Fathers Wisdom

Fathers Wisdom

Fathers Wisdom

Every father that commits to sticking around

Will one day to his astonishment find that he’s found

A kernel or two of wisdom to share

If only he can and if only he dare

Dear dad is lucky when these insights come from above

Being based in truth and wrapped in love

The only problem being he doesn’t know how

To make his mouth work except eating chow

Words don’t come easy and his oracle prowess is poor

He’s a man of deep thoughts but talking’s a chore

He hopes that a look or a grunt will convey

All the thoughts and advice he wished he could say

Of course there are some dads that talk like a preacher

Thinking many words make them a teacher

But the glaze in his kids eyes show that he’s lost

Their attention again not knowing the cost

And because he admires and loves his own voice

The kids turn him off though not out of choice

They love ol’dad, but the windbag goes on for so long

It wears them out instead of making them strong

So here we have two extremes to examine

And see where you stand if you can so fathom

We have to look deep sometimes as a dad

And examine the opportunities to bond we have had

Did we seize them or were we too busy to bother

Sending the message they aren’t worthy of time with their father

Oh God forgive us of all the times we’ve made this mistake

For with You we’ll reform and not just for their sake

We’ll not hand out compliments like hundred dollar bills

But throw them around like pennies until love overspills

And when we have a good base and foundation

We can dispense our advice with real affirmation

And taking our kernel of wisdom to share

Their ears will be open and they might even care

To hear you out even if you stutter or speed talk

Because they know you love them no matter their walk.

                                                                                Steve Oberhansly 8-2016

 

Fathers Wisdom

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Sing to The Lord A New Song

Sing to The Lord A New Song

Sing to The Lord A New Song

“Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous and wonderful things; His right hand His and this holy arm have gained the victory for Him.”  Psalms 98:1

 

In trying to approach God from my senses, as I live in this flesh, I try to bring You down to my limited sphere or do I need to be elevated, brought up to Your supernatural (spiritual) level?

As I try to relate to You primarily through my mind and physical senses they become too much of the focus. I can’t see you yet, not Your face that is.

I appreciate that You, oh God, You Jesus became a man and took on an actual human face and then You left this earth, Your physical face left this earth, but You sent Your Holy Spirit so that I could be with you 24/7 and You with me.

My thinking this morning is about love, yes love. It’s where I am for the time being.

Saying to someone that you love them is important and satisfying for both parties, but the old saying, “action speaks louder than words” is very applicable to our relationship to others and the Lord.

“I love you Lord”, but in actions, I love myself far more than I am aware of.

It’s easy to be blind to the extent of self-love. If I really, really love you and let’s assume it is a significant relationship like a spouse or parent-child relationship, actions not only expose the genuineness of the love but support the cultivation of that love. Something as courtesy sets the path.

A self-centered person acts…

…very lovingly as long as their expectations, wants, needs and self are being pleasured. Few stay in or began a love relationship that brings no benefits or pleasure. It is difficult for most to “stay” in love if their benefits are being deprived, (delayed gratification).

Hebrews 12:2 says, ” looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Talk about delayed gratification in loving another! First of all, if Christ had been merely a man, I doubt He would have endured all that He did for even delayed gratification.

When a new romance blossoms, the couple enjoys immediate pleasure. Endorphins are released and oxytocin levels generally increase. There is pleasure in the physical affection, the gaze upon the appearance, happy and immediately rewarding hormones.

Sing to The Lord A New Song

Sing to The Lord A New Song

 

If the love of Christ was based on these parameters, we would all be sunk. A perfect infinite being having any kind of relationship with sinful, broken, rebellious, stinky, and perfect beings, even with the price that He had to pay in order to make us worthy of his love and in practical terms, worth the effort.

What pleasure would you enjoy if you fell in love with someone who was impossible to love?

The object of your affection hates the things you love, has many lovers, responds only when it’s convenient and lacks even the capacity to love you back.

Does it make in a sense to humans that a superior being (infinitely wise) would bother to love us, even if his very nature is love? No! Not to us.

So why does He bother with us?

For the most part, if I were married and treated my wife the way I often treat Him I doubt she would be confident in my love, much less enjoy it. Doubt, fear, lack of trust, lack of common courtesy doesn’t make for a satisfying relationship.

The reality is that God redeemed us and sees the future finished you, perfect, perfectly lovable and enjoyable, without spot, wrinkle or blemish. We are being made into a compatible partner for the Son of God.

He deserves the very best. We are the troughed and we will be married to Him in the future. Only a perfectly lovable bride will do. And unlike Earth, this bride doesn’t grow old and wrinkled; she only becomes more beautiful, more and more like her infinite Creator. The pleasure, the joy, the perfect unity will never end, not even for a second.

