Needs

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I'm watching baseball for the first time in awhile (I've been otherwise occupied during the times it is normally on...better occupied..hehe). I turned it on in the 4th inning with the Rangers up 6-0. Kansas City then scored 2. I was a little worried for a second. Then, in the bottom of the inning, the Rangers scored 6 more. :-D

It's so cool when you find yourself reading a bit of scripture with application on a current obstacle in your life, and you weren't looking for it. This morning, I was reading some of 1 Chronicles as part of my quiet time. I was trying to get through it pretty quickly because so much of it is genealogy and stories I've recently heard in 2 Samuel. There were some really cool verses in it where King David was instructing Solomon on how to build the temple for the LORD.

"And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

- 1 Chronicles 28:9

David also said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.

- 1 Chronicles 28:20

Those were a couple of verses that stuck out to me this morning. So much so that I found myself sharing them with my musankisha via sms. I found them encouraging. I was suprised then when something else I read this morning came up again tonight...

Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, "Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are."

But Joab replied, "May the LORD multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord's subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?"

The king's word, however, overruled Joab; so Joab left and went throughout Israel and then came back to Jerusalem. Joab reported the number of the fighting men to David: In all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand men who could handle a sword, including four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah.

But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the king's command was repulsive to him. This command was also evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel.

+ Chronicles 21:1-7 (click to expand)

Then David said to God, "I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing."

The LORD said to Gad, David's seer, "Go and tell David, 'This is what the LORD says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.' "

So Gad went to David and said to him, "This is what the LORD says: 'Take your choice: three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies, with their swords overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the LORD -days of plague in the land, with the angel of the LORD ravaging every part of Israel.' Now then, decide how I should answer the one who sent me."

David said to Gad, "I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men."

So the LORD sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead. And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, "Enough! Withdraw your hand." The angel of the LORD was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

David looked up and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.

David said to God, "Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? O LORD my God, let your hand fall upon me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people."

Then the angel of the LORD ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. So David went up in obedience to the word that Gad had spoken in the name of the LORD.

While Araunah was threshing wheat, he turned and saw the angel; his four sons who were with him hid themselves. Then David approached, and when Araunah looked and saw him, he left the threshing floor and bowed down before David with his face to the ground.

David said to him, "Let me have the site of your threshing floor so I can build an altar to the LORD, that the plague on the people may be stopped. Sell it to me at the full price."

Araunah said to David, "Take it! Let my lord the king do whatever pleases him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this."

But King David replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing."

So David paid Araunah six hundred shekels of gold for the site. David built an altar to the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the LORD, and the LORD answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.

Then the LORD spoke to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. At that time, when David saw that the LORD had answered him on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there. The tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses had made in the desert, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time on the high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the LORD.

1 Chronicles 21

That story also appears in 2 Samuel 24. That's where we were reading it tonight. As we were talking about it, Dan made a comparison that really hit me: David counting his soldiers is very similar to the way many of us sometimes sit around and count our money when we know a big expense is coming up.

I've been worrying a little bit about finances and the like lately. Been trying to add up numbers and project ways to afford things. It's been really frustrating. It's been hard to see how things can possibly work out. I forget that our God is the God who provides (Genesis 22:14[*]). He knows our needs even before we ask for them (Matthew 6:8[*]). David knew this, yet he decided he wanted to know how many people he had anyways. His sin was not trusting God to provide. If you read all of that passage, you will see that God then punished Israel for this sin.

Likewise, we should not worry about how are needs will be provided for (Matthew 6:25-34[*]) He will meet our needs (Philippians 4:19[*]).

So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

Genesis 22:14

Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Matthew 6:8

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19

To Infinity and Beyond!

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I've never been good at dating relationships. Whenever a relationship is entered that becomes important in your life, it will have the effect of splintering things as they were beforehand. That's just a fact. Friends often feel left out or rejected when a close friend suddenly begins spending all of their time with this new person. It doesn't feel very fair to the person or persons feeling left out. I know. I've been in those sneakers many times. It seems so weird to me now to be in a different position, the positionn of the one entering a special relationship, and I find myself feeling helpless to change how my friends are feeling. Things are different now. How do I explain that so that they do not feel it as a personal attack?

I've been part of so many complaints in my "group" of friends that would come about when and if one of us entered a relationship with someone and stopped hanging out almost completely. I've heard the whining. I've voiced it, too. "Man, one shouldn't forget one's friends. Girlfriends (or boyfriends) come and go, but friends are there forever! Who will they be calling to drink with you into misery when it fails? Us, of course!" The logic is flawed. We live in a culture of futile relationships, and it demonstrates the thinking that leads us into them. Who in our generation gets into a relationship looking for marriage? Who is not deemed crazy for such thinking? Everyone wants to have a few years of experience and safety in a relationship first before they consider "settling down" and getting married. There's always a level of fear in trusting this new person because of the power they might end up having to change your life. Friends are often considered then to be the real long term relationships. They're the stalwart companions. Maybe this is why so many marriages never obtain the level of significance they deserve, and ultimately end up in divorce. People encounter a bump in the road, and they go running back to the only people they know will not desert them.

I remember hearing an adult explain something about this to me once several years ago. I think it was a teacher at school, but I'm not sure. The wisdom of this person's thinking was not lost on me, even though I often argued against it in the past whenn I would gripe and moan about friends suddenly "disappearing". This peice of wisdom went like this: As we grow up, we form friendships to prepare us for the deeper relationship we will have someday with our spouse. Sure, friends often stick around even after a marriage, but they should never be more important. They are the training. The marriage is the real thing. It is not the final exam. It is the career you will have for the rest of your life. The relationship between a man and a woman was designed to be permanent:

So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman, '
for she was taken out of man."

