"calculated the dust of the earth in a measuring basket..." - God and nature in Isaiah 40

 "calculated the dust of the earth in a measuring basket..." - Isaiah 12:2b. (Scripture from the World English Bible, public domain.)

Isaiah 40 is probably best known for verses 30-31:

30 Even the youths faint and get weary,

    and the young men utterly fall;

31 but those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength.

    They will mount up with wings like eagles.

    They will run, and not be weary.

    They will walk, and not faint.

This passage is partly, or completely, poetic -- it uses figurative language. We don't expect to fly like birds, even if we do wait for Yahweh.

There's more non-literal language in this chapter. Consider the verse which is the source of the title of this post:

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
    and marked off the sky with his span,
    and calculated the dust of the earth in a measuring basket,
    and weighed the mountains in scales,
    and the hills in a balance?

Here is more poetic wording:

11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
    He will gather the lambs in his arm,
    and carry them in his bosom.
    He will gently lead those who have their young.

and

22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
    and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
    who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
    and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in,  

23 who brings princes to nothing,
    who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.

23 They are planted scarcely.
    They are sown scarcely.
    Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground.
    He merely blows on them, and they wither,
    and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.

and 

26 Lift up your eyes on high,
    and see who has created these,
    who brings out their army by number.
    He calls them all by name.
    by the greatness of his might,
    and because he is strong in power,
    not one is lacking. 

All of these not-literal passages refer to nature. Nature was, and should be, important to believers. In this one chapter, we have more than one section of nature-related material:

putting forth non-human creatures as a goal to aspire to, and/or as divinely designed;

an admonition that God understands the natural world, and we are just not capable of that;

care for animals as an illustration of God's care for His people;

God's sovereignty, even over the heavenly bodies;

God as creator.

Nature is not the main theme of Isaiah. Here's a quotation from the Wikipedia article on the book of Isaiah: 

The book can be read as an extended meditation on the destiny of Jerusalem into and after the Exile. ... Isaiah speaks out against corrupt leaders and for the disadvantaged, and roots righteousness in God's holiness rather than in Israel's covenant.

But, although it's not part of Isaiah's main message, nature has always been important to God. Here, the emphasis is not on caring for nature, or on nature's beauty and diversity, but on God's greatness, and His sovereignty over nature. The ancient Hebrews could probably distinguish a few thousand stars (more than all too many of us can see with the naked eye, looking directly at the sky) in the heavens that they saw. (They believed that the stars were held by a firmament. We now believe that there isn't any such thing, but God is just as much in charge of spatial objects as if there was. See also this post.) They could not have imagined stars of various colors, sizes, and age, or double stars, or asteroids, or billions of galaxies, and the other entities that we can see today. But God could imagine them, and, as Isaiah says, he brings them out by number, and knows the names of each of them. 

God also understands geology better than the best scientists of our, or any future time. He calculates the very dust -- not a single grain of silt, mud or soil is unseen by God, or not understood by Him.

Thanks for reading!

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, 78

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. Murray continues his discussion, based on Mark 11:22-24:

It is because very many of God’s children do not understand this connection between the life of faith and the prayer of faith that their experience of the power of prayer is so limited. When they desire earnestly to obtain an answer from God, they fix their whole heart upon the promise, and try their utmost to grasp that promise in faith. When they do not succeed, they are ready to give up hope; the promise is true, but it is beyond their power to take hold of it in faith. Listen to the lesson Jesus teaches us this day: HAVE FAITH IN GOD, the Living God: let faith look to God more than the thing promised: it is His love, His power, His living presence will waken and work the faith. A physician would say to one asking for some means to get more strength in his arms and hands to seize and hold, that his whole constitution must be built up and strengthened. So the cure of a feeble faith is alone to be found in the invigoration of our whole spiritual life by intercourse with God. Learn to believe in God, to take hold of God, to let God take possession of thy life, and it will be easy to take hold of the promise.

Sunspots 825

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Christianity Today has an article exploring the ins and outs of cohabitation before, or instead of, marriage.

