Shaw On Baseball

 

Just in time for Baseball’s All Star Game next Tuesday, it’s good to get a foreigner’s view of the National Pastime.  Irishman George Bernard Shaw had the following observations after attending a ball game in New York.

 

“As I left the ground one of my courteous hosts expressed a hope that I would come again.  When a man asks you to come and see baseball played twice it sets you asking yourself why you want to see it played once.  That is a totally unanswerable question.  It is a mad world.  But I will not deny that I enjoyed the afternoon.  I may have the makings of a fan in me for all I know.”

 

“Baseball has the great advantage over cricket of being sooner ended.”

 

“Who is this Baby Ruth?  And what does she do?”

 

 

Taken from Baseball’s Greatest Quotations, by Paul Dickson

What Wondrous Love is This

This American folk hymn echoes the words of 1 John 3.1: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”

 

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul, what wondrous love is this, O my soul!  What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul, to bear the dreadful curse for my soul!

To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, I will sing, to God and to the Lamb, I will sing; to God and to the Lamb, who is the great I AM, while millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing, while millions join the theme, I will sing!

And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on, and when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on; and when from death I’m free, I’ll sing and joyful be, and through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on, and through eternity I’ll sing on!

 

The words capture key points of the gospel message of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.  Sin causes a DREADFUL curse on my soul – not just a slight wrongdoing but a death-producing, mindset changing, soul blackening profanity.  Only God could remove the curse, which He did through the sacrifice of His Son, as explained in Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 5-19.  It is only through the Father’s WONDROUS love that the curse is atoned for and we can be set free from death. 

The proper response to such a magnificent, awesome gift is to praise God and the Lamb with all my brothers and sisters, for all time.  I’ll sing on!

Generosity

Paul encouraged his friends to be generous givers in 2 Corinthians 8.  He called it an act of God’s grace that they would be allowed to participate in a relief effort for fellow believers in Jerusalem.  In verse 7, He proclaimed them to be excellent

-In faith

-In speech

-In knowledge

-In all earnestness

And he asked that they also excel in this “act of grace” – giving.

Bigger Nerdiness

This one requires some knowledge of the Periodic Table.  Hint – Sodium Chloride is NaCl ( My dad the chemical engineer used to ask us to pass the Knackle when he wanted salt).  The joke:

 

Do you know any good jokes about Sodium?

 

Na. 

 

 

Thanks for sending this one along, Diane.

 

 

 

Captive Audience

Back in the day when hitchhikers still wandered the land, our church was using the James Kennedy Evangelism Explosion program for following up with people who visited the church on Sunday mornings.  This method has the well-known pair of questions for assessing one’s relationship to the Lord: “If you were to die today, do you know you will go to heaven?” and “If God asks you why he should let you into heaven, what would you say?”

The correct answer to the second question goes something like “Dear Father, I believe in your dear Son Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior.  You promised that anyone who does so would be welcomed into Heaven and live forever.  And you keep your promises.”  I know in my head that is the right answer, but I suspect after reading about the encounters  Isaiah and Moses had with God  (Isaiah 6.1-6 and Exodus 3.1-6) that if He asked me such a question, I would be unable to speak or move and probably just fall right down on the ground.  The common bad answer to the question?  “I have been good, even very good.”

The Kennedy program provided a presentation and outline along with the questions.  We had to practice.  My best practice times were to a “captive audience.”  I would pick up hitchhikers on the highway.  My part of the conversation would go something like, “what’s your  name?  Where you headed?  We are doing a new program at church. Can I practice with you?”  I would launch the presentation, ask the two questions, and see where the conversation went.   

I don’t recall any of those hitchhikers turning their life over to Jesus on the spot.  But as far as I can tell, my responsibility is to say what I know about Jesus, and the Holy Spirit takes care of changing attitudes, convicting of sin and righteousness, granting salvation and all the other heavy stuff.  I just wish there were more hitchhikers around.

 

Cool Number Dates – 7/6/14-7/12/14

The cool dates are sparse this July, but three occur this week!

Two of them happen tomorrow, 7/7/14 is both an addition (7 + 7 = 14) and multiple of 7 day.

And the third cook date is 7/11/14.  Get to your local 7-11 store early and ask for a free slurpee before they run out!

Siesta

Keep the dream alive.  Hit the snooze button.

I already want to take a nap tomorrow

iTired.  There’s a nap for that

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest… (Proverbs 6.10)

Important Consecration

Some of the passages in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy lull you into plodding through, and then all of a sudden some major event happens.  This is the case in Leviticus 8 and 9, where Aaron and his sons are consecrated as the first High Priests of the nation.

In chapter 8 Moses is the main actor.  He washes the candidates off, dresses them with skillfully made everything – coat, sash, robe, ephod, band, breastpiece, turban, golden plate, and holy crown. This is like make-up for the orcs in a Lord of the Rings movie. 

Then Moses anoints and consecrates the work area – the whole tabernacle, the altar, the utensils, the basin and stand – seven times.  And he pours oil on Aaron’s head. I can’t imagine the cleaning bills for those outfits.

Then comes a description of Moses’ intricate arrangements of various burned and discarded body parts of the bull of the sin offering, the ram of the burnt offering, the ram of ordination, and various anointings and sprinklings, including blood on earlobes , thumbs, and big toes.

Eight days later, Aaron and his sons are in charge of repeat ceremonies. There is a re-do of the bull for a sin offering and ram for the burnt offering plus a goat, a calf, a lamb, an ox, another ram, and grain. The order of events, the presentations, and the placement of the parts are all described – this goes on for twenty-some verses.  The only reason given for all this is in verse 9.6: “This is the thing that the LORD commanded you to do, that the glory of the LORD may appear to you.”

Once all the offerings are placed on the altar just so, Aaron blesses the people and comes down from the altar.  He and Moses enter the tent of meeting and upon coming out, the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people.  These are all important steps for the nation as they move forward with God.  Moses had come down from the Mountain with a shiny face and the Lord’s thunder.  Aaron comes down from the altar and the glory of the Lord shows up, as promised.  The high priests are established as the LORD’s men.

And the seal of approval is in verse 24: “And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.”  Amen.