclesiastes 12:1-8

Everything is futile and chasing the wind except one thing. It's Christ's purpose for you. The deepest sadness isn't failing to catch our dreams. Its a youth chasing after some other lover and then when he's done with us we all end up in the same place... knocking on God's door.

Don't give your youth to someone else.

Bible it

Here's an interesting debate topic I ran across and I've reproduced it for you here...

Username: Murad
First Post
Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 7:11 am
Post subject: The $1,000,000 challenge to Christians
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The author of John claims that Jesus said:

Quote: Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:38)
Produce the reference, where exactly was Jesus quoting?

The following do not match: - Isaiah 58:11
- Isaiah 12:3
- Ezekiel 47:9


If you have the answer here's where to go to collect your money --> debatingchristianity.com/forum
 
I first came across this challenge in an atheist forum begging the question "Why won't God heal amputees?". I soon found an atheist posting under the moniker "Vynn" who asserted that nowhere in the bible does it say what Jesus claims in John 7:38 nor is there any concept like this anywhere in the OT.  And he knows this for sure because he "used to be a Christian" (which is a really interesting thing to say if you think about it)

Vynn's problem is solved with little effort because he allowed a metaphorical solution. To which I think Ezekiel 47: 1-12 could be one.

Murad, on the other hand, demands a verbatim, i.e. word for word, solution. This is of course, is impossible because John 7:38 is written in Greek and the scripture He quoted would've been written in Hebrew or Aramaic. But if we use the following logic: As "verbatim" is to "word for word" John 7:38 is to _______

Step 1) "Google it"

Here are some of the scriptures that have been posed as solutions to the problem:

The LORD will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. - Isaiah 58:11
 
You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,And did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, And gave them water for their thirst. - Nehemiah 9:20

Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation. - Isaiah 12:3

And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes.- Ezekiel 47:9

The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; The wellspring of wisdom is a flowing brook. - Prov 18:4

Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.- Exodus 17:6

Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.”- Numbers 20:8

For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring; - Isaiah 44:3

None of these seem to be the ideal solution so the question remains... What scripture was Jesus quoting?

Step 2) "Bible it"

White knucklin' the rosary

Don't even try to tell me what prayer is for

My Genie in a bottle needs to give me some more

And when this mess is over-I don't need Him anymore

I'll put my God back on temporary ignore

If you will do what I need you to do

I'll find some time to praise you when this whole thing is through

If you get me out of this, Oh great Almighty

I promise I'll never do it again... well... maybe

White knucklin' the rosary

I know my God by what He does for me

Open only in case of emergency

White knucklin' the rosary

- White knucklin' the rosary, Tourniquet

I confess that 95% of the time, my prayer life is probably best described as shallow and one dimensional. It's not unlike typical communicatation between people. Everyone's busy being busy. Busy texting someone other than the person they went to lunch with. Too busy watching TV (or blogging) to talk to their spouse. When we need something done we're too busy to have an actual conversation so we send a quick email and then... "Ta Da" (dusting off hands) ...its now on their to do list.

Recently, I had to travel to two different remote worksites by float plane. Now I love flying in small planes. I love the feeling when the little plane accelerates and lifts off into the air. Seeing the earth speeding away below and the birds eye view of  a place that looks fairly mundane from ground level. But its not as fun in the winter as it is on cloudless blue summer day.

The first trip was fairly exciting. We travelled into Jervis inlet in the coastal mountains and the wind gusts through the mountains really tossed our little plane around. When you're in a plane your mind knows you are in the air but your body is tricked into thinking you are still on terra firma. Tricked by the seat and the floor of the plane. But when the plane drops suddenly and your body experiences weightlessness or slight g-forces in the the wrong directions. I feel suddenly uncomfortable. One drop in particular must have been about 200ft and we dropped so fast that the engine actually stalled and sputtered. Our bodies jumped violently in our seatbelts, the pilot quickly got the engine going and regained control. It took some time before my heart stopped thumping in my chest.

This set me up nicely for tmy next float plane trip the following week which was a longer flight up to a small community near Haida Gwaii. It was windy and bumpy but without incident. However, I prayed under my breath most of the way there because I was still moderately rattled by the experience the previous week.

This experience convicted me of my need to spend time in prayer with God that isn't just making lists of requests or for safety but a true conversation.

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Ilya Bryzgalov and the universe

Ilya Bryzgalov, a young Goaltender from Togliatti Russia, recently appeared on TV discussing the universe. It's a funny clip but opens a window into the mind of a professional hockey player who is obviously intelligent and interested in more than just playing hockey.

The first human to ever travel into space was a Russian cosmonaught named Yuri Gagarin. Someone said after his flight "Gagarin flew into space, but didn't see any god there". There is no record of Gagarin himself speaking these words but have a look at the next video to see what you think about the universe and if you get impressed like Ilya Bryzgalov.

The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun, - Psalms 19:1-4