Mild temperatures, for this time of year, which is good; but heavy winds make the outdoors trying with my allergies.  Someone suggested some over the counter type remedy and have the okay from my physician to give it a try – so will be trying it when I receive it.

    I am trying not to take anything without her knowing – it is amazing how chemicals interact, some to help each other, many to fight each other.  Plus, I am on too many to begin with, but that is life; and they do help.

    We’ve got good providers here and while I truly miss my original provider, Ben Pate, those that have taken his place are doing fine, the latest one, Dr. Peries, (she is just a few years older than my granddaughter and looks a lot like her) seems to have the most interest in me as an individual and takes the kinda time that Ben took to make sure we are on track.

    I came cross this in an article I was reading:

    “A new study from the Future of Humanity Institute (FHI) at Oxford University, aptly named "Dissolving the Fermi Paradox," suggests that humanity is alone in the observable universe, putting a damper on the theory that there is intelligent life somewhere in the known universe.”

    "When the model is recast to represent realistic distributions of uncertainty, we find a substantial ex ante probability of there being no other intelligent life in our observable universe, and thus that there should be little surprise when we fail to detect any signs of it," the study's abstract reads. "This result dissolves the Fermi paradox, and in doing so removes any need to invoke speculative mechanisms by which civilizations would inevitably fail to have observable effects upon the universe."

    Which made me think of this verse:

          Revelations 1:8 KJV “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”

    Now the article speaks to “there being no other intelligent life in our observable universe,” which I am assuming means biological life, because there are plenty of examples of, other, intelligent life in our universe.

          Isaiah 43:5 KJV “ Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:”

          Colossians 1:15-17 KJV “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

¹⁶ For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

¹⁷ And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

    As a country, indeed many countries, we have spent billions of dollars and are still spending billions of dollars to explore the universe to find signs of life.

    When all we have to do is look to the many things that God has created.

    To look at the many things that man has done with the talents that God has given Him, including sending things into space.

    To read His Word and understand who He is and what He has done.

    To allow His Word to touch our heart, through Christ and His Holy Spirit, seeking His salvation and His wisdom.

    Observable life other than what is here on earth, yep, in the spirit whereby we see the evidence of that life, spiritual life of God.

          John 4:23-24 KJV “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

²⁴ God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

    There is life out there, in the heavens, in the spirit, and we can have contact with it every moment of every day – It is God.  Our spirit, our heart knows that.

    2 Corinthians 3:3 KJV  “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.”

Later, Art (-:

    Got the first tomatoes off the vine today!!!!  Carla and CeeCee picked them.

    They are the smaller ones – sun gold and sun sweet – a little larger than cherry tomatoes, BUT, they were FRESH tomatoes, not store wantabes.

    Lots of the bigger ones are hanging on, but not ready for my Bacon, Tomato, Swiss cheese on Sour Dough toast – yet.

    See the Beavers are playing tonight, hopefully they will pick up play before the night is over.  It is a really good baseball team, good to see them in the College World Series.

    Fixed some ribs today, not sure what I am doing wrong but they are getting a ‘tad’ overdone, twice in a row, now.  I don’t think I am putting enough apple cider in when I wrap them, and I think I will turn the heat lower. 

    Will get it, haven’t had burnt offerings in a long time.  Still getting some good meat, but the crust isn’t what it should be.

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 “Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.”  St. Francis of Assi

Colossians 3:23 KJV “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;”

    I have worked with Christians who were always looking for the easy things to do at work; or would not do their best at the tasks assigned.

    I know I didn’t think much of their work ethic and I heard from others that felt the same.  Their testimony, when they deemed to make it, fell on deaf ears – their work belied anything they would say.

    We forget that we may be the only Christian some people know is ME.  Whether we know it or not, people watch us; they want to see if we really are followers of Christ, or just talkers.

    Wish I could say that I have never forgotten that fact; but can’t.  However, I do strive to be that person that someone else sees Christ in; and not blow it by doing something that embarrasses my Lord.  

Later, Art (-:

Happy Father’s Day to all fathers out there.

Had a deluge yesterday – well for a few minutes anyway, just enough to mess up the cars so they have to be washed, but not enough to make much of a difference in Carla’s garden.

Didn’t make it down to the BBQ contests, haven’t seen anything on numbers or winners, yet, hope it is just a start.

A few years ago they had a few chili contests, those were fun, was a judge for a few of them.

