Earth Cursed

We were having a discussion in our small group Bible study a couple weeks ago on the topic of the earth and it's death. I made a statement that the earth was slowly dieing because of sin. This was something I felt, but had no proof of this - I couldn't back it up. Since then I've done a bit of research on the topic and this is what I've found.

Genesis 3:17 & 18 God says to Adam: "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you..."

OK so now we have proof of the curse. The 3rd chapter of Genesis is about the fall of man. There are consequences of sin; the most basic being death. You have to realize that God didn't want it this way. Man was supposed to live forever in harmony with God and His creation, but man chose badly and it affected the earth we live on.

Romans 8:20 & 21 states: For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

In other words, everything God created in Genesis is decaying because of man choice.

Romans 5:12 says: Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-

This passage reiterates that sin causes death and it states that everyone will die because everyone has sinned.

I realize that all this sounds harsh. It is harsh. There's really no other way it can be. We often use our own perspectives, but take it from God's: He can't be around sin. Sin is darkness; He is light. Sin is imperfect; He is perfect. Because we have sin; it keeps us from Him. But there is a clear path that He has paved that allows us to wash away that sin. I'm sure you're all aware of God's plan of salvation (If not read the Romans Road: Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9-13). So the good news is that He didn't just say, "OK, they sinned, they're dead, goodbye." No, He made a plan and it involved Him coming to us.

To wrap this up, the death of the earth points to our need for salvation. My prayer is that you don't ignore that need.

Handy Man

OK, after two death posts I need to get back on track here and do something lighthearted.

Last Saturday I successfully changed a fuel filter on our car.

Last night I replaced the controller on our boiler.

I'm overjoyed to say that the car is running fine and I our house is warm.

I'm pumped!

The truth: it took me about 3 hours to do the fuel filter and it required about 5 trips in and out of the house to look at the internet for pointers. It took me about 2 days to get the gas smell off of my hands and the grease out from under my fingernails. The dirty nails were strangely rewarding.

The controller was easy because all I had to do was read. Fortunately I can.

Cricetus cricetus

We lost a family member on Sunday night. Don't fret too much - it's a pet; a Chinese hamster to be exact. For Kelsey it was a heartbreaking loss. For Cole it t00k about 5 minutes for it to sink in that she was gone then the emotions came. For Lynnette it was surprising how much pain she felt. For me, well I felt bad for them.

Sunday night was one of those fun evenings where you just feel good as a family unit; like you accomplished a lot that weekend and now it was time to relax and enjoy the family time. We'd had a busy day on Saturday with lots of good activities and successes: Kelsey did well with her Bible Quizing, Lynnette and I went on a date and Cole and I successfully changed the fuel filter on our car (*more on that later). Earlier on Sunday we had an enjoyable time with Lynnette's family at our house with a ridiculously big lunch. It was now time to sit back and take it easy. Then Lynnette found Stephanie curled up in a ball in the bottom of the cage - not moving.

Kelsey is an animal lover. My heart sank at the thought of telling her the news. You see she wants to be a veterinarian (as most girls her age do). She loves horses. We have a cat, one hamster now, a frog and two hermit crabs. She walks our neighbor's dog most every night with a begrudging Cole trailing close behind. Some people just enjoy God's animal kingdom - Kelsey is one of them.

The funeral was held on Monday night in the back yard. It was a cold, rainy night and we had to hury because it was getting dark. Stephanie was in the shoebox with a note from each kid and a toy from Kelsey. We dug a hole, buried her, sang a song and prayed. Tears were shed.

Part of me is happy that the kids' first death experience was a hamster. I know that there will be other losses in their lives and I hope that this somehow will make those easier. The other part of me realizes that death is never easy - even with practice.

Harvey

I was never a huge Paul Harvey fan. That's not to mean that I didn't like him - I think I would have had I really paid attention. I knew who he was, but I didn't follow his work, know his history or even know what he stood for. I was always a bit of a distant admirer; listening whenever I'd hear his voice on the radio as I was rolling through the stations. His voice was recognizable. His "the rest of the story" was always enjoyable and his news was not like today's news. I appreciated the not-too-gloomy, just-the-facts way about which he presented it.

I think what I liked about him was that he had this Billy Graham kinda way about him: conservative values, integrity, honesty and a genuineness. I know he probably meant more to others than to me, but I admired him nonetheless and know that we surely lost a national treasure.