With 6 inches of snow behind me I enjoyed the spring thaw we had today. In one day of sunny weather almost all of the snow from Thursday has melted away. It was awesome to be outside today and be able to enjoy the sun in short sleeves. It probably only reached the low 50's today, but in the sun's warm rays it was a blazing hot 65.

Today is day two of a four day weekend. It was to involve my parents from out of town, but they being sick could not make it. So I have turned these days off into home improvement days. I have replaced or fixed four of our mini blinds. It is amazing how easily the blinds break when you have a two year old who likes to look and grab and a cat who loves to chew. Add to that I wired in some coax cable plates so that on Monday when the cable guy comes I can be sure I have cable connections where needed for my cable Internet.

Yes, I have finally done it. I have grown tired of dial-up, even though I usually connect at 52Kbps. When I noticed the cost and the speed increase I could not say no. I will be getting up to 4Mbps downloads and. No more waiting for my attachments to send or for my AV to update. Not only that but I will be able to relax from home while I play HL2 and mods like CS and DOD. 24/7 email and IM along with the ability to listen to online radio and TV from across the globe. The world will be at my finger tips from home. maybe I will Xanga more, probably not, but I could and may. All this for only $27 per month for 6 months and then only $43. While more than my $9 ISP dial-up I figure that the money from that and other sources will make it a reasonable choice. So Andy B, Andrew M, and Matthew V if you are ever in the neighborhood with your PC drop in and we can play some HL online or IM me and we can play via the net.

Hey it's been great, but I oughta go eat something and spend some time with my family. have a Great Resurrection Sunday and may the Lord God be blessed.

Godspeed,
Wesley

Psalms 55:1-7 ESV

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David. Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy! Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan, because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me. My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. And I say, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; yes, I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah.

The picture from AnswersInGenesis.org says it all.

KIDS WILL BE KIDS

I am sorry to announce but there will be no 4D pic of my to be daughter. She was uncooperative and therefore we could not get a glimpse of her face. She seems to like to keep her arm up over her face at the moment. But according to the technician she looks health and on time for an April delivery. Please be praying for our daughter and my wife during this time. Pray specifically for my wife to be strong and to trust in the Lord as she goes through these last few weeks. Pray for my daughter's safety and health and the salvation of both are children. Our son is 21 months old while our daughter is still in the oven.

The Death of the Curse

Oh!!!! Do I look forward to this day when all sickness, death, sin, and the curse is wiped from the world in which we shall live. I just came through a looonnng weekend. It began on Friday when my son throw up on me in the morning followed by him doing it again in the evening and then Saturday evening. In all he let his lunch fly four ties in my presence and three of those times it was on me. I guess that is one of the blessings of being a father. While I did not like his vomiting on me I was extremely glad I could be there for him. I love the little guy and I cannot wait for his little sister to be born this April. If Murphy does not have a law about kids bring sickness home and the parents getting ti as well he should. I got sick myself on Sunday, as my son was recovering I was getting sicker and sicker. Matter of fact I was so sick that I was bundled in thermal undercloths, a long sleeve t-shrit, a sweatshirt, sweat pants, two scarfs, and a warm fuzzy blanket. Then I had the heat turned up. Still I was cold. I was so cold my bones could feel it. On the reverse side of things my wife was sweating as I sat around shivering. Monday came and so did health I felt much better and after a halfday at home I went to work. Praise God for wellness.

The Blessing of Life

Now today should be a much more promising day! While I missed men's prayer this morning I was still able to exercise and read my Bible including portions in Pss 127-128 about familes. Later this morning I will get the second chance to see my daughter, but this time using 4D Ultrasound technology. They say that with 4D Ultrasound technology you can tell whom your child will look like when they are born. I cannot wait to see her face for the first time today. It will be a blessing from the Lord to see this little life earlier than we have ever been able to before. After we have a chance to show our family the new ultrasound I will post a pic for you. Today will be another great day in the Lord.

Godspeed,
Wesley

God, The Holy Spirit, and Our Praise

"If you practice enough so you can play it smooth but your still looking at the music, are you then limiting how much you can just praise God and let the Spirit work through you."

Recently I came across a blog that made a statement similar to the question above and as I read through the Blog my heart was pricked to leave a response there and here.

I would disagree with that it is more difficult to praise God and "let the spirit work" if you have to look at your music. Ones playing whether with or without music is praise. You either are praising God or you are not. Practically speaking, for a couple hundred years people have been using hymnals and praising God and the spirit was not hindered by that. Even today I can praise God by my reading sheet music as I sing it aloud in church or home or play it on my trumpet.

What hinders our praise to God is our hearts. What I mean by that is the our praise to God is a pleasing sight before Him when it is done in "Truth and Spirit". I would also include our purity as apart of His accepting our praise and being a member of His family. I can even praise God as I walk, run, or drive down 5th ave. Whether you FEEL like worshipping God or you FEEL that your reading music hinders praise is not relevant to your actual praise to God. That is because our praise is not about us but about Him. If you play to the best of your ability with a right heart according to truth and spirit and do it for His Glory and Praise then God will NEVER be displeased with it nor will you be able to praise him better. Praise and Worship is not about our quality but about our willingness to submit to Him and give our all to Him through obedience and submission to His will as revealed in the Word of God. "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Cor 10:13 talks about us praising God and giving Him glory in all that we do. So play to your best in church and in your rock band and do it for His glory I know God will be pleased with your offerings.

