Sunspots 893

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

The Arts: NPR reports that Mary Badham, who played Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird, is now playing one of the Finch's neighbors in a theater production of the story.

Christianity: (and politics) A Christianity Today writer, along with others, believes that the US is headed for a time of political violence, and in fact is already in one. She says that Christians, of whatever political persuasion, should not participate, following the example of Jesus.

Education: Grammarphobia discusses the expression "weak in the knees."

Environment: Gizmodo tells us that European bison are being re-introduced to the United Kingdom, where they have not been (in the wild, at least) for thousands of years.

Finances: (or something) Gizmodo discusses mishandled air luggage.

Health: Fox News (and other outlets) reports on a study that says that those under 40 years old should not drink alcohol.

A Conversation writer tells us why drug names are so complicated, and explains some of how they are named.

History: (or something) ListVerse shows us some amazing bridges.

Humor: (or something) a cat escaped from a carrier, in the Boston airport, and was finally caught, after three weeks, according to NPR.

Politics: (or something) A Conversation writer says that the Shinto religion (and the Unification Church) influences the assassination of Shinzo Abe.

Science: (or something) The Conversation discusses love (by which the discussion mostly means physical attraction.)

Gizmodo reports that the Webb telescope has been damaged by a micrometeorite. It should still function, almost as well as before the damage.

Gizmodo also reports that NASAs martian explorer devices have photographed what looks like a tangle of string. The article has a link to a previous finding -- something that looks like a door.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

 

How many kinds of dragonflies are there?

 

Graphic: Antique dragonfly, from openclipart 

My wife and I were out walking, when I saw a dragonfly. She remarked that this one was black and white, and innocently asked me what kind it was. (I hadn't a clue.) I innocently remarked that dragonflies are of many colors, and that there are hundreds of kinds of them, although most of these kinds don't live around where we do. Then she asked me, innocently, if God made each kind of dragonfly, or if they descended and diverged from other kinds. She also asked, innocently, if there wouldn't be a web page, or something, which told us which of these types of events happened.

Well, yes and no. There are some web pages, and/or books, which claim that each kind of organism was made by a separate miracle. For example, see this page, which doesn't specifically say that each creature was created by a distinct miracle, but says that the six days of Genesis 1 were literal 24-hour days, so it would have been impossible for some kind of evolutionary process to produce all the species of dragonflies. (Genesis 1 does not specifically mention flying insects, let alone dragonflies.)

There are also many books and web pages which claim that animals developed into many species, over long periods of time, by completely natural processes -- there is no God, and never was. Here is the Wikipedia web page on an introduction to evolution.

Though you probably don't hear much from them, there are other sources that believe in a Creator. Some of these believe that the days of Genesis 1 were very long periods of time, thus allowing for evolution of dragonflies from a common ancestor. Others who believe in a creator believe that Genesis 1 was never meant to teach science, and that it is a mistake to do so. Genesis 1-2, they say, were meant to teach important truths, such as that there is only one God, not many, like the peoples living around the Israelites believed. And God is sovereign. Further, humans are more like God than any other animal, and have some responsibility to care for God's creation. Genesis 1 and 2 were not, in their view, to be taken literally. This last group holds that God's marvelous original creation included built-in laws, processes and properties of atoms and molecules, and rocks and clouds, that led, over a very long time, to the world we have today.   

To answer my wife's question, there are about 3000 species of dragonflies living on earth today. There were fossil dragonflies, too. Some dragonfly-like insects had wingspans as long as your arm, or even longer. Just don't ask me to identify them.

Appendix See these posts: "Should Genesis 1-2 be taken literally?"

"Young-earth creationism and the kinds of animals"

"Is Genesis 1-11 history, or myth? Comparing the sequence of events in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2"

With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray, excerpt 135

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.  His book is based on Mark 11:22-24. The previous post in this series is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. Murray's book is based on Mark 11:22-24.

