I came across this story today and felt it was worth sharing:

"You know, when the Lord does something, he always does it right." Paul Fleming, co-founder of New Tribes Mission, was as upbeat as usual when he left his California office on November 21, 1950, to board the mission's new plane. With other missionaries, he planned to conduct rallies across America. Just hours earlier, it had seemed that the rallies would have to be canceled, for heavy fog prevented departure from California.

The plane itself was an answer to prayer. Earlier that year, New Tribes had lost the Tribesman, a C-47 (cargo version of a DC-3) when it went down in Venezuela. But generous donations had poured in, allowing the mission to buy and refurbish the Tribesman II.

Before the Tribesman II took off that day, Lance Latham, the other co-founder of New Tribes Mission, committed the plane, its crew and its passengers to the Lord. The pilots did not know that they would be flying into a storm. Weather information was not as good in 1950 as it is today. Soon the Tribesman II was in thick clouds and its electrical system failed. At least, that is the best guess of what happened. A park ranger who heard the plane at 5:50 p.m. stepped outside and said it was circling without lights under the heavy clouds.

The Tribesman II climbed back up through the clouds to 12,000 feet. The passengers inside probably had no warning. Hidden in the clouds was Mount Moran, a 12,605 foot peak of the Grand Tetons. An explosion ripped the evening air and a tower of flame, visible from the ground, climbed high into the sky. New Tribes had lost its founder, twenty mission workers or their families--and its second plane.

Park rangers of the Grand Teton National park organized a rescue party. Early [on the morning of] November 22, 1950, four experienced mountain climbers raced toward the crash site. But, with another storm lashing the mountain, they were forced back before nightfall.

Paul Petzoldt, the park's climbing guide, knew the mountain better than anyone else. He volunteered to lead another party the following day, Thanksgiving. Again, the rescuers were forced back, this time just 300 yards below the wreckage. On November 24th, Petzoldt's team finally reached the wreckage. The fuselage was split open, the seats stripped out. The left wing was missing.

Paul Fleming had cared for one thing above all during his adult life: winning the lost to Christ. Now, even in his death, his concern was rewarded. Years before, Paul Fleming had met Paul Petzoldt and asked him to train a group of New Tribes missionaries in mountain climbing techniques. Paul had not been ready to follow Christ then, but when Petzoldt came off the mountain on November 25th, after discovering the wreckage, he surrendered his life to Christ.

http://www.christianity.com/ChurchHistory/11630800/

When I was 8 years old I became overwhelmed by the concept of time and space.  I remember lying on my bed and realizing that--as I understood them--time and space would go on forever.  It was too much for me to comprehend and it frightened me.  Any time I tried to imagine a boundary to them I just kept thinking, "What comes after that?"  My next thought was that God must be very big.  In my fear I cried to Him in prayer.

Years later I came across a verse in Ecclesiastes--3:11 to be exact--that says, "He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."  When I read it I was immediately taken back to my childhood encounter with God's greatness.  I realized that it was all by design.  God had created me for more than the temporary experiences of this life.  He had placed a sense of my eternal nature inside of me so that I would turn to Him, the One who made it all.

One of the greatest joys in this life is witnessing others reach the same conclusion, that God is real, that He is big, and that He has plans for us beyond this short life.  Last Monday night at youth group a middle school girl realized she wasn't sure where she would spend eternity.  She realized her sin would separate her from God forever unless she received salvation.  She prayed for forgiveness and placed her faith in Jesus Christ.  At that moment in time, her eternity changed.

I still don't understand it all.  The latter half of Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells me I never will.  But I'm not concerned with having it all figured out.  I simply want to make the most of this life, remembering that I am an eternal being, but time is short.

I'm amazed at the wisdom of Jesus.  Apparently I'm not the only one.  Today I read Mark 12:13-17 and that passage ends with these words: "And they were amazed at him."  It's a really cool story about how Jesus avoided a trap.  You can read it for yourself by clicking here.  Go ahead, read it first and then I'll talk about it some more.

Did you read it?  I hope so.  In review, some Jewish religious and political figures were getting pretty frustrated with Jesus.  They didn't like how He was drawing people away from them--and to Himself--so they hatched a plan to divide his followers.  

