Purchased Plans For DIY Trailer

One of the things I like to do it work with my hands. If you have read this blog for a while you know that means I do most of the repair work on our vehicles, and help building and repairing things around the house. I think some of the appeal for me is that working in ministry the results of ones work are largely intangible. Yes, I produce two sermons (sometimes more) a week, that is a measure of work. Changes in people, however, which is what those sermons seek to bring as they bring forth the word of God, is something that is not really measurable, nor is it a task where you can ever say you have finished. When you fix the brakes on the car, once they are back together and working properly, you can take satisfaction in a job well done.

With all that in mind, this past Friday I purchased some plans to build my own trailer off of e-bay. This person had both plans for small tear-drop trailers and for larger ones that I would not really call tear-drop trailers, but are probably based on them. I purchased the plans for the larger one, although I may purchase them for the smaller one later. Once they arrive, my hope is to make that my relaxation project. If all goes well, in several months I will have a new trailer that can also serve as Justin's play-house in the back yard.

If the e-bay ad can be trusted it will weigh in well under 1000 pounds, so my wife could even pull it with here Mazda and I could pull it with my Sunrunner. The advantage of that is cheaper gas costs while traveling. I will see how it turns out.

I don't know what I will do with it when it is finished. Definitely camp a few times, but I still prefer my tent trailer for camping because I like the canvas. Who knows, maybe I will sell it and build another.

Good Modern Proverb

This is something to make a person think.

Climate Change: The Deniers

I stumbled upon this while researching some things for my Sunday evening sermon. No I am not going to preach on climate change for or against. I was simply searching for the use of the word deniers. However, I am going to read through this collection of articles to see what I can see. It is nice to see a publication like the National Post putting together such a series of articles.

Powered by ScribeFire.

It All Starts Here

In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and
darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was
hovering over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:1-2 (ESV)

This
year I started to read through the Bible from beginning to end. This is
not something new to me, but for the last year or so, I have focused on
reading through the gospels and the letters of Paul. I originally had put a two year Bible reading plan together in E-sword and had been following that, but after a week or so, I realized I was reading to keep up with the plan, rather than seeking to let the Scriptures sink in and seeking to understand and apply them. So, I decided to start over again. I still use the E-sword plan, but I only plan to select it being read when I want to move ahead. That is one thing I like about it. I will allow me to keep looking at the same section of scripture until I select that it is read.

Having said that, what I have been looking at it Genesis 1. I have read through it, and contemplated it, but I still don't think it has sunk in the way it should, so I will keep looking at it.

What I have been particularly considering over the last day or so is the first several verses. The first thing that stands out, especially in a time when random chance in evolution is the dominant and accepted explanation of the origin of all things, is that in the beginning was God. That is who it all starts with. There was a time, if that word has any meaning at that point, where all that was, was God.

That leads to what I keep trying to wrap my head around is the description of what was, or better, wasn't there. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, but before he did so it was "without form and void." I keep trying to think what that would be like. Try as I might I cannot because I keep giving form to what was without form. Trying to consider what nothing is like is like trying to think of nothing. If you actively do it, you keep coming up with something. In the beginning it was God and nothing else.

Then God did something amazing. He made everything. He created the whole universe. It was not--then God created it. That is more amazing than anything I can imagine.

I would hazard a guess that at least part of the problem many people have with this is that it shows that God is completely 'other' than the universe around us. We live in this creation. Our whole frame of reference is this creation. It is through our created senses that we observe and interact with the creation around us. Yet, none of this, not one bit of it, existed before God created it. That means the frame of reference for God is completely outside of ours. It means that God is God not in the small way people often think of God, but in a way far bigger, far different, far more powerful than we usually ever consider.

If nothing else this should bring a sense of awe in who God is. A sense of his overarching status above all things. He is the one who made all things, who was before all things, and who is outside of all things.

The other thing this brings to mind is this. Since God created all things, that means they are all his. His right to command and do whatever he desires is founded in his position as the creator of all things. That is something it seems we do not like to consider. We prefer to be considered free agents, but this reminds us of the truth of what Paul said in Acts 17, "In him we live and move and have our being."

Powered by ScribeFire.

Dutch Cowboys--Who Would Have Thought

Major Sci-Fi Geek

I actually thought I would do better, but there were at least a couple that I did not recognize at all and had to guess at.

	I received 78 credits on The Sci Fi Sounds Quiz How much of a Sci-Fi geek are you?
Take the Sci-Fi Movie Quiz Canon S5

I Found This Interesting

I had not thought about this before, but was referred to this link by an acquaintance of mine. It does a good job of explaining the monetary system that the world currently functions under, and for that it is quite useful. I realize it takes a particular view on this system and proposes some alternatives, but I also question some of the conclusions and alternatives proposed. Having said that, overall I see the danger of this sort of monetary system and understand how it takes the power out of the hands of the elected government and puts it into the hands of bankers. Is this some great conspiracy? It could be, but I sort of doubt it. More likely it is something that has allowed people to live the way they would like to live, and thus while not understood it is accepted. Take the time to watch it (47 minutes) so you can understand how our monetary system actually works and where money comes from.

Justin Wanted This Posted

On The Start Of a New Year

Once again it is a new year, and, as has become usual for me since I serve in a congregation that has both new year's eve and new year's day services, I simply went to bed and slept through the change of year. However, one of the things that I found to be a real answer to prayer for me, was that I actually slept well. I slept deeply and long, and feel better rested than I have in almost two weeks.

The reason I had not been sleeping well was that I had hurt my back shoveling snow on December 17th. Since then getting a good sleep has been difficult. Even pain killers and muscle relaxants did not give me the sort of sleep I had last night. Even though my back is not pain free, it no longer aches while I am not moving. That is something I have been praying for, and I thank God for it. I pray that he will heal my back all the way so that I can get my snowblower fixed and start to do things around the house again, but I am thankful that things seem to be getting better at last.

To everyone reading this, have a blessed new year, and may God by his Spirit and his Word, bring you to see him more clearly and love him more every day.

Today I started reading through the Bible. I am not planning on doing it in any quick manner. I have done the read through the Bible in a year plans, and they have value, but sometimes I find they simply cover too much for me to read it they way I would like. Over the past year or so I have been using a read through the gospels and letters of Paul. That has been very beneficial, but now I want to return to reading not just the New Testament but the Older one as well. How long this will take me I don't know. I expect at least a couple of years as I am going to take my time so I can consider what God is saying in the Bible more carefully.

Now I need to get going for our new year's day service.