A guy was trying to teach his UNC girlfriend how to play golf and figured that the best place to start was the driving range. Upon arrival, the UNC coed sees a sign that says the golf balls rent by the bucket..large $4.50, medium $3.00 and small $1.50. She turned to her boyfriend and said "How can you tell the large balls from the small balls, they all look the same size to me".
Nearly a century and a half ago, Charles Darwin conceded, "To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree." He wrote botanist Asa Gray, "The eye to this day gives me a cold shudder." And Darwin didn't know nearly as much as we do about the sophistication of the signal processing from the eye and the nose.
All of this leads to a logical closing question: If researchers earn Nobel Prizes for discovering such intricacies in our sensory organs, doesn't the Intelligent Designer of all of this intricacy deserve some recognition?
Our oldest son had just graduated from a wonderful Christian college. Most of his good friends were headed for careers in business or the professions - which can be great places to serve God. But his calling was to go as a missionary to an Indian reservation among a people listed by some world prayer people as one of the most unreached people groups in North America. We knew it wasn't going to be easy. In fact, his first place to sleep at night was a little storeroom, where he slept on a table so he wouldn't be a snack for the critters on the floor. He was there pretty much on his own, and he was just starting to try to break down some walls and meet some of the tribal young people there. He'd been there a couple of weeks when he called us one morning at sunrise his time. He had driven about eight miles to find a phone to call from. It was the kind of call a parent can't forget. He said, "Mom, Dad, I've got to tell you I've probably never been so lonely in my life. In college, I had friends whenever I wanted them, I could go out on a date whenever I wanted to, I could get some money together when I needed to. But here, I have none of those things." To be honest, our parents' hearts were really aching at that point. And then we were blown away by his unexpected conclusion. He said, "But I've also got to tell you this - I've never had such peace in my life. I'm where I was born to be, doing what I was born to do!"
It could be that your life has been very full, but not very fulfilling. What you're doing may be successful, but not necessarily significant. It may be cheered by men, but not very important to God, and you're restless inside. You know there's got to be something more. Maybe God is stirring your soul and trying to move you where you were born to be, doing what you were born to do. And it's different from what you're doing now. Don't be afraid of it. Be expectant. And be obedient - no matter how risky that obedience looks. There's actually no such thing as a risky obedience - only a risky disobedience.
In Jeremiah 1:5, our word for today from the Word of God, the Lord says this to Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart." When Jeremiah expresses his sense of being inadequate to carry out his calling, God says, "You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you."
On the one hand, these words applied particularly to the calling of Jeremiah to be God's prophet. But the sense of what He said is true of every child of God - including you. He formed you in the womb for special purposes, as Paul says, "for good works He prepared in advance" for you to do (Ephesians 2:10). And He's calling you to be where He made you to be, doing what He made you to do. And it may be something different from what you're doing now. You won't be able to see the whole road ahead, but He's expecting you to start walking that direction right now, following the light of His Word, and His leading through your prayers, and His defining circumstances.
His call is for you to "offer your body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God." Out of that surrender, you will, according to Romans 12, "be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will." To follow Him to your designer destiny, you may have to defy the drumbeat of the culture around you. You may be called foolish by those who can't understand heaven's plans. You will almost surely have to proceed by faith; trusting in the Lord who loves you, not in a plan that you can control or figure out.
But, by all means, follow Him where He's taking you. The alternative? A future filled with the bitter regrets of someone who knows they've missed what they were put here for. Don't settle for anything less than being where you were born to be, and doing what you were born to do. Ron Hutchcraft
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Wherever Dr. Brian Sykes travels, he carries little swabs for collecting genetic materials from strangers. Dr. Sykes, a human genetics professor at Oxford University and a science adviser to the British House of Commons, loves showing people the astonishing history hidden in their DNA. Zip! A quick swipe of the inner cheek, and three weeks later, a report arrives from, Dr. Sykes’ laboratory with surprising news that you have, say a West African ancestor or a kinship to Genghis Khan.[1]
Dr. Sykes is one of the world’s most acclaimed geneticists, and is known as a founder of bioarchaeology. That is, he uses a range of biological techniques on archaeological material so that we can learn more about past populations. He also is fascinated by how many people have grown interested in the genetics of their ancestors. Genealogy has been revolutionized.