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

Genesis 2:20-24

I don't want to belittle a single friendship in my life. I don't want to abandon any either. A few minutes ago, a friend and I were chatting online about this very topic. He was arguing that I am becoming lost in my relationship with my Musankisha. Let me share a few lines of our conversation:

My Friend : you do realize you have a life outside of her?
My Friend : this is the only thing that I have seen wrong with this whole situation
My Friend : think about it like this
My Friend : Two tree's grow up next to eachother right?
My Friend : one tree starts to shadow over the other tree
My Friend : the other tree will die from lack of sunlight
ME : that's not what's happening here
My Friend : yes it is
My Friend : you two are growing a relationship.. and it is starting to over shadow your whole life
My Friend : and Im not the only one that sees it bro
My Friend : It doesnt have to affect your whole life fool
My Friend : and it shouldnt effect your whole life
My Friend : your life is God, [Musankisha], and Work
... later on, after I repeatedly tell him he doesn't need to worry so much ...
My Friend : well look man if your happy go for it
My Friend : I just dont want to see you get consumed.. and later hurt

That is very much "spliced" together so that it makes sense, but that is what he was saying. The part where he is saying what my life is right now is supposed to be bad in his view. I guess I wouldn't mind having something else up in there other than "work", but it's at least realistic in that sense. I think that's a decent list of priorities. But, do you notice what he has left absent from that list? Friends. Friends are more important to me than work. But, he's not seeing it that way. He's seeing my focus on God and my Musankisha as a dismissal of friends.

Things change as we grow older. As we become more mature, we start seeking that relationship God has designed us for in both spirit and flesh. I personally think that a marriage is a three person relationship, not a two person one. The third person, in my opinion, is God. It can't be anyone else. People try to substitute it with other things: money, power, fame. Many don't think it exists. I think that it is the correct way of looking at ourselves as a complete creation. We need Christ. The Holy Spirit enters us, and makes us into a new creation. Honestly though, I can not explain it as well as the scripture can. So, here are some verses I think are applicable:

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."


John 17:20-26

After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.


Ephesians 5:29-32

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.


John 15:4-6

I'm going to stop there now. As I said at the beginning, I am not an expert. I'm a stsumbling blithering fool when it comes to these things. But, I am trying to understand. I want to do things God's way. So, if you have any comments or advice (I would think lots of people might...), I would love to hear it. It you want to list marital status (M or S) or anything else indicating whether you have experience in these things and how much, that would be pretty cool in trying to absorb your thoughts on this topic.

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.

- Confucius

Better be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own.

- Aesop

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.

- C.S. Lewis - The Four Loves

God will look to every soul like its first love because He is its first love.

- C.S. Lewis - The Problem of Pain

Friendship arises out of mere companionship when two or more of the companions discover that they have in common some insight or interest or even taste which the others do not share and which, till that moment, each believed to be his own unique treasure (or burden). The typical expression of opening Friendship would be something like, "What? You too? I thought I was the only one."

- C.S. Lewis - The Four Loves

This is all beyond me...

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Things have been crazy these last few days. I am conflicted between my selfish desires and what someone else wants me to do. I am so torn because this involves something of serious importance to me. Now, I'm mad at this person, and this person is mad at me. I'm watching The Passion of the Christ at the moment. It's a the scene with the flogging of Christ. For me, this scene was somehow even harder to watch than the crucifixion scene. (By the way, is it just me, or does the head guard in this scene look like the spitting image of Paul McCartney?) As I watch it though, I find myself thinking about how Christ put us before Himself. When you read the following verses,

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch."

Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."

Mark 14:32-36

it is clear that He didn't really want to suffer through it, but that He did it for our sake and because the Father wanted Him to. I find myself realizing that I should sacrifice my desire in this argument, but it is not easy for me. I'm so angry because this person should understand my point of view, but apparently does not.

On to a happier subject...

I've spoken a few times on here about my Musankisha, meine reisebegleiter, and I've even talked about how we've been using Skype to communicate some by video. Sunday afternoon (my time), I had the opportunity to "meet" her mom via Skype.



I was terrified. Maybe I got away lucky because her mom doesn't speak english. It was not as easy to make a fool of myself as normal. I did, however read a little bit of a german children's book over Skype. So, maybe I managed to look silly after all. My Musankisha keeps telling me that I don't need to worry, and that her parents are already liking me. That doesn't entirely keep me from being afraid though. hehe...

I feel sorry for the people in this world who seem to have everything under control. For them, it must not be easy to surrender everything to the Lord. It is surely more difficult for them to realize their need to do so! Everything in my life right now feels so far out of my control. I always find myself crying out more to Him for His help when things are like this. Maybe that's why He is allowing all of these mountains in my life to exist right now. So that it's not about me learning to work harder to make it through them, but, rather, that it's about me learning to depend entirely on Him for success.

"As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene....No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life."

- Albert Einstein, physicist and atheist (1879-1955)

I am trying to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him, 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the sort of thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg -- or He would be the devil of hell. You must make a choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

- C.S. Lewis - Mere Christianity

"You know until today, I never really realized how much I love my feet." - Chiana - Farscape

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After Cate's stinging criticism of one of my favorite shows, I'm a little speechless about what to write here. So, instead of reading my blog tonight/today, you should read Cate's as I link to it above. It's good to point out other people in a positive way. In this case, Cate, because she has been a close friend of mine for so many years. Enjoy!

"And, isn't that the whole point, Crichton? That's all you people ever do is talk! I am a Dominar of action!

- Dominar Rygel XVI - Farscape

John Crichton: Man, this is getting old. The least you could do is talk in your sleep.
Ka D'Argo: [Wakes up suddenly, breathing very heavily] What would you like me to say?
John Crichton: Whoa! How about, "Great to be back!"
Ka D'Argo: Was I away?
John Crichton: You sure as hell were! Days, I don't know how many. I kind of lost track of time. Do you know who I am?
Ka D'Argo: Yes, I recognize you, John, but I do not recognize this place! Am I dead?
John Crichton: No!
Ka D'Argo: Am I dead!?!!
John Crichton: No! You're not dead.
Ka D'Argo: [Laughs loudly in relief] I, uh, I thought we were dead. Why aren't we?

- Farscape

"Thank you for protecting me, O'Lord.In Jesus Name I pray..."

