Whatever Takes Us Away

Another month has come and gone, and surprisingly, the first month of the New Year went pretty darn fast. I am glad however, that we near spring and warmer weather once again. Just the thought of more snow makes my head turn in a Poltergeist kind of way. Don't get me wrong, I like snow and have enjoyed playing in the snow with my kids, but I really do enjoy the warmer months of the year.

I think I used to get cabin fever, that unrelenting feeling that you'll never see the outside world again, sometime between late November on through about the beginning of March. However, the past couple of years have seen a decline in that feeling. I suppose my taking up hunting as a new hobby has helped in this department, getting me out of doors at least a few times a month from October through the end of January. This, possibly, will keep cabin fever at bay - at least until April when I will actually be able to get out, work in the yard and see my perinnial flowers in bloom once again.

I will be outside doing other things of course. I have been asked by two unnamed suspects to do the Flying Pig half marathon this spring. This means I will have to get my running shoes out and get back into training mode yet again.

So, for all of you couch potatoes that feel the dread of winter creeping up on you, get out and do something. What our country needs is not another wonder pill to keep us thin, but just a little bit of movement to get the blood pumping a couple times a week. I am not suggesting that everyone get out and do a half or full marathon, just get out and walk for Pete's sake! There are pills for just about everything these days and little is done for one's health by one's self (I am not saying that all pills are evil, but just watch TV for a while and see how many commercials are now for some drug that will "improve" some bodily function that could be helped with proper dieting and exercise). Winter is drawing towards its close here in southern Ohio, start making plans to do some exploration, walk the local park, or go for a short run, some of you may even have a dog that could use the exercise, take your dog for a walk each day - you both might find you feel better in a matter of weeks.

As I get back into a running routine I will try to keep a log here as to how things are progressing. Those that read this, let me know how you are doing in the same respect. I'll be glad to cheer you on.

For a biblical perspective, take some time to read what the Apostle Paul says about exercise. Yes, even the Bible tells us to keep our bodies in shape - and I don't mean round. I Corinthians 9:23-25 While this isn't specifically speaking towards our physical attributes, it is helpful to know there are references to our physical well-being. Likewise, Hebrews 12:1-3 helps illustrate this point. As Christians, when we take serious our spiritual well-being, our physical well-being is also kept in check. Strengthen your mind and fix it on the work done on the cross and through the resurrection, and strengthen your body as well. For, you cannot have one without the other, if the body dies, so dies the mind contained within.

I am not normally one to post on things political, but recently I have heard an outcry that goes against Biblical Christianity. I am saddened and puzzled by the remarks I hear.

Sadly, I think that most “Christians” today fail to see God at work in all things. I hear reports of those “Christians” praying for the failure of our newly elected president, and I must say, I find these reports most disturbing. Please do not misunderstand me, I am not a flag-waving democratic party rally-boy, but as we live in a democratic republic, we the people did elect this many to be our president; like it or not those are the rules set forth by our founding fathers. Those who would pray for this man’s failure are blind to see that God does work in all things – for His glory, not for our wants or desires.

If, for example, you believe in the Christian God and believe that He alone is in sovereign control, why do you rebel against what He has put before us in the Scriptures? Romans 13:1-3 makes it painfully clear, “1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.” You see, to ask God to go against himself – by seeking to have Him overthrow His decision to put someone in authority – seems most absurd. Your reasoning dances in circles and makes less than zero sense. If you call yourself a Christian, adhere to the principles, rules and mandates set forth in the single rule of faith and practice, the Bible. Read through it and attempt to put those principles into practice in your life. Please, do not let friends, family or the media tell you what is and is not, especially when it comes to the Scriptures! Going to church on Sunday mornings does not constitute a Christian lifestyle, your thoughts and actions Monday through Saturday speak volumes to what you truly believe.

So, if you are going to pray to God about our president be specific. If you disagree about some of his policies pray that God’s mighty hand would not allow such policy changes that go against Christian belief and doctrine. However, as it is stated in Scripture, those in authority have been given that authority from God. Do not pray that God would overturn His own decision, but rather, that we as a “nation under God” would have a collective change of heart and that heart would be repentant.

Like it or not, we have a newly elected president who has authority to govern from both man (who went to the ballots) and from God (who gave us the ability to go to the ballots). Be found on the correct side of the equation and, “do what is right.”

Since my youth I have loved and enjoyed being in the outdoors; fishing, hiking, exploring or just playing around in the woods. In recent years I have picked up the hobby of hunting, mostly for deer, and this by means of bow and arrow. My first year found no success, but good excitement and plenty of deer sightings. Last year I was successful and managed to take two deer, one buck and one doe. This deer season has been challenging, with plenty of deer sightings, however, I have been largely unsuccessful. I did manage to take a great deer in November, but have missed enough to make this season a frustrating one.

