Isaiah 42:16

The Calf Path by Sam Walter Foss, for example:

One day, through the primeval wood,
A calf walked home, as good calves should;
But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail, as all calves do.

Since then three hundred years have fled,
And, I infer, the calf is dead.
But still he left behind his trail,
And thereby hangs my moral tale.

The trail was taken up next day
By a lone dog that passed that way;
And then a wise bellwether sheep
Pursued the trail o’er vale and steep,
And drew the flock behind him, too,
As good bellwethers always do.

And from that day, o’er hill and glade,
Through those old woods a path was made,
And many men wound in and out,
And dodged and turned and bent about,
And uttered words of righteous wrath
Because ’twas such a crooked path;
But still they followed — do not laugh —
The first migrations of that calf,
And through this winding wood-way stalked
Because he wobbled when he walked.

This forest path became a lane,
That bent, and turned, and turned again.
This crooked lane became a road,
Where many a poor horse with his load
Toiled on beneath the burning sun,
And traveled some three miles in one.
And thus a century and a half
They trod the footsteps of that calf.

The years passed on in swiftness fleet.
The road became a village street,
And this, before men were aware,
A city’s crowded thoroughfare,
And soon the central street was this
Of a renowned metropolis;
And men two centuries and a half
Trod in the footsteps of that calf.

Each day a hundred thousand rout
Followed that zigzag calf about,
And o’er his crooked journey went
The traffic of a continent.
A hundred thousand men were led
By one calf near three centuries dead.
They follow still his crooked way,
And lose one hundred years a day,
For thus such reverence is lent
To well-established precedent.

A moral lesson this might teach
Were I ordained and called to preach;
For men are prone to go it blind
Along the calf-paths of the mind,
And work away from sun to sun
To do what other men have done.
They follow in the beaten track,
And out and in, and forth and back,
And still their devious course pursue,
To keep the path that others do.

They keep the path a sacred groove,
Along which all their lives they move;
But how the wise old wood-gods laugh,
Who saw the first primeval calf!
Ah, many things this tale might teach —
But I am not ordained to preach.

Why are you walking down your path?

Ephesians 5:

look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

The Earth Will Shake

The Hardest thing in the world to do is to find someone who believes in you

You know how sometimes you go somewhere and there’s a guy speaking but your mind is somewhere totally different? Well, i do that alot. Sometimes, i think that’s a good thing.

Some of you may know that one of my heroes is Chuck Swindoll. Today he came to chapel and spoke  about the conflict between Paul and Barnabus in Acts 15:36-41.

A couple of nuggets from what he actually said:

Disagreements are inevitable, even with the ungodly.

Two ingredients:

Issues that arise from principles.

Perspectives that can come from personalities.

Each side may have valid point which are hard to value from our perspective. Here, the issue is, “what do you do with someone who has defected? Paul adheres to the principle while Barnabus looks at the man and chooses to give him a second chance.”

The thing is, both can be right. Paul is acting as prophet and Barnabus as priest. Maybe the dual effect of Paul’s prophetic rejection and Barnabus’ priestly compassion led Mark to make some changes that led to Paul saying in 2 Timothy 4:11, “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.”

And what i got out of it which he didnt actually say:

I desire to be discipled. I think it would be huge in my season of life for an older man, further down a similar road, to guide me and teach me some of the things he has learned. So pray for that. I’ve already asked one guy and my friend John just told me to ask Chuck. So im going to wander around campus for a short while to see if i can find him. Why not, right?

Ive prayed for someone to reach out to me but that just hasnt happened. Oh well. moving forward. Please pray that the Lord would lead me in this pursuit.

i leave you with my favorite Chuck quote of today:

“If someone is gossiping to me, I ask them if i can quote them on that. Then, they immediately find the spiritual gift of back peddling.”

If you seek excuses, you’ll find plenty to spare

I can if i will. In the Name of Jesus we have everything we need.

“Oh but I’m so afraid
I’m set in my ways”
But he’ll make the rabbits and rocks sing his praise
“Oh but I’m too tired
I won’t last long”
No he’ll use the weak to overcome the strong

reframe toward faith. How big is your God?

Why i love John Mark Mcmillan

Ive had his song “Death in His Grave” stuck in my head and heart for a couple of weeks now. I wanted to post the lyrics  and hopefully a video of him performing it. no luck. But I did find a sweet video Bethel Bible Church made for good friday last year. This was the church I went to while living in Tyler. I love that church. Here’s just one reason why:

Death in His Grave

read psalm 78 today.

and today ask the Lord Jesus  to help you live a life like David in whatever field your shepherding:

With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.

Remember the little drummer boy: its not about what you have, its about what you are willing to give.

security in uncertainty

amen.

Isaiah 41:10, 13. He’s got our whole world in His hands and he guides us by the hand into the work he has prepared for us.

“What a beautiful God, what a beautiful God, what a beautiful God there must be!”                        – mewithoutYou