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I think I prevented a car breakin when I left to take my car to my parent's tonight for an oil change. I think I prevented a breakin into my car. Really, all I was doing was being there at the right time. So, really, if anything was prevented, it was God's doing for putting me there at that moment. There was this tall lanky dude walking in a circle around my car when I walked up the sidewalk. As I approached, he stopped to tie his shoes. They weren't untied. When I stopped right in front of him, and said, "excuse me...", then he promptly got out of the way. He walked over to another car and stooped down to start speaking to the guy with the bandana over his head inside. I would of thought "drug deal" if I hadn't seen the first guy circling my suburban. As I got in the car, locked the doors, and started the engine, my heart was racing a bit because I realized right away that God was protecting me from them if they were up to no good. As I pulled away, I noticed that their car was backed into its spot. It also had no license plate (I was looking for that). I wanted to call security, but I didn't know there number. Dallas PD might of responded if I had called them. Of course, they would of responded about 2 hours later. (They're pretty slow for that sort of thing) I'm very glad that they were not interested in mugging me, and that no one broke into my truck. There's really not much for them to steal in there anyways... Maybe a hockey stick and a couple of empty anti-freeze bottles. My stereo face always leaves the truck with me. People have broken in before. The most recent time was in the same parking lot, when they stole nothing. (It is suspected that someone scared them off that night) At any rate, praise the Lord that He didn't allow that to happen tonight.

I need to consider taking my camera with me more often. It would be nice, now that the batteries work, so that I can take pictures of some of the things going on around me. You know, like suspicious people who look like they're about to break into my car. Got to remember to turn off the flash though. (This is probably a bad reason to carry a camera, right? Maybe I should get one of those cell phones with a camera on it...)

I got my oil changed though. My dad is very quick at doing this, even when the engine is still hot like it was tonight. He's been doing it since he was a teenager, so I guess he should be practiced at it by now. I can do it myself easily enough, but I'm not as fast as he is. Plus, I like to let the engine cool down first. That can take a long while (hours in the summertime).

For the last couple of days, whenever I have been praying, I keep finding myself remembering that Christ is my King. That may sound crazy that I am pointing this out, but there's a definate difference in the way we talk and believe versus the way we sometimes think in the depths of our heart. In other words, we always talk about how Christ is our King, and we believe it. We just don't always remember it in our hearts as we pray. (Or, am I the only one who has this problem? That could be...) I liken it to one of my great grandfather's favorite quotes about the reality of Christ. He said (and, yes, I've used this before a lot):

"How real the love for one's wife is, because the two are one. Often we do not experience the reality of our love for Christ in the same way."

- Eugene Kellersberger, M.D. - Doctor Not Afraid

That quote sticks with me because I think it perfectly describes the kind of problem I have. I don't always experience the reality of Christ like I should be. There's so many distractions in this world that it's easy to forget Him sometimes. I've been thinking about this lately as I pray. How often do I think of the reality that Christ is my King. I am one of His subjects. He is my master as well as savior. When we go before the Lord and ask for something in Christ's name, we might as well imagine that we are coming before the Father and requesting someting "on behalf" or "in the name of" the Son. I read a book that likened this to writing a check, signing it with Christ's name, and then taking it to The Bank of the Father to get it cashed by the Holy Spirit. I have been trying to remind myself of this imagery everytime I close my prayer with "...in Jesus Name I pray...". I've been trying to get into a habit of doing that, too. It's good for prayer to be more than just mindlessly asking for things. It should be about praising the Lord for the many good things He does, thanking Him for the things He's done for us specifically, asking Him questions and telling Him about everything and anything on our minds, telling Him about our problems as they stand, and petitioning Him in the name of the Son for relief from those problems and for the solutions to them.

So, I've been trying to remind myself of these things as I pray. I've been trying to remember, as I close my prayers, that I am asking for things from my Lord and King. Not just from my Savior. It's kind of cool to think of it like that, too. He is so generous. We should not be afraid to ask Him for anything.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

- Matthew 7:7-11

Oh, good, the day is duuuuuuuuuuuuuuung

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I did some more adjusting of my javascript stuff. Now, you will see a tiny - in the upper (hopefully left) corner of the post. Clicking along the top of the post next to or on top of this - will cause it to "contract". Clicking again will expand it back to normal. I think I'm just going to do things on here this way. Thus, it's not in the way too much, and it's also not too tricked out. In the meantime, it's still a little fancy, and, sometimes, a little fancy is good.

Do you ever have those days where you go to work (or school), and you get so engrossed with everything going on there that you can't really remember what you were doing before coming to work (or school) that morning? That's how today was for me. I threw a couple of DVDs into my laptop case this morning, and Rob and I ended up watching the horribleness that is Superman III (Richard Pryor is the only reason to watch that movie) and the laugh out loud (but pretty vile) movie some might know as Clerks. I can't remember when the last time it was, before today, that I watched Clerks. It was filled with just as many jokes concerning drugs and sex as I remember it being. Going 2 minutes without hearing the F* word is probably impossible in that movie. I always liked it though because it really illustrates the raw point of view of so many people in my generation of society. I can't remember how many conversations I've been in that would fit in perfectly with that movie. Mainly because there have been way too many. I guess that tends to happen when you have a multiple number of close friends (all non-Christian) who have worked for Comdoms-To-Go. Or, maybe, when you hang out at the bar too much, and listen and watch the patrons, usually drunk and coked up, describing their lives in such detail that even Kevin Smith (the writer/director of Clerks) wouldn't want to put that in a movie.

Kevin Smith is, by the way, the same guy that later brought us such movies as : Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and, soon, Clerks II. (He also made a movie called Jersey Girl, but I always heard that it sucked. So, I never watched it. It also had Jennifer Lopez in it, and I just couldn't bring myself to watch a movie with her in it. Sidenote: Jennifer Lopez was also in the movie, Annaconda. That is, in my opinion, the worst movie of all time, and, yes, I have seen "Manos" The Hands of Fate)

I was trying to say something about my day though, not rant about Clerks and Kevin Smith. (btw, one of the members of D.C. Talk is named Kevin Max Smith. Does anyone besides me ever have the problem of confusing these two names???) When I finally got home from work today, tired and sweaty because the AC at the office kind of sucks, I found myself laying on my bed in another all too warm room, on the phone, and feeling very drowsy. At one point, I was told something on the phone, and almost had to ask what my Musankisha was talking about because I didn't remember talking about it only that morning! Luckily, I saved face (for that moment...hehe...once she reads this, there won't be any of that saved face..) and recalled it. When we got off the phone, I just lay there for awhile, minus the energy to get up and move. I ended up taking a brief nap. It's been crazy over the last few days how the heat has affected my energy levels. I don't remember, in the past, wanting to sleep this much because of it. I suddenly find myself relating to the Mexican Siesta. I guess when it's over 100 degrees for most of the day and your AC can't quite keep up, you can easily become drowsy.