And my last thought; no matter how beautiful on the outside the inward character and beauty, the reflection of God’s character is of paramount importance. Married to only physically beauty or someone that is ugly to the core is utterly unsatisfying.

Jesus will be satisfied with his bride.

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Two Measures Foolish are a Christian Apologetics group of writers that write from a Christian Perspective and Christian World View using the Bible as our core.

We all travel on an individual journey on this planet earth that God has put into motion from the day we were formed in our mothers’ body. We all have deep questions that need to be answered. Why are we here? Is this all there is?

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Cosmic War and the Birth of Jesus

Cosmic War and the Birth of Jesus

Cosmic War and the Birth of Jesus

The birth of Jesus Christ changed everything. 

Christ’s life, death, and resurrection are the most important events in the history of the world! Jesus made such an impact, that even our calendar is divided into two parts – BC (before Christ’s birth) and AD (after Christ’s death). In the Bible, these events are recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Before

God’s people had long awaited the promised Messiah, who would be their deliverer. The last recording from a prophet (one who announces the future, as revealed to them by God) was Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament. Four hundred years passed before the birth of Jesus. God was seemingly quiet, but He had a plan.

In the Bible, the birth of Jesus is recorded in Matthew and Luke. The angel, Gabriel, appeared to Mary, a virgin engaged to Joseph. Gabriel told Mary that she had found favor with God and had been chosen to birth God’s only Son, who was to be named Jesus. God’s Spirit would place the Holy baby in her womb.

At that time in history, engaged women who became pregnant could be killed. Yet, Mary was willing to fulfill her God-given purpose. Joseph was prepared to break the engagement, until an angel came to him, reassuring him that Mary was, indeed, still a virgin, and that God had chosen her to bring His Son into the world.

Soon afterward, the Roman Emperor called for a census, requiring people to register in the land of their ancestors, to be counted. Joseph and Mary had a long and difficult journey to Bethlehem, the home of Joseph’s ancestor, King David. They traveled on foot and donkey, for several days.

During

Upon their arrival in Bethlehem, Mary began to experience birthing pains, but there was no inn available to them. The innkeeper provided a place in his stable, alongside the animals. In those days, stables were more like caves, dark and stinky. Baby Jesus was born in the lowest and most humble of circumstances.

After

After His birth, Mary wrapped Baby Jesus in cloth and laid Him in a feeding bin, called a manger. That night, an angel appeared to shepherds, who were guarding their sheep nearby. The angel was glowing with the glory of God and the shepherds were terrified. The angel reassured them, with news of the Savior’s birth. Then, a large group of angels appeared, praising God.

The shepherds went to Bethlehem and saw the Savior, just as the angel had told them, lying in a manger. They praised God and told everyone their story. Can you imagine the courage it took for God, who is Holy and has no limits, to remove His power and glory and choose to become imprisoned, by time and space, inside a baby’s body? What a beautiful gift! What a loving God!

Cosmic War and the Birth of Jesus

Cosmic War and the Birth of Jesus

 

Wise men saw Christ’s star in the night sky and traveled to worship the newborn King. On their way, they met with King Herod, ruler of the Jews, who was deeply disturbed to hear about the birth of a new king. He told them to return, after they found the child, so that he could worship the king, too. But Herod was planning to kill Jesus.

The wise men found Jesus and were filled with joy. They brought Him rare and expensive gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh (expensive and fragrant resins used in ceremonies and as medicine). Before they left, God warned the wise men not to return to Herod.

After the wise men left, an angel warned Joseph of Herod’s plot and told him to flee with Mary and Jesus to Egypt. They would be refugees, running from their own government. King Herod was furious that the wise men did not return to him, so he sent his soldiers to kill all the baby boys in and around Bethlehem. There was great weeping and mourning. Jesus had entered a world filled with conflict and fear.

In the Bible, we are told of 2 worlds:

One in which we live and one that is an unseen world – a place where angels and demons collide. Revelation 12 tells us about the first Christmas in this unseen world, from Heaven’s point of view. It does not tell us about shepherds or a cruel king, but it pictures a dragon leading a ferocious struggle in heaven. A woman clothed with the sun and wearing a crown of twelve stars [Israel and its 12 family branches] cries out in pain, as she is about to give birth. Suddenly the enormous red dragon enters the picture, his tail sweeping a third of the stars out of the sky and flinging them to the earth. He crouches hungrily before the woman, anxious to devour her child the moment it is born. At the last second, the infant is snatched away to safety, the woman flees into the desert, and all-out cosmic war begins.” 1

Killing Jesus seemed to be the answer to saving Herod’s kingdom and Satan’s kingdom. However, no one knew God’s plan! By sending His only Son, Jesus, to be born and die on the cross, the penalty for our sin was paid in full. God made a way to be with us forever!