This demand in connection with prevailing prayer—that it should be to the glory of God—is no more than right and natural. There is none glorious but the Lord: there is no glory but His, and what He layeth on His creatures. Creation exists to show forth His glory; all that is not for His glory is sin, and darkness, and death: it is only in the glorifying of God that the creatures can find glory. What the Son of Man did, to give Himself wholly, His whole life, to glorify the Father, is nothing but the simple duty of every redeemed one. And Christ’s reward will be his too. Because He gave Himself so entirely to the glory of the Father, the Father crowned Him with glory and honour, giving the kingdom into His hands, with the power to ask what He will, and, as Intercessor, to answer our prayers. And just as we become one with Christ in this, and as our prayer is part of a life utterly surrendered to God’s glory, will the Saviour be able to glorify the Father to us by the fulfilment of the promise: ‘Whatsoever ye shall ask, I will do it.’
 

To such a life, with God’s glory our only aim, we cannot attain by any effort of our own. It is only in the man Christ Jesus that such a life is to be seen: in Him it is to be found for us. Yes blessed be God! His life is our life; He gave Himself for us; He Himself is now our life. The discovery, and the confession, and the denial, of self, as usurping the place of God, of self-seeking and self-trusting, is essential, and yet is what we cannot accomplish in our own strength. It is the incoming and indwelling, the Presence and the Rule in the heart, of our Lord Jesus who glorified the Father on earth, and is now glorified with Him, that thence He might glorify Him in us;—it is Jesus Himself coming in, who can cast out all self-glorifying, and give us instead His own God-glorifying life and Spirit. It is Jesus, who longs to glorify the Father in hearing our prayers, who will teach us to live and to pray to the glory of God.

Sunspots 892

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

Food: (and finances) Listverse tells us some things we didn't know about Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC).

Health: (and politics) A writer for The Conversation argues that, prior to the 1800s, abortion, prior to quickening, which is perceived at about the fourth month, was accepted as a medical procedure, and was not stigmatized or outlawed.

History: (or something) Gizmodo on the Georgia Guidestones, which recently suffered severe damage from a so-far at large bomber.

Politics: (and computing) Gizmodo notes that former President Trump, his son, and others, resigned from the board of Trump's Truth Social social network, shortly before a Securities and Exchange Commission examination of the company.

Science: The Scientist reports on how an infestation of mange on vicuñas had important effects on an entire ecosystem.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray, excerpt 134

 

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.  His book is based on Mark 11:22-24. The previous post in this series is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. Murray's book is based on Mark 11:22-24.

Or are not, in large measure, self-interest and self-will the strongest motives urging us to]pray? Or, if we cannot see that this is the case, have we not to acknowledge that the distinct, conscious longing for the glory of the Father is not what animates our prayers? And yet it must be so.
Not as if the believer does not at times desire it. But he has to mourn that he has so little attained. And he knows the reason of his failure too. It was, because the separation between the spirit of daily life and the spirit of the hour of prayer was too wide. We begin to see that the desire for the glory of the Father is not something that we can awake and present to our Lord when we prepare ourselves to pray. No! it is only when the whole life, in all its parts, is given up to God’s glory, that we can really pray to His glory too. ‘Do all to the glory of God,’ and, ‘Ask all to the glory of God,’—these twin commands are inseparable: obedience to the former is the secret of grace for the latter. A life to the glory of God is  the condition of the prayers that Jesus can answer, ‘that the Father may be glorified.’

Sunspots 891

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

Education: Grammarphobia discusses grandparents, grandparent's and grandparents.

Environment: A Conversation writer says that one way to alleviate the water shortage crisis in the US southwest would be to have cities pay farmers to use more efficient ways of getting water to their crops, eliminating much of the evaporation that uses the water supply inefficiently.

Health: I am not making this up. Gizmodo reports that some scientists are recommending that a sample of fecal material be stored when a person is young (can be frozen), so that restoration of the base-line intestinal inhabitants can be accomplished. Some fecal organisms contribute significantly to our health.

Science: Gizmodo reports that orcas (killer whales) have become predators of great white sharks, off of the coast of Africa.

A stored water lily seed has been determined to be a separate species, with leaf diameter up to 3.2 meters, according to a report by Gizmodo.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

 

Geography (and economics and arithmetic) lesson: In case you didn't know it, Louisville, KY is on the Atlantic Coast, and Oklahoma is in the East.