"I love it when a plan comes together."

- Hannibal Smith - The A-Team

"You put cake in my van?!"

- B.A. Baracus - The A-Team

What's brown and sounds like a bell?

DUNG

- Monty Python's Flying Circus

More fun with javascript and a little bit about why it is so important to meditate and pray!!!

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I've been playing around with some javascript today. In the post below as well as this one, you can see the results. It's just a couple of simple tricks designed to help make things seem less crowded on here in the long run. I may try it for a few days, and see what I (and everyone else) think(s) about it.

Tonight, at 63, Dan spoke about Meditation. Namely, spending quiet time with the Lord. It was interesting to hear his thoughts on the subject. I decided about a year and a half ago that I would start putting aside time in the morning for prayer, reading, and, basically, meditation. It was hard to do because that is a time of the day during which I should be hurrying to get ready for work. I decided to do it anyways, and I have missed many many hours of work because of it. However, I have not actually missed any of them at all. It was a great decision in my life, and it has really become an essential part of my day. I can be very grouchy if I miss it.

Dan spoke a bit about how there's a perception amongst some Christians that the amount of time one spends in prayer/meditation can be a measuring stick to how good of a Christian they are. It's a bad perception. When God sees us, He doesn't really see us, but instead sees Christ. That's because Christ has taken all the punishment for our sins, and made full atonement for them. It's impossible for me to be any better of a Christian than any other Christian. I believe that it is this desire for superiority that leads to most of the perception of hypocrisy in the church. Therefore, I believe that, if you are spending time in the morning (or any other time) praying, reading, etc. for any reason other than a desire to draw nearer to Him while on this Earth, then you are probably doing it for a not so good reason. No legalistic rule should compel you to action. If "Joe Smith" is a born again Christian, but he doesn't spend that time in the morning, go to church regularly, tithe, be involved in missions, or be involved in anything even remotely productive, he will still receive the equal amount of grace as someone who dedicates their entire life to doing all of these things. Remember the following passage:

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

"About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went.

"He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'

" 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered.
"He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'

"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'

"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'

"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? 14Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'

"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

- Matthew 20:1-16

Grace is a cool thing. Dan went on a lot about this topic of meditiation. He basically said that, although it is by no means a requirement, it is highly encouraged in scripture. Consider:

Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

- Joshua 1:8

Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

- Psalm 1:1-2

I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I have put my hope in your word.

My eyes stay open through the watches of the night,
that I may meditate on your promises.

- Psalm 119:147-148

After he[Jesus] had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,

- Matthew 14:23

In this last verse, it doesn't say "meditate" specifically, but I believe that was probably an important part of what Christ was doing when He went up there to pray. Dan talked at length about how a person can make a plan to spend time with the Lord each day. He talked about big books, small books, and books in between big books and small books until I could just about go crazy! I mean no offense to him, but I think he managed to get bogged down more in how we can go about creating a time to pray and meditate than about why it is important to do so. He probably spent 10 minutes just talking about books alone.

He also talked about how easy it is to get distracted when reading God's word sometimes, and then about ways we could work to avoid those distractions. It's important to read and meditate on God's word so that we can understand what He is saying to us. For:

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

- 2 Timothy 3:14-17

It is important to spend time individually reading and meditating on God's word so that we are constantly preaching to ourselves the gospel of His grace. It's all so that we are constantly being reminded of what He has done for us, and so that we will remember that His grace does not stop at the cross! That may seem like a strange thing to say, but I sometimes get the impression that, because we spend so much time talking about Christ dying for our sins (which is sooooooo important, too!), we forget that God's grace goes so far beyond that, too! It doesn't stop there! It doesn't stop with Him coming back either. He's with us everyday.

My Musankisha had, undoubtably, a tiring day today. When I spoke to her tonight, before she went to bed, she was worried about her cat. She hadn't seen her cat all day, and she was worried. I was worried with her. This was right before 63. Before she went to sleep, we prayed to the Lord ,and we asked Him to bring her cat back to her safely. I got a text message during 63 on my cell phone that informed me of exactly that. I didn't even look at anything other than who it was from when I first got it, and I knew instantly what it was about. I resisted the urge to read it throughout the whole of 63. (That was really tough, too because I was 99% certain I knew what it was about...) Owning a cat myself, I can understand the fears involved. My former cat was an outside cat like hers is, and my former cat got into a lot of trouble. He got into fights all the time, and even lost his leg to a car. So, I can relate to the fears of being a pet owner, particularly a cat owner. It was so cool reading her text message saying that her cat had come home. I just knew that God was answering our prayer.

There are Christians out there who believe that God has taken a "vacation" from performing miracles. (at least that is how it is described to me) I can't believe that at all. I think it is a narrow minded and world influenced perspective. Even thinking that though, I find it so amazingly refreshing when God works even a seemingly small miracle like bringing her cat home safely tonight.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

- Matthew 10:29-31

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Javascript Wonders

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I've been meaning to do something like this for awhile. Some little javascript trick that might make it a little less boring on here. (Because, as everyone should know, this place is pretty dry.

I apologize if my playing with Javascript bugs you. I would be curious to hear what everyone thinks of this. I'm thinking of adding this feature to my future posts so that only the headlines are imediately visible. Would this bother anyone? If so, I probably won't do it. Let me know what you think...

(I've got another idea which might work better, too)

We wait in hope for the LORD;he is our help and our shield.In him our hearts rejoice,for we trust in his holy name. Psalm 33:20-21

When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants." And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

- Hebrews 6:13-20

Laban answered Jacob, "The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? Come now, let's make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us."