A Relevant article reminds us that the default position of Christians shouldn't be outrage.

Computing: (and food) Gizmodo reports that Mars candies is testing a device that rolls along the aisles of grocery stores, trying to get you to buy candy. (There's Mars candy as part of the device.)

Education: Grammarphobia discusses o'clock, and other words with apostrophes.

Ethics: NPR reports that scientists have facilitated cell growth from single cells to a structure that resembles a very early embryo. The article brings out some of the ethical questions about the procedure.

The Scientist gives more lab details on this research.

Health: (or something) Gizmodo asks about hair loss, and how to slow it down.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight analyzes positions of US House members and candidates, and finds that, for both parties, moderate candidates did very well. But there aren't many of them.

Science: The Scientist reports on a study of the giraffe genome. Giraffes have, for one thing, genes that raise their blood pressure, allowing their brains to receive blood.

NPR reports that bonobos seem to be innately more likely to share, and much less likely to kill each other, than chimpanzees.

Gizmodo shows us face mask details, magnified significantly.

Sports: NPR, and other outlets, on disparities between facilities for the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournament. Guess who has the better facilities?

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

 

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, 77

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. Murray continues a discussion, based on Mark 11:22-24:

And even so faith is also the ear through which the voice of God is always heard and intercourse with Him kept up. It is through the Holy Spirit the Father speaks to us; the Son is the Word, the substance of what God says; the Spirit is the living voice. This the child of God needs to lead and guide him; the secret voice from heaven must teach him, as it taught Jesus, what to say and what to do. An ear opened towards God, that is, a believing heart waiting on Him, to hear what He says, will hear Him speak. The words of God will not only be the words of a Book, but, proceeding from the mouth of God, they will be spirit and truth, life and power. They will bring in deed and living experience what are otherwise only thoughts. Through this opened ear the soul tarries under the influence of the life and power of God Himself. As the words I hear enter the mind and dwell and work there, so through faith God enters the heart, and dwells and works there.

When faith now is in full exercise as eye and ear, as the faculty of the soul by which we see and hear God, then it will be able to exercise its full power as hand and mouth, by which we appropriate God and His blessing. The power of reception will depend entirely on the power of spiritual perception. For this reason Jesus said, ere He gave the promise that God would answer believing prayer: ‘HAVE FAITH IN GOD.’ Faith is simply surrender: I yield myself to the impression the tidings I hear make on me. By faith I yield myself to the living God. His glory and love fill my heart, and have the mastery over my life. Faith is fellowship; I give myself up to the influence of the friend who makes me a promise, and become linked to him by it. And it is when we enter into this living fellowship with God Himself, in a faith that always sees and hears Him, that it becomes easy and natural to believe His promise as to prayer. Faith in the promise is the fruit of faith in the promiser: the prayer of faith is rooted in the life of faith. And in this way the faith that prays effectually is indeed a gift of God. Not as something that He bestows or infuses at once, but in a far deeper and truer sense, as the blessed disposition or habit of soul which is wrought and grows up in us in a life of intercourse with Him. Surely for one who knows his Father well, and lives in constant close intercourse with Him, it is a simple thing to believe the promise that He will do the will of His child who lives in union with Himself.

Sunspots 824

 Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else: 

It's St. Patricks' Day. See this article from the History Channel.

The Arts: Listverse shows us beautiful, or interesting, photos of abandoned structures.

Christianity: (and politics) an insightful review of a book on Christian nationalism, by Tim Keller.

Christianity Today has an article about Henrietta Mears, who, in many ways, founded the 20th-century evangelical movement, and was a positive force for Christ. Billy Graham probably would never have come to prominence without her influence. (I'd never heard of her.)

Relevant reports on a survey that indicates that pastors are leaving churches because a significant portion of their attendees have become QAnon believers.

Christianity Today has an article urging redress of sentencing guidelines that have been unfair to African-Americans.

Computing: (and Education) Gizmodo reports that lots of children (and adults) still don't have internet access.

Health: Gizmodo reports that diphtheria infections are on the rise, because of mutated bacteria.