(Image from Pixabay) So. The Pac-12 athletic conference is going to shrink to 10 members. Texas and Oklahoma, which aren't exactly in the east, will be joining the Southeast conference. The Big 10 is already up to 14 members, and will apparently be adding 2 more, making it the Big 16, maybe. The Big 12 currently has 13 members, and will shrink to 8. The Atlantic Coast Conference includes Notre Dame (sort of) and Louisville, which are both about 600 miles away from the nearest ocean. Have you got all that? It doesn't really matter very much if you do, because there will be more changes, barring the Second Coming. By the way, there are more sports than football, but that's the big one.

Why is all this happening? Money, money, money. Major college sports is an industry, more than a sport. It reflects our values pretty well.

See here for Wikipedia's reporting on this phenomenon, without my editorializing:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Five_conferences

With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray, excerpt 133

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.  His book is based on Mark 11:22-24. The previous post in this series is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. Murray's book is based on Mark 11:22-24.

Let us make His aim ours: let the glory of the Father be the link between our asking and His doing: such prayer must prevail.
This word of Jesus comes indeed as a sharp two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. Jesus in His prayers on earth, in His intercession in heaven, in His promise of an answer to our prayers from there, makes this His first object—the glory of His Father. Is it so with us too? Or are not, in large measure, self-interest and self-will the strongest motives urging us to pray? Or, if we cannot see that this is the case, have we not to acknowledge that the distinct, conscious longing for the glory of the Father is not what animates our prayers? And yet it must be so.

Sunspots 890

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

Christianity: (And politics) CNN talks with an author who argues that white evangelicals honor supposed masculinity, regardless of what various sins that these male figures have committed, and that speaking out against this hypocrisy often leads to consequences for those who speak out.

Education: (and politics) Slate, and other outlets, report on Carson v. Makin, which Supreme Court ruling requires state funding instruction based on the beliefs of  conservative Christians.

Food: Gizmodo reports that Texas has the worst corn in the US.

Health: A report says that, if you can't stand on one leg for 10 seconds, you are twice as likely to die within 10 years as if you can.

Science: Gizmodo tells us more than we want to know about the tiny mites that live in the pores of your facial skin.

Terry Gross, of NPR, interviews a scientist who describes sensory experiences in some animals that are quite different from those of humans.

Gizmodo reports that wild bats can remember a phone-made sound for at least four years.

Gizmodo has posted some fine photos of several of the moons in the solar system.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray, excerpt 132

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.  His book is based on Mark 11:22-24. The previous post in this series is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. Murray's book is based on Mark 11:22-24.

‘That the Father may be glorified;’ Or, The Chief End of Prayer.
I go unto the Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.’—John xiv. 13.
THAT the Father may be glorified in the Son: it is to this end that Jesus on His throne in glory will do all we ask in His Name. Every answer to prayer He gives will have this as its object: when there is no prospect of this object being obtained, He will not answer. It follows as a matter of course that this must be with us, as with Jesus, the essential element in our petitions: the glory of the Father must be the aim and end, the very soul and life of our prayer.
It was so with Jesus when He was on earth. ‘I seek not mine own honour: I seek the honour of Him that sent me;’ in such words we have the keynote of His life. In the first words of the high-priestly prayer He gives utterance to it: Father! Glorify Thy son, that Thy Son may glorify Thee. ‘I have glorified Thee on earth; glorify me with Thyself.’ The ground on which He asks to be taken up into the glory He had with the Father, is the twofold one: He has glorified Him on earth; He will still glorify Him in heaven. What He asks is only to enable Him to glorify the Father more. It is as we enter into sympathy with Jesus on this point, and gratify Him by making the Father’s glory our chief object in prayer too, that our prayer cannot fail of an answer. There is nothing of which the Beloved Son has said more distinctly that it will glorify the Father than this, His doing what we ask; He will not, therefore, let any opportunity slip of securing this object. Let us make His aim ours: let the glory of the Father be the link between our asking and His doing: such prayer must prevail. 

Sunspots 889

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

Politics: The Conversation writes that school hardening isn't very effective.

