We Can Rest Now - Bigfoot Found!

Psalm 139 reminds us of the God who brings peace in the midst of anxiety, who shines the light of truth into the lies that cause us to fear:
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. 

If we inject God's truth into a situation, even something that we construct in our minds, based on anxiety, the presence of His Word brings peace and hope - so often we think on the wrong things, and it causes us to be fearful and we get off track in our walk with Christ - as His truth, His light exposes our incorrect thinking, we can be better equipped to reflect His nature and walk closer to Him.

Philippians 4 addresses the antidote to anxiety:
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.


The legendary beast known as "Bigfoot" has been found in some woods near Elliston, Montana - or so it seems, or...well, it was called a "Bigfoot" hunt, and someone dressed in a Bigfoot costume was discovered.   OK, it was good fun for hundreds of people in pursuit of a $150 bounty.

327 "hunters" trudged through snow in a 10-acre patch of woods for an hour and 20 minutes, the longest search in the history of the event, before someone finally blew their whistle announcing that Bigfoot had been found.   Cathleen Dobson, a member of the National Guard in nearby Helena, was this year's victor. She found Bigfoot — that is, John Peskey, a 6-foot-2 high school orchestra teacher dressed in a costume - nestled in a willow thicket near the back of the property, according to Fox News, which said that "No actual mythical beasts were harmed during the annual Elliston's Bigfoot Hunt."


So over 300 people shining their flashlights through a 10-acre wood for a costumed character - a bizarre way to spend an evening, no doubt.   For years, the sasquatch has been the stuff of legend, but while sightings of such characters appear from time to time, the creature has not really been corralled.

So it is with some mythical entities in our own lives.   We are often held captive by fears of events that will never come to pass.   We are haunted by numerous thoughts that make their way into our consciousness, and we even act on those false presuppositions.   Jesus asked why do we worry, Paul told us to "Be anxious for nothing", but yet worries about things that will never come to pass keep us in bondage.    The Lord desires for us to shine the light of truth into the false realities that we manufacture for ourselves, as we dwell on those fears that the enemy would want to use to render us unproductive for the kingdom.   As we follow the Biblical instruction to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, we replace the fearful lies of the enemy with the peace-bringing truth found in God's Word.

It All Adds Up

From Psalm 89, we read:
5 The heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. 6 For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings? 7 In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him. 8 O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you. 

The wonder and beauty of creation point to our Creator God, who is worthy to be praised.   The precision and patterns found in creation indicate to us that the earth nor its inhabitants were the result of random chance occurrences - we do not serve a random God, but One who is intimately and intricately involved in the foundation of our word and the formation of our lives.

The incredible question is posed to Job in the 38th chapter of the book of Job:
4 "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone-- 7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

Kiefer Sutherland is back on the small-screen, in the new series called, "Touch", about an autistic boy who doesn't speak, but has some sort of uncanny ability to relate numerical sequences to human relationships.   Now, this is not an endorsement of the show - we watched a very few minutes after "American Idol" one night - but it is a fictionalized account that is based on something called the "Fibonacci sequence".

In this sequence, discovered around A.D. 1200 by Leonardo Pisa (historically known as Fibonacci), each succeeding number is hte sum of the two preceding numbers - the sequence is 1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144,233, and so forth. This numbering pattern reveals itself in various ways throughout all of nature.  

According to Fred Willson, writing for the Institute for Creation Research, there is a pattern called the "golden spiral", such as is seen in shells:

By taking a careful look at that spiral (the chambered nautilus is probably the clearest example) you will observe that as it gets larger, it retains its identical form. Since the body of the organism grows in the path of a spiral that is equiangular and logarithmic, its form never changes. The beauty of this form is commonly called the "golden spiral."

This spiral is visible in things as diverse as: hurricanes, spiral seeds, the cochlea of the human ear, ram's horn, sea-horse tail, growing fern leaves, DNA molecule, waves breaking on the beach, tornados, galaxies, the tail of a comet as it winds around the sun, whirlpools, seed patterns of sunflowers, daisies, dandelions, and in the construction of the ears of most mammals.

This spiral follows a precise mathematical pattern.

