Sensationalist News

I just read an article about a horrific event in which a mother and father beat their two year old daughter to death. While this child was getting abused, she pleaded to her parents “I love you” to get them to stop.

They continued on until it was too late.

I hate this type of news, as it serves no purpose to any of us. It doesn’t make myself feel better (if that is the intention), it causes anger and sadness. What can I do about this? The parents are having their time in court, but I wish the media would cease to exist when reading such articles.

Yes, I realize I chose to click on that link. The more I read these stupid articles, the less I feel that humanity in general is capable of any good.

Better to be tied with a millstone around the neck under water than to harm the little ones.

I love my children. I know that there are some days I take them for granted. A typical prayer for them is that they be blessed, grow to love God, and that today I would put their needs before mine.

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The Fear of the Lord

Genesis 22 has one of the purest examples of the fear of the Lord. Here’s Abraham with his only son. He wakes up one day, and is informed by God that he is to take Isaac to the mountains and sacrifice him.

Just as he was about to carry out the sacrifice, God stops him and tells him not to slay his only son, he provided a ram for the sacrifice.

Because of this fearful obedience, the nation of Israel sprung forth.

Abraham passed the test.

2012

So, how many days until the next election?

Retire Number 14

Congratulations to Jim Rice, long time outfielder and slugger for the Boston Red Sox.  After years of getting snubbed in the vote for the Hall of Fame, he came in at about 76 percent (75 is required) of the vote.  He joins stolen base legend, Ricky Henderson, but I’m more excited about Jim Rice.

My father was a huge fan of Rice, so I’m sure he’s happy about this.  

Now we can say what we already knew, Hall of Famer, Jim Rice.

Celtics cool off……………

What can I say?  The new year hasn’t been kind to the Celtics so far.  There’s not much explanation for these losses.  They are just tanking it.  These losses, for the most part, aren’t take aways, either.  They’re heart breakers!  

No longer can they claim the best record.  Every team in the NBA has something to prove when they play the NBA Champs.  Have they forgotten this?  It is not as if their talent suddenly took a nosedive and they returned to the “glories” of the last 15 years.

Maybe it is this Stephon talk.  Maybe he’s such a bad element for a team, that even the thought of him sharing your locker room causes players to deflate.  Look at the Knicks.  They don’t look so bad since SM decided to come out of the closet about his love for KG and the Celtics.  Suddenly, the players know he’s not even a distraction anymore.  Let the Celtics handle that drama.

Meanwhile, the Cavaliers continue to make their case.  The Lakers are as hot as they’ve ever been, and other strong teams have shown they too can beat the champions.

Read the Bible in a year…

My Bible studying has been seriously lacking.  I aim to correct this by going through the Bible in one year.  Should amount to about 15 minutes a day.  I won’t go through it by topical matter.  Nope, just straight through from Genesis to Revelation.

The book of Deuteronomy usually gets me.  I’ve tried this in the past.  I don’t know what it is, but I start to lose interest while studying this book.  I am sure there is much to gain from it, so I’ll try to approach it more carefully and with an mind open to God’s lessons.

As a husband and father, it is my duty to set the example.  If my kids grow up seeing a father who attends church every Sunday but does not set some personal time with God, they’ll likely follow suit.  Or worse, they will lose interest in God altogether.  As a husband, I am the spiritual leader.  I need to know what God wants for us.  How can I know this without using the sword that he provided?

As a Christian, I realize God has a will for me.  I can choose to ignore that will by not prepping myself everyday.  There’s something special about starting the day with a cup of coffee in one hand, and the Bible in the other.  While improvement can come quickly, a steadfast discipleship will bring about subtle improvements over a long period of time.  It will also allow me to understand who God is more clearly.

The last year has had its ups and downs.  I wonder how I would have handled certain situations if I had been more into the Bible.