Standing on the Promises

This morning, we had a guest speaker at church. The speaker was from a program called Walk Through the Bible. He spoke about their program and walked us through the Bible from creation to the birth of Issac. One of the things he focused on were the promises given to Abraham. God gave Abraham one command, to leave his country. But God promised 7 things. He talked about how we often view the Old Testament as being a bunch of commands. But he said that it is a book of promise. Indeed the Bible is a book of promises. If we follow the commands of God, he will bless us.

Often times, we talk about being saved by faith and that works are not required. This is true for receiving the promise of eternal life. The Bible is very clear that believing in Christ is all that is necessary for salvation. However, if this is all we ever do, we are denying ourselves of the many other promises God wants to give us. By trusting God and following his commands, we will find that God is faithful to us and will fulfill his promises.

Will you follow God and accept his promise?

And the life everlasting

The Apostle Creed is a statement of the beliefs of Christianity. We often recite it in church services. It reads

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.

who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit

born of the Virgin Mary.

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried.

On the third day he rose again.

He ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand

of God the Father Almighty.

From thence he shall come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

Amen.

Something that has always been hard for me to understand is everlasting life. In my mind, eternity is a concept I cannot grasp. It is hard for me to imagine living forever and ever and ever... Forever is a long time! I believe that I will live with God forever in heaven, but I cannot understand forever. It gives me a headache to think about it!

One thing that gives me comfort is the words of the song Hymn of Promise. Written by Natalie Sleeth, it was sung at her husband's funeral shortly after being written. It speaks of life and death, winter and spring, and faith and doubt.

In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see. 

There’s a song in every silence, seeking word and melody;
There’s a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity,
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

When I was young, I use to sing this song all the time. I would often tell my grandma I was going to sing a solo and get out my hymnal and sing it to her. A while back, we sang this song at church. Because it speaks so much about what I do not understand, it was impossible for me to sing without tearing up. I my doubt there is believing. At the end of my life I will find eternity. I do not understand it now, it is something only God can see. Praise the Lord! Help my unbelief!

Return to Service

Today was the first day back after Spring Break. The students were good today. We were studying the amplitude of waves. Tomorrow we will be studying earthquakes. Our primary focus will be on waves produced by earthquakes. I am hoping it will be enjoyable.

Tonight I am eating dinner at Schlotzsky's. I didn't plan on it, but they have free wifi. I planned on having internet at my place tonight, but I still do not. I got rid of my cable internet and attempted to buy an aircard from Sprint today. However, the network is still not updated, so it would be as fast as dial up. I will remain internetless for a while longer.

Return from the Caprock

I returned yesterday from the Caprock. I ended up spending the entire trip at Caprock Canyons State Park. I felt there was too much to do there to cut it short by a day to go to Palo Duro Canyon.

Click to see a map of Caprock Canyons and the Trailway.

I arrived at Caprock Canyons Sunday afternoon. I got my permits and hiked back to North Prong primitive area. I spent the night camped there. That evening, I first heard the howls of coyotoes which I would hear for the rest of the trip. The next morning I got up, broke camp, and began hiking along the Upper Canyon Trail. I reached Fern Cave, which turns out is an overhang with a natural seep that waters the ferns growing on the wall. I then hiked out the Hayes Ridge overlook trail. It was incredibly foggy, but I did see several mule deer along the trail. I then drove to the north end of the Eagle Point trail. I wanted to hike to the natural bridge on the map. I got to the location, but didn't find the bridge. I continued searching until I came to where the trail crosses the creek, knowing that I was too far. I went back to where I thought the bridge was. After standing there a little bit, I realized that I was standing on the bridge! It was under the trail, about 50 feet long and 8 feet high. I then drove to the trailway, specifically a trailhead called Monk's Crossing. I hiked about 5 miles south past Clarity Tunnel and set up camp. I would be spending two nights at this location. The next day I hiked 12 miles to the South Plains Terminal in the town of South Plains. I then turned around and hiked back, making it a 24 mile day in 40 degree weather and strong panhandle winds. I was tired when I got back! On the way back and spotted a bobcat down the trail. The next morning I broke camp and hiked the 5 miles back north to the Monk's Crossing trailhead and headed home. It was a great 4 day trip, doing about 45 miles. If you are heading to the panhandle soon, I recommend Caprock Canyons State Park.

Spring Break

Yesterday, at 3:40, Spring Break began. Unfortunately for my students, their spring break was cut short by 30 seconds. I was standing by the door and thought that when the bell rang, it would be an excellent time to tell the students to have a good spring break and to be safe. All I heard was "Mr. Woods, MOVE!" I made them say please before I moved. I then went out on the bus run where I worked to convince students that they had to come to school on Monday. I told them that spring break was canceled because they got low marks on their math benchmark exam. Sadly, none of the students appeared to be that gullible. What other job do you get paid to mess with students all day? I love my job.

Today has been a pretty simple day. I spent the morning preparing my lesson for the first day back from Spring Break. We are currently in a unit about waves. Not just ocean waves, but also light, radio, and sound waves. The first day back will be review and talking about amplitude, followed by AM and FM radio. Tuesday will be about seismic waves. I will begin by saying that Tuesday is baseball day and we will be watching Game 3 of the 1989 World Series. That was, of course, the game that was interrupted by an earthquake. We will watch the ABC footage of the earthquake.



