A New Creature. . . an Apostolic Pentecostal blog

Psalms 18:30 As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. I have been a designer for 29 years. Every day I begin with a blank sheet of paper, and create a new mechanism to perform a task more efficiently, faster, or more accurately for my customer. . .I am quite good at what I do, but in those roughly 56,840 hours which I have spent designing chucks, I have never designed one which could not be improved upon. There is always something which can be lightened, strengthened, made easier to use or machine or assemble. Every year a new model of car comes out. . . higher fuel economy, less pollution, more features, longer lasting. . . easier to maintain. . .safer. . . This process never ends, and never will end. We will never come to the end of the process of improving everything around us. I feel confident in saying that there is nothing in existence, which could not be made better. . . with one lone excep...

Over the years, it had almost come to be an expectation. . . get a little money, and something was almost certain to break. . . Income tax refund check came in the mail one day, the next day the water heater would spring a leak, or I would have a car problem. . . or a tooth ache. . . It always happened, and I would curse my bad luck. Until one day it dawned upon me, that the water heater springing a leak, the day after the tax refund check came in the mail, was a blessing, and not a curse. What if the water heater had gone bad a week or a month before the refund check came, and I therefore didn’t have the money to fix it. I had this discussion last night with the fellows in the jail. One man was having trouble believing, and I shared some of the many blessings in my life, which were exactly in the same vein as above. . . time and time and time and time again the car would break down, or something else would go wrong in the best possible time and the best location. Coming bac...

Genesis 5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: Yesterday my grandson was over. He brought a stack of books for us to look at together. I ignored the Star Wars books, and instead chose a large rather comprehensive nature book with him. It really was quite advanced, going into depth about the different taxonomic ranks: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. I always like to ask my grandchildren questions which make them think. Mikah likes facts. . . facts are comfortable. . . there is security in facts, but facts in of themselves are useless. If thoughts are sentences, then facts might be seen as the nouns. Nouns alone without verbs, adverbs, adjectives, articles, and prepositions do not convey much information. A toddler begins with nouns. . . mama. . . papa. . .cookie. . .dog. . . water. . . A young learner loves facts and he is proud when asked...

This little fellow was at my bird feeder a few days ago. I love watching the little chorus of nuthatches, titmice, and chickadees which frequent my feeder every season of the year. I wanted to know more about nuthatches, especially about their breeding and nesting habits so I researched them on the Internet. The following is from the Audubon Field Guide: Pairs remain together on nesting territory all year, may mate for life. Courtship behavior begins by late winter. In courtship display, male raises head, spreads tail, droops wings, sways back and forth, and bows deeply. Male also performs much courtship feeding of female. I don’t know exactly why, but this deeply touched my heart. I have come to expect larger birds. . . swans, geese, raptors, etc. to mate for life, but for this to be found in a small songbird greatly effected me. . . I have come to greatly value, 'mating for life.'  In my own life I have experienced first hand the awful effects of divorce. . . o...

From Social Security, I recently received the summary of my wages since I began working. I keep looking at it. Jackie has noticed and commented on my picking it up several times over the past week, and perusing it. . . I takes me back. . . mile stones in my life. . . 45 years of work. . .all on one sheet of paper. . . but each of those years have treasured memories of faces, friends, and travels. . . My first job was as a bag boy at Kelly's grocery store. I made $1.60/hour. For that first year, working after school, I made $1,237. My first year of full time wage after graduating high school in 1972, I made $6,465. I took a considerable pay cut when I went in the army. My first full year there, 1976, I made $4,885. My last full year in the U.S. army, after 3 promotions, I made $6,030. After the Army, my first full year at Speedgrip I made almost 3 times as much, $17,944. I took a big pay cut to go into engineering a couple of years later. 2009 was a trying year with the eco...

High in the crystalline air of the Andes mountains of southern Peru, there is a remote cliff on the flank of an otherwise unremarkable 18,363 foot high mountain called Nevado Mismi. Each morning, as the sun’s rays gently warm the mountain’s snow pack, flake by flake. . . drip by drip the snow melts and begins to flow down the shoulders of the mighty mountain. Ecclesiastes 7:8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. A simple cross marks this lonely and humble location. Monuments to beginnings are not common, and if they exist at all are most often simple markers, rather than grand memorials. . .but without beginnings nothing comes after. From this desolate scene of rock and scree, the mighty Amazon River is birthed. Rivulet adds to rivulet, as day succeeds day. . . meandering mountain streams add to numberless and nameless brooks, and springs. . . flowing and ever growing the waters move relen...

I drove over 1200 miles over the last week, on my recent trip to Ontario for business. As is my usual practice, on the dashboard of the car, I have Rex Humbard’s book, Personal Promises From God’s Word. http://www.amazon.com/Personal-Promises-Gods-Word-Humbard/dp/B0006YN2JQ/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1429398469&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=rex+humbolt+bible+verses This book has quite a number of sections, with Bible passages arranged in various topics. . .verses for when you are afraid, or sad or lonely, etc. etc. etc. So what I do is, I choose a passage, and I chew on it. . . I meditate on it. . . I pray on it as the hundreds of miles of my journey pass by. The section of verse that I chose this last week was: Proverbs 3:1-2 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. First noticed. . . my son. Written with an affectionate warmth. . . Not an edict from a cold, ...