Month: February 2010

I warn you, this one is kind of long.

I really got to thinking this evening. I haven’t got my thoughts all sorted out yet, but I have once again been reminded of what my Savior has done for me. I’ve been reminded of how little I know about Him, and how much of Him I cannot comprehend nor understand. I’ve been reminded how deeply indebted I am to Him, and how He has paid that debt for me, willingly and without a grudge. Grudge is to weak a word for what I want to say, but I can’t come up with the proper word. I have been humbled, and reminded that I’ve claimed Him as my Lord. People see my actions and attribute them to Him. What huge responsibility, that I am so inept to be entrusted with. How often I fail. How quickly I will forget this evening, and once again go about my life focused more on my self than on Christ.

So basically it’s been a good evening.

Psalm 57:1 Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.

Proverbs 20:3 It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.

How easy it is working on staff at a college to meddle in students lives.

20:6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?

How easy it is to tell every one how good I am, what a great job I’m doing. Faithful men on the other hand are hard to come by.

20:22 Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.

David really understood this ( I think). How often in the Psalms is he asking God to smite his enemies. How often did he run away from Saul because he would not touch the Lord’s anointed? How opposite of what a “real” man would do.

20:29 The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old me is the gray head.

Today was a good day.  I figured out my universal Linux password changing program (I still have a bit of an issue with it, but I’m hoping to get that taken care of soon).  Also, J.D. popped the question to Cree this evening, and she said yes.  It was cool.  I’m sure they’ll want to tell every one, but since I’m fairly certain my readership is low I’m not to worried about it.  Other than that, again, not much is new.

Proverbs 19:20 Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.

Experience is a great teacher, but how much better off would I be if I would simply listen to those who have gone before and avoid the experience all together? Learning from experience is nothing to boast about.

I haven’t done this for a while, so first a short update.  I sat in on class this week, and it has been a lot of fun.  I really think I would enjoy doing Arrowhead over again.  This week has been II Corinthians, I, II, and III John.  Work has mostly been web stuff, though I did get Jim (he is our new facilities guy) hooked up to our network, and gave him access to our server.  I am finally getting over all of my various illnesses.  I’ve been sick with one thing or another since Christmas, and I’m relieved to finally be feeling better.

Proverbs 17:5 He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.

17:9 He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

17:10 A rebuke impresses a man of discernment more than a hundred lashes a fool.

17:27 A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered.

II Kings 6:16-17 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked ands saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

I pray that my eyes will also be opened, and that I will not be afraid.

6: 18-23 explains how God captures the army from Aram, feeds them, and sends them on their way. Even here in the middle of the Old Testament God has His people taking care of their enemies.

Today was good.  Tom, Jacob and I split a bunch of wood for the stove in the student lounge.  I got to work outside, and it was really fun.  Then I spent the rest of the day working on the BMCR website and the ABC website.  Both are now up to date.  This evening I played Medieval Total War some more, and I’m finally starting to like it.  Other than that nothing is new.

Psalm 51. Wow. The whole thing is just wow. David wrote it after Nathan confronted him about Bathsheba (at least so the non-inspired part of my Bible tells me).

Proverbs 14:3 In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.

My foolishness is in direct proportion to my pride. That explains a lot.

14:14 The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.

Satisfied from himself. I’m pondering what this means. Frankly nothing is coming to mind.

14:16 A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.

What a way to look at evil. I have often thought that a lot of Christians (at least some of the ones I know) take much to flippant of an attitude towards evil/Satan. Often times there can be an in your face, bring it on, arrogant attitude. Yet here it says a wise man feareth evil and departs from it. So how does this work out with the whole “perfect love casts out all fear” and “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” thing? I think perhaps there are different kinds of fear. It seems obvious at least that the fear of God and the fear of evil are two different things.

14:29 He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.

Ok.  It’s been a few days.  I got Marvin’s animation done.  It basically took all week.  I never want to have to do that again.  It was horrible, and even now the thing isn’t perfect.  I’ve got much more respect for those guys who used to do those Disney cartoons by hand.  I caught a cold and was fairly miserable Thursday and Friday.  It got a lot better Saturday so I spent the day in Billings with the students.  That was fun, but rather expensive.  Two meals, a movie (Avatar),  a new computer game (Medieval Total War II) , some necessities , and I’m out just over fifty bucks.  Ouch.   Like I said it was fun, and I haven’t done that with the student’s yet this year.  Today was of course the Super Bowl so we had a party up at Schieldt’s place.  That was also fun, and the food was great.

Psalm 50:15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

God doesn’t mind us asking for help.

Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

I had to look up the word deferred. It means to put off, post pone, to delay. I have seen this happen to people. When my hope is misplaced it will often be deferred, to my detriment.

II Kings 2 is the story of Elisha getting a double portion of Elijah. That in and of itself is interesting. What really surprised me was at the end of the chapter where Elisha gets mocked for being bald. I’d always read/heard that they were teenagers (the people who mocked him) but the KJV says “little children.” Because they mocked him 42 of them died. This is something to remember when people are trying to justify the “little” sins in life. The super bowl commercial that only showed a little bit of skin, or who’s humor was only a little crude. Those children only made a little fun of Gods prophet. God takes sin very seriously. It’s scary considering how often I do it.

I was given a new assignment today.  I’m supposed to make an animated discipleship wheel.  I’ve never done an animation before, so I tried it out.  I’ve found I can do simple .gif animations.  Now I’ve got to try and make a more complicated one.  That should be interesting.  For sure it will take a long time.  Working with graphics is time consuming detail work.  I got hit pretty hard yesterday by a cold, but I went to bed real early, and have felt pretty good today (though I still plan on going to bed early).  I’ve found sleep is the best thing I can do when I’m sick.

Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.

I always believe I’m right. Does this make me foolish? Or am I only foolish if I am unwilling to listen to others counsel? An unwillingness to listen to others counsel is often an indicator of a hard heart.

II Kings 1 The king hurts himself and is sick, sends people to ask some foreign god if he will live. Elijah meets these guys on the way and tells them the king is going to die. The guys go back to the king and tell him. The king turns around and sends 50 guys to tell Elijah to come see him. The 50 guys get burned up, so the king sends another 50 and they also get burned up. Yet again the king sends another 50 and this time they beg for they’re lives. God tells Elijah to go see the king. Elijah goes and tells the king the exact same thing he told the original messengers that the king sent. Because the king didn’t listen to God the first time 100 men died. How often do I ignore God the first few times, finally submit later, and how much damage does that cause?