In relation to allowing the Spirit to work unless you have grieved the Spirit I would expect him to be active in your life daily. Isaiah 63 talks about rebellion grieves the Spirit and Ephesians 4:17-30 talks about our lack of love for others members of the Body of Christ grieves the spirit. We are to be involved in activities and ways of life that will build up (edify) the body not bring it down. Look over this passage and see the number of ways you can build up the body and keep from Grieving the spirit. I would also add that you ought to be sure your life is right with God according to His word since our rebellion grieves the Spirit and our Lord. Lastly, Eph 5 talks about being controlled by the spirit instead of alcohol. Whether this is the human or holy spirit I think the application is the same. Being that we are to keep our bodies under control and not yield our control to anyone or thing other than God and His Spirit. I see this including everything from alcohol, to tobacco, to over eating, to our TV viewing habits. Anything that begins to control our lives in such a way that God and the spirit (Spirit) are no longer leading us is sin.

In summary I would encourage anyone to memorize their music if it makes them FEEL better, but I would also remind you that regardless the praise you give to God and the work of the spirit will go on. If you are living a spirit controlled life and doing your playing for God's glory and not your own.

Godspeed,
Wesley

 

Picture from AnswersInGenesis.org

Q: In Genesis 1:28, God talks about man subduing the earth and having dominion over it. What exactly does that mean?

A: Many people feel that subduing the earth means to “conquer” it. But the Hebrew word used means to “study and understand” the earth.

God was instructing Adam to study all of life and understand how He made it work. It was like God telling Adam to go to school and learn the sciences, including such areas as botany, zoology, chemistry and ecology. Adam had the task to learn about every aspect of God’s creation, not just to lay back and take life easy.

With the knowledge that Adam was to have learned, he was then to have taken dominion over the earth. This meant that he was to be a good steward of all of the resources on the earth and not abuse them.

Like Adam, we’re also to subdue the earth—but this doesn’t mean we’re to let the earth have dominion over us. Let’s be reminded that we’re to use the earth’s resources for man’s good and God’s glory, understanding from Genesis that sin and the Judgment of the Curse have drastically affected our world. Thus, it’ll require hard work on our part!

UPDATE - here is an added email about this article, due to reader feedback. Please note that I had already corrected the verse in the question.

A number of readers have responded to the February 5 version of the AnswersUpdate email newsletter. First, we would like to apologize for the typo, which indicated the verse we were discussing was Genesis 1:18. As many of our “Berean” readers noted, it was Genesis 1:28. Additionally, many other “Berean” readers should be commended for looking up the Hebrew and asking us for our sources since Strong’s and a few other lexicons and commentaries seem to contradict the definition of subdue given in the Q&A (“to study and understand the earth”). We would like to clarify what we meant.

The use of “study and understand” as a suggested definition of the Hebrew word for subdue (kabash) is not a strict definition as our AnswersUpdate led many to conclude, but rather is one that is inferred from a proper understanding of kabash. A better phrasing may have been, “But the Hebrew word used indicates that we should ‘study and understand’ the earth.”

Man is indeed told in Genesis to have dominion (radah) over the Earth, to subdue (kabash) it. The Hebrew words used can have the sense of crushing, like grapes in a winepress, but also reigning over something, controlling it. Control or reign can of course be benevolent, as well as destructive, e.g. Micah 7:19, in which the subduing (kabash) of our sins is a sign of God’s compassion. Leviticus 25:43 ff condemns ruthless dominion (radah). In contrast,

1 Kings 4:24–25 says that Solomon’s dominion (radah) resulted in peace, safety and “each man under his own vine and fig tree.” So the type of radah must be decided by context. Since these words were spoken by God into an Edenic situation, before the Fall, it is especially hard to imagine any sort of destructive or ruthless implication to them.

This “dominion mandate,” as it has been called, has usually been taken as an instruction and mandate to bring the Earth into submission for mankind’s benefit. It has helped give rise to the flowering of science and technology in the Christian West. This was especially so after the Reformation, in which the Bible, along with a more consistent biblical worldview, was “rediscovered” by the masses. Thus, even though the definition for kabash as “study and understand” may not be accurate, “studying and understanding” is a proper result of understanding God’s use of kabash in Genesis 1:28.

Thank you to many for catching this as well as the typo in the citation which should have been Genesis 1:28 and not Genesis 1:18.

We encourage all of our readers to always be like the Bereans who “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so,” whether the material be from us or any other source. After all, we’re fallible humans—and the only true authority is Scripture. We apologize for any misunderstanding.

**Question taken from an email sent to me from www.AnswersInGenesis.com**

HURRRRAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am not sure what I did but I after another restart the connection on the laptop is work. Awesome. Now I can sit on my living room with the family and be on the net at the same time.

Nate you may be able to IM me more now that I can be mobile.

Now I need to get the PPC PDA on. So if you have any answers to what I did or did not do please let me know.

Godspeed,
Wesley