On this Terrestrial Ball

They say that confession is good for the soul.  But isn’t it hard to admit when you’ve done something wrong or disobeyed or even just ignored someone out of spite or indifference? I remember that song by the musical group, Chicago: Hard to Say I’m Sorry .  It's hard for me to say I'm sorry I just want you to know Hold me now I really wanna tell you I'm sorry I could never let you go … After all that we've been through I will make it up to you, I promise to Sounds like a guy really struggling to admit he was wrong.  Why is that?  Why is it so hard to admit our wrongs, our faults, our sins?  Perhaps pride?   No one ever wants to appear as lesser than another. But that’s exactly what Jesus Christ did for everyone.  He loved us so much that God became a lesser being. In the form of both God and man, Jesus humbled himself and came to earth to die in our place to cover for our sins so that we may be made right again with God. Wow. Do you know anyone wh...

Now that I am retired (still getting used to that) I’ve started the habit of waking up early-ish to make a cup of coffee and go out on the patio to enjoy.  To look around at the still, quiet morning – see the sky, look at the flowers and plants in my backyard, to close my eyes and listen to…nothing.  And I must be done before exactly 7:45am as that is when the sun peaks out over my neighbor’s roof as it rises in the morning sky to start the day and goes into my eyes.  But the time before that sun fully rises is like magic. Where I currently dwell in Thailand is very quiet except for the occasional bird chirping.  The air is generally cool in the morning, too.  Unlike the Californian suburb where I used to live – with cars driving by, people powerwalking on their morning jogs or exercising the in the park that was in front of my house, or even the occasional airplane soaring in the sky on its way to LAX.  Now granted, growing up this way I always considered ...

As an American celebrating Christmas in a foreign country, it’s a unique experience.  Visiting Thailand, I do see some Christmas decorations in the malls.  Aluminum Christmas trees of all sizes and colors.  I hear the traditional Christmas music (in English) playing over the speakers in the malls.  So yes, there’s a nod to “Christmas” in Thailand.  But that’s about it.  There’s no Christmas vibe, though.  Usually at this time of year you can tell when people are excitedly shopping for Christmas presents for their loved ones.   And when I drive away from the malls, there are no houses decorated with Christmas lights. Outside of the mall and its commercialized nod to Christmas, you would never know it’s Christmas time here.  And of course, the hot and humid weather with bright sunny days is about as far away from a winter wonderland as you can get.  Though I admit, I am from the southwest part of America where there was little to no s...

Okay, I’m going to rant and complain for a bit.  I actually have nothing to complain about though.  I’m healthy, have a roof over my head and all I need to live.  I have the most awesome wife.  I have Jesus in my life and know in my heart the assurance of Christ’s love and have the promise of one day being in paradise with him.  But that’s the thing with us humans, isn’t it?  We’re never happy.  Always complaining about something even when we really have nothing to complain about.  I think about the verse in the Bible: I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. (Romans 7:15) . That’s that sinful nature in us that we cannot shake without the help of God’s grace.   But it’s such a bummer.  For example, here I am living in a beautiful country in a nice home with my awesome wife. Half the time I find myself complaining about the heat and humidity, poor construction standards, awful traffic an...

Sometimes I wonder why God created humans.  Was He lonely?  No, that would be trying to put human emotions and behaviors onto God.  God is infinite, beyond human understanding. God is eternal.  But think about that.  I mean, how old is God or does He even have an age?  The Bible starts with “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”  But what about before that? And God is one, but also three in one – Father, Son and Holy Spirit ( Trinity is a name ascribed to this description of God).  Kinda blows your mind, processing all that, huh? The simple understanding of God, though – one that we humans can easily understand – is that God is love.  When you think about God this way, everything falls into place – why he created humans, why he is patient with us even though we keep behaving in our self-centered, selfish ways.  It’s all because of love.  About His love for us and that He is love incarnate.  Love is best ex...

I’ve noticed something about the sun.  Besides that it’s hot and, um, bright.  I’ve noticed that the sun is the same no matter where you are on earth.  I was recently in Thailand, then in the United States (on the West Coast).  I was also in Israel some years back, and a couple of times in Belize.  And every time I would watch a sunrise or a sunset; or every time I’d notice the sun during the day, the sun was always the same.  Seems like an obvious kind of observation, right?  Go ahead and say it – “Duh!”   But then consider everything that impacts our view (and perception I might add) of the sun.  A cloudy day.  Hot and cold temperatures.  Dry air and humidity.  A bright blue cloudless sky. The time of day.  There are so many things that influence how we view, feel, perceive, perhaps even interpret, the sun. And yet, it’s the same ball of bright churning gases that we’ve known all our life – warts, solar flares, and ...