I'm sixty-five years old and learned to drive tractors before I reached my teens!  Lord only knows how many riding mowers and garden tractors I've driven!  How many miles!  How many hours!  How many different terrains and mechanical problems I have defeated!  But then, yesterday, while mowing my front lawn my well-worn White hooked a front tire on a Walnut tree and tried to climb it.  Before I realized it was happening I found myself lying on my back, the tractor upside-down on top of me, the mower blades beating at the air above me, the engine still turning high rpm and my butt and feet still in place in the seat and footpads!

I pulled the gas lever back and turned off the ignition; then I pushed the beast off me with all my leg strength and crawled a few feet away from it, suddenly quite aware of the gasoline which had spilled out all over the whole scene, and especially all over the now-steaming hot engine parts!  I checked myself out for injuries by getting to my feet and grabbing the smoking beast and pushing it over back upright on its wheels.  Physically, everything worked; but I suddenly felt the urge to pee and poop; so I walked purposefully in the front door, through the house and into the bathroom.  Sitting there on the porcelain throne I thought to myself: "Now, finally, I'm back to feeling like I do know what I'm doing!"

But then, as my heart began to slow its pace and the pain in my chest subsided, I remembered the whole event in slow motion and in greater detail.  That mower came straight back over the rear wheels and ended up directly above me, suspended in the air by the strength of both my legs.  But only the right front wheel had gone up the tree!  How fortunate for me the mower didn't rotate away from that contact and twist me under it like a pretzel!
How fortunate that the spilled gasoline did not ignite and immediately burn me and the mower in one quick Whoosh!  How fortunate that I landed squarely on the broad and muscular part of my upper back instead of my head, instead of snapping my neck and paralyzing me on the spot, or knocking me unconscious!    How fortunate!

An hour later, I added fresh engine oil to the cooled off engine, mounted the tractor and started it up, then finished mowing the yard.  Both the mower and I were normal again.  Although I felt a few extra aches and pains watching Monday Night Football, even those were gone when I drank my coffee this morning and thanked those angels, and He Who sent them, for watching over  me.   Now comes the hard part: telling my mother and Helpmate about my mowing misadventure.  I don't think I want to hear much about it from them.

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I woke up this morning with a headache again, asking myself and the Lord what is causing it again.  I was pleased to wake up just before 5:30, just in time to turn on Way Too Early with Willie Geist on MSNBC.  Sometimes that show is enough to clear the cobwebs from my mind, that and the fresh-brewed coffee which is usually ready to drink about half-way through the show.  But I turned the show off just before 6:00 and still hadn't made the coffee yet.  Way Too Early was just what I felt; so I closed my eyes and sought relief in sleep..

But by 6:15 I knew I wouldn't be going back to sleep.  Headache clearly feels like sinusitis; or maybe its just caffeine deprivation.  Damn morning questions!  So, I took a generic sudafed as I prepared my Folger's Gourmet Supreme in my stained Mr. Coffee.  By 7:00 I had nosed around on the www, checked the weather forecast, my emails, Xanga, and gone to the bathroom; but the headache was still with me.  Thankful for the lingering darkness outside, I poured myself another mug of coffee, turned out the lights and sat down in my recliner to gaze out at the rain, the yard and the quiet street.

By 7:30 I was working on my third mug full of coffee and my headache had subsided a bit.  Larger questions were forming themselves in my mind now.  "Why am I  failing to lose weight and improve my health?  Why is it, now that the headache is subsiding, that I'm feeling other aches and pains here and there?   What about that ancient aliens theory, Lord?   Class warfare politics?  And why is it, after walking after You, God, all these many years that I still can't discern or comprehend the next few days in Your plan for my life?"

Damn morning questions!   It will be better, later when I'm more awake.  But,  anybody else dislike that morning mind-fog and those morning questions too?
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"The Creation model (as presented in Genesis) is built on the premise of divine purpose. God designed the material universe from subatomic particles to galactic clusters with exacting standards. God created order – order can no more create itself than material reality could create itself. Reality consists of more than the material universe. God created humans as part biology and part spirit. Our likeness to God can be seen in our spiritual nature. This includes our creativity, morality, humor, altruism, and various other characteristics we attribute to God as well as human kind. We have purpose and the free will to accept or turn from that purpose. Man was designed for life, but death came upon man through sin. Eternal life is the gift God seeks to give to all who will seek Him, accept His love and repent of their sin.

Even without benefit of scripture, a reasonable objective survey of the natural world leads to the conclusion that there must be some sort of intelligent designer. This designer must be responsible for establishing cosmic order and development of life as we currently have it. This mind must be unrestrained by time or material reality yet must be capable of manipulating both."

See Lance Ponder:  http://divinelogos.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/creative-science-39-christianity-and-creation/

While my friend Lance and I disagree on the historicity of the literal time line presented in the Genesis account of the creation of "the heavens and the earth,"  we are in complete agreement with regard to creation by intelligent design AND the fact that Our Creator has a divine purpose for creating mankind in His own image.

http://divinelogos.wordpress.com/2011/09/16/what-is-gods-idea-of-wealth/

My friend Lance, once again, proclaims the message I am called to proclaim better than I have lately.

Have you heard?  Over Labor Day weekend homosexual scientists announced they had discovered the legalistic/judgmental religious right gene and are now investigating cures for its sufferers.

Suddenly we are all thinking about the same thing!  Why is that!!  Anyhow my blog today simply points to another:

http://www.revelife.com/754728311/evolution-for-christians/

Iposted earlier that I’ve been viewing and enjoying the History Channel’s seriesexploring the evidence for Ancient Aliens having visited the earth “fromabove.”  The series also presents the“ancient aliens theory” that human beings were actually created and fromtime-to-time modified by alien extra-terrestrials who tampered with the DNA ofancient earth’s bipeds.

 http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/articles/ancient-alien-theory

Overmany years now I have discretely kept an open mind toward the evidence ofextra-terrestrials’ activity on the earth even as I personally trusted the HolySpirit to lead me into all truth, especially with