Here’s his final remark in the newspaper article: “I’ve tested hundreds of people named “Sykes” and found that roughly 70 percent of us have the same Y chromosome, and therefore, must be descended from one man.”
Let me visit with you about a spiritual bioarchaeology.
1.. The whole human race has descended from one man. That’s traceable biologically. 2.. Spiritually, this original man created a problem for the entire human race by sinning and brought the consequence of physical and eternal death on the whole human race! 3.. All people sin and therefore confirm their own legitimate participation in physical and eternal death because they are related to this one ancestor. We are locked in “sin”—a perpetual state of falling short of God’s expectations and hitting the wrong mark characterizes us as humans. (4) However, God sent a new Man for the human race to take care of our sin and death problems. “Just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned,” life has entered the human race through one man, and life can spread to all people who want to join a new situation, a new sphere, a new ancestor. We can defeat the old DNA necessity to sin, can be reconstituted with new DNA, and defeat physical death into eternal life.
May I recommend that you don’t become imprisoned by your spiritual bioarchaeology and that you find liberation from that imprisonment into new life, by acknowledging God’s new representative for the human race, the Lord Jesus Christ?
Yes, we have descended from one ancestor but we can choose to belong to another spiritual ancestor to counter the inclinations and implications of the original one man. Our spiritual genetic map can be reconstituted. This new spiritual chromosome is so powerful it overrides and overpowers the Adamic chromosome, so that you and I have options now.
That’s God’s opinion, the only one that counts, and this is Ramesh Richard of RREACH International and Dallas Seminary for Moody Radio.
If you stop believing what your professor told you had to be true and if you start thinking for yourself you may come to some conclusions you hadn't expected. You may find the Bible makes more sense than you thought or were told to think. Allow yourself to be ruined, ruined with regard to what you always thought could be true. Can you believe what you don't understand? You and I believe everyday what we don't understand unless it comes to the issue of salvation. - - - Dr. Woodrow Kroll
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Kite aerial photography (KAP) has arrived! It is a whole new way of capturing images. By launching a camera on a kite, you get a topsy- turvy view of the world.
Familiar subjects appear drastically different when shot from above. A palm tree becomes a fireworks display. A fountain becomes a meteor. Just wait until you view the clip of Bryce Canyon...
This is really dramatic -- almost addictive! http://thehaefners.com/kap/gallery/
What did the apple say to the worm? You're boring me.
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Woman to stock boy: "Do these turkeys get any bigger?" "No ma'am, they're dead"
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Recommended Books
Good Housekeeping: Lottie Dust Downpour!: Wayne Dwops Keep Out!: Barb Dwyer I Lived in Detroit: Helen Earth Meals On Safari: Lionel Eecha Car Capital Of The World: Mitch Egan Southern California Waffles: Sandy Eggo Guide To Mixology: Bart Ender Fish Story: Rod Enreel Interior Decorating: Curt Enrod The History Of Exxon: Phil Errup Artificial Clothing: Polly Ester Defunct Nations: Sophie Etunion Good Works: Ben Evolent You Drip!: Lee K. Fawcette Explaining it Better: Clara Fie Scandinavian Photography: Matt Finnish Parachuting: Hugo First I Love Wills: Benny Fishery The French Chef: Sue Flay Where to Put Your Money: Bill Fold Strong Winds: Gail Force West Coast Universities: Stan Ford I'm Scared!: Emma Fraid Still Looking For My Heart: Sam Francisco Things To Do At Parties: Bob Frapples How To Beat A Murder Rap: Scott Free Overcoming Nervousness On Radio: Mike Fright The Chuck Berry Story: Judy Frudy What Makes Airplanes Go: Jeff Fuel It Won't Work!: Mel Function You're a Bundle of Laughs: Vera Funny Los Angeles Pachyderms: L.A. Funt