NPR reports that the frequency of alcohol-caused liver disease in young women has risen sharply.

Politics: (and Health, and Race) FiveThirtyEight examines the reasons why African-Americans are getting vaccinated against COVID less. It's not because they don't trust the shots, but because many of them lack internet access for signing up, and because distribution centers are less likely to be close to where they live.

Science: Gizmodo reports that some deep-sea bacteria are "invisible" to human immune systems. That is, they are not recognized as foreign, and attacked. This could be dangerous.

Gizmodo also reports that rainbows look different in Hawaii, and tells us why. (The article also explains rainbows, wherever they are.)

A mosquito, which carries human infectious diseases, has entered Florida from elsewhere, according to NPR.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

Comments you have made - Thanks, and an apology

Thanks to all readers and commenters. I discovered, this morning, that whatever system (if any) I was using to keep up with comments on my blog wasn't working.

My apologies for not seeing a number of comments in recent months. I caught up today.

In at least one case, two of you were exchanging comments. I've generally not entered in to such discussions, even on my own blog, but let the individuals engage in discussion. I didn't enter the dialog myself today, either.

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, 76

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. Murray continues a discussion, based on Mark 11:22-24:

This connection between faith in God and faith in His promise will become clear to us if we think what faith really is. It is often compared to the hand or the mouth, by which we take and appropriate what is offered to us. But it is of importance that we should understand that faith is also the ear by which I hear what is promised, the eye by which I see what is offered me. On this the power to take depends. I must hear the person who gives me the promise: the very tone of his voice gives me courage to believe. I must see him: in the light of his eye and countenance all fear as to my right to take passes away. The value of the promise depends on the promiser: it is on my knowledge of what the promiser is that faith
in the promise depends.
It is for this reason that Jesus, ere He gives that wonderful prayer-promise, first says, ‘HAVE FAITH IN GOD.’ That is, let thine eye be open to the Living God, and gaze on Him, seeing Him who is Invisible. It is through the eye that I yield myself to the influence of what is before me; I just allow it to enter, to exert its influence, to leave its impression upon my mind. So believing God is just looking to God and what He is, allowing Him to reveal His presence, giving Him time and yielding the whole being to take in the full impression of what He is as God, the soul opened up to receive and rejoice in the overshadowing of His love. Yes, faith is the eye to which God shows what He is and does: through faith the light of His presence and the workings of His mighty power stream into the soul. As that which I see lives in me, so by faith God lives in me too.

Sunspots 823

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: Gizmodo reports on an on-line exhibit showing reconstructions of the Oval Office from 1909 to the present.

Computing: Gizmodo reports that far-right sources, especially those spreading misinformation, are more likely to be followed on social media than other types of sources.

Environment: Gizmodo discusses how humans influence much of the water cycle.

Gizmodo also reports that building codes are being kept from changing so as to slow global climate change.

Gizmodo reports on the biggest pipeline spill since 1977, and you've probably never heard of it.

Gizmodo also asks a panel to indicate the most climate-safe place to live.

Health: Gizmodo reports that diphtheria infections are on the rise, because of mutated bacteria.

Politics: (or something) Relevant reports on the US birth rate, which has dropped recently, and the probable consequences.

NPR on the pervasiveness of misinformation, aka conspiracy theories.

FiveThirtyEight says that someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene could be elected from other Congressional districts in the future.

Politico reports that Donald Trump has sent cease-and-desist orders to the Republican National Committee and other important fund-raising entities, asking them not to use his name and photo.

Science: Gizmodo reports on an asteroid that is near the earth now, will be again in a few years, and might hit the earth in 2068.

Sports: (and politics) Jezebel has a long article on trans-gender participation in high school athletics.

CBS News reports on CRISPR gene editing, which seems to be the most important scientific development of the 21st century. A woman, Jennifer Doudna, had a major responsibility for the process. She shared a Nobel prize with a woman from France.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, 75

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color.

‘Have faith in God;’ Or, The Secret of Believing Prayer.
‘Jesus, answering, said unto them, Have faith in God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what He saith cometh to pass; he shall have it. Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye have received them, and ye shall have them.’— Mark 11:22-24.