Getting psyched up for summer, will be having warmer days shortly, just need to remind myself it is nothing compared to what our troops are going through in the Mid-east.  (of course, for the most part, they are about 40 to 55 years younger, but still..)

There is a program on the Science channel that shows Robotics fighting each other.

One of the coolest commercials I have ever seen, showed a couple of the robots fighting, during the show, all of a sudden a T-Rex stomps down on them as an advertisement for the new Juristic Park movie. 

Now, that was unexpected and fun!

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Mathew 6:9 KJV  “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”

OUR FATHER, OUR father, which art in heaven. 

You know, I have been praying to Him for all my life.

He became very real to me in April of 1965 when I accepted His Son as my Savior.

He IS my heavenly father.  I have praised Him, I have thanked Him, I have worshiped Him, I have asked for things from Him, He is my heavenly father.

If I had had a conversation with God on this it would be something like this:

I am your Heavenly Father.

Yes, God, I know and thank you for all the things you have done for me.

I am your Heavenly Father!

I know, you deserve my praise and thanksgiving, my respect and admiration – and you have it.

You still don’t really get it, I am your Heavenly Father!

But I saw a post yesterday that drove home that He is Father.

It was a happy Father’s Day post to Him, to God the Father.

It was a beautiful illustration of God the Father, (Jesus sitting as young children came up to Him with the comment of Happy Father’s Day, God) my Father with whom I have a connection – a very special connection.

SO THAT IS WHAT YOU MEAN!!!

Now, I have a better understanding.

YOU may have made that connection before; I ‘knew’ it, I hold Him close to my heart, but that post drove home that connection to me, He is my Father.

My Father.

Psalm 68:4-5  KJV  “Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name Jah, and rejoice before him.

⁵ A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.”

A father of the Fatherless – He is our spiritual Father.  MY Spiritual Father.

May we sing praises in Your Name!

Thank you, Father!

A very special thank you; God, on this Father’s Day!

Later, Art (-:

Quiet in the house right now, CeeCee is with her other grandparents and everyone else is hard at work.  It is just me, Blaze and the cats.

Gives time to reflect and study; and deal with those allergies.

Seems they are worse this past couple of years.  Right now I don’t care to drive, don’t need to be a risk on the streets hopefully that doesn’t continue for long.

Guess there will be a barbecue cook off tomorrow, a few years ago I might have tried to enter the competition, not up to it anymore.

I did compete many, many years ago, at the State Fair in the barbecue with pork competition, placed second the first time, don’t know where the second.  It was fun, first time I had ever BBQed on gas, but we did okay.

It has always been just for fun and good food but wish the competitors good luck.

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Proverbs 21:10  KJV  “The soul of the wicked desireth evil: his neighbour findeth no favour in his eyes.”

We have six hummingbird feeders.  Four have four stations, two have three, that is 22 stations for hummingbirds to partake of the fluid.

Yet, one bird always tries to dominate and chase off the other birds.

Because of that we always have one that is out of sight of the others, as much as possible anyway.

Doesn’t matter whether we have 4 hummingbirds or a dozen, one is always bullying the others.

But that is nature, I can hear you say, the survival of the fittest and all those clichés.  You can’t blame an animal from following its instincts, and I don’t – just don’t like it.

Genesis 6:5 KJV  “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Genesis 6:7-8 KJV  “ And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

⁸ But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”

In today’s world, with many thanks to Hollywood and television, anything goes.  If your nature/instincts is opposed to what the Word of God says, you follow your instincts; THAT IS OKAY, even encouraged.

AND no one is allowed to tell you differently.

So, what is the nature of man?

I have heard it said, over and over again, man’s nature is basically good.

We point to acts of charity, acts of love and support and say that is the nature of man.

But is it?

We can say that not everyone has a foul nature, where they will do whatever it takes to satisfy themselves, but more, than we care to admit, really do.

AND,

Everyone has something, in our nature, that satan can use to turn us away from God.  It could be pride, it could be lust, it could be jealousy, it could be greed or something else that we know to be wrong; we know is a sin and separates us from God.

And even the most pious among us, if not careful, can revert back to a sinful nature in one form or another if it suits their purposes.

And the farther away from God, the more likely we find man’s sinful nature taking over.  And, surprisingly, the closer we are to God the harder satan works on us and strives to insert that ‘nature’ in our everyday actions.

We can do one of three things with those desires, follow them; do what the world says to get rid of them by either getting counseling, medication or some other form of trying to get rid of the urges without dealing with the root causes; or we can go to God through Christ, confess this is a sin, ask forgiveness and ask for guidance from His Holy Spirit. 