This year the state of Ohio increased the number of deer a hunter could harvest, double in all areas of the state from previous years. That said, where we live in the southern part of the state I could, in theory, harvest six deer from October through January. My problem this season has not been the inability to locate them, though their patterns have been much different this year, but my inability to judge distances in order to accurately place my shots. If my count is correct I have missed six shots due to distance. This is my frustration. These shots have all been short of the intended target, some as close as fifteen yards, most from 30 to 45 yards. I know there are products out there, laser range finders for example, that will help reduce greatly my inability to judge these distances, and in the off season I do plan to acquire one - I hope this will increase my chances of taking more and better deer.

My frustration was increased even more over the weekend as I cleaned out our refrigerator and freezer. Last year, with two deer in the freezer, that meat accounted for about 85% of my family's red meat intake. As I cleaned out the freezer I realized that I only have five packages of ground venison, not nearly enough to get through nine months of eating, especially when we have FOUR kids and our pseudo-adopted fifth - all who really do enjoy the venison over beef.

Thankfully, Ohio has a long bow season. I still have three weeks to try to get at least one more deer from the woods into my freezer. The good thing now, is that the deer where I am hunting are finally starting to get into a regular pattern and I should be able to take at least that one additional deer. The season is long, hunting can be frustrating, but it is worth the time spent when, at the end of the season, I can say that I provided for my family, myself and others - and with God's help I will do just that.

I start yet another semester at Liberty University online next week. After this spring semester I will have completed my associates degree in religion, the first of quite possibly a few. One thing I have noticed with my schooling, as well as with my wife's, is that text books cost so much more than the paper they are printed on. Not to mention the fact that last semester I had over a dozen books for 6 classes. Now, some I was able to find through a used online bookseller and save much coinage! However, the majority of the books were new and the average cost was over $80 (a few were well above the $100 mark).

I find it funny, amusing and frustrating all at the same time that in order to obtain a better paying job you have to pay out the nose, not merely for the schooling, but for the books that are used during the schooling. For this coming semester I have already spent over $425 and still have two more books to buy within the next week. The two I am still waiting on, if I buy them new, will cost $190 - so needless to say I am trying to find used or a place that rents these two required books.

All of this to say, that although I find schooling worth the costs, it feels like I'm being drained of any extra resources I thought I had. I really don't like money, but it seems a necessity in our world.

While flipping through the channels one evening I came across a National Geographic show on “The Lost Kings of the Bible.” I caught it after it had already begun, but Noah and I decided to start watching it (and when it went to commercial we flipped to a hockey game). Immediately after this program, which seemed mostly to be about King David, came another show about Alexander the Great. I noticed an immediate difference to how these two shows could take similar topics (ancient kings of the Middle East) and have tow very different approaches to the historical data.

With King David we have biblical data that speaks of this great king of Israel. And, in addition to this there are sources outside of the Bible that speak of this person and his “house.” Some of those on the program thought this was not enough to “prove” that David ever existed or that he was ever a king in ancient Palestine.

With Alexander the Great there are written accounts of him, and as a result of his conquests from Greece to the Middle East, much of the Mediterranean became very Greek (Helenization). Many of the written accounts we have of Alexander and his exploits come to us many centuries after the fact, but most historians take this as true as truth can be.

The juxtaposition between the two programs and the two men portrayed is this: if you were a biblical character, person, king, prophet or otherwise you probably didn’t really exist; but, if you were a non-biblical character, person, king, or otherwise you probably did exist and even if there are no archeological records or evidences of your existence you can still be proved to have existed, if by no other means than to “recreate” ancient cities virtually with computer generated graphics or cartoons. This has become our “truth” and many today believe these so-called facts to be just that, the truth. It is a sad state of affairs when the biblical accounts that we have (in the myriad of ancient manuscripts) are discounted as meaningless and without substance or truth. Likewise, it is a sad state of affairs when things such as Alexander’s tomb (of which we know absolutely nothing) are made to be of more importance and given more “truth” points than things which we do have in written historical form.

This is a sad reality of where our nation and our world are heading. We have seen Europe grow increasingly more violent towards anyone claiming to be Christian, and so many of the beautiful cathedrals built in Europe are nothing more than historical sites for tourists to visit. The U.S. is rapidly heading down that same path of truthlessness and is a place where Christianity is constantly under attack. We are supposed to embrace tolerance here, but that tolerance does not extend to Christians.

These two TV programs didn’t make me realize this, but only put a stronger emphasis on what I had already known. For those of you that chance to read this, whether you are a Christian or not, know that truth is relevant and that it does exist, you need only to look into the matters at hand to find what the truth is for any given subject. The media controls what truth has become, but at some point, they too will be subject to that same measure.