Insert historical background:  The Jews were an oppressed people.  They were ruled by the Romans.  Some Jews responded by getting all buddy-buddy with the Romans so they could have the benefits of being close to the people in charge.  They didn't want to cause any more problems for themselves so they paid their taxes.  Other Jews didn't think they should have to pay taxes because it violated their religion.  You see, the Roman emporers--Caesars--called themselves divine.  The Jews knew their was only one God and only He should be worshipped, not Caesar.  They believed paying taxes was essentially compromising their faith.  Why?  Because of the inscription on the coin.  See for yourself:

Okay, so you probably can't read that but it translates: "Tiberius Caesar Augustus, Son of the Divine Augustus."  The other side says: "High Priest." ¹

Understanding that really helps us see the wisdom in how Jesus responded to them.  The Pharisees and the Herodians thought they had Jesus for sure.  If Jesus said they shouldn't pay taxes then He would fall out of favor with the Romans.  If He said they should pay taxes He would fall out of favor with the Jews.

Instead, Jesus replies, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's."  In other words, Caesar is in charge and you need to recognize that by paying taxes, but only God should be given glory.  Rather than a lose-lose situation, Jesus gives the only answer that satisfies both sides.   Amazing, huh?

1-http://dougsmith.ancients.info/feac60tri.html

I've always been drawn to the prayers in the Bible.  I love to see how others talked to God.  From Daniel I have learned the importance of identifying with others when I pray for them, not to remain far off and "holy" but to recognize that I am a sinner too.  Nehemiah has encouraged me that prayers don't have to be a highly formalized exercise, but can be and should be uttered throughout the day in each moment of need.  Then there are those passages in the Bible that aren't presented as prayers but that have deeply influenced my own conversations with God.  

"I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)  This is a quote from a man who needed Jesus to heal his son .  He needs help, he's desperate, and all around him there are no signs of hope.  His son is posessed by an evil spirit and is destroying the boy.  Jesus' disciples, who had been able to perform some miracles, were not able to help the boy at all.  Things are looking pretty bleak and the man turns to Jesus for help.  Jesus challenges the man to believe in Him and the man replies, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

While it may not be considered a prayer in its original context, I have often made this request of God.  Now, I'm not saying I have doubts about who Jesus is.  When I pray this prayer it's not because I'm struggling with the deity of Jesus, but sometimes I do find myself helpless and hopeless.  All around me there are no signs of assurance.  Things look bleak and I turn to Jesus.  However, even in turning to Jesus I recognize that part of me is still worrying, part of me is still fearing.  Even though I am bringing my problem to the only One Who can do anything about it, part of my heart still doubts that it's going to be okay.  

I don't want to stay in that place.  I want to fully trust in Jesus.  I want to have every bit of unbelief wiped clean from my heart.  I know that I can't do that on my own; that's why I ask God to help me.

So how's The 1% Experiment going for you?  I have really enjoyed reading God's Word this year.  I know that having a plan helps me read so much more than if I just leave it up to whim.  I am also glad that we shuffled the New Testament books so that we didn't just read Matthew through John in January through April.  I want to be meditating on Jesus' words throughout the year.  And as I began reading in Mark that is exactly what I was drawn to, the words of Jesus...the words in red.

"'The time has come,' [Jesus] said, 'The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe the good news!'" (Mark 1:15)  These are the first words that Jesus speaks in this book and boy are they powerful.  I love the authority with which Jesus speaks.  He doesn't vaguely or passively introduce himself to the world; He effectively says, "The time is now.  God is the rightful owner of your life.  Turn away from sin and turn to Him today!"  

I hope you have repented.  I hope you have believed the good news.  If you are reading this, chances are you have.  But the challenge for those of us who have been impacted by the words of Jesus is to allow them to keep impacting us.  Yes, once upon a time we turned our lives over to Him, but we need to keep doing that.   We need to keep repenting; we need to keep believing the good news; we need to keep recognizing God's rightful ownership of our lives and we need to keep remembering today is all we have.  When we do that we show that Jesus is speaking to us and we are listening.

First things first.  Is it the 5-second rule?  The 3-second rule?  The 10-second rule?!!  I've heard all these rules before when someone drops a piece of food on the floor, but 5 seconds is the most common.  Whatever time limit you have for deciding whether something is safe to eat I think we all get the general idea.  

Five-second rule as presented in a WikiWorld comic.

