Ecclesiastes 12:10

  I am amazed by how oblivious people can be. It might have always been this way and I never noticed [i] but lately, it seems to be everywhere. Maybe people are more self-absorbed. Maybe we are just too focused on our phone. Whatever the cause people don’t seem to have any awareness of what is going on around them.  And that can be a very dangerous thing.   I’m not talking about walking into traffic because you are not looking, though I see that happen. It is the spiritual obliviousness. Not seeing that your circumstances are consequences of your actions (Gal. 6:7). Not seen yourselves for how you truly are (James 1:23-25). Looking at the speck and not seeing the planks (Matthew 7:3-5). Missing the spiritual opportunities right in front of you (John 4:35). Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law Psalms 119:18    We need to look around. We need to look up. The answers we are struggling for are there if we just use ou...

  The Principia, is a three-volume series of mathematical proofs by Isaac Newton about his laws of gravity and motion. It’s what we base calculus on.  The Principia is one of the greatest works in the history of science and has been studied by legions of scientists, mathematicians, and professors for the last three centuries.    If anything were wrong with it surely someone would have noticed the mistake by now!   That’s exactly what Robert Garisto thought.  Garisto was a student working on a paper for a history of science class, when he noticed that Newton had mistakenly plugged the wrong number into an equation to find the mass of the Earth (Newton had used 10.5 seconds in his write-up, but 11 in the actual problem).  Garisto didn't think much of the error when he found it -- he assumed it had been put in there intentionally by his instructor, and that spotting it was part of the assignment.  It wasn’t, the instructor didn’t even...

   If I called you a Nimrod, how would you feel?  If you are like most people you would probably feel insulted.  The popular definition for a nimrod is an inept person, an oaf, a maroon, an ignoramus.  The original name Nimrod really meant to be a skillful mighty hunter.  Its origin is found in Genesis 10:8-9:  “Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth.  He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. " How did the mighty hunter become an inept oaf ? Well, it’s all Bugs Bunny’s fault.   Ok, maybe not all his fault.  You see in the popular cartoon featuring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, Bugs often times will refer to Elmer Fudd as a “little Nimrod”, a sarcastic reference to the mighty hunter of the Old Testament.  The writers might have gotten the joke but the general public didn’t.  They assumed, in their ignorance, the word was an ins...

     Columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred ninety two.  Every good boy does fine.  My very excellent mother just served us nine planets. The Great Lakes are HOMES.    You may recognize these mnemonic devices from your school days [i] , the little memory trick you employed to keep those random facts in your head.  The repetition does something to your brain, making those easily quickly forgotten facts somehow stick.    It however can seem a little childish. I know as a preacher, I blush a little when I still sing my books of the Bible when looking up a passage. While the simple technique may be effective, we might dismiss it as somewhat immature.    That is exactly what Isaiah’s critics are doing in Isaiah 28:9-13; " To whom would He teach knowledge, And to whom would He interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast?  "For He says, 'Order on order, ord...

   I recently had a Facebook acquaintance post the follow statement “ Jesus doesn't require perfection, he requires a relationship.... ”    People seemed to think a lot of his remark.  Lots of different people claimed they “liked” it.  I think I understand something of what he was getting at.  That Jesus came to save sinners, and we all have sinned.  Jesus did say “ I didn’t come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance ” (Luke 5:32). But his statement still is wrong. Jesus does require perfection. In Matthew 5:48 Jesus very clearly says : " Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”        Here, in plain language, Jesus says we have to be something more than what we are.   It is not enough to know the right person; we have to be the right people.  This statement occurs right in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, a lesson that very clearly says God expects m...

   My biggest pet peeve is willful ignorance.   Willful ignorance is the conscience decision to not take the time to learn or gain knowledge about something that you should know.   Every person has areas of ignorance.  No matter how smart you may be, there are always holes in our knowledge, things we don’t know and have yet to learn. “Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.” Benjamin Franklin    Willful ignorance however is different.  It is the unwillingness to learn because we find comfort in our lack of knowledge.  Gaining knowledge might require us to act ( If I learn how to cook, I will be expected to make dinner from time to time and I would rather someone else do it for me ).  Learning may make us have to change our thinking ( Don't confuse my well held strong opinions with the facts ). Being informed might require some effort and we are just too lazy for that.   Willful ignorance puts...