kingdom travelin'

Burma is suffering… as usual human governments are making matters worse… oh, the cursed Fall.

Arden’s comment on “wisdom” made me think of this: Swiss (?) theologian Karl Barth (to some, one of the greatest thinkers in Europe in the last century) reportedly once replyed to a request for a summary of his theology by quoting this simple song…

“Jesus loves me,

this I know,

for the Bible tells me so…”

‘nuf said? ‘nuf said indeed.

in my reading, I’ve just hit the narrative of King Solomon, he asked for wisdom… I am desiring wisdom…

on the NYC trip, I was among the first ever group to see this plaque which had JUST been installed… pretty cool… it is a commemoration of Benedict XVI’s Papal Mass which was held there the previous Sunday. The installation workmen had just cleaned up and left… since this was my second tour 😦 of Yankee Stadium it was clearly the highlight for me… (note the vintage Covenant t-shirt from 1995) 

a neat guy spoke in chapel today… he got his PhD in microbiology last December… big deal you say, lots of PhDs in this and that in the ‘ville… this guy has cerebral palsy…

he told us that God had given us gifts and free will and that each of us should make the most of what He has given us… he said we should stop limiting ourselves and making excuses… amen.

presumption drives me crazy! does it drive you crazy? of course that which we are, often drives us crazy when we see in someone else, doesn’t it? the dictionary that is over on ceokids.org says that presumption is: “1. the act of presuming. 2. assumption of something as true. … 7. an assumption, often not fully established, that is taken for granted in some piece of reasoning.  8. unwarrantable, unbecoming, or impertinent boldness.” check out that last one: “impertinent boldness”

Matthew’s Gospel tells a story which drips of presumption, click here to read. Mrs. Zebedee, like all mothers wanted the best for her boys and sought to attain it for them. Today we call them “helicopter parents”. I’ve never met a parent who thought they were “hovering over their children doing too much for them” (get it? helicopters hover), but I do interact with a LOT of helicopter parents. I could tell you stories…  So anyway, what is our everyday presumption?

Thanklessness.

Think about it.  Jesus healed 10 lepers, how many thanked Him? [read here if you don’t know]  not enough!

Today… have we thanked him for the ability to read? for electricity? for the image of Him we have that gives us the creativity for such as blogging? for the breath we just took? for the finger movements that make keyboards sing? for family? for our church? for that meal we had earlier? how thankful are we? my guess is… not very. So what should we do? be more thankful, serve as he did, sacrificially… serving and thankfulness come out of humility… presumption comes out of pride… Oh God, help us to be thankful and not presumptuous.