kingdom travelin'

I was talking very briefly to a politician the other day and this person mentioned that congress had passed a resolution on the Armenian genocide during WWI. I was glad, the politician was surprised at my being pleased, there was no real opportunity for an exchange.

It seems that Bush II and Obama agree that Turkey should not be offended by recognizing this horrific act committed by the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the last century.

I was glad to hear that at least one committee in congress back in March had the willingness to speak up. I have not heard the news since early this morning when the BBC said that some leaders from Armenia were hoping that Obama would use the word genocide. According to what I can find on line, he didn’t. Our NATO allie Turkey would be ticked off. That’s a real shame.

Its a real shame that politicians don’t see justice as justice and not as being subject to who you don’t want to offend.

Use this link to see a brief Russian TV news clip for a summary…

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Coffee, my contemplative playlist

Reading The Path

Dwelling with Him

A train horn in the distance interrupts

The bird symphony

Gentle rain keeps time

Morning is worth waking.

Big words huh? I kinda made the first one up, or at least modified real words for my own purpose (at least I’m honest). It comes from a conversation I had with a few guys a couple of weeks ago and then a post on Don Miller’s blog the other day… in the post I’m thinking about, he wondered how personality impacts one’s theology, it is an intriguing thought.
The post made me think about the most recent rise in emphasis on pre-trib, pre-mill theology and the sometimes accompanying emphasis on the importance of the state of Israel. (I say most recent rise because it really is nothing new in church history to see a rise in this type of thinking. It has been particularly busy in the last couple of hundred years with the rise of Zionism and the founding of the modern state of Israel)
Anyway, several of us were talking about this stuff and I said I was a panmillenialist and one of the group responded and we were laughing and one of our group asked, “what is panmillennialism?” So I told him, and we all had a great laugh. See, a pan-millennialist is one who listens to all the other views (they being: a-, pre-, post and the all the subcategories) and says “well, I just believe it will all pan out in the end.” Get it? Pan out… In the END… Oh well, it is humorous sometimes.
So, that conversation has come up a couple of times in conversations and I’ve thought about it a bit and realized that I really am a neopanmillennialist. The neo has to do with the fact that I have so often seen this branch of theology create such division in the church that I decided a long time ago that my own (supposedly ancient) pre-trib views needed to take a back seat to unity in the Kingdom.
Its not that I don’t have a view (like I said, I’m pre-trib, which is a pre-mill view), its just that I’m okay with not making a big deal about it, and even the realization that I may learn from God that I didn’t have my eschatology quite right. And that now, the main thing really is about the Kingdom and extending it in unity with those who may not agree with my view.
But, I am convinced that it will indeed pan out in the end!

I saw this TV movie from ’99 from the fairly well known book. Here are some thoughts and questions from Morrie.

Why are people only comfortable when they are filling the air with words? What’s wrong with silence?

Are you at peace with yourself?

When you know how to die, you know how to live.

Aging isn’t just decay, its growth.

Am I leading the life I want to lead?

Am I the person I want to be?

Work, money, ambition, we bury ourselves in these.

Why are we ashamed of being dependent?

Regrets: pride, vanity, hardness of heart.

Forgive everyone everything now.

C. S. Lewis taught that we need more reminding than teaching, to that end (being reminded), I read the following texts regularly (nearly daily) to have the Scripture remind me. Having mentioned this practice elsewhere and having been asked to post them, I share them here…

Deut. 6.4-5

Deut. 5.6-21

Psa. 19.7-14

Psa. 46.1-3

Psa. 103.1-14

Isa. 1.17

Isa. 43.19

Jer. 17.7-8

Lam. 3.22-24, 40-42

Hab. 3.17-19

Matt. 5.3-12

Matt. 6.9-13

Matt. 11.28-30

John 15.1-17

2 Cor 2.14-17

Col. 1.15-20

Col. 2.6-15

Rev. 4.8b, 11

Rev. 5.9-10

I hope to turn these into links directly to the text soon.

I enjoy mowing. Its good to be outside with purpose. I like the feeling of having finished the job. It is good to sit down in the back knowing the job is done.
It occurs to me that mowing is kinda like following Jesus, it is better to keep up with it instead of putting it off. There are some hills on our yard that are a little steep, they aren’t too big, but you still have to watch the angle that the mower is on for safety, life has steep hills that are more easily tra versed when we keep up with Him. I’ve found that if you don’t mow frequently enough, it is hard to mow the first time. I know some guys who mow once a month whether they needs to or not. Some people approach following Jesus like that. They don’t bother to connect with Him and the “yard” starts getting shabby. Then, when you decide to mow, its hard to get going again and this kind of mowing is seldom enjoyed. Me, I like to mow frequently in the late afternoon, and then sit out back and be glad. As you are following Jesus, are you just hacking down grass in the yard or are you careful to mow frequently? Discipline, in mowing and in following Jesus… Now if would just apply this to bushes and painting…