Science: CNN reports on a male mastodon, who was killed by another one, and also reports that study of the killed mastodon has enabled scientists to study migration patterns in these extinct animals.

The Scientist reports that scientists have been able to find Arthropod (insects, spiders, etc.) DNA in tea bags. Much of this probably was left on the tea leaves when insects bit into the leaves.

Nature discusses the Long-Term Evolution Experiment, which has tracked about 40,000 generations of bacteria (so far), and has found some interesting things, most prominently that mutation has led to a new ability to get energy from citrate.

Gizmodo reports that isolated populations of polar bears have been identified in Greenland.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

With Christ in the School of Prayer,, by Andrew Murray, excerpt 131

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.  His book is based on Mark 11:22-24. The previous post in this series is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. Murray's book is based on Mark 11:22-24.

Blessed Lord! Forgive us all that we have so little believed Thee and Thy promise, and so little proved Thy faithfulness in fulfilling it. O forgive us that we have so little honoured Thy all-prevailing Name in heaven or upon earth.
Lord! Teach me to pray so that I may prove that Thy Name is indeed all-prevailing with God and men and devils. Yea, teach me so to work and so to pray that Thou canst glorify Thyself in me as the Omnipotent One, and do Thy great work through me too.
Amen.

Water, Hydrogen, and Oxygen, and where we get our energy

 

The above equation is a simple way of showing what happens during photosynthesis. There are more detailed ways to show it. Photosynthesis is a complicated process, or processes. But, at its heart, it may be summarized simply.

As you know, there's a lot of water on the earth. As you also know, water consists of two elements, Hydrogen and Oxygen. As you may not know, the energy you need is intimately connected to water. I'm using energy to type this, and you are using energy to move your eyes as you read it. What's that got to do with water?

Our food comes from photosynthesis. Green plants absorb light, and produce various molecules that we use as food, such as starches, sugars, several vitamins, and proteins.

 Light energy is used to split water, and the Hydrogen split off is then available for the manufacture of Carbon-containing molecules, like glucose, food molecules, which can be stored, broken down to release energy, or moved to parts of the organism where they are needed. Some of the need is to release energy. Most foods you buy at a grocery store, or a restaurant, come with a calorie number. That number indicates the amount of energy you would expect to get if you ate and digested that food. The energy comes from energy-storing molecules, like glucose. The Carbon-containing molecules, which have Hydrogen added to the Carbon, may also be used to produce important molecules like enzymes, vitamins, hormones and proteins. (Oxygen, Nitrogen, Sulfur and other elements may be added to a Carbon-based structure.)

Organic molecules, like glucose, will burn. Burning uses Oxygen to carry on combustion. There is a process, used by nearly all organisms, called cellular respiration. That process also uses Oxygen to create water, and, in the process, releases energy for use in our cells. So, putting it very simply, photosynthesis uses light energy to break water, and cellular respiration puts water back together, and releases energy.

I'm bald-headed. So lots of light hits my head. My cells, like yours, have lots of water. So why doesn't that light, on my scalp cells, split water and make glucose? The answer is that various helping molecules, molecular tools, as it were, are necessary for photosynthesis to occur. These include chlorophyll and several enzymes, which I don't have in my scalp cells.

Isn't God great? Thanks for reading.

Answers in Genesis on the vapor-canopy hypothesis (aka the firmament)

The King James version uses the term "firmament" in Genesis 1. Other versions of the Bible use other terms, such as canopy or expanse.

It doesn't matter much. Many Young-Earth Creationists (YEC), especially Answers in Genesis (AiG), the most prominent YEC organization, have stopped pushing the existence of a firmament. Here are some links to AiG articles:

"Running out of Puff."

"What is the State of the Water Vapor Canopy Model?"

"The Collapse of the Canopy Model"

There may well be more such.

All of these articles were published in the AiG official web site, and deny the necessity of a vapor canopy. Rejection of the firmament/vapor canopy is for several reasons, such as one would make stars very difficult to see (and apparently people in Bible times were familiar with the appearance of the stars.) Another reason is that a firmament would increase global warming, probably making life impossible.

I appreciate the abandonment of the vapor-canopy model by AiG. (Not all Christians, probably even not all Christians trained in science, have rejected it, unfortunately.)