As we look through history – don’t even need the Bible to show us - evil lurks around the world and those that yield to it can produce heinous crimes against their fellow man.

And we sit back and ask how can this be, how can so many people who are ‘basically good’ do such terrible things or at least condone it?

All my life I have dealt with certain urges that I know are not pleasing to God, that are sinful – I strive to put them aside and have learned the only way to deal with them is to ask the Holy Spirit for His help – and yes, still, I need that relationship with Him because when I don’t have it I find myself going down those same paths; and even if I don’t act upon them, they distract me and put a barrier up between Him and me.

God said He would never again do what He did in Noah’s time – and now, through Christ, He has opened the passage that brings us closer to Him.

But, the minute we think we are above the fracas, that we have arrived at a higher plane and think that satan can no longer touch us, we are ripe for a fall – and those ‘natural desires’ we have within us are going to be used to hit us full bore.

We don’t have to be monsters to be sinful.  We don’t have to be ‘terrible’ to fall away from God, we just need to allow our true “nature” to come out and dominate our life.

No one is above sinning.

Romans 6:22-23  KJV  “ Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

²³ For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Psalm 139:23-24 KJV  “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

²⁴ And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Later, Art (-:

As I sit here sniveling, sneezing, with runny eyes and dirty tissues filling my garbage container, I am reminded that Spring – with all its pollens and wind and allergy creating pathogens that are attacking me – is here.

Had a few struggles these past few weeks, nothing earth shattering or life threatening, just frustrations and challenging – especially on my patience.

I haven’t written much, just kinda coasted along for a while, just not up to writing. 

But today a couple of things came together that I thought I would share with ya.

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“God created each of us individually and we are his image-bearers on earth. He loved us so much that He sent his Son Jesus to die for us so that we might have eternal life." Dr. Georgia Purdom

Romans 12:4-5  KJV  “ For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: ⁵ So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”

When I was younger I used to watch a program called “The Naked City.”  It was a Police drama centered in New York City.

At the end of each show the narrator would say, "There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them."

I was reminded of that a couple of days ago while visiting my Cardiologist.

An older man brought a vase of roses to one of the receptionists.  I have known her for a few years, and like her; she is always cheerful and helpful.

A few minutes after the man left the counter, the receptionist came over to the man and gave him a big hug, I heard her say “You don’t know how much those flowers mean to me today.”

A little while later I was in the back where the examining rooms are and standing at the counter waiting for my paperwork. 

I heard one of the staff tell that same person, “That was a very nice thing you did, she really needed that today.”

One person was hurting.  I don’t know her story.  She is but one person of about 13,000 in The Dalles that day.  One person in the billions in the world.

She is an individual.  She has skills and abilities similar to others but unique to herself.  She works within an office that has several people working, each doing their own job.

She was carrying a burden of some kind.  Yet, she did her job and remained cheerful.  But, she was hurting, just one story of billions on that day.

Every person we see is unique, an individual, who is going through this life with their own set of troubles and successes.

Some people have obvious difficulty, we can see it in the homeless, in the mentally ill, in the person who has committed a crime – or is the victim of a crime.

But, more often we do not see into the problems of people.  They are hurting, they are going through difficulties, but continue to function as if nothing is wrong.  But, when they are alone, that problem is magnified in their minds and world.

This morning the above quote came in my e-mail.  We are all individuals.  We are all created by God and given the freedom to make our own decisions.

Not always are those decisions easily made, and sometimes they seemed forced upon us – but we make them ourselves.

We are part of a global community and each of us has a part to play.

As Christians our part in God’s community is to share His Love and Grace with others.  For some that is easy, for others it is not, but God gives us all the gift to share His Gospel, to share His Word, we just have to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading.

The world is full of people that need Jesus Christ.  We run into them, every day.  We work, play, meet them in the stores, every day.

Each one is an individual.  Each one can be reached by a Christian, even if but for a moment.

We may not be able to tell them about Christ, for one reason or another, but we can act as Christ wants us to; and maybe the next Christian they meet will be able to lead them further down the path to Christ’s cross.

We may be just the bearer of a small bouquet of roses to a person who has a need we don’t know about, but God will – we but need to listen to that still small voice, and obey, helping one person at a time; even if we don’t know what the situation is.

We have gifts, we need to use them for His Glory, and for their salvation.

Later, Art (-: