A View from the Nest
Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor
Insight from the Journey across the Sky

From the coming up of the sun to its going down, the Lord’s name is to be praised. Psalms 113:3 (BBE)

We take far too much for granted and fail to offer the praise that is due His name. We oft times whine and moan about supposed injustices that befall us as if the whole world revolved around us. The last time I looked up into the sky the earth revolved around the sun and the morning and evening did not answer to my command. Our lives too are ordered of the Lord we can either pause and give thanks or murmur and complain. The choice is ours, the option is left up to us. We are given the freedom to acknowledge the blessings of God or to ignore them. Each day as we awaken, we have the choice to either walk in thankfulness toward God or seek our own will and way.

There is much to be sorrowful for but there is far more to be thankful for. Each new day, each new sunrise brings with it the opportunity for new blessings. From the rising of the sun to the going down thereof the Lord’s name should be praised. If we spent as much time praising the Lord as we do complaining about life’s ills I think we would find far more sunny days then cloudy ones.

So in light of the suffering of those who endured the earthquake in Haiti I leave you with these words from Red Foley. Lord forgive me when I whine I surely am blessed and the world is mine. My prayers go out to all those affected by the earthquake in Haiti. I pray for the Lord’s blessings to arise out of the ashes of despair and destruction. May the Lord’s healing flow throughout the land, and may His name be praised in the midst of the storm.

Today upon a bus, I saw
A lovely maid with golden hair;
I envied her – she seemed so gay -
And oh, I wished I were so fair.
When suddenly she rose to leave,
I saw her hobble down the aisle,
She had one foot and wore a crutch,
But as she passed, a smile.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine;
I have two feet – the world is mine.

And when I stopped to buy some sweets,
The lad who served me had such charm;
He seemed to radiate good cheer,
His manner was so kind and warm.
I said, “It’s nice to deal with you,
Such courtesy I seldom find.”
He turned and said, “Oh, thank you, sir!”
And I saw that he was blind.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine;
I have two eyes – the world is mine.

Then, when walking down the street,
I saw a child with eyes of blue.
He stood and watched the others play;
It seemed he knew not what to do,
I stopped a moment, then I said:
“Why don’t you join the others, dear?”
He looked ahead without a word,
And then I knew; He could not hear.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine;
I have two ears – the world is mine.

With feet to take me where I’d go,
With eyes to see the sunset’s glow,
With ears to hear what I should know:
I’m blessed indeed, The world is mine;
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
— Red Foley —

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey

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Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”

A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org

Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor

Phillipians 3:13-14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” —Edith Lovejoy Pierce

“Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past.” —Henry Ward Beecher

The ‘Journey Across the Sky’ continues.” We have not yet reached our destination, nor have we yet achieved our objective. We have only yet to become what we can be, and we have yet to accomplish all that we can accomplish through Christ. I, like Paul, can state most assuredly that I have yet to apprehend, but I shall forget the past with it’s successes and loses, and strive toward even greater goals, aim even higher, and soar to even greater heights than thusly achieved. As we set our sights on things above rather than on things of this earth, then surely we can hope for the best that God has to offer all those who put Him first. Here’s to 2010 and the challenges it brings, and the rewards it contains, and the joys it offers. May your 2010 be blessed indeed!

Onward and upward in Christ! Soar on!

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. _{Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)}

Along for the journey

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A View from the Nest

Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor

Insight from the Journey across the Sky

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men” (Matt. 5:13).

Well winter has finally arrived in  Western Pennsylvania. This morning as I traveled to church, or slid along the frozen roadway, I came to a short hill along which several cars where ditched along the sides. I knew from experience, continuing along this route would not be wise. I slowed to a stop and decided on my next move. I watched as a few cars passed the ditched vehicles with caution and determined that I could move forward rather slowly and find a nice place along the berm of the road to park until the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDot) could salt the roadway.

I no sooner pulled off the road when my cell phone began to ring with messages from the church family asking how I was and how the roads where. I told them I was stopped along the road awaiting the arrival of the salt truck. Before long the phone rang again and the message this time was church was canceled and there was no need to continue on to church.

Okay at least I did not have to worry about getting to the church on time. But here I sat along the roadway awaiting the arrival of a salt truck.

Although the mixture of salty brine and de-icer wrecks havoc on a car’s finish, driving in winter in the northeast would be almost impossible without this wintertime road treatment. In fact the only time anyone wishes to be behind a slow moving salt truck, is when the roadways are hazardous and the driver knows that the salt solution being applied to the roadway is going to make their journey onward much safer. So they dutifully follow slowly behind the salt spreader, thankful for it’s arrival.