Sunspots 888

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

Environment: Gizmodo reports that a power company knew about the effects of climate change for decades, but kept promoting (including building new plants) that used fossil fuels.

Gizmodo also reports that microplastics have been found in newly deposited Arctic snow.

NPR reports that the Biden administration plans to designate an area of the Atlantic, off of New York, as a marine sanctuary.

Gizmodo reports that car tires also contribute a lot of pollution.

Food: NPR reports on beefalo, bison-cattle hybrids, as a meat source.

Politics: NPR reports on a group that is working to cut off Fox News' advertising revenue. More, from Gizmodo.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

Leprosy in the Bible: spiritual and physical

Leprosy is mentioned in the Bible, about 30 times, about as frequently as murder, adultery and coveting. Leper is found about 20 times (with some overlap with leprosy). There are people living today with the disease of leprosy.

I found some sources dealing with the topic of leprosy in the Bible. These include Matthew Henry's commentary on Leviticus 13, which is public domain, Robert Jamieson's commentary on the same chapter, also public domain, and John Calvin's commentary on that chapter, also public domain. See also the Wikipedia article on leprosy. The disease is carried by bacteria. Jamieson and Calvin didn't know that, and supposed that it was caused by other means. Henry believed that leprosy was not an infectious disease, but solely the result of sin. "That it was a plague inflicted immediately by the hand of God, and came not from natural causes, as other diseases; and therefore must be managed according to a divine law."

Calvin wrote that "I confess that I am not a physician, so as to discuss [leprous diseases] accurately, and I purposely abstain from close inquiry about them, because I am persuaded that the disease here treated of affected the Israelites in an extraordinary manner, which we are now unacquainted with; for what do we now know of a leprous house?"

There seem to have been two different types, or causes, of leprosy. One of these was miraculous affliction. Miriam (Numbers 12) was miraculously stricken with a skin disorder by God when she and Aaron rebelled against Moses. This didn't last more than a few days. Gehazi persuaded Naaman to give him some gifts, ostensibly for Elisha, who didn't want them, but Gehazi took them for himself, and Elisha called for God to make Gehazi a leper. (2 Kings 5).  Miriam was healed with no mention of prayer or other intervention by Moses. King Uzziah was stricken when he took the priest's duties upon himself (2 Chronicles 26). Uzziah was isolated as a leper for the rest of his life. Gehazi was apparently cured somehow, as 2 Kings 8 mentions him as talking to the king, with no mention of his having leprosy. 

All three of these cases seem to have appeared instantaneously.

This source states that Biblical leprosy was not the same thing as leprosy that exists today. The three cases mentioned above do not seem to have been the same as other cases of leprosy mentioned in the Bible, for example in Leviticus 13.

Some writers have claimed that the Israelites weren't victims of leprosy until they contacted it in Egypt.

The other type of leprosy would have been by an infection. 

Can God strike someone with a disease (say, cancer, or some sort of heart disease) instantaneously, by a miraculous decree? Yes, certainly. Does He do so now? Perhaps. If God did this in 2022, most likely it would be as a punishment. (However, Job's disease, which God allowed, was not a punishment.) It could be a sudden, God-induced bacterial infection, or some other condition which resembles leprosy.

Do we abhor people who are "not normal," and avoid interactions with them? (Such as Down's syndrome people, muscular dystrophy people, those with Tourette's syndrome, people with diminished mental capacity and others, even the aged?) Unfortunately, most of us, including me, tend to act that way. Jesus didn't act that way, and we shouldn't.

What about a leprous house? (Leviticus 13:34-35.) It's in the Bible. It's my guess that God spoke in a manner understood by the people of Bible times, without putting what He said in 22nd century terms. Genesis 1 speaks of a firmament. People of Bible times seem to have believed that there was a solid, transparent sphere somewhere above the solid earth. There wasn't. But God accommodated their beliefs. See here for my post on this. A house could have been infested with mildew or some other fungus, but the ancient Israelites might well have believed that this was a case of leprosy, and God accommodated their beliefs, in the presentation of Leviticus.