He extends a loving invitation for us to receive Christ’s gift of forgiveness and be part of His eternal kingdom in Heaven, but we must respond to His invitation. In a simple prayer, tell God you believe in Jesus and receive His forgiveness, and invite Him to be your Lord. “No one who meets Jesus ever stays the same.” 2  

Won’t you accept His invitation to change you, from the inside out? 

1,2 from “The Jesus I Never Knew” by Philip Yancey, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1995.

 

Cosmic War and the Birth of Jesus

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Two Measures Foolish are a Christian Apologetics group of writers that write from a Christian Perspective and Christian World View using the Bible as our core.

We all travel on an individual journey on this planet earth that God has put into motion from the day we were formed in our mothers’ body. We all have deep questions that need to be answered. Why are we here? Is this all there is?

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The Kingdom of Randy

The Kingdom of Randy

The Kingdom of Randy

Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Randy, who, because of extreme emptiness and loneliness, decided to set up a kingdom to try and fill this empty world.

It seemed like a very dark and kind of scary place, so he decided to fill it up the best he could with various temples and shrines and gardens.

He had a temple to Pleasure; it included all the pleasure of sensuality, sex, fantasy, taste, drink and thus that alter the senses.

He had a temple to Self-Respect; pride, feeling good about one’s self, competition no be better than others and achievement. He set up a temple to Love and that illusive dream of finding another person to fill the void.

There were a number of temples to control, power, happiness, and golden things to fill up his kingdom with. But the gods of the temples were not kind and actually very dangerous.

Some took control.

Randy sat on a broken throne in rags, with a broken crown. The kingdom he built was dark, scary and filled with the stench of death. He blamed all the Kings and Queens that had the same kind of kingdoms around him. He was blind and became more self-deluded.

He lost control of his kingdom, but he continued to lie to himself that “Everything will get better if I just find that magic idol.”

The Kingdom of Randy

The Kingdom of Randy

 

One day a message came from far away that a great King wanted to visit Randy’s kingdom. The emissary from this great King made it very clear that the King had no intention of coming unless He was invited.

It was completely up to Randy. No pressure, no force, no threats. This King did things differently.

Randy thought about it and even though he was fearful, decided to go ahead and extend an invitation. Maybe this King would bring him a present of some sorts, maybe something happy to brighten up the kingdom. Maybe some paint. Maybe a few soldiers to help control things.

Well, the day arrived that the foreign King arrived. He brought with Him his councilor, best described as something like a shining ghost. He could move through objects, and more importantly move through people.

He also brought a host of 10,000 soldiers, which was actually exciting because Randy only had soldiers he had painted on cardboard. He never saw anything like this.

 

The King was less intimidating than he expected…

…actually very humble and kind with an ever-present smile. Randy knew this King had special powers he didn’t understand.

A tour of the kingdom was requested, and Randy was really scared about the condition of the place. He had no idea how bad it really was until the King and His entourage moved around.

They were filled with light, and the light shone on the crumbling temples and broken idols. He saw filth, sadness and decay. Nothing was as it seemed to him.

One by one, each temple was exposed to the light, and Randy grew more and more alarmed at the true condition of his kingdom. Then, they kindly King brought in a mirror from His Kingdom, and for the first time Randy looked into the mirror.

What he saw brought a bucket of tears, as he had no idea how ugly he was. He was dirty, wounded, bleeding, covered in bruises and sores. He cried, “Oh my God, who could ever save anyone like this?”

He fell to his knees in despair without hope in himself or his broken kingdom. But then, the kindly King lifted him up, held him close and whispered in his ear, “I love you. I can help you heal. May I take over your kingdom?” Randy couldn’t believe his ears.

There was this great King who could create a new kingdom in Randy. He simply said yes. That’s all it took.

Just a simply yes.

The Kingdom of Randy

The Kingdom of Randy

 

And then the work began. One temple at a time came crashing down.

Great fires burned up the many idols. The King’s water was brought in to irrigate and plants started growing with real fruit unlike any that Randy had ever tasted. Each day the light in the kingdom grew brighter and brighter.

Soon there were adventures as the great King taught Randy about the real truth and how things were run in the His Kingdom. Randy’s healing and training took many years.

He had a tendency to think about the old idols, but the new King would remind him gently about those old things. The King always gave Randy a choice about things. He wasn’t pushy. So Randy grew to see the wisdom in turning it all over to the new King.