The promise of answer to prayer which formed our yesterday’s lesson is one of the most wonderful in all Scripture. In how many hearts it has raised the question: How ever can I attain the faith that knows that it receives all it asks?
It is this question our Lord would answer today. Ere He gave that wonderful promise to His disciples, He spoke another word, in which He points out where the faith in the answer to prayer takes its rise, and ever finds its strength. HAVE FAITH IN GOD: this word precedes the other, Have faith in the promise of an answer to prayer. The power to believe a promise depends entirely, but only, on faith in the promiser. Trust in the person begets trust in his word. It is only where we live and associate with God in personal, loving intercourse, where GOD HIMSELF is all to us, where our whole being is continually opened up and exposed to the mighty influences that are at work where His Holy Presence is revealed, that the capacity will be developed for believing that He gives whatsoever we ask.  

Sunspots 822

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: Some Gizmodo writers discuss the question of why music moves us emotionally.

Christianity: Relevant has a disturbing article on the pervasiveness of pornography, and its effects (people who watch pornography are more likely to divorce, for one). The pervasiveness seems to be as 

Education: Grammarphobia on the history of the words grid and gridiron.

Finance: (or something) Gizmodo reports on an analysis which says that Texans have paid 28 billion dollars more for power, over the last few years, than they would have if their grid had been regulated like other grids.

Politics: Gizmodo reports on congressional hearings aimed to cut down on misinformation. It's an interesting read, pointing out more than one side's misinformation, but no conclusions were found.

NPR reports that Russian diplomats and their families left North Korea by way of a manually pushed rail handcart.

Science: Gizmodo reports that there are a lot of double stars in our galaxy, meaning that, on many planets, there would often be two sun shadows of the same object, or person.

Gizmodo also reports on studies of fossil dinosaurs. There aren't many fossils of medium-sized dinosaurs, and the reason seems to be that the young of Tyrannosaurus rex and similar forms out-competed them.

Gizmodo also reports on the development of flying drones, the size of a cicada.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, 74

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. In the previous posts, Murray discussed Mark 11:24 (Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them. World English Bible, public domain.) He continued: 

Blessed Lord! Thou didst come from the Father to show us all His love, and all the treasures of blessing that love is waiting to bestow. Lord! Thou hast this day again flung the gates so wide open, and given us such promises as to our liberty in prayer, that we must blush that our poor hearts have so little taken it in. It has been too large for us to believe. Lord! we now look up to Thee to teach us to take and keep and use this precious word of Thine: ‘All things whatsoever ye ask, believe that ye have received.’ Blessed Jesus! it is Thy self in whom our faith must be rooted if it is to grow strong. Thy work has freed us wholly from the power of sin, and opened the way to the Father; Thy Love is ever longing to bring us into the full fellowship of Thy glory and power; Thy Spirit is ever drawing us upward into a life of perfect faith and confidence; we are assured that in Thy teaching we shall learn to pray the prayer of faith. Thou wilt train us to pray so that we believe that we receive, to believe that we really have what we ask. Lord! teach me so to know and trust and love Thee, so to live and abide in Thee, that all my prayers rise up and come before God in Thee, and that my soul may have in Thee the assurance that I am heard. Amen.

Denis Lamoureux on the Bible and ancient science

Denis Lamoureux has written a good book. The title is The Bible & Ancient Science: Principles of Interpretation. (Note that there's an ampersand, not an "and" in the title.) The point, made over and over, by analyzing the original language of the Bible, is that the Bible was written from the standpoint of ancient science.

Lamoureux discusses the statement, by Jesus, that the mustard seed is the smallest seed (it isn't) in Mark 4:30-32. Jesus wasn't teaching botany, nor was He mistaken, or lying. He was speaking to the people of the day, using the knowledge that they had. The message, about the Kingdom, was far more important than the size of the seed.
 

