-
Phase V: A License to Learn!
Myth buster: Those that work around nuclear power do not glow green – they glow blue! (Just kidding!). Beautiful – but deadly – blue glow (i.e., Cherenkov radiation) of an operating or “critical” nuclear reactor seen under many feet of radiation shielding and thus life-protecting water. The light is given off because highly charged particles of matter (e.g., electrons) around the reactor travel faster than the speed of light in water (the speed of light in water is 75% of the speed of light in a vacuum). While the matter of the charged particle can exceed the speed of light in water, the charge must travel at the local speed of light.…
-
Phase IV: God’s Tractor Pull!
Tractor pulling is a motorsport race where modified tractors pull a heavy sled along a track. The friction and resulting resistance to being pulled by the sled vary from minimal at the starting line and increases until the tractor can no longer pull it. The winner is the tractor that can pull the sled the farthest!
-
Phase III: God’s Rock Tumbler!
When I was small, I was fascinated with rocks and minerals of all sorts and especially admired the beauty hidden in seemingly ordinary rocks that had been polished in a rock tumbler. When my boys were younger, I lived out my childhood fantasy – as many of us parents must admit that we do – of owning a rock tumbler for them! We carefully followed the directions for loading rocks to be polished along with the coarsest polishing compound into the rock tumbler and turned it on. We then discovered that rock tumbling is the source of an insatiate whining and grinding noise that must continue for weeks to remove…
-
Phase II: Is Your Engine Running?
There once was a lumberjack that lived around the time that chainsaws were first introduced. This lumberjack was so strong and experienced that he could cut down ten trees daily using only hand tools. However, while picking up supplies at a store, the salesmen convinced him he could double or triple the number of trees cut down daily if he used one of the new chainsaws.
-
Phase I: Got Your Big Boy Pants On?
As a teacher of men and women and a ministry to men leader in the Body of Christ for many years, it has been my concern that very few seem to grow spiritually to the point of being able to help others grow in the faith.
-
The Beautiful Attitudes – Part VIII: Blessed are those who are Persecuted
"Blessed are those who are persecuted FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely ON ACCOUNT OF ME. Rejoice and be glad because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way. (Matthew 5:10-12)
-
The Blindness of Sight
-
Longing for Fall & Bible Study
I love the fall, especially because I live in Texas where the summers are downright hot. I’m looking forward to the change of weather with cool days and chilly nights. This time of year is perfect to read a book or host friends on our patio. I not only long for the promise of cooler weather, but also for a return to digging into God’s Word with the community of faith at my church’s women’s Bible study. We’re coming off of a long break that always serves to remind me of my need for the company of other women who also seek to know and follow Jesus. We had our…
-
Kids, Critical Thinking and Christianity
My five-year-old rushed into my room after finishing up a bible study with my husband to proclaim, “Mommy… you are breaking the law of God!” My first inclination was, What in the world is my husband teaching the kids? My second gave away my pride. Who does this kid think he is? It would have been so easy to reprimand my son for calling into question my righteousness before the Lord. I could have sent him away and told him that he cannot disrespect mommy like that. Earlier that morning I disciplined him for making a wrong choice. In doing so, I hurt his feelings. My husband has been going…
-
Breathing Love’s Sting
It takes conviction to step out into a bitterly cold morning. With that first deep inhalation, icy oxygen pierces your lungs. To breathe at all invites a stinging pain, yet breath must be taken if life will continue. So it is when stepping beyond the warmly regulated interiors of prominent western evangelicalism—beyond the recycled air of moralism which is held at a stagnant temperature of churchism so that everyone comfortably conducts their volunteerism. Admittedly, the space once provided basic protection as we began our relationship with the Lord. Gradually, though, as our intimacy with him grew, we noticed the interior’s walls closing in and limiting movement. The curtains were often…
