Questions and Thought for June 26th, 2016!!!

Questions and Thought for June 26th, 2016!!!
Good Sunday Morning as June closes this week!!!
1. Question – Have you asked yourself, ‘How’s my hope glass?’ Full, Dwindling? Empty? Is my future bright with hope? Do you pray without faith?’
2. Thought – from Streams in the Desert, daily devotion for June 26th, by L. B. Cowman.
I suspect that the source of every bit of sorrow in my life can be traced to simple unbelief. If I truly believe the past is totally forgiven, the present is supplied with power, and the future is bright with hope, how could I be anything but completely happy?
Yes, the future is bright, because of God’s faithfulness. His abiding truth does not change with my mood, and He never waivers when I stumble and fall over a promise of His through my unbelief. His faithfulness stands firm and as prominent as mountain peaks of pearl splitting the clouds of eternity. And each base of His hills is rooted in an unfathomable depth on the rock of God.
Mont Blanc does not disappear, become a passing vision or a whimsical mist, simply because a climber grows dizzy on its slopes.
Is it any wonder that we do not receive God’s blessing after stumbling over His promise through unbelief? I’m not saying that faith merits an answer or that we can work to earn it. But God Himself has made believing a condition of receiving, and the Giver has a sovereign right to choose His own terms for His gifts.
Unbelief continually asks, ” How can this be possible?” It is always full of ‘how’s,” yet faith needs only one great answer to even ten thousand “how’s.” That answer is – GOD!
No one accomplishes so much in so little time as when he or she is praying. And the following thought certainly aligns well with all that the Lord Jesus Christ taught on prayer: If only ONE BELIEVER WITH TOTAL FAITH rises up, the history of the world will be changed.
​Will YOU be that one that rises up, submitting yourself to the sovereignty​ and guidance of God our Father?
Prayer without faith quickly degenerates into an aimless routine or heartless hypocrisy. However, prayer with faith brings the omnipotence of God to the support of our petitions. It is better not to pray until your entire being responds to, and understands, the power of prayer. When genuine prayer is even whispered, earth and heaven, and the past and future, say, “Amen!”
This is the kind of prayer Christ prayed. (P.C.M. & A.E. McAdam & James Smetham & Samuel Hart)
“What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?” (Romans 3:5)
“Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except those things outside the will of God.”
While walking and exercising the other day I was pondering hope. Lewis has a great chapter on hope in Mere Christianity. The question that kept coming back at me was this: ‘Do you think God would of sent His Son here to save us if we didn’t have hope?’   ‘How’s my hope glass?’
Have a great close of June!
 
rem – I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.
Question & Thought & ANDs.

Question & Thought for June 25th, 2016!!!

Question & Thought for June 25th, 2016!!!

Good Saturday Morning Great Britain!!
1. Question – What countries in the world are looked upon as global leaders? America? China? Russia? France? Germany? Australia? Mexico? Israel? Britain? Is there such a thing as a global leader or has this become the United Nations or the European Union? In today’s world what country embraces nationalism? If America is just like the rest – what country will pick up the global baton and address global issues on immigration, borders, debt, and terror? What country is trying to make itself better for tomorrow’s children?
2. Thought – Unlike the British and the French, America was not a colonizing power: (In fact, America had once been a colony of Britain.) America sought no colonies for itself in the manner of the British and French. Indeed, in the decades after World War II, America encouraged Britain to grant independence to its colonies. Thus America’s influence in the world, unlike Europe’s, was not based on conquest but rather on attraction to American ideals and the American way of life.
Milton writes in Paradise Lost, “Who overcomes by force, hath overcome but half his foe.” America’s influence was greater because its institutions and values were adopted rather than imposed. Still, America’s triumph was accompanied by the shocking realization that if America fell, there would be no one left to pick up the baton. The end of the American era would seem to signal also the end of Western civilization. (America – Imagine a world Without Her by Dinesh D’Souza)
“Great Britain hath no more right to put their hands in my pocket without my consent, than I have to put my hands into yours for money.” (George Washington, 1774)
“To love our country, our country ought to be lovely.” (Edmund Burke)
A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.” (Saul Bellow)
rem – I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.
Question & Thought & ANDs.

Question & Thought for June 24th, 2016!!!

Question & Thought for June 24th, 2016!!!
Good Friday Morning!!!
1. Question – What is the expected value of believing?
2. Thought – You are undecided about whether to believe in God. The sensible thing to do is compare the expected value of believing with the expected value of not believing – then you will know which option is more prudent.
What is the expected value of believing? If God exists, then He will grant you eternal bliss, whereas if He does not exist, you will lose a finite amount of worldly pleasure. Now, infinity minus a finite amount equals infinity. Therefore the expected value of believing is infinite.
What is the expected value of not believing? If God exists, then He may punish you with eternal damnation, whereas if He does not exist, you will gain a finite amount of worldly pleasure. So the rewards of not believing are small, at best. Clearly, therefore, prudence dictates that you choose the believing option and its infinite expected value. (Blaise Pascal in The Philosopher’s Notebook by Mark Stephens)
“Greater in battle than the man who would conquer a thousand-thousand men, is he who would conquer just one – himself.” (Siddhartha Gautama)
rem – I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.
Question & Thought & ANDs.

Question & Thought for June 23rd, 2016!!!

Question & Thought for June 23rd, 2016!!!
Good Thursday Morning!
1. Question – Would the best world to the environmentalists be one in which humans make the least impact?
2. Thought – With responsibility comes blessing. Mankind is permitted and encouraged to use the earth’s resources for God-honoring dominion. This biblical view stands at odd with much of modern environmentalism, which is motivated by a concern to protect the natural environment, especially from harmful human activity. A Christian desires to protect the creation, but contemporary environmentalists often suggest that mankind is an unnatural and dangerous blight on the earth. The best world in their minds is one in which humans make the least impact. This is not a biblical view. God designed the world for mankind, and He designed its resources for man’s good and man’s progress. The emergence of human civilizations that make use of the earth’s resources is a good thing. (Cultural Geography by Dennis Bollinger)
“The enemy is not only ‘us’ but virtually all human activities…What is called for, then, is a strategy for transforming society so that the present rapid acceleration of extinction becomes a deceleration. The transformation must be universal because it is the everyday activities of human beings that most threaten other organisms…Halting the growth of the human population as rapidly as is humanly possible and starting a gradual decline to a permanently sustainable level are obviously essential if the populations of most other organisms are to have a chance of persisting.” (Extinction: The Causes and Consequences of the Disappearance of Species, by Paul and Anne Erlich)
rem – I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.
Question & Thought & ANDs.