Near the latter part of Randy’s life, he discovered he was growing to love his King more and more, even to the point that he couldn’t bear to leave His side.

He was becoming his life total.

The story was shared about what it cost this King to do all of this for him, and to this day, he still ponders a love that causes a many to lay down his life for a friend.

Randy became a friend of King Jesus, his Heavenly Father.

 

The Kingdom of Randy

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Two Measures Foolish are a Christian Apologetics group of writers that write from a Christian Perspective and Christian World View using the Bible as our core.

We all travel on an individual journey on this planet earth that God has put into motion from the day we were formed in our mothers’ body. We all have deep questions that need to be answered. Why are we here? Is this all there is?

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God Is the Author of Creativity

God Is the Author of Creativity

God Is the Author of Creativity

Allow me to share an experience that I had on my way back from East Tennessee to Phoenix this summer.

I took the Southern route through Dallas, Texas and decided to stop at The Dallas Museum of Art. I wanted to make this more than just a 2000 mile “drive back” trip.

The museum had a special exhibit on “Dior, From Paris to The World”. Needless to say, nether words nor images can adequately capture the sheer beauty of the magnificent pieces they have on display.

73 years of genius from the Dior creators. This is high fashion as art.

God Is the Author of Creativity

So, as a Christian I get my clues about beauty, art or esthetic design from God Himself.

God Himself is infinitely beautiful, but also creates incomprehensible beauty.

He is the author of creativity.

Look at the splendor of His creation.

Even though sin entered the world and infected everything we see, we still get glimpses of the extraordinary beauty God designed into creation.

Beauty is for God’s glory and is good:  beauty in and of itself is not a bad thing. I believe Satan hates any beauty unless it is corrupted to only glorify man.

As we are created in His image, we have the gift to create and some of us can create quiet beautiful works of art.

We take the raw materials God created and recombine them into something unique and with talent, and sometimes by accident, we create something extraordinarily beautiful like the Dior show.

“Satan became so impressed with his own beauty, intelligence, power and position that he began to desire for himself the honor and glory that belonged to God alone”. – Ron Rhodes

God Is the Author of Creativity

“We have only seen a creation affected and corrupted by the fall”

God Is the Author of Creativity

 

I enjoyed this spectacular exhibit of the design and craftsmanship of thousands of people who worked for Dior. 

It took various crafts to bring about the vision of the Christian Dior designs.

This artwork is not like looking at a painting by a single artist. It’s seeing the humble seamstress who knows the fabric and how to sew the perfect seam. 

The worship of what man creates is vain and empty because the very ability to create is merely a gift from God. Paradoxically, I still enjoyed and was overwhelmed by an exhibit that for all purposes “glorifies man”.

I dare say it was all done for the glory of man and the creators. And that cast a bit of a stench, almost like a wet dog smell, on the whole thing.

It was not right.

If the loveliest High Creator of all color, material, movement, texture, shine, sparkle, even softness of material is neglected it is a waste!

I really enjoyed Dallas but there was a better show that God had planned for me to see in Midland, Texas.

There is a museum called the “Petroleum Museum” that was created by 5 of the bigger oill firms in the U.S. In terms of museums, this is a real gem.

No expense was spared. The exhibits are massive and 1st class. They cover the history of the petroleum industry and of course, all of its geology.

The best part for me was their mineral and gem displays procured, from underneath the earth. I had no idea they had such a world class exhibit of gems and minerals! 

I can’t say that minerals and gems are a hobby of mine, but as I began to move through this exhibit, I was suddenly overwhelmed at the overall excellence of the collection the scope, and extraordinary beauty of these samples.

God Is the Author of Creativity
God Is the Author of Creativity
God Is the Author of Creativity

God Is the Author of Creativity

 

Specimens ranged in size from an apple to a basketball. Every subsequent glass showcase became more and more beautiful to me; more exotic, more extravagant.

And then… Boom!

I realized that I was looking at a display of God’s design sense and handcrafted beauty; far more extraordinary than what man can create and to beat it all, hidden under the earth, in the dirt! HIDDEN!

My eyes and my soul filled with gratitude and praise for this display of our Heavenly Creator then I realized I seen the best of the best that man could design in Dallas at the Dior show then in the middle of nowhere the greater show, the greater display, of beauty was to be found. I knew that neither stop was an accident as God intended for me to see both exhibits.

I felt God say to me: “Randy be grateful to Me for all of My gifts and remember you are only imitating your Heavenly Father.”

Only God as unique. Only His creation is original.

We are mere toddlers in the playpen. Children in a sand box.

 

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