So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. He said to his relatives, "Gather some stones." So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap. Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.

Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me today." That is why it was called Galeed. It was also called Mizpah*, because he said, "May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me."

- Genesis 31:43-50

* Mizpah means watchtower

It's interesting how the first excerpt of text is from the Book of Hebrews, in the New Testament, and, in it, it talks about how men swear by God because He is greater than they. It talks about how God then swore by Himself when making a promise to Abraham. The second excerpt of text is from the Old Testament, the Book of Genesis. In it, you see men making a covenant with each other, and calling upon God to be their witness. Is this not, in truth, a case of swearing by the Lord?

It's cool to take note of how men often swear by the Lord. Heck, men often swear by anything they think is better then themselves. It says as much in the text above. But, I think it's even cooler to notice that God keeps His promises, and maintains His faithfulness in everything. As Christians, we do not live for the rewards in this life, but, rather, for the rewards in the life to come. As flawed human beings, we forget that a lot of the time, and we make mistakes that cause others to often believe God is not keeping promises in us or to us. This is sad when it happens. It requires a moment of honesty, but I find myself sometimes remembering such a moment just how unreliable I am. I often apply a legalistic viewpoint to this, and decide that, surely, I do not deserve the good things that God has promised me. Those are the worst moments for me because they are the moments I am most without hope. I weep sometimes in those moments. I cry out to the Lord to forgive my lack of faith, and to please bless my life in spite of it so that I might learn better how to trust in Him. Even Moses had his moment where his faith cracked. When he hit the rock instead of speaking to it, God punished him for his transgression. How much greater than is it that we have such a grace flowing out from Christ that, even when Thomas doubted Him, He provided for his faith? That is pretty awesome.

So, trust in the Lord, people. And, know that He often answers prayers even when we find ourselves lacking the faith to believe them. That's part of the greatness of grace, that we are blessed through Christ even though we do not deserve it.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

- Romans 8:28-39

The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;

for he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the waters.

Who may ascend the hill of the LORD
Who may stand in his holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false.

He will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God his Savior.

Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
Selah

Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory.
Selah

- Psalm 24

Und Video ist sehr gut!

This year, it seems, can not go any slower. I've been waiting all my life to meet the woman who God has created for me, and now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel of that wait. I know her now. That feels so crazy to say, but I believe it is completely true. I believe God has brought her into my life with a purpose, this purpose, and that it is the other way around as well. It is so hard then to go day after day, talking on the phone, without being able to be near each other. But, now, we can see each other. As torturous as that is sometimes, it is so much better than just talking on the phone. I can see her smile, and I can read the way she creases her face in laughter. This is all so good.

We are using Skype for this. A friend is lending her his laptop and web camera sometimes, and then we are able to talk and see. It's sehr schoen! Oh, how I am thanking the Lord for this friend of hers through whom He is allowing this to be!!!

So, until we can actually meet, this is the best we can do. And, it is pretty good. It makes me wonder how my great grandfather, Eugene, and his wife, Julia Lake, went 6 years with only letters between them before they could be together again!! He called it his acid test. I can see why. I could never be that patient! I can barely stand the idea of a few months.

If you are ever in such a position as this, you will know that everyone tells you that you are absolutely crazy! To declare and proclaim that a person is the one you've been waiting for when you have not met that person in person is completely insane, right? I would totally agree.

The difference here is that God has been behind it 100% of the way. This is more than some strange feeling. It's a mixture of who we are, what we like about each other, the things we have felt God tell us concerning each other, and the way that Christ is the center point of our relationship day in and day out that confirms to me each day that she is the einzigartig reisebegleiter for me. There's a faith involved in waiting through each day until we meet that is like an acid test of its own. That, whenever I tell her that I love her, I know that that statement is reinforced in me through God Almighty. And, when she says it back, I know that it is reinforced in her in the same manner. This is wunderschoen.

We've only seen each other live, via web cam and Skype, a couple of times now. Each time for several hours. There's something so wonderful in her smile that makes me melt at the sight of her, and my heart leaps for joy everytime I see her eyes looking my way. This is why video is so sehr gut! If not for this video, I would not be able to see any of this until we meet in person. Now, we can see each other and learn each other's reactions before we are even close enough to hold each other's hands.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." [see: Isaiah 29:14]

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

- 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness"; and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile." So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours,

- 1 Corinthians 3:18-21

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

- Isaiah 55:8-11

Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.'

"Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

- Luke 11:5-13

[Marcus notices that a preoccupied Ivanova isn't really listening to his status report.]
Marcus Cole: And they have much to be concerned about. There's always the threat an of attack by, say, a giant space dragon — the kind that eats the sun every 30 days? It's a nuisance, but what can you expect from reptiles? Did I mention that my nose is on fire, and that I have 15 wild badgers living in my trousers?
[She finally looks at him, annoyed.]
Marcus Cole: I'm sorry. Would you prefer ferrets?

- Babylon 5

Run-tse duh shang-dee, ching dai-wuhtzo! [Chinese: "Merciful God, please take me away!"] Make them stop! They're everywhere! Every city, every… every house, every room - they're all inside me! I can hear them all and they're saying nothing! Get up! Please get up! Wuo-shang mayer, maysheen, byen shr-to… [Chinese: "I will close my ears, and my heart, and I will be a stone…"] Please, God, make me a stone…

- River Tam - Serenity: The Movie

The Art of Controlling the Human Mind Through Words and Sound with Poetry

I love poetry sometimes. Like, when it's good. And, like, when I get to share it or read it to someone. Poetry is meant to be read. It's not just about content and meaning. It's also about rythym, rhyme, and imagery. For me, I so enjoy a poem that is written in such a way as to establish a steady beat. I'm not very good at creating varied rythyms amongst that beat in my own poetry, but I love it when others can. Maybe I'm an old fashioned Iambic Pentameter guy, but I love the seesaw feeling it gives me when I read it. I guess the "Pentameter" part is not important. That's refering really to the number of syllables per line. The da DUM part of the Iambic meter is just a mild example of how it can be.