We will be watching a shorter clip.

After I prepared the lesson, I spent some time cleaning around the apartment. I ordered and received a new tent this week. It is my first new tent. My old tent was an old LL Bean two man dome tent. I had used it since I joined Boy Scouts as it was one of the troop tents. I acquired the tent when the troop ordered new tents. It has served faithfully for many miles, but I feel it is time to retire from backpacking. I ordered Eureka's Backcountry 2 man tent.


I will be trying it out this week. I will be going to Palo Duro Canyon and Caprock Canyons. I have never been to either park, so I am looking forward to exploring the canyons of the Texas Panhandle.

TULIP

Last night, the bible study group I am in at my church studied TULIP. TULIP is an acronym for the basic beliefs of Calvinism. Calvinism is commonly associated with predestination. I strongly disagree with Calvinism and the 5 points of Calvinism. The 5 points of Calvinism are

Total Depravity (also known as Total Inability and Original Sin)
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement (also known as Particular Atonement)
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the Saints (also known as Once Saved Always Saved)

Only 1 of these points do I agree with, the perseverance of the saints.

T - Total Depravity

According to Calvanism, mankind is so sinful, that we are like a dead person. We do not have the ability to raise ourselves up and look to Christ.

Man is certainly depraved. Romans 3:23,24 tells us "23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

However, the verses before this tell us "21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,"

We can see that yes, we are living in a depraved body, but one that can be saved by God's grace through our faith in Christ. Our righteousness, our redemption, comes from God's grace that comes by faith.

U - Unconditional Election

According to Calvinism, before the foundations of the world were laid, God had ordained those that would be saved and those who would not be. Those elected for salvation would have no choice but to become followers of God.

This goes against what the Bible teaches. Christ says in the Great Commission "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." He tells us to make disciples of all nations, not just those who are saved. John 3:16 tells us that "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." This is available to all who believe. Paul writes in 1st Timothy " I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." God wants all men to come to him. Our God is a loving God who desires a relationship with all people. We are his creation, created so that we may be in relation with him. Why would God create humans just to cast them into hell? This goes against the very nature of God.

L - Limited Atonement

Limited atonement says that Christ died only for the elect. This again goes against the nature of God. As we saw earlier, God desires all to come to him. We come to him through the redeeming blood of Christ. Paul tells us in Romans "God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus." This shows us that Christ died for the forgiveness of our sins. Paul also writes in 2nd Corinthians "And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." In order for God to want all to come to God, Christ had to die for all people. Not all are saved, because not all believe

I - Irresistible Grace

According to irresistible grace, those who are elected by God cannot refuse his grace. Obviously, in order to believe this, one must believe in election. Without election, this becomes a mute point. God is certainly powerful enough to do so, but God has choosen to give us free will.

P - Perseverance of the Saints

This is the one point that I would agree with Calvinism and disagree with Arminism. Paul tells us in Romans "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory." When we believe, the Spirit comes in us to dwell. This is seen as a promise of our eternal life. We are still humans and will always continue to sin, but can find assurance in knowing that despite our limitations, the power of God's grace can overcome.

This is not seen to be a thorough review or a thorough counter to Calvinism, just a chance for me to explore my views in relation to TULIP.

Evaluation Day

Today I was appraised by my principal. We had a lesson on simple machines, focusing on lever types such as levers, pulleys, and wheel and axles. After class, the principal said it was one of the best lessons she had ever seen, but that isn't the point of this story.

A few weeks ago, a fellow teacher of mine, who is also a black belt in karate, mentioned that he would like to break coconuts in my class one day. Since we were doing a lesson on levers, I invited him to come today during his conference period. After I invited him, I received notice of my impending appraisal this week. I went to both assistant principals and invited them to come and watch the other teacher break coconuts. My AP mentioned needing to appraise me. I said it would be a great time to appraise me since she could also watch coconuts break! She said OK. I immediately told the other teacher that I was being appraised "so don't mess up!"

Today, we started class with the breaking of coconuts. Quite a crowd gathered, with principals, teachers, and even a police officer in attendance. With 6 different adults in the classroom, those students weren't going to get away with anything! The coconuts were broken and pieces of coconuts were passed out to all the students. They loved it and so did the AP.

The moral of the story is when you are being appraised, find someone else to teach your class.

I am a slave

I recently read an article in National Geographic Explorer about the Komi people. You can read the article here. It was an awesome article and made me want to get outside. So yesterday, I hiked Slaughter Canyon at Carlsbad Caverns NP.

Part of the article talked about why the people choose to continue to live the life they do. One of the reindeer herders was quoted as saying

"They have given up living all the time with their reindeer. We Komi are still vödzyny—nomads. I'm proud that I speak Komi. I prefer this way of living—always moving with the animals and our families. I lived in town once and worked. I know what town is. Living with the oleni, making everything we need, and requiring very little else—that means we are free."

I found his last line very interesting, being free. Because they make everything they need, they are completely free.

I am not free. I live in a city, am dependent on farmers for my food, am dependent on factories for my clothes, am dependent on the city for my water. I would love to be more independent. Growing up, one of the only skills I learned was hunting. I can take an animal and process it into meat. I have not learned how to tan the hide. I did not learn how to make clothes, but can sow on a button. I would love to grow vegetables and herbs, but do not have a yard. I would love to be able to tan a hide and make clothing out of it. I would love to be free.