Finished the last class before medical school and hopefully only one more test, the MCAT on Aug. 20th. Woohoo!
Diligence in all things
“Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge, etc.” –2 Peter 1:5, 6
If thou wouldest enjoy the eminent grace of the full assurance of faith, under the blessed Spirit’s influence, and assistance, do what the Scripture tells thee, ‘Give diligence’. Take care that thy ‘faith’ is of the right kind–that it is not a mere belief of doctrine, but a simple faith, depending on Christ, and on Christ alone. Give diligent heed to thy ‘courage’. Plead with God that He would give thee the face of a lion, that thou mayest, with a consciousness of right, go on boldly. Study well the Scriptures, and get ‘knowledge’; for a knowledge of doctrine will tend very much to confirm faith. Try to understand God’s Word; let it dwell in thy heart richly.
When thou hast done this, “Add to thy knowledge ‘temperance’. Take heed to thy body: be temperate without. Take heed to thy soul: be temperate within. Get temperance of lip, life, heart, and thought. Add to this, by God’s Holy Spirit, ‘patience’; ask Him to give thee that patience which endureth affliction, which, when it is tried, shall come forth as gold. Array yourself with patience, that you may not murmur nor be depressed in your afflictions. When that grace is won look to ‘godliness’. Godliness is something more than religion. Make God’s glory your object in life; live in His sight; dwell close to Him; seek for fellowship with Him; and thou hast “godliness”; and to that add _brotherly love_. Have a love to all the saints: and add to that a ‘charity’, which openeth its arms to all men, and loves their souls. When you are adorned with these jewels, and just in proportion as you practise these heavenly virtues, will you come to know by clearest evidence “your calling and election.” “Give diligence,” if you would get assurance, for lukewarmness and doubting very naturally go hand in hand.
Taken from yesterday’s Morning and Evening morning devotion
The Parable of the Fishless Fishermen Fellowship
Here is another one of those unknown author tidbits that is really good. I first heard it in a sermon but just received it in an e-mail. Enjoy!
The Parable of the Fishless Fishermen Fellowship
They were surrounded by streams and lakes full of hungry fish. They met regularly to discuss the call to fish, the abundance of fish, and the thrill of catching fish. They got excited about fishing!
Someone suggested that they needed a philosophy of fishing, so they carefully defined and redefined fishing, and the purpose of fishing. They developed fishing strategies and tactics. Then they realized that they had been going at it backwards. They had approached fishing from the point of view of the fisherman, and not from the point of view of the fish. How do fish view the world? How does the fisherman appear to the fish? What do fish eat, and when? These are all good things to know. So they began research studies, and attended conferences on fishing. Some traveled to faraway places to study different kinds of fish with different habits. Some got doctorates in fishology. But no one had yet gone fishing.
So a committee was formed to send out fishermen. As prospective fishing places outnumbered fishermen, the committee needed to determine priorities. A priority list of fishing places was posted on bulletin boards in all of the fellowship halls. But still, no one was fishing. A survey was launched to find out why. Most did not answer the survey, but from those who did, it was discovered that some felt called to study fish, a few to furnish fishing equipment, and several to go around encouraging the fishermen. What with meetings, conferences, and seminars, they just simply didn?t have time to fish.
Now, Jake was a newcomer to the Fisherman?s Fellowship. After one stirring meeting of the Fellowship, he went fishing and caught a large fish. At the next meeting, he told his story and was honored for his catch. He was told that he had a special “gift of fishing.” He was then scheduled to speak at all the Fellowship chapters and tell how he did it.
With all the speaking invitations and his election to the board of directors of the Fisherman’s Fellowship, Jake no longer had time to go fishing. But soon he began to feel restless and empty. He longed to feel the tug on the line once again. So he cut the speaking, he resigned from the board, and he said to a friend, “Let’s go fishing.” They did, just the two of them, and they caught fish. The members of the Fisherman?s Fellowship were many, the fish were plentiful, but the fishers were few!
~ Anonymous
Cows, Constitution and the Ten Commandments
I wish I could take credit for the following e-mail, enjoy.
COWS…
Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that our government can track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she sleeps in the state of Washington, and they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give them all a cow.CONSTITUTION…
They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don’t we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it’s worked for over 200 years, and we’re not using it anymore.TEN COMMANDMENTS…
Know the real reason that we can’t have the Ten Commandments in a Courthouse? You cannot post “Thou Shalt Not Steal,” “Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery”, and “Thou Shall Not Lie” in a building full of lawyers, judges, and politicians! It creates a hostile work environment!
Author is unknown
What’s That? One cool keyboard!
What’s That? – I’m a C.C.?
Well, I sorta thought this would turn out differently. Thanks to Jon for pointing this out in an entry on his blog
You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational.
Cultural Creative
56% Modernist
44% Romanticist
44% Idealist
44% Materialist
38% Postmodernist
31% Fundamentalist
19% Existentialist
13% What is Your World View? (updated)
created with QuizFarm.com
Take for instance these three questions:
- The majority of religious scripture should be taken literally.
- Evolution is taking us closer to the spiritual realm, whatever that may be.
- Mankind is condemned to be free. (there is no outside control)
I couldn’t completely agree with the statement, “The majority of religious scripture should be taken literally.” because all of scripture should be taken literally.
The statement “Evolution is taking us closer to the spiritual realm, whatever that may be.” is a true statement, however the answer probably categorizes me incorrectly. Many would say a fundamentalist believes evolution leads away from the spiritual realm. Evolution, however, is a religion and therefore cannot necessarily lead away from the spiritual realm. Common knowledge would have it that evolution is not a system of beliefs and therefore would classify me in the wrong category with my answer.
The last question listed above “Mankind is condemned to be free. (there is no outside control)” has a semantics issue, in that, it is not a condemnation to be free. As a certain famous document states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Overall, I would give this quiz as something fun and thought provoking I would give it a high rating. However, it receives overall poor rating, not because of me classification, but more for the secular humanistic bent in the lines of questioning and interpretations. For instance, I am sorta glad I am not perceived as a fundementalist according to the quiz from the description of fundamentalism.
Fundamentalism represents a movement in opposition to Modernism, stressing the highest importance on foundational religious tradition. Science has brought on corruption of society. God is real and is watching. Scripture leaves little room for interpretation; man is Gods creation. About a quarter of the population in the U.S. is classified as Fundamentalist.
Here is clue about the bent of the test, it states that fundamentalists believe that science (in the questioner’s view evolution) corrupts society. However, true science and not a system of hypotheses, fairy tails and beliefs does not corrupt society. It gives us a little better understanding of our wonderful and marvelous Creator and our dependent and feeble position. If anything it brings the creation closer to the Creator.
A historic event . . .
July 4th, a memorable day for more then one reason. Today there was another added for me.
Maybe taking the picture while driving wasn’t the best idea, so I stopped to better capture the historic day. One of the nine times that the first 5 digits of the odometer will be the same.
What once was . . .
About one month ago, I found myself on top of a mountain for a Sunday service. As I was hiking to the top of the mountain I notice the cabin below. I took a picture on the way back and thought about the men who built the trail. At the end of the trail there was a marker memorializing 3 men who died while building the trail. In the 30’s these men sacrificed their live to earn a meager existence building trails as part of the CCC. Below is a shack they used to store dynamite.
In the 30’s, people in our country sacrificed to attend church. As I sat on the log listening to the message, I pondered the ~3 hour hike up the mountain. I thought about my normal Sunday morning routine and the ease at which I go to church.
How little we have to sacrifice in-order to worship. Take a lazy morning with a good breakfast. Rush to get ready, speed to church and walk in casually. Yet this morning, I was up at 5:30. Out the door by 6:00 and carpooling with Andrew by 6:30. Arrived at the mountain ~7:15 and started hiking 7:30. After a several thousand foot ascent up a few miles of trail, we arrived at the site of the service. It seemed like a long trip just for a church service.
I’ve always heard that if you want to find out what it was like 50 or sixty years ago, travel to a third world country. On several missions trips to Mexico I met believers who traveled ~8 hours one way to their fellowship, every Sunday. If that is anything like it was like in the 30’s in our country, how little we sacrifice.
I wonder in what ways I could sacrifice and become more mature in my travel to church.
Cold Water
Prov. 25:25
Like cold water to a weary soul,
So is good news from a distant land.
Imagine exhausting every part of your body. Working until you are bone tired, to the point of collapsing. Think of the relief even just a thought of a drink of cold, refreshing water brought to your body. Just imagining . . . dreaming, longing and then seeing the water. The extacy it brought. The fullfillment of expectation. Then wrapping your fingers around the cold glass, wet with condensation. Feeling the droplets run down a grimmy hand and arm. Raising the glass and finally, refreshment.
What a sweet thought and poiniant analogy to our own lives. Ever longed to talk to a distant friend. Then suddenly they call and setup a luncheon. The anticipation, the quesitons and the stories from lives long parted. Sharing any good news with a distant friend is just as cold water to a weary soul. It is refreshing, restoring, bringing new life to the hearer.
Just about now, I sure could use some good news.
What’s That? – That’s Impossible!
Been told to do something that’s impossible. Well here is one that could get you a ticket no matter what you do!