Iambic Pentameter:
da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM
I went and wept upon an angry Sea.
da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM
The Storms, they came and whisked me to and fro
da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM
like a twig I cracked and split apart
da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM
but yet my body somehow stayed afloat

I tried to italicize the DUM parts. I don't know if that is 100% correct though. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

At anyrate, as I've already said, I love poetry. I've never been one of those people to enjoy coffee house poetry sessions, but I can understand why it would appeal to many. There's a beauty in poetry that is only surpassed in language by adding music to it. People enjoy that combination all the time. Music really is a form of poetry without words. Of course, it then becomes natural to add them also. So, in a sense, a song is a simultaneous combination of multiple poems to form one poem. The musical side merely drives and supports the lyrical side which focuses on conveying the meaning and message of the song. It's pretty cool.

Good poetry creates images in your mind, and good music should do the same with emotion. Listen to the soundtrack from the original Superman movie. John Williams composed and excellent piece of music to play during the romantic scene in which Superman whisks Lois Lane up and around the world in his arms. As a composer of soundtracks, his job is to create music that transposes the emotions of the characters off of the screen and into your hearts and minds. He's good at it, probably the best in the history of movie soundtracks.

I'm still on a bit of a Pablo Neruda kick at the moment. I think he was one of the best composers of love poems. Some of his work is straight out erotic in nature, but it always conveys the desires of his heart and soul.

You will remember...

You will remember that leaping stream
where sweet aromas rose and trembled,
and sometimes a bird, wearing water
and slowness, its winter feathers.

You will remember those gifts from the earth:
indelible scents, gold clay,
weeds in the thicket and crazy roots,
magical thorns like swords.

You'll remember the bouquet you picked,
shadows and silent water,
bouquet like a foam-covered stone.

That time was like never, and like always.
So we go there, where nothing is waiting;
we find everything waiting there.

- Pablo Neruda

This beauty is soft...

This beauty is soft -- as if music and wood,
agate, cloth, wheat, peaches the light shines through
had made an ephemeral statue.
And now she sends her freshness out, against the waves.

The sea dabbles at those tanned feet, repeating
their shape, just imprinted in the sand.
And now she is the womanly fire of a rose,
the only bubble the sun and the sea contend against.

Oh, may nothing touch you but the chilly salt!
May not even love disturb that unbroken springtime!
Beautiful woman, echo of the endless foam,

may your statuesque hips in the water make
a new measure -- a swan, a lily -- as you float
your form through that eternal crystal.

- Pablo Neruda

I've never been good at remember the various forms of poetry. (This is perhaps a large part of why I don't enjoy my own poetry very much) However, as you read the poems above, the imagery should leap out at you. It should grab you by your hair and shake your mind into conjuring a mental photograph of what the poet is writing. That's good poetry.

Ok, so I've ranted enough now. I really just wanted an excuse to put more of Pablo Neruda's poetry on my blog tonight. Hehehe. I hope you can enjoy it as much as I do!

Ode to Wine

Day-colored wine,
night-colored wine,
wine with purple feet
or wine with topaz blood,
wine,
starry child
of earth,
wine, smooth
as a golden sword,
soft
as lascivious velvet,
wine, spiral-seashelled
and full of wonder,
amorous,
marine;
never has one goblet contained you,
one song, one man,
you are choral, gregarious,
at the least, you must be shared.
At times
you feed on mortal
memories;
your wave carries us
from tomb to tomb,
stonecutter of icy sepulchers,
and we weep
transitory tears;
your
glorious
spring dress
is different,
blood rises through the shoots,
wind incites the day,
nothing is left
of your immutable soul.
Wine
stirs the spring, happiness
bursts through the earth like a plant,
walls crumble,
and rocky cliffs,
chasms close,
as song is born.
A jug of wine, and thou beside me
in the wilderness,
sang the ancient poet.
Let the wine pitcher
add to the kiss of love its own.

My darling, suddenly
the line of your hip
becomes the brimming curve
of the wine goblet,
your breast is the grape cluster,
your nipples are the grapes,
the gleam of spirits lights your hair,
and your navel is a chaste seal
stamped on the vessel of your belly,
your love an inexhaustible
cascade of wine,
light that illuminates my senses,
the earthly splendor of life.

But you are more than love,
the fiery kiss,
the heat of fire,
more than the wine of life;
you are
the community of man,
translucency,
chorus of discipline,
abundance of flowers.
I like on the table,
when we're speaking,
the light of a bottle
of intelligent wine.
Drink it,
and remember in every
drop of gold,
in every topaz glass,
in every purple ladle,
that autumn labored
to fill the vessel with wine;
and in the ritual of his office,
let the simple man remember
to think of the soil and of his duty,
to propagate the canticle of the wine.

- Pablo Neruda

Some Spontaneous StarCraft

We had an impromptu LAN party tonight. My friend, Daniel, is heading out of town, so we decided to get together and play a little StarCraft. Of course, he somehow had some thing come up at work, so we ended up meeting up there. That was a little weird, playing games in someone's office suite. But, it was fun, and the offices are pretty nice.

I had the top score amongst the three of us (Brian, Daniel, and myself) for the first time ever. That was cool, too. They're both still way better at that game than I am. They spend so much time toying around with strategies, that I have been having enough time to build a force up. I guess, if you know nothing about StarCraft, this means nothing to you.

I won though, and that's all that should matter. :-p

Pablo Neruda R0x0rs

I was originally just going to title this post "Pablo Neruda Rocks", but I thought that looked boring. He is lots of things, but boring is not one of them. (That's my opinion). So, I spiced it up a bit. You gotta love 1337 (LEET) speak. Or, rather, not love it. He would probably be ashamed. lol.