The author also discusses the beliefs of Biblical writers on human reproduction. They thought that a woman was merely a sort of field, where the male implanted something which grew into a child. Infertility was always the "fault" of the woman. The Bible reflects that belief. Again, the Bible isn't a text on human reproduction. It's a text on God's plan of redemption, and false beliefs about peripheral issues are just that, peripheral.

Another item. The Biblical authors thought that the earth was circular and flat, surrounded by water, and that there was a solid firmament above it. But Genesis 1-2 isn't a textbook of astronomy, geology, meteorology or oceanography. It was written from the standpoint of the beliefs of the people of the day, and tells us that God is creator, that the creation was good, that humans sinned and need a Redeemer. There is no firmament, even though the Bible writers thought that there is. The earth is not flat -- careful study of the Hebrew of the Bible, which Lamoureux appears well-qualified to do, shows that the Bible does not teach that the earth is a globe, but describes it as if it was flat.

(The illustration above is not from the book)

Lamoureux, like many others, points out that the apparent sequences of events in Genesis 1 vs. 2 seem to be contradictory. But Genesis 1-2 was not meant to be taken as a literal, step-by-step account (or accounts) of what happened at the beginning, and it isn't that. Does this downgrade the Bible, or the Gospel? No, argues Lamoureux. The first part of Genesis was made to teach eternal truths, namely that one God created, without using stuff from some other entity, that creation was good, and that sin entered the world.

Although he doesn't mention Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis much, the book demonstrates that the AiG thesis, that the earth is only a few thousand years old, is not really based on scripture, in spite of what AiG believes  the Bible says. Lamoureux directly criticizes the writings of Henry Morris, the most important young-earth creationist of the 20th century, for the same reason -- he took Bible passages that were not meant to be taken literally, and not meant to describe the world in terms that we would use now, and took them literally, and as if they describe the world as we now understand it.

There's more serious, and good, thinking and teaching in the book.

I was pleased to be able to read this in Kindle format, using my Kindle Unlimited membership. But the Kindle version's type size was almost too small to read on my 9 inch tablet, and, unlike most books in Kindle format, the type size can't be changed on this one. 

Thanks for reading. Read Lamoureux.

sunspots 821

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Relevant tells us why Lent matters.

Education: Listverse tells us about three-dimensional shapes.

Politics: Politico describes some case studies of QAnon believers.

Relevant debunks conspiracy theorists who claim that the snow in Texas was fake. (And that Bill Gates was responsible for it.)

Science: The Scientist reports that researchers in four countries have been able to communicate (in both directions) with subjects who are asleep and dreaming.

The Scientist also reports on experiments that show that dogs have awareness of their own bodies. This seems obvious, but isn't really.

DNA from a cave bear, about 360,000 years old, has been recovered, and usable sequence information has been found, according to Gizmodo. The cave was not in permafrost, from which much older DNA has been recovered.

The AP reports that an almost extinct ferret species has been given more potential genetic variety by a clone of an animal dead for a few decades.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, 73

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. In the previous posts, Murray discussed Mark 11:24 (Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them. World English Bible, public domain.) He continued: 

And now, remember one thing more: It is Jesus who said this. As we see heaven thus opened to us, and the Father on the Throne offering to give us whatsoever we ask in faith, our hearts feel full of shame that we have so little availed ourselves of our privilege, and full of fear lest our feeble faith still fail to grasp what is so clearly placed within our reach. There is one thing must make us strong and full of hope: it is Jesus who has brought us this message from the Father. He Himself, when He was on earth, lived the life of faith and prayer. It was when the disciples expressed their surprise at what He had done to the fig-tree, that He told them that the very same life He led could be theirs; that they could not only command the fig-tree, but the very mountain, and it must obey. And He is our life: all He was on earth He is in us now; all He teaches He really gives. He is Himself the Author and the Perfecter of our faith: He gives the spirit of faith; let us not be afraid that such faith is not meant for us. It is meant for every child of the Father; it is within reach of each one who will but be childlike, yielding himself to the Father’s Will and Love, trusting the Father’s Word and Power. Dear fellow-Christian! let the thought that this word comes through Jesus, the Son, our Brother, give us courage, and let our answer be: Yea, Blessed Lord, we do believe Thy Word, we do believe that we receive.