That pattern is the "Fibonacci sequence"...there's also a "golden rectangle", found to be pleasing to the eye, incorporated into art by da Vinci, Van Gogh, Monet, and others.  If the short side of the rectangle is 1, the long side will be 1.618, which is the same ratio as found in that numerical sequence.  Willson says that the    "rectangular shape was close to the pattern used in the designing of the Parthenon of Greece and for many of their numerous pictures, vases, doorways, windowns, statues, etc., and even for certain features of the Great Pyramid of Egypt.  The United Nations building is a golden rectangle. Many of the things you use are (approximately) patterned after the golden rectangle—credit cards, playing cards, postcards, light switch plates, writing pads, 3-by-5 and 5-by-8 cards, etc."

Willson states that:

These shapes, numbers, spirals, and the divine proportion are ubiquitous in their presence throughout all of creation. They are found in living and nonliving phenomena. Their symmetry, beauty, and mathematical preciseness are evident in every aspect of nature. Although absolute perfection is not found in all of these (due to the effects of Adam' sin), their very presence virtually everywhere and in everything argues against their having occurred by blind chance or evolutionary processes. The only rational conclusion is that the Creator of the universe is a personal, intelligent Being, who created these things as a visible fingerprint of His invisible, yet personal existence. 

And, when we recognize that we serve a God of order, the designer of the world in which we live and the entire universe, we can also acknowledge that He has the ability to order our lives, and is far more capable of order our steps that we are in our own human wisdom.   We can point to design as evidence of a powerful and wise Creator God, and we can surrender to this designer, who has a precise plan for our lives.

Seeing Through New Eyes

The Lord desires for us to see with spiritual eyes, and He has given us His word to clarify and enhance our vision.   Here's what 2 Corinthians 4 says:
17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

God gives us the ability, by His Word and through His Holy Spirit, to see with spiritual eyes - to view our lives, our relationships, the daily challenges and decisions we face, and the world around us - from His perspective.   If we are looking at things through His eyes, through the redeemed perspective from a resurrected life, it changes the way we approach life.

Jesus talked about seeing with spiritual eyes in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 6:
22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!


Last week, the techie world was captivated by the release of a video by Google unveiling its new "augmented reality glasses", which could be released by the end of the year.   According to PC World, in the "Project Glass" video, a man only using his voice and other inputs does things commonly handled by smartphones, such as scheduling meetings, taking pictures, checking the weather, getting directions, and placing a video call. The difference is instead of having to hold a device in your hand, the data you need hovers in your field of view.

An actual prototype of these Google glasses was worn by Google co-founder Sergey Brin in San Francisco at an event the next day.

So, if I'm understanding the concept here, your field of vision is enhanced because of these glasses - for instance, if you're trying to go somewhere, you will actually see a map of your route and the geography right there in your glasses.   You will have access to certain information sources and presumably a broader range of tools that can be helpful to you - not at your fingertips, but before your very eyes.

Sometimes we need a fresh perspective, a new set of eyes - and the Word of God can enhance our spiritual vision.   And, that is integrated into the story of the resurrection:   the angel appeared to the women as the went to the tomb that day and saw the stone rolled away - their vision was shifted, enhanced really, and they remembered that Jesus had said that He would die AND rise from the dead.   Peter and John came running to the tomb, and their vision was shifted.   The two men to whom Jesus appeared on the road to Emmaus had a  dramatic experience - Jesus walked with them, they discussed the story of the things that had happened, and when they arrived at the destination, they saw who Jesus was.

The resurrection, the new life we have in Christ, enables us to see with that new set of eyes.  With a new heart, transformed because we have been saved, comes a new perspective, and we can see life and the world around us through spiritual eyes.   Where there was disappointment and disillusionment, there is now hope.   Where we were relying on ourselves, we now are able to see how dependence on God can change our lives.   As we search for truth, we can clearly see God's truth, illumined by the Holy Spirit.   Through Christ, our vision and how we see the world is shifted.

Learning from the Master

In Mark 8:31, Jesus laid out for His disciples some of the dynamics of the plan for His life:
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

Jesus had a clear sense of His purpose - true, He lived a sinless life, and taught us various principles of life as His disciple, a redeemed life, a renewed life.   He left us an example, but the only way we can really follow in His steps is to surrender to Him, to embrace the cross, to die to self and live to Him, to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.   He died and rose again, and He calls us to identity with Him in His crucifixion, so we can experience His abundant life.

We fix our eyes on Jesus, according to Hebrews 12.   Verse 2 describes Him as the...
...author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

The sporting world shifts this week from March Madness to Masters-mania - plenty of speculation from the world of golf regarding arguably its most dynamic event, with questions such as "will Tiger Woods recover from his personal struggles to wear the green jacket?" or "will Phil Mickelson be able to hold on for another victory?"   Perhaps a little-known golfer will take the crown, like last year's winner Charl Schwartzel.   Or maybe Rory McIlrory will discover that it takes 72 holes of competition to win the Masters.

