Understanding discipline - Humans are a combination of two beings, an animal with normal animalistic desires, and a spirit or conscience capable of making responsible and moral choices. Frequently these two beings conflict with each other. Most of life's successes and failures are related to which of these two beings can overcome the other. When your bag of bones wins, you may become a couch potato. When the other being wins, there is no limit to your potential.

Would you not be disappointed if you gave a valuable gift to someone and they did not show appreciation and instead complained?

Would you then feel like not giving such gifts to them anymore?

Each day is a gift that our Creator does not have to give us, but when He does, we should be thankful, He really did not have to do that.

But since He did anyway, it makes more sense to give thanks and use this gift to the best of our abilities.

To complain instead is to invite the second sentence above.

Lent is a great motivator to put your life in order.
You can find a daily Lenten thought by choosing the Archive links at the right side, starting with 2009 February.

Conversation with an atheist

Atheist - I do not believe in God
me - do you believe in love?
atheist - yes of course, everyone does
me - then since God is Love, then you just admitted you believe in God, have a nice day

Learning from Tiger – Kids look to celebrities to be their role models, anyone but their parents. After all, when living with anyone 24-7 you are bound to see they are far from perfect, in comparison you usually only see the good side of celebrities since you do not see them 24-7. Since it is a kid’s job to rebel against parents, the better example that parents try to set, the more likely the kids are to rebel against that example. It’s a natural part of growing up, ironic since parents, not strangers, are the only ones who would die for you. The competition parents have from outside sources serving as role models is overwhelming these days. The entertainment industry says it only reflects society’s values. I beg to differ. It amplifies them and teaches them to our young people. As our moral values decline, movies, TV and music reinforce the notion that celebrities’ life styles are mainstream. This is why other countries do not like us. Don’t blame it all on Tiger, it is the same with many other sports figures, singers, actors, etc.. Our politicians sure as heck should serve as role models. President Bill Clinton was a pretty smart guy, but an awful role model. By his actions, he told millions of young and old Americans alike that it’s OK to cheat on your spouse – multiple times if you want to – because there really wasn’t much consequence. You could even make money writing a book about it. Hillary wrote one too. Many kids today don’t have two parents growing up. Some of them don’t even know who their parents are. Where are those kids supposed to find guidance? From the trusted liberal professor at school? At the church they don’t attend? From the scout leader they don’t know? Like it or not, each of us, young or old, is possibly serving as a role model to someone else. Might as well try to do it right.

Easter Sunday

The tomb is found empty, except for a cloth folded up inside. One of Jesus’s followers asks to keep it. Centuries go by and the cloth is found and examined, and found to have certain stain marks. Could this actually be the burial cloth of Jesus?

A photograph was taken, and remarkably the negative image appears as a positive image on the film. Facial features can more easily be seen. The positions of blood stains map to the positions described during the crucifixion, such as the crown of thorns, scourge marks, the stab wound in the side, except for the position of the nails being in the wrist instead of the palms. This seems to make sense because the small bones of the hand would probably not be able to support the weight of a body without tearing out, while the larger bones at the wrist could be a better support. Further examination showed pollen particles within the fibers that are from the same types of plants found in Israel during that time. The cloth itself was made from materials used during that time.

Skeptics claim this cloth was an elaborate fake, but there is no evidence of paint being used on it. Carbon dating at first indicated the wrong time period, but the piece of cloth used for the carbon dating was a corner piece partially burned by a fire that almost destroyed it, so the carbon dating process was invalidated. Since scientists cannot figure out how the image got onto the cloth, it seems plausible that this cloth was irradiated at the moment of resurrection, especially since the image seems to have the 3 dimensional effect of darker areas of the image closer to the cloth. The evidence seems overwhelming that this Shroud Of Turin is authentic. Do skeptics really think that anyone knew what a negative image was in the days before cameras were invented, especially 3D effects? Of course not, so this is not likely to be a fake, it is likely to be hard evidence that the Crucifixion and Resurrection took place just as described in The Bible.

Holy Saturday

Are our souls really worth this much? What can we possibly give Him in return?

Meanwhile, while we are grieving, His spirit is busy opening the gates of Heaven, which had been closed since the Original Sin of Adam and Eve. He visits Limbo and sets those souls free at long last.

The gates of Heaven have finally been opened, and now the rest of us have a chance to pass through those gates as well.

But at this point, nobody on earth is convinced of this, so tomorrow’s event will bring the convincing.

Good Friday

(From the lyrics of Michael W. Smith)
Crucified, laid behind a stone
You lived to die rejected and alone
Like a rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall, and thought of me, above all

(From the Pieta)Be it known that the number of soldiers were 150 Those who trailed Him while He was bound were 23 The executioners of justice were 83 The blows received on His head were 150 Blows on the stomach were 108 Kicks on the shoulders were 80 He was led, bound with cords by the hair 24 times Spits in the face were 180 He was beaten on the body 6666 times Beaten on the head 110 times He was roughly pushed, and at 12 o'clock was lifted up by the hair Pricked with thorns and pulled by the beard 23 times He received 20 wounds on the head Thorns of marine junks were 72 Pricks of thorns in the head were 110 Mortal thorns in the forehead were 3 He was afterwards flogged and dressed as a mocked king Wounds in the body were 1000 The solders who led Him to Calvary were 608 Those who watched Him were 3 Those who mocked Him were 1008 The drops of blood He lost were 28,430