What to give up for Lent - complaining

 

What to give up for Lent? (if anything)

Our pastor suggested an idea. It's based on the Bible:

Philippians 2:14 Do all things without complaining and arguing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation ...

1 Corinthians 10 has some severe warnings about four things that the Israelites did, and that we ought not to do:

7a Don’t be idolaters ...

8a Let’s not commit sexual immorality ...

9a Let’s not test Christ ...

10a Don’t grumble ...

Jude gives a warning about some dangerous people: 1:16a These are murmurers and complainers, walking after their lusts—and their mouth speaks proud things— ...

So what was her suggestion? Give up complaining for Lent. 

We love to complain, about COVID-19, the weather, politics, having to wait in line for something, how hard it is to get through a phone tree, how many robocalls we get, about what we have (or don't have) to eat, what's on (or not on) TV, you name it. But complaining is dangerous. It puts me, and what I want, first. It questions what God gives us, or what God allows. It's not a good example.

Here are the results of a search for "complain" in the Bible. It's clear that God allows complaining, with Job being a prime example -- although he was finally rebuked for his griping. But Job wasn't commended for his complaining, but in spite of it.

Thanks for reading!

Sunspots 820

 Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: (And archaeology) A 17,000 year old conch shell, apparently modified for producing sound, has been found.

Christianity: Joel Duff examines the reach of the most important young-earth creationist outlets.

Computing: Gizmo's Freeware recommends a site where you can find out about abbreviations and acronyms.

Gizmo's also pointed to HotSymbol, from which lots of symbols and emojis may be easily copied: 🙄

Education: (or something) An 8-year-old complained to National Public Radio, saying that there weren't enough stories about dinosaurs on NPR's "All Things Considered."

Relevant has a post on black history in the US.

Finance: (or something) Amazon has a use for used cardboard boxes, according to Gizmodo.

Humor: (or something) Listverse shows us 10 kitchen gadgets that you don't need.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight on why it is unlikely that there will be a successful third (or fourth) party.

(And Christianity) Christianity Today reports on a survey that indicates that quite a few white evangelicals are believers in QAnon.

FiveThirtyEight on the power of Trump loyalists in state and local politics.

Science: Gizmodo on missions to Mars (The UAE, China, and the US are involved, separately), which are so active now, and what these missions hope to accomplish.

Gizmodo also reports on research on pigs that are able to play video games -- and win.

And Gizmodo reports on new types of living things, found under the Antarctic ice.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, 72

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. In the previous posts, Murray discussed Mark 11:24 (Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them. World English Bible, public domain.) He continued:

‘And ye shall have them.’ That is, the gift which we first hold in faith as bestowed upon us in heaven will also become ours in personal experience. But will it be needful to pray longer if once we know we have been heard and have received what we asked? There are cases in which such prayer will not be needful, in which the blessing is ready to break through at once, if we but hold fast our confidence, and prove our faith by praising for what we have received, in the face of our not yet having it in experience. There are other cases in which the faith that has received needs to be still further tried and strengthened in persevering prayer. God only knows when everything in and around us is fully ripe for the manifestation of the blessing that has been given to faith. Elijah knew for certain that rain would come; God had promised it; and yet he had to pray the seven times. And that prayer was no show or play; an intense spiritual reality in the heart of him who lay pleading there, and in the heaven above where it had its effectual work to do. It is ‘through faith and patience we inherit the promises.’ Faith says most confidently, I have received it. Patience perseveres in prayer until the gift bestowed in heaven is seen on earth. ‘Believe that ye have received, and ye shall have.’ Between the have received in heaven, and the shall have of earth, believe: believing praise and prayer is the link.
 

Sunspots 819

 Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: (and politics) Relevant reports that the current President of the Southern Baptist Convention has attempted to stop some SBC pastors from calling Vice-President Kamala Harris a "Jezebel."

Christianity Today reports on congressional prayer meetings.

Computing: Gizmodo reports that iPhones are likely to prevent users from getting any meaningful results when their searches include the word "Asian." This was presumably done to prevent viewing pornography, but it also prevents looking for "Asian restaurant near me," and much more innocent material.

