Obviously

A funeral procession was heading down the main street of town.  A stranger asked the man next to him, “Whose funeral is it?”

The man answered, “The guy in the first car.”

Tie It To The Sermon

We have an ongoing adult Sunday School class during the second morning service whose topic every week is a discussion of the sermon just delivered.  It works well for newcomers and guests, with some sort of introductory ice-breaker and a leader prepared to guide the discussion.

One of our elders, Evan, applied the same concept to our Tuesday morning prayer meeting – let’s pray about what we heard in the sermon.  It might not work with all sermon topics, but this one was very apropos – “Righteous Requests Without the ‘Right’ Response”, from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7.7-11.

The structure was very straightforward – a short sermon outline to remind folks of the message, and then suggested prayer topics.  The list included several members of the congregation who have had serious battles with illness, aging parents, or other difficulties.

Today’s Odometer

todayodometer

Check out the odometer reading on my 2004 Honda Pilot, as it sits RIGHT NOW  (12/28/14, 4:45PM)

The MSU women’s basketball team just lost, the Lions are likely to lose, but  THIS is cool.

Last year, I tried to hit an odometer reading but drove too many miles, and ended up with November 44th, 2013. So it is especially sweet that the mile turned over just down the street and I could slide right into the driveway.  Come over quick if you want to see it.

I don’t plan to drive 100 miles tomorrow to hit 122914, and I don’t plan to let the car sit for a year to hit 122815, so this is it until I get a different vehicle. No month 13 in sight, although I could go European and put the day before the month.

The word problem for today, is either (a) how many miles does this man drive in a year, or (b) how many days has it been since the last odometer posting on this blog?

Cool Number Dates – 12/28/14-1/3/15

Two weeks ago there were four even-numbered dates; last week there were three; and this week there are just two: 12/28/14 and 12/30/14.  Next year – 2015 – there are none, but there are lots of dates that are all divisible by 3 or 5.  For those interested, the next time there are exactly TWO even-numbered dates in the same week will be the week starting May 29, 2016; there are two even dates in June.

 

Also, look for the CoolNumbers2015 listing.

Praise Wordy

Psalm 145 gives eleven different words or phrases as synonyms for proclaiming the greatness of our God. The list is not exhaustive (proclaim is not there).

– Extol (verse 1)

– Bless (verses 1, 2, 10, 21)

– Praise(verses 2, 3)

– Commend (verse 4)

– Declare (verse 4, 6)

– Meditate (verse 5)

– Speak of (verses 6, 11, 21)

– Pour forth (verse 7)

– Sing aloud (verse 7)

-Tell (verse 11)

– Make known (verse 12)

A second list could be made from all the ways the LORD works for his people (mighty deeds, steadfast love, satisfy desires, preserves, etc). The psalmist has good reason for multiplying his praise words.

Awesome Waiting

Advent is a season of waiting, particularly waiting for Christmas to arrive. Based on past experiences for most of us, the anticipation of Christmas is worth waiting for. We know what is coming – family gatherings, good food, presents, games, rest and relaxation. We want it to come and we know WHEN it is coming, so we can make all the preparations – turkey, tree, decorations, and desserts.
In Luke 2, Simeon and Anna are waiting but not quite sure what for. They probably knew each other; how many people could both be in the temple every day and not at least notice each other occasionally? Simeon had a promise – “it had been revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” Assuming Anna was a competent prophetess she must have had some idea that an important person was coming. Her father’s name, Phanuel, means Face of God and her own name means grace; she trusted God to be working around her all the time.
In any case, Simeon and Anna waited well – being righteous and devout, worshiping with fasting and prayer. When Joseph and Mary showed up at the temple, the two of them were ready. Simeon took the child in his arms, blessing God and uttering prophecies for the boy, the parents, and the nation. Anna immediately gave thanks and started speaking to everyone about the redemption of Jerusalem and all of Israel.
Their joy and awe was obvious. Simeon’s faith grew as he realized God had once again kept His promises. Anna rejoices because she had seen the grace of God in the face of this little child. May our waiting during and after this Advent season be full of expectation and awe at the real circumstance behind the festivities – Immanuel, God with us.

Reasoned Benefit

Blaise Pascal was a deep and prodigious thinker in both Mathematics and Christian Theology. His famous Pensees, actually collated and published after his death, contained an analysis (thought #233) that has come to be called Pascal’s Wager – it will be of greater benefit to believe in Jesus than not. He was not trying to prove the existence of God, but giving a mathematical approach for making a choice about belief.
His work was one of the first to examine Expected Value in decision making. There are two parts to expected value – the probability of a particular event occurring and the reward (value) of that event.

Pascal’s Wager examines the costs and benefits of believing in Jesus. The cost in this life would include the study, discipline, and potential ridicule involved in being His disciple. Assigning a value to such a cost is very subjective, but let’s just say the cost is 1,000 units. The reward for belief would be eternal paradise – an infinite amount.
Now we factor in the probability that Jesus is, indeed, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Suppose you have grave doubts and only give a 1% possibility of this being so. The expected value of believing is the (probability that the God of the Bible exists times the reward of believing) minus the (probability God does not exist times the cost of believing). With our assigned values:

1% x infinity – 99% x (1000)

The stunner in the math is that infinity outweighs everything else. If there is just a tiny possibility that Jesus is right, and even if the price of discipleship is very high, the expected value of an eternity in heaven makes it a good bet to believe.

The potential reward of eternal life is a powerful incentive, but some are weighed down when they count the cost. Others can’t imagine such a thing as a sovereign creator providing a solution to man’s greatest problem. And still others are oblivious and don’t know that a wager is even being made. In any case, the Bible addresses Pascal’s wager in 1 Corinthians 4.17: “…this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison…” Infinity outweighs everything else.