As far as I know, God doesn't send leprosy, cancer, or psoriasis to people as punishment today. (Although bad habits, such as smoking, over-eating, and not getting enough exercise bring about punishment, of a sort.) But this doesn't mean that God condones sin. Sin is terrible. It is a form of rebellion against God, which God doesn't tolerate, so He paid the penalty for sin Himself.

Thanks for reading!

With Christ in the School of Prayer, excerpt 130

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.  His book is based on Mark 11:22-24. The previous post in this series is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. Murray's book is based on Mark 11:22-24.

O my Lord! I have this day again heard words from Thee which pass my comprehension. And yet I cannot do aught but in simple childlike faith take and keep them as Thy gift to me too. Thou hast said that in virtue of Thy going to the Father, he that believeth on Thee will do the works which Thou hast done, and greater works. Lord! I worship Thee as the Glorified One, and look for the fulfilment of Thy promise. May my whole life just be one of continued believing in Thee. So purify and sanctify my heart, make it so tenderly susceptible of Thyself and Thy love, that believing on Thee may be the very life it breathes. And Thou hast said that in virtue of Thy going to the Father, whatsoever we ask, Thou wilt do. From Thy throne of power Thou wouldest make Thy people share the power given Thee, and work through them as the members of Thy body, in response to their believing prayers in Thy Name. Power in prayer with Thee, and power in work with men, is what Thou has promised Thy people and me too.

Sunspots 887

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

Computing: This blog linked to a report, last week, that simulated rape and other crimes are happening in the Metaverse, the supposed eventual successor to Facebook. Here's another report on the same incidents.

Education: Grammarphobia tells us why a coward is referred to as a "chicken."

Environment: Gizmodo reports that water use restrictions have appeared in southern California, and that more stringent ones may be needed. Other states are affected, too.

Finances: (or something) Gizmodo and  Electrek report that Elon Musk is requiring all employees to work 40 hours or more per week at their offices.

Health: CNN reports that scientists are close to more widespread use of successful replacement of "bad" genes in people.

Science: The Scientist discusses monogamy in animals. It is rather wide-spread, although social monogamy (staying together) is more common than sexual monogamy.

The Scientist reports on the largest organism ever found -- a seagrass clone off the coast of Australia.

Sports: (and finance) ESPN reports that LeBron James is now worth over a billion dollars.

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

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.

With Christ in the School of Prayer, excerpt 129

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.  His book is based on Mark 11:22-24. The previous post in this series is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. In this excerpt, Murray continues a discussion about prayer. His book is based on Mark 11:22-24.

Whosoever hath, to him shall be given; or, He that is faithful in a little, is faithful also in much. Let us with the small measure of grace already received, give ourselves to the Master for His work: work will be to us a real school of prayer. It was when Moses had to take full charge of a rebellious people that he felt the need, but also the courage, to speak boldly to God and to ask great things of Him (Ex. xxxiii. 12, 15, 18). As you give yourself entirely to God for His work, you will feel that nothing less than these great promises are what you need, that nothing less is what you may most confidently expect.
 

Believer in Jesus! You are called, you are appointed, to do the works of Jesus, and even greater works, because He has gone to the Father to receive the power to do them in and through you.

Whatsoever ye shall ask in my Name, that will I do. Give yourself, and live, to do the works of Christ and you will learn to pray so as to obtain wonderful answers to prayer. Give yourself, and live, to pray and you will learn to do the works He did, and greater works. With disciples full of faith in Himself, and bold in prayer to ask great things, Christ can conquer the world.

Sunspots 886

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*:

Christianity:  A document, "The Faith Once Delivered," developed by a group of Methodist (including several denominations and institutions, among them my own, The Wesleyan Church) theologians, which aims to say what Methodists, no matter their denomination, believe, about the essentials of the faith.

Computing: Business Insider reports on virtual rapes in the Metaverse.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that the US Supreme Court has upheld a ruling that holds back greenhouse gas release.

NPR reports that some states are taking steps to charge manufacturers for the use of plastics in packaging.

Politics: Gizmodo reports that several politicians have put out basically the same statement about the shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

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

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view.

Thanks for reading.