Education: (also health, science, and more) Gizmo's Freeware tells us about a site that connects to every kind of calculator you can think of.

Environment: Gizmodo reports on a book about various ways of engineering our way out of what we have done to the environment. (Example - speeding up evolution in corals, so they can survive in hotter ocean water.)

Food: Gizmodo reports on why food sticks to non-stick pans.

Listverse reports on 10 sausages that you've probably never eaten (and probably wouldn't want to).

Health: NPR reports that the infections from COVID-19 have probably been seriously undercounted.

NPR also reports on a patient who had COVID variants develop in his body, over a fairly short time.

And NPR discusses the question of whether it's safe to visit older relatives, if they have been vaccinated. Maybe, maybe not.

Science: The Scientist reports that Naked Mole Rats, which were interesting enough without this late study, have sound "dialects" different from other colonies of the animals.

The Scientist also reports that a mutation in fish activates other genes that cause the animals to add more bones to their fin structure.

And The Scientist (and other outlets) report that a WHO investigation indicates that the COVID-19 virus did not originate in a lab in China.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, 71

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. In the previous posts, Murray discussed Mark 11:24 (Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them. World English Bible, public domain.) He continued:

‘Believe that ye have received.’ This is the word of central importance, of which the meaning is too often misunderstood. Believe that you have received! now, while praying, the thing you ask for. It may only be later that you shall have it in personal experience, that you shall see what you believe; but now, without seeing, you are to believe that it has been given you of the Father in heaven. The receiving or accepting of an answer to prayer is just like the receiving or accepting of Jesus or of pardon, a spiritual thing, an act of faith apart from all feeling. When I come as a supplicant for pardon, I believe that Jesus in heaven is for me, and so I receive or take Him. When I come as a supplicant for any special gift, which is according to God’s word, I believe that what I ask is given me: I believe that I have it, I hold it in faith; I thank God that it is mine. ‘If we know that He heareth us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of Him.’

 

Sunspots 818

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Relevant has a good article on who should take care of the poor.

Christianity Today reports that about half of Protestant pastors say that they have heard a conspiracy theory from one or more parishioners. Relevant reports on the same survey, but is not fully satisfied with the methodology of the survey.

Relevant on why we need Black History Month.

Health: NPR reports that a Corona virus variant strain found in Brazil may be able to evade vaccination doses currently in use.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight has posted an analysis of what adherents of QAnon are likely to do now.

Relevant tells us several things (or people) that (or who) are labeled "socialist" really aren't.

Science: The Scientist reports on all the known (so far) variants of the COVID-19 virus.

Tiny chameleons have been discovered in Madagascar, says Gizmodo.

Gizmodo also reports on organisms that could probably survive a nuclear attack. (Humans wouldn't)

(and race) The Wikipedia article on Kizzmekia Corbett, an African-American scientist who played a key role in the development of COVID vaccine.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

Counted worthy

 I was struck, not for the first time, with the phrase, "counted worthy," in the New Testament. Here, from the World English Bible, are the occurrences of that phrase: 

Luke 21:36 Therefore be watchful all the time, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.” 

Acts 5:41 They therefore departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for Jesus’ name. 

2 Thessalonians 1:5 This is an obvious sign of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of God’s Kingdom, for which you also suffer. 

1 Timothy 5:17 Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching. 

Hebrews 3:3 For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, because he who built the house has more honor than the house. 

I note that, in all five of these cases, it seems to be God, in the last case God the Father, but, probably, in the other cases, God the Trinity who is being counted worthy. What humans think about our situations don't matter much. In the last case, it is God the Son who is counted worthy of more glory than Moses.

Another thought. It isn't enough to try to serve God in our own strength, but it is enough to serve God in His strength, no matter what is accomplished. We can't receive greater reward than being reckoned as appropriate -- counted worthy -- to receive His favor and affirmation! 

Thanks for reading. May you and I be counted worthy of honor, by Him who counts infinitely more than any human entity.