I can't afford to take much time writing tonight. So, I thought I'd share a work by one of my favorite poets. A master of the art of speech, and a man of undeniable passion for lust and love, Pablo Neruda was the subject of my Senior English Research Paper in High School. I was unaware of him until then, and my teacher suggested him to me since, as she put it, she thought I would really like his poetry. Sadly, I didn't really get it as much back then as I do now. Luckily though, I survived the paper with the knowledge that his skill is tremendous. Now, I want to share a poem of his that is just a very mild example of his lavish skills:

Ode to a Lemon

Out of lemon flowers
loosed
on the moonlight, love's
lashed and insatiable
essences,
sodden with fragrance,
the lemon tree's yellow
emerges,
the lemons
move down
from the tree's planetarium

Delicate merchandise!
the harbors are big with it-
bazaars
for the light and the
barbarous gold.
We open
the halves
of a miracle,
and a clotting of acids
brims
into the starry
divisions:
creation's
original juices,
irreducible, changeless,
alive:
so the freshness lives on
in a lemon,
in the sweet-smelling house of the rind,
the proportions, arcane and acerb.

Cutting the lemon
the knife
leaves a little cathedral:
alcoves unguessed by the eye
that open acidulous glass
to the light; topazes
riding the droplets,
altars,
aromatic facades.
So, while the hand
holds the cut of the lemon,
half a world
on a trencher,
the gold of the universe
wells
to your touch:
a cup yellow
with miracles,
a breast and a nipple
perfuming the earth;
a flashing made fruitage,
the diminutive fire of a planet.

- Pablo Neruda

mmm...poetry...

You can find more of his stuff here.

Alright, you primitive screw-heads, listen up! See this? This... is my boomstick! ...It's a twelve-gauge, double-barreled Remington. S-Mart's top of the line. You can find this in the sporting goods department. That's right, this sweet baby was made in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Retails for about $109.95. It's got a walnut stock, cobalt-blue steel, and a hair trigger. That's right... shop smart. Shop S-Mart... You got that?!!

- Ash - Army of Darkness

Provisions and Grace

Dan spoke at 63 tonight about giving. He was talking about how it is a spiritual discipline, and how spiritual disciplines, like giving, create an enviroment conducive for spiritual growth. So that, in a sense, spiritual disciplines become like a "greenhouse" for our souls. When he started, he started with Mark 12:35-41. Mark 12:41-44 was what he really ended up talking about though:

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins,worth only a fraction of a penny.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."

- Mark 12:41-44

I don't have the time to disect all of what he said, but it was centered around giving. It was centered around what it means to give honestly with your heart as opposed to giving for legalistic or self-beneficial reasons.

For a lot of people, whenever the subject of giving comes up in church, it instantly reminds them of all the sermons they've ever heard about tithing. What's interesting is that the importance of the giving is lost in these sermons. Sure, there are practical reasons for giving to the local church, missions in places that have never heard of Christ, missions of compassion and compassion in general, and missions to reach out to the mislead around the world. (Dan's 4 examples of good things to give to) The real important thing to remember (and Dan stressed this a lot), is that, when we give, we are to be reminded by the act of giving of the ultimate gift: Jesus Christ.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

- John 3:16

God does not need us to provide for Him or for His church. He does that. Therefore, it is important to give for the right reason, namely out of remembrance of the gift of Christ. And, we should remember that everything we have has been provided for us by Him. There's not a reward for one person giving more than another. Consider the story of Ananias and Sapphira:

Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet.

Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."

When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?"
"Yes," she said, "that is the price."

Peter said to her, "How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also."

At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

- Acts 5:1-10

They attempted to "show off" in the same manor as the rich people in Mark 12. They also lied about it so that they could benefit from it doubly. The gift given with the intent of benefiting one's self is no real gift. When it comes to gifts and offerings to the Lord, everything belongs to Him already. We are merely, in my words, custodians of these things for awhile.

We are supposed to remember the grace of God when we give. Through his grace He has given us so much.

I found myself thinking as Dan spoke tonight about what I wrote last night concerning my struggle with wondering about faith and prudence in the light of some of the mountains I face. Some of mountains that loom most steeply over me involve debt and bills. I'm working on them, but I struggle sometimes so much that I have to wonder whether I am supposed to make a concerted effort to "take control" of the situation through human efforts and means or if I should keep trusting God to help me have the self control necessary to just keep going and know he'll always provide what's needed. Maybe it's not where he was heading in his message, but he certainly made me think of the following two stories:

The Widow at Zarephath

Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to him: "Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food." So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?" As she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece of bread."

"As surely as the LORD your God lives," she replied, "I don't have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die."

Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.' "

She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.

- 1 Kings 17:7-16

Abraham Tested

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.

Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"
"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.

"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

- Genesis 22:1-18

If I ever get branded as crazy for trusting in the Lord to provide in "unreasonable" ways, I will be flattered by it. No matter what my debt on this Earth is, He has already cleared up the debt concerning my sin in Heaven. That is so much bigger than any debt I could rack up here. Thus I know He can and will provide for me here, too. So, I'm not going to worry about it so much. I'll just keep trying to stumble forward, and hope His action to remove it, whatever that may be, will be soon! Don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean I'm planning on going out and trying to accumulate more...I'm still trying to repay it as quickly as possible. I just know that He will be with me in it, and that He will make what sometimes feels impossible to me now totally possible. That's the nature of His grace, and that is totally reassuring to me.

~ guten Nacht

"How dare you! I know evil is bad, but come on! Eating kittens is just plain... plain wrong, and no one should do it! EVER!"

- The Tick

Well folks, there you have it: a day in the life of a superhero and his sidekick. It's a very long day, the tights are uncomfortable...I think we covered that before. Map light: convenient and essential. A lot of working with villain motifs. Crime has a bossa-nova beat. Leap before you look. Remember, dénouement. Other French words: inconvenient, not-essential. Well, I could go on and on and on, but time's a-wasting, and evil's out there making handcrafted mischief for the swap meet of villainy. And you can't strike a good deal with evil, no matter how much you haggle. We don't need to look for a bargain. Goodness is cheap because it's free, and free is as cheap as it gets. CUT!!

- The Tick

"The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place."Revelations 6:14

That's my new laptop case. You can just barely see Rajah hiding behind it. It was discounted about 50% at Best Buy. That made it about $30. I needed a new one since my old laptop case just couldn't hold this laptop. This case is gargantuan, but it's price made the difference. It's really more of a suitcase than a laptop case, and, to psuedo quote George Bailey in It's A Wonderful Life, I could probably use it as a raft if I was on a sinking ship. Ok, so, really, it would be more of a kiddie pool life preserver in size. It doesn't matter. It's still pretty big for a laptop case.

