Thr Rulers of Israel and Judah

Here is a timeline of all the rulers of Israel and Judah from 1 and 2 Kings (Click here)...

Informative and easy to follow.

I love you,

Daddy

Debating the Existence of God

Here is a link (click) to a blog debate between a Christian named John Henry and an atheist blog moderator named J.T. Eberhard on his blog "What Would JT Do?" (WWJTD).

John Henry's response to J.T. is the one of the most thoughtful and enlightening summary arguments in favor of Christianity that I have ever read. 

I love you,

Daddy

I Will Stand

Through trials and temptations I will stand

In distress and affliction I will stand

Though a host encamp against me I will stand

Or the snares of death confront me I will stand

Speaking truth in my heart I will stand

In grace, by faith I will stand

Taking refuge in the Lord I will stand

Boasting in His Name I will stand

Placing all my trust in Him I will stand

It's a Mire-acle

I started planning a trip to Deer Camp with one of my best buddies from high school about a month ago.  We finally met up yesterday afternoon and headed out there to spend the day and night roaming the property.  We were really looking forward to the woods - and the porterhouse steaks I had packed in my cooler for dinner that evening!

Within 10 minutes of arriving, my friend wanted to hurry out to the stand.  We had not even moved our bags from his big 1/2 ton truck to the camp house!  I should probably tell you at this point that we had received about four inches of rain that weekend.  It was all blue skies as we arrived, but as we made our way along the backwoods trail in the truck, the mud became muddier and the puddles quickly grew into small ponds. 

Thankfully, the truck cut through the water in 4-wheel high all the way back to the stand we were planning to occupy for the next few hours.  As we reached the stand, I pointed down a trail to our right where the feeder was located about 50 yards away.  I initially suggested we park near the stand, but we were going to put some corn out around the feeder in hopes of attracting the feral hogs, so he said we could just drive  over there really quick...This is where our troubles began.

We made our way down the path about 20 yards, at which point my friend stopped the truck to shift into 4-wheel low.  All of a sudden, the whole right side of the truck began sinking!  He told me to open my passenger door and take a look, but as I opened the door, it scraped the muddy sand which had risen to meet the underside of the door.  We jumped out of the truck and spent the next hour trying every which way to extract it ourselves.  It was at this point that I suggested we say a prayer.

To make a long story short, we ended up having to call your uncle to extract us from the mire.  He brought your other uncle and another friend to help.  We all spent the next four hours knee-deep in mud digging around each tire, then finally dragging the vehicle out with the help of a tractor and a jeep.  It was fully ten o'clock before we returned safely in mud-coated truck to the camp house to cook those steaks and crash for the night...

This morning I arrived home, and the first thing I did was jump into the hot shower to clean up.  It was here that I had a revelation about this whole experience.  It is a metaphor for my life right now.  I have been "stuck in the mud and spinning my wheels" trying to fight my way out of every predicament in my own strength.  I am that truck!  And the only way I am going to be set free is by trusting in Jesus and surrendering my life over to Him.  He is more powerful than any "tractor" ever made, and He will help me get back on the right path if I listen to His instructions and stop spinning my wheels - which only makes me sink deeper in the mire.

Thank you for being such a loving, obedient son.

I love you,

Daddy


Save me, O God,
For the waters have threatened my life.
I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me.
But as for me, my prayer is to You, O LORD, at an acceptable time;
O God, in the greatness of Your lovingkindness,
Answer me with Your saving truth.
Deliver me from the mire and do not let me sink;
May I be delivered from my foes and from the deep waters.
May the flood of water not overflow me
Nor the deep swallow me up,
Nor the pit shut its mouth on me.
-Psalm 69:1-2,13-15

...For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.  For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.  It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.” -2 Peter 2:20-22 (PLEASE PRAY FOR ME.)