Now I tend to think that, in fact, there isn't a set time limit but that it should be a sliding scale taking into account to the stickiness of the food and the hairy-ness of the surface.  (side note:  How many times have you dropped something and picked it up to find hair on it?  Hair is everywhere!)  Anyway, another factor to consider is the tastiness of the food.  What did you drop?  Salad?  Better get it in the trash right away.  Steak, on the other hand, is good for a couple of days!

So just when you're beginning to wonder where I'm going with all this, let me tell you.  We all have ways we rationalize our behavior.  We change the rules based on what we really want in a particular situation.  For example, I have been known to go to great lengths to avoid vegetables .  Now when it comes to spending time with God we can do the same thing.  We come up with all kinds of reasonable explanations for why we don't have the time to read our Bible.  God didn't give us rules or limits for how much time we should spend daily with Him, but the question is, "How badly do you want to know God?  To what lengths are you willing to go to hear His voice?"

In Matthew 18:7-9 Jesus gives some pretty extreme suggestions for how you might handle the problem of sin.  He said, "If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.  It is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire."  Now Jesus isn't telling us to mutilate our bodies, He is using exaggerated language to make a point--we should take sin seriously!  Don't make excuses; go to great lengths to get sin out of your life!  This can only happen by the grace of God, but I'm convinced that if we make time for God each day, if we put a little effort in to reading His Word, He will meet us there.  He will shape our hearts to desire His.

So I'm taking notes as I read through the Bible.  You know, "This reminds me of..." or "I think this means..." or "This challenges me to..."  Taking notes helps me focus and get more out of my Bible reading.  But there are some passages that just dumbfound me and I have no clue how to begin recording my thoughts.  All I can manage is "What?!"

Take today for instance, Genesis chapter 22 verse 2.  Does this not seem crazy to you?  Here God finally gives Abraham the son he promised.  Abraham is over a hundred stinkin' years old and God says, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah.  Sacrifice him there..."  What?!  Now again, I've read this before so I know how it ends, but before we jump ahead, let's stop there for a minute.  Put yourself in Abraham's sandals.  How could God be asking Abraham to kill his own son?  Now imagine you're Isaac as your dad is tying you up and putting you on an altar.  "Uh, Dad, what are you doing?"  Talk about needing therapy.

What's crazy to me is that this really isn't explained until the New Testament.  We know that God stops Abraham from killing Isaac and provides a ram as a sacrifice instead, but the account in Genesis never gives us insight into how Abraham could actually have gone through with it.  No doubt Abe had faith in God, but what did he think was going to happen?  Was he counting on God stopping him?  Was he getting a little nervous the closer it got to the point of no return?  Well, the writer of Hebrews sheds some light on these questions.  Hebrews 11:18-19 tells us, "even though God had said to him, 'It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.'  Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead..."

So there it is.  Abraham believed that even if he had to go all the way through with it, God would still keep His promise.  

Sometimes there are passages that are difficult for us to understand, but a lot of times another passage will reveal the answer we need.  So keep on reading.

Are there any passages that have had you saying, "What?!"

Well, it's taken me a few weeks but I am finally beginning to blog.  (Shout out to Nick over at snapshotweb.com for helping me to get this thing up and running.)  I'm hoping that this turns into a good place for us to stay connected throughout the week.

I'm also excited about The 1% Experiment

My old pastor used to say, we have "good forgetters".  We can hear something, read something, learn something but then forget it.  We need to be continually reminded of God's truth to counterract the lies that our sinful nature, the world, and the devil will tell us.  That's what reading through the Bible is about.  It's not about checking it off your to-do list; it's about filling your heart and mind with God's message to you.  What a privilege!

So before I'm done, a couple quick observations from my reading so far:

• Gen. 3:1-6--Satan doesn't approach Eve with an outright lie; he begins by questioning the truth of the Word of God and sowing seeds of doubt.  Eve misquotes the command from God by adding "and you must not touch it" (see 2:16-17)   Satan then tells a straight-up lie ("you will not surely die") followed by sowing more seeds of doubt, essentially saying, "God's holding out on you" (v. 5).  Eve buys the lie and sins for "good reasons"--the fruit was good for food, pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom.  Adam was with her (v. 6) and he didn't stop her.  He was passive and didn't protect her.
• Gen. 15:1-6--Abraham!  Dude had faith!  He was already at least 75 and had no kids (12:4) and God said he was going to give him as many descendants as the stars.  Abraham believed the Lord!  Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37)!

In review, take God at His Word.  He can be trusted!