Sometimes, trying to post an entry up here feels like trying to write an essay for an invisible classroom. I'm not sure how grades are handed out. Possibly they are based on replies and the frequency of return visitors? At any rate, I'm in no need of an 'A'. I just wish I didn't encounter that pathetic form of "writer's block" I sometimes have. I try so often to just practice the advice my high school senior english teacher told me. She said to just write what you think, and then go back and edit later. Sean Connery's character (Forrester) in Finding Forrester was teaching the same method. The problem occurs for me when all I can think about for a long time is just one subject, and I realize I don't want to bore everyone not directly involved by talking about that one subject. *sigh* This is really tragic because I love thinking and talking about this subject almost to the point of being too much! (although, how could that ever be?! *grin*)

Where's the line between prudence and faith? Is there a line? I mean, when you feel like your facing some scary mountains, and, yet, you believe God wants you to keep forging ahead, how do you keep walking when they loom in your vision with every step? Some mountains can be seen a real long ways off because of their size. With every step closer to the mountain, one becomes aware of the effort it will take to surmount it. I've never actually "climbed" a real mountain before. I've driven through a few, and I've been to the top of a couple baby ones in the eastern United States. That's not really climbing though. So, I'm not entirely sure what it is like.

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them.

- Isaiah 42:16

It takes faith in God to keep going in those scary times when you are facing the mountains. And, the mountains don't really mean that you shouldn't have that faith. I find myself wanting to take an approach of striving forward even if the mountain seems like it about to devour me. After my phone bill for the last month (it was exceptional), I find myself staring at a mountain. Why does it always seem like I just go deeper into debt? I mean, everytime I start doing good, I either have some crazy need, like buying my new laptop, or some major expense (the phone bill) that seems to knock me down. I don't mind so much living at the extreme edge of a budget, but I get so tired of debt, and I just want to pay it all off!

This should be possible. There are worries, even so. When I find myself staring at these mountains, it becomes so easy to forget all the great things tha tthe Lord does for me by concentrating on defeating all the obstacles in my way. I keep feeling like I should be able to trust Him to make things work out, but I sometimes wonder at what point He wants me to act and how. I'm afraid sometimes that if I try to act it will really mean that I am trying to take control of worries and concerns that I should be leaving in God's hands. At other times I wonder if God really wants me to act. I wonder at times if I am being like the evil and wicked servant in Christ's parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. Then, I realize that it's this kind of analytical self reflection that is probably causing me to worry so much about things anyways!

So, what do I do about it? Better question: What does God want me to do about it? Does He want me to do anything at all about any of it? lol.

Ok, I'm going to head to bed now. My cat is waiting on me to feed him anyways. I don't want to be the wicked and lazy servant, but I often feel like I am. I don't want to be faithless either, but I often cower before the mountain. Then, I stumble a lot and fall a lot on rocks that I should be able to see since my eyes are apparently so glued to the ground. (did I take that mental image too far?) It's all really frustrating, and, at the end of the day, I only have one real choice left to me: Keep on truckin' along, pray that God will be with me and never abandon me, and do my best to step over the pebbles in my path without tripping, falling, and scraping my knees.

"There's life out here, Dad. Weird, amazing, psychotic life. And death in Technicolor. Hey, Dad, you know those rattlers in the stomach we talked about? Well, I've got them now."

- John Crichton - Farscape, Premiere Episode

They spit fire? How come no one tells me this stuff? How come no one tells me they spit fire? Aeryn!

- John Crichton - Farscape, PK Tech Girl

Not Enough Time to Write

I didn't have enough time to post something last night, so I want to just share a little of what I read this morning. I like this story, and I hope it inspires hope in you through the knowledge that the Lord rescues and protects in a mighty way. No one can stand against Him. :)

In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother's name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan. )

Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.

In King Hezekiah's fourth year, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it. At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah's sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. The king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes. This happened because they had not obeyed the LORD their God, but had violated his covenant—all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded. They neither listened to the commands nor carried them out.

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: "I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me." The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace.

At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the LORD, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander, his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman's Field. They called for the king; and Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to them.

The field commander said to them, "Tell Hezekiah:
" 'This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? You say you have strategy and military strength—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? Look now, you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces a man's hand and wounds him if he leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. And if you say to me, "We are depending on the LORD our God"-isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, "You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem"?

" 'Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! How can you repulse one officer of the least of my master's officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this place without word from the LORD The LORD himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.' "

Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall."

But the commander replied, "Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the men sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own filth and drink their own urine?"

Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew: "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you from my hand. Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, 'The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.'

"Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, until I come and take you to a land like your own, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life and not death!
"Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, 'The LORD will deliver us.' Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?"

But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, "Do not answer him."

Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn, and told him what the field commander had said.

Chapter 19:

When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the LORD. He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They told him, "This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. It may be that the LORD your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives."

When King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! I am going to put such a spirit in him that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.' "

When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.

Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king of Egypt , was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: "Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, 'Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.' Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them: the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?"

Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD : "O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.

"It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men's hands. Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God."

Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him:
" 'The Virgin Daughter of Zion
despises you and mocks you.
The Daughter of Jerusalem
tosses her head as you flee.

Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!

By your messengers
you have heaped insults on the Lord.
And you have said,
"With my many chariots
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its pines.
I have reached its remotest parts,
the finest of its forests.

I have dug wells in foreign lands
and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up all the streams of Egypt."

" 'Have you not heard?
Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned it;
now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
into piles of stone.

Their people, drained of power,
are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
like tender green shoots,
like grass sprouting on the roof,
scorched before it grows up.

" 'But I know where you stay
and when you come and go
and how you rage against me.

Because you rage against me
and your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
by the way you came.'

"This will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah:
"This year you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

Once more a remnant of the house of Judah
will take root below and bear fruit above.

For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

"Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria:
"He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp against it.

By the way that he came he will return;
he will not enter this city,
declares the LORD.

I will defend this city and save it,
for my sake and for the sake of David my servant."

That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.

One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.


- 2 Kings 18-19