It was less than twenty minutes when the salt truck had arrived. I quickly fell in behind the truck and headed back toward home. The assurance of knowing the roadway beneath my wheels had been treated made the return trip less stressful. The closer I got to home the better the road surface became. Finally, back home, I was thankful that I was not involved in an accident and that no one was hurt along the stretch of highway I had traveled.

Anyone who lives in the frozen Northeast knows all too well the importance of proper road maintenance. We are very mindful of the road conditions once wintertime sets in. Our tax dollars are well spent in stockpiling the road crew’s depots with plenty of road salt. That is one expense I gladly pay for.

Salt’s Attributes

Salt has many useful purposes. For example did you know salt is essential for muscle movement, including that of the heart. It’s necessary for the digestive tract to function properly –crucial for the transmission of messages by the nerve cells, and regulated osmotic pressure and the movement of fluid to and from the cell. Salt is found in blood, sweat, and tears. Hotter climates increase the need for salt consumption. Chronic deprivation of salt causes loss of weight, loss of appetite, nausea, muscular cramps and even stunts growth.

In the food industry, it is used in flavoring and seasoning, pickling, canning, preserving, baking, dairying, curing meat and fish, and processing flour and other foods. Salt is a binder, a texturizer, and a fermentation control agent. Other useful applications include oil well drilling, and fertilizing!

And of course when applied to the roadways salt:

· Melts ice and snow

· Gives traction

· Leaves behind a residue

· Provides safe passage on the highways where applied

· Long lasting

· Proven to work at even very low temperatures

· Goes to work as soon as it is applied

So as you see salt has many useful purposes. However if salt looses those useful properties, then it becomes good for nothing.

Faith in Christ has much the same attributes as road salt, when you think about it a little. I mean faith, when applied to a life sliding along the slippery slope of life’s byways, provides sure-footedness, safe passage, has long lasting effects (it is eternal), is proven to work under the worst circumstances, starts to work as soon as it is applied, melts the sin hardened heart and thaws the coldest sin sick soul, and leaves behind evidence of it being applied to a life.

There are four “modern horsemen of the apocalypse,” according to Dr. Richard Land in remarks delivered to the annual Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis, and they are “riding forth to wreak havoc and destruction in our society.” Land listed the four as the denial of the sanctity of human life, the rise of hardcore Internet pornography, the radical homosexual agenda’s attempt to undermine marriage, and radical Islamic jihadist.

The inactive, rudderless Church

If the church of Jesus Christ, whose congregations number in the hundreds of millions in America, was doing what it was supposed to be doing (“… created in Christ Jesus to do good works”), a whole host of problems would be taken care of in short order.  Indeed, instead of focusing on the four horsemen of the apocalypse, we may do well to concentrate heaviest on the salt supply.  An inactive and ineffective church, ignoring the call to be holy, is as bad as a culture can hope for.  Faith used only within the confines of worship but remains unreleased into the world, is really not faith at all.

Let’s face it, what good is a supply-yard full of salt, if there are no trucks to spread it on dangerous roadways? What good does a truck load of salt do a stranded motorist if the salt never gets applied to the roadway they are traveling? What good does the gospel do confined within the supply yard of the local church if it never gets carried outside to be applied to slippery byways of life? What good is a full salt shaker if it only sits on the tabletop and is never used?

Although there may be a plentiful supply of salt in the world, there seems to be a shortage of salt spreaders.

When the church isn’t the salt of the earth or the light of the world, disaster awaits.

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. _{Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)}

Along for the journey

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Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”
A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org
Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor

Do not move an ancient boundary marker that your ancestors set in place.
Prov 22:28 (GW)–

Many cell phone plans offer unlimited usage without occurring additional cost. You pay one fee each month and use your phone as much as you want throughout that month without any additional cost. I am not exactly sure how the phone companies figure usage costs in order to properly charge everyone for the use of their system, but in any case these plans are out there.

I however have a plan which offers me unlimited nights and weekends but during the day I am limited to the number of minutes I may use. My service provider recently came out with a plan that allows me to call any cell phone on any plan free. WOW that is almost like getting unlimited minutes without having to pay the additional monthly fee. Considering most of the people I actually call all have cell phones it would appear I hit the jack pot with this new pricing plan.

Not being a person who really spends a great deal of time talking or texting on the phone anyway I hardly ever used up my allowed minutes which kept my phone plan reasonably priced. However I recently purchased a new phone which required that I upgrade my service to an unlimited data plan in order to fully utilize the phone’s features. At first I was concerned about what the company meant by UNLIMITED. In today’s world we always need to define terms in order to be sure we are getting what we agreed upon.