Sports psychologist and Christian David Cook learns that discipline in golf parallels discipline in life, and has attempted to relate principles consistent with Biblical truth in his book, "Golf's Sacred Journey" and the movie based on it, "Seven Days in Utopia", which I highly recommend.   The premise is that a golfer who has suffered a major meltdown arrives in Utopia, Texas and spends 7 days there presumably to improve his golf game, but learns a series of life's lessons.   These lessons are summarized by the letters, SFT, which stands for "See it. Feel it. Trust it."   But we learn that these letters are more than just about golf - the broader application for these letters is:  See His face.  Feel His presence.  Trust His love.

And, on this Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday, we can focus on Jesus as He endured pain and suffering, and ultimately death, for you and me, and for the sins of the world.   His face of agony ultimately became transformed to a face of compassion.   And, because Jesus has risen to new life and sent His Holy Spirit, we can experience His presence every day.   We trust in His love because He paid the ultimate price for us - His focus was on the redemption of His people, and therefore He endured the cross.   SFT - that's the message that the golfer in "Seven Days in Utopia" learned, but it was less about golf and more about life, a life surrendered to the Savior.

A Rich Spiritual History

We serve a God who has given us a rich history, and we praise Him for how He has sustained His people and made redemption possible through Christ...here are the words of Psalm 78:
2 I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old--
3 what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.
5 He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children,
6 so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.

God's Word tells us an amazing story - about 2 people placed in a garden, who departed from God's ways, a people chosen by Him, special people who had a covenant relationship with Him, and a Redeemer who came to bring salvation to those who accept Him.   As we reflect on our spiritual history, during this Holy Week, we can rejoice in God's faithfulness!!

Hebrews 12 tells us:
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We are talking about some aspects of history today - on this day in 1984, 28 years ago, a radio station signed on the air in Montgomery, AL, and WLBF-FM brought listener-supported, all-Christian programming to the Montgomery metro area, and in subsequent years has expanded to encompass 3 full-power stations, 4 translators, and a dynamic Internet outreach at faithradio.org.

On The Meeting House today, we'll consider how the sinking of the Titanic provides a backdrop for a work of Christian fiction and the lessons we can learn from that occasion, that took place almost 100 years ago.

There is a fascination this week with the release of the U.S. Census data from 1940.   This is the first time that census data has been made available on the Internet.   Susan Cooper, a spokeswoman for the National Archives was quoted by the Los Angeles Times, as saying: "In the first three hours, we had 22.5 million hits...We're a victim of our own success."   The Times also quoted Michael Snow, a Census Bureau historian, who said the newly released information helps to fill in a portrait of the nation as it dug its way out of the Great Depression and stood at the brink of World War II. The records offer details on the period's great westward migration, prompted by Depression-era job losses and the Dust Bowl conditions that hit the Great Plains about the same time.   By the way, you can't search by name - you have to know the so-called "enumeration zone" where the person for whom you are searching resided in 1940.

I think a knowledge of our personal and genealogical history does help to give us insight about and appreciation of our own identity.   And, a knowledge of our spiritual history is important, too.  

We find a wonderful historical narrative laid out for us in Hebrews chapter 11, also called the "hall of faith".  Even a reading of the "begats", as they're called, in Matthew and Luke, can show us the rich history of how God dealt with humanity.   You read about people such as Abraham, with whom God made an agreement, a covenant, to set aside a special people.   You see David's name there, too, a man after God's own heart, upon whose throne the Messiah would sit.  

And, we're part of that rich history, because Jesus came to make you and me part of the amazing story of God's redemption plan - executed perfectly.   We consider what Jesus did for us on the cross and why He had to do it, because we could not pay the penalty for our own sin or even come to God without Him.   And, we find examples throughout the Scriptures of individuals who could relate the incredible story of God's faithfulness to His people!    So, as we consider our rich spiritual history, our hearts can be full of praise, and our mouths can be full of a testimony of mercy and grace.

Opportunity Knocks

Ephesians chapter 5 gives us this word of encouragement:
15 Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise,
16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Into this dangerous age in which I believe there is a declining knowledge of God, He has placed His church, His people, and He calls us to walk according to the leadership of His Holy Spirit, who will open doors, who will provide opportunities for us to share His love and truth.

We remember the cross and radiate His compassion.

