Acknowledging God

Solomon wrote, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.  Fear the Lord and turn away from evil." (Proverbs 3:5-7)  I think those verses should be linked, not considered separately.  Solomon is telling the reader to trust God, period.  Don't try to figure this out for yourself.  Trust His leading.  Verse 6 seems to be the capstone of these three, but neither verse 5 nor 7 are forgettable.  We trust Him, we fear, as in respecting His authority.  The word "acknowledge" means more than a tip of the hat or a cursory task to be completed.  It actually means to know, it "engages the whole energies of the soul (Delitzsch), and sees in God power, wisdom, providence, goodness, and justice. This meaning is conveyed by the Vulgate 'cogitare', which is 'to consider' in all parts, 'to reflect upon.'" (Biblehub.com)  We can therefore trust in the Lord because we have come to know Him.  We have learned that He is faithful.  He will make our path straight, hedged about so that it is plain to see the direction we should travel.  He will surely inform us when we stray IF we know Him, have learned His ways, and intentionally live under His guidance.  It is not necessarily freedom to do anything we want but freedom to do everything we want under the watchful eye of our loving Heavenly Father.  When we fall under His authority, we can trust Him to keep us safe.  When we respect His authority, we will not "kick against the pricks", we will not force our way but will trust Him to provide a clear path, that is, we will turn from demanding our own ways and instead lean into the way provided.  May God help us to listen and follow His clear path.

Being trombone!

Ever wonder what it must feel like to be an instrument, in particular, a trombone? Watch James Morrison, musician extraordinaire.

Sameness

Okay, I don't rant on very much on this site.  Yes, I enjoy humor, sometimes at others' expense, but that's just part of it.  I don't believe I have ever talked about this, though.  So, here's my rant for today.

I went to breakfast with my dad and my two brothers recently.  I left a little before they did and took the picture below.

My brother's car is the white impala.  Next to it was a Lexus and the black one is an Acura, I think.  Brands aren't important to this discussion except to say that my brother's car is just a simple "dime-a-dozen" Chevrolet Impala.  Here's the bottom line of this rant.  Please note the body styles.  If you were to cover up the back end of the car, you'll see the three cars are basically the same.  One has a spoiler, but that's about it.  Where is the innovative designs of yesterday?  Think about the fins, chrome, fastbacks, etc. of the cars gone by.   I miss the '57 Chevy's, the '65 Mustang, the '72 Cutlass, even the '73 Monte Carlo.  Where are those engineers?  Are we now in the place where body style is viewed the same as Mr. Ford viewed color? Ford said, "They can have any color they want as long as the color they want is black."  We can have any body style we want as long as it looks like a ???; right, I don't know what it looks like.  Finally, note the Ford 4 spaces to the right.  Body style is different.  Wow!  I'm not really crazy about it because there are other cars that look very similar.  However, in this picture, at least it offers a different shape.  Just wish the dreamers were back in control of the body styles so that a Mercedes or a Jaguar would be unique again, something to think about.  Now, there's no distinction to the tune that everyone is singing the same melody and, quite frankly, not everyone is in tune!

Okay, I'm done ranting on this.  At least until the next time.

The Power of Music (Especially the trombone!)

Take a look at this.  Good playing with a great effect!  Enjoy.  (Thanks, Timothy Thomas for the video.)

God's sense of humor

Friends, I have often stated that God must have a keen sense based on his call for me to step into pastoral ministry.  However, I'm wondering if that understanding is somewhat false.  What if God saw in me some latent ability to speak, to dream, to say the things He would have me say in a public setting?  What if it was His foresight that prompted me down this path because He had confidence in me even if I lacked it?  See, that changes everything.  It's not His sense of humor but His confidence in me.  Rather than pulling some uncomfortable practical joke, He's really pushing me to be better than I am.  Wow!  What a change of thought!  I had this notion that He was sitting on His throne, elbowing Jesus and saying, "Watch this!  I'm gonna tell this fellow he's going to preach.  Watch him squirm.  Then, when he gets in the pulpit, I won't leave him hanging, but it'll be fun to see the contortions he goes through just to get there."  Gales of laughter from the Three-in-One.  Please understand, I mean no disrespect to God.  It's my poor view. I'm not saying that God doesn't have a sense of humor.  It must be a keen sense and one that is deeply affected by the actions of His creation.  However, in this way, I don't believe it was His humor that led me to be a minister of the Gospel, to be a student again, to earn a PhD, to direct an online learning program.  It's not His humor; it's his confidence.  At that, I bow my head in wonder and amazement - that the King of all creation would consider me enough to push me in ways that would expand my horizon, equip me to do things beyond my natural ability, and to keep me moving forward.  As the old chorus says, "What a mighty God we serve!"  "I stand, I stand in awe of [Him]!"