I long for the days when a man’s word was his bond. You could actually trust the information people were giving you as factual and honest. Today it seems everything is subject to redefining. We have those who are attempting to redefine what marriage means and what freedom means. We have those in government who are determined to redefine what the limits of the constitution are. Free is not always free, and something for nothing usually has strings attached so you understand my hesitancy to accept, at face value, an unlimited plan from my phone service provider.

After reading most of the fine print I felt reasonably confident that my current service plan will provide me with the service that I need at a price I am comfortable paying. Until l actually get my first bill under this new plan I still reserve some trepidation.

No limits, a world without boundaries sounds good under certain circumstances but is a “no boundaries” policy a good one to implement across the board? Is it wise to bring up our children, for example, without giving them limits to what they can and can not do? Is it prudent to offer no money down and no interest financing plans for major purchases? Is it considered good financial policy to continue to rack up debt? Is it good policy to allow anyone and everyone to enter your home without permission? Does it seem prudent to allow strangers to enter into your home without some kind of verification that they mean you no harm? How can it be determined you are engaging in proper conduct if there are no limits or guidelines? How can you tell in what direction you are going if there are no landmarks?

Could it be said then that when it comes to cell phones, no limits may be a good thing but when it comes to life having limits, it is not only wise, but necessary?

How can a society function without the “Rule of Law “? The United States of America was established with the constitution being the LAW OF THE LAND. It was required that everyone, rich or poor, great or small, would all be subject to the rule of law. This principle can be found in the Judeo-Christian beliefs the founding fathers brought to the table when they drew up the plans for this country. Having grown up where the government had no boundaries or limits, they knew the dangers of limitless power held by a central government. Tyrants love it when there is chaos and confusion. They love to stir up factions within a society. They love passing restrictive rules and regulations upon the governed in order to control their every aspect of life.

Then there is the other extreme where lawlessness runs wild. We see this in Afghanistan, a nation that has been run by MOB RULE for many generations. Maintaining a civil society under such conditions is practically impossible. So which do you suppose is better? A society where there are no limits or one where there are agreed upon limitations? There exists a third way which is a mixture of the two extremes. A society where there are very restrictive limitations for a select few and a differing set of rules for those setting the rules.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees teach with Moses’ authority. So be careful to do everything they tell you. But don’t follow their example, because they don’t practice what they preach. They make loads that are hard to carry and lay them on the shoulders of the people. However, they are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Matt 23:1-4 (GW)–

Jesus addressed this issue when he preached against the Scribes and Pharisees of his day. To these ELITE he spoke most harshly primarily because they did not practice what they preached. They exempted themselves from the rules they imposed upon those who elected them as leaders. Sounds familiar does it not?

Christianity stands opposed to both extremes. In fact a truly moderate person could be considered a Christian. Of course the word moderate has a different meaning today then in Jesus’ day. To be moderate in Bible times meant to not go to any extremes. You set limits on yourself. You would not allow yourself to go without boundaries. You were in control of your passions and desires. You considered the welfare of others and not just your own.

But the spiritual nature produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Gal 5:22-23 (GW)–

All things are legitimate [permissible—and we are free to do anything we please], but not all things are helpful (expedient, profitable, and wholesome). All things are legitimate, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life]. Let no one then seek his own good and advantage and profit, but [rather] each one of the other [let him seek the welfare of his neighbor]. 1 Cor 10:23-24 (AMP)–

Although I am permitted to use my phone for as long as I want without limits, I choose to place limits upon my own usage. I refrain from making unnecessary phone calls and keep text messages to a minimum. Without limits it is easy to get sucked up into the world of excess. It is easy to forget that somewhere, in someway, somehow, those excesses are going to have to be paid for. Whether they are paid for by you or by someone who comes after you, because the old adage still holds true, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Our actions affect others. For an example, when using a cell phone, just because you may have unlimited minutes it does not mean that the person you call has the same advantages you have. They may be on a limited plan to save money and every minute you talk to them counts against they own minutes. For every minute you use of their time the less time they have to use themselves.

Our actions affect those around us. Our excesses can overflow to our neighbors, that is why it is wise to do everything in moderation. Keep the excesses to a minimum, or better yet eliminate them. And remember that just because you can, it doesn’t mean you should. Set up some boundaries, God did, he called them commandments. His laws were not supposed to enslave us but rather steer us clear of the entrapments and allures of excess. His intent was to have a civil society set within reasonable boundaries. Remove these boundaries at your own risk.

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey

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