In Colossians 4, the apostle Paul writes that we should be in prayer - watchful and thankful:
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.
4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.
5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.
 
Opportunities come to us, and it's important that we are sensitive to God's Spirit - watchful, and thankful for these opportunities, divine appointments that will come our way.
 
They were a band consisting of worship leaders from the Denver area, some of which attended the same Christian school.   They've won some awards and acquired some fans - And, last night, they had a rare opportunity on a national stage.    And, as a took a break from my tax preparation "opportunity", I began to read some tweets about last night NCAA Championship in New Orleans - but not about Kentucky & Kansas, but about The Fray.  I like The Fray, and appreciate their music and what they see as their mission, but apparently, people thought their performance of the National Anthem was less than stellar - it was even said that Roseanne Barr should step aside - there is a new "worst" rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.

Now, I watched the video, and yes, it was unique, to say the least, and the guitar player seemed to be adding in some 9ths or 11ths, or a 10-1/2 to the basic chord structure.   And the Revolutionary War-style snare drum was a nice touch.   But, worst ever?   I don't know.
 
But, the point is that this band, The Fray, that I like - a lot - had an opportunity, and for whatever reason, it didn't work for them.   And, how many times do we have opportunities - open doors - for us, and we look back and wish we had taken full advantage?  
 
That's why sensitivity to the leadership of the Spirit is so important - this week, as Easter will be celebrated around the world, there are people who will go to church that never do, people who might consider the claims of Christ, who never have, and God may desire to use us to radiate His love and to even share the reason for the hope of this season, and the hope that we reflect.   I'm glad that Jesus took the opportunity to die so that we might be redeemed, I'm thankful that He was obedient to the Father all the way to the cross.

Mega-Millions: Not Nearly a Sure Thing

Our God is the One Who can truly satisfy the longings of our hearts...here is what Psalm 145 has to say:
16 You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works.
18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.
 
We live in an age of instant gratification, and people are longing for what will truly satisfy our hearts - some believe that riches, material possessions will satisfy; others believe that a relationship will satisfy those desires; many look for lasting satisfaction in their work and service.   But, the Bible teaches us that only through abiding in Christ can we experience God's best for us - the satisfaction and joy that He wants us to have.

Isaiah 55 reminds us that God is our source of satisfaction:
1 "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
 
The frenzy over Mega Millions has basically past, as 3 winners will be splitting the $640 million dollar jackpot - before taxes, that is.   And, the millions who bought tickets are experiencing quite a bit of disappointment in their search for instant gratification.
 
It has been said that a lottery is a tax on the poor, and that a disproportionate number of people with low-incomes play the lottery - in fact, people in the higher income brackets only play when there's a large jackpot, apparently.  And, a report surfaced late last week that said that people who make $13,000 a year and under spend 9% of their income on the lottery - that is according to the Journal of Risk and Uncertainty. 
 
PBS says that the real chances of winning are one in 176 million.   Some more reasonable odds, by comparison, getting hit by falling airplane parts, 17 times more likely. Or being hit by lightning, that's 50 times more likely to happen than winning the Mega Millions take. 
Ron Hutchcraft of A Word With You commented on how we pursue so many things that do not satisfy:

Of course, it's human nature to attach our dreams to getting "more." And the cash lottery isn't the only one we bet on. Some of us bet on the love lottery, thinking that finding the right someone to love us will make our dreams come true. But, as so many have discovered, winning at love doesn't guarantee happiness. And too often, the dream turns out to be a nightmare.


Life has lots of lotteries you can spend on, hoping your dreams will come true. The success lottery...the "be the best" lottery...the perfection lottery - perfect home, perfect kids, perfect image...the "affair" lottery. Buy lots of tickets...dream your "better life" dream. If you lose, you think that's why you're unhappy. If you win, you're more baffled than ever about why you're not happy.

He goes on to say that:

And no matter how deep we dig, we'll never come up with enough to win forgiveness or peace or eternal life. But the price has been paid.


On Good Friday. By Jesus. On a cross. That's where, "though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that by His poverty He could make you rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9 ).

My spiritual bankruptcy traded for His eternal treasure. Because He gave it all. It was an offer I could not resist.

A relationship with Jesus will satisfy that deep desires of our hearts - He has paid the price to eliminate the sin-barrier that keeps us from enjoying life and walking in His peace...we can take our chances on winning some sort of lottery, but only knowing Him can produce the sure way to eternal life - and abundant life here on earth.