C Cells

A couple lived near the ocean and used to walk the beach a lot. One summer they noticed a girl who was at the beach pretty much every day. She wasn't unusual, nor was the travel bag she carried, except for one thing. She would approach people who were sitting on the beach, glance around, then speak to them.

Generally, the people would respond negatively and she would wander off, but occasionally someone would nod and there would be a quick exchange of money for something she carried in her bag. The couple assumed she was selling drugs and debated calling the cops, but since they didn't know for sure they just continued to watch her.

After a couple of weeks the wife asked, "Honey, have you ever noticed that she only goes up to people with boom boxes and other electronic devices?" He hadn't and said so. Then she said, "Tomorrow I want you to get a towel and our big radio and go lie out on the beach. Then we can find out what s he's really doing."

Well, the plan went off without a hitch, and the wife was almost hopping up and down with anticipation when she saw the girl talk to her husband and then leave.

The man walked up the beach and met his wife at the road. "Well, is she selling drugs?" she asked excitedly." No, she's not." he said, enjoying this probably more than he should have.

"Well, what is it, then?" his wife fairly shrieked. The man grinned and said. "Her name is Sally and she's a battery salesperson."

"Batteries?" cried the wife. "Yes," he replied. "Sally sells C cells by the Seashore

OK, its kinda lame but it gave me a giggle or two for the day... Tim

Thank You

Here is an interesting quote ...

We are loaded down with too many good things, more than we can need. The good things we cling to are more than money. We hoard our resources, our gifts, our time, our families, our friends. As we begin to practice regular giving, we begin to see how ludicrous it is to hold on to the abundance God has given us and merely repeat the words, “Thank you.”

Francis Chan, Crazy Love

sets of sheep

Just wanted to share with you these three verses, which I imagine most of us have heard bunches of times...

"Let me ask you this. What would you do if you had a hundred sheep and one of them wandered off? Wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go look for the one that had wandered away? I am sure that finding it would make you happier than leaving the ninety-nine that never wandered off. That's how it is with your Father in heaven. He doesn't want any of these little ones to be lost.-Matthew 18:12-14 CEV

I've taken this to mean we are all precious in His sight. But here is an interesting take I heard recently that shown some new light on the verses for me. If a person ever collects a set of anything, be it postage stamps, baseball cards, Burger King "Lord of the Rings" figures or whatever, its the last one that really matters. The one which completes the set is "THE ONE"! Without it, the collection is flawed. An interesting take huh? He loves each one of us so, that with any one of us missing, the collection is flawed... Have a great day!

pitching His tent

This morning I've been thinking about holiness and holy living. What kicked this off was this familiar verse is 1 Peter v. 16 "Ye shall be holy; for I am holy." Therefore our goal in life is not happiness, health or any of these things (these are the things added "unto you") but holiness.

Unfortunately I have been less-than-holy so many times! Sheeeeesh! From childhood I have associated holiness with this long string of do's and don'ts. But seeing holiness as rule keeping really causes some major problems and really limits what Biblical holiness is. OK, the "rules" more likely than not are Biblically based there is this big tendency to obey rules instead of God. And this concern for the letter of the law which cause us to lose its spirit. Then comes this attitude that we can be holy through our own efforts in spite of the fact Paul said that there can be no holiness apart from the Holy Spirit, and its grace that causes us to even want to be holy! Then there are those whose pious efforts at rule keeping, and are even good at it publicly at least. These are the ones who like to point fingers at others, gossip ect. I've been the one who has had the fingers pointed at me and on many occasions. Then it dawned on me "Thank God I'm everything I never wanted to be," you know what I mean? Its obvious I can never live up to it and am totally dependent on grace. I can never make it on following the rules. Rule keeping leads to self righteousness anyways which is the very opposite of true holiness! Its hard to be humble and "esteem our brothers (and sisters) above ourselves" when we are doing it on our own.

This may be a Tim tangent but I think it fits. From Exodus to Revelation we have this imagery of God "pitching His tent" among His people. A truly awesome thought when you think about it for any length of time. In Exodus 29:44-45 "...I will dwell among the Israelites." In John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." And taken to its conclusion, John when describing the new heaven and new earth in Revelation 21:3 "...He shall dwell among them,..." Each time the word "dwell" means to "pitch a tent" in the original language. Now we are getting to what holiness is. God pitching His tent; first in the tabernacle, then in Christ and Christ in us, and then in our future life... At its base holiness means wholeness. One cannot be whole without a relationship with their Creator. It is living in Gods presence .. He has pitched His tent among us.

These are strange verses maybe to quote on this subject from Zechariah 14:20-21. This is a picture of the millennial reign of God. "On that day "Holy to the Lord" will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the Lords house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar. Every pot in Jerusalem and Judea will be holy to the Lord Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and pans and cook in them." Say what?!

Heres what I think its getting at; When God is at the center of your life, then every moment, every commonplace object of your existence is touched by His presence. Visibly true some future day, spiritually true now. There is this talk of "victory" in the Christian life which I think is kinda skewed. It seems to mean how God will conquer sin for us and is self centered. Sin is not simply the wrong we do to others and/or ourselves. All sin is a root rebellion or offense to God Himself. Its all about Jesus, what we can do to please Him, not what He can do for us. Personal victories may come but is the result, not the object. I'll conclude with Jesus' parable of the vine and its branches. (John 15:1-8) Holiness is walking with our creator completing us to be what we are supposed to be. In this passage Jesus explained that we do not PRODUCE fruit through our own efforts but BEAR fruit only by abiding in Him and letting Him work through us. Another thing that comes out of this passage is that what we are called to do or be is IMPOSSIBLE! "Apart from me you can do nothing." To grow in holiness is to grow closer to Jesus, knowing Him more clearly, practicing His presence in even the littlest of things, loving Him more, obeying Him more... Even when we seemingly screw up our lives repeatedly, He cleans up and we are back into holiness with our first step of obedience.

We are (not will be but ARE) a Holy Nation 1 Peter 2:9...

If Thou Not Kiss Me?

I don't know who wrote this, but I came across this a couple days or so ago and thought that I would just throw this out there...

The fountains mingle with the river

And the rivers with the ocean,

The winds of Heaven mix forever

With a sweet emotion;

Nothing in the world is single;

All things by a law divine

In one spirit meet and mingle.

Why not I with thine?

See the mountains kiss high Heaven

And the waves clasp one another;

No sister-flower would be forgiven

If it disdained its brother;

And the sunlight clasps the earth

And the moonbeams kiss the sea:

What is all this sweet work worth

If thou kiss not me?

Road Trip: Spring Creek/Winema National Forest

Time for yet another beat the heat mini road trip, this time with my son Shay. We drove around awhile before deciding on trying this place out about 7 miles from home! The campground has five campsites & a picnic area on the headwaters of Spring Creek. Unfortunately the campground itself is in disrepair due to 'thinning' of tress, but a short jaunt outside the place gave us a primo spot right on the creek.

Spring Creek is an underground river that rises to the surface here. Oux-Kanee, the nearby overlook offers a view of the headwaters of Spring Creek & a sign to help you identify landmarks. On most days you can see raptors soaring just below the cliff!



Sunset from our camping spot.

Wildflowers abound here at this time of year growing on the logs in the water and on the shoreline.

Camping can't be camping without a campfire right? This was our view of the creek right before cooking up some vittles! Methinks we found yet another "secret site"!

3 quotes to throw out there ...

"The significant problems we face are not solved at the same level of thinking as the state of mind in which we created them. --Albert Einstein"

"If I am ever good, its not because I'm trying to be, but because goodness is for a moment offered me as a gift of sheer grace." ~ Madeleine L'Engle

"The power of Sauron is still less than fear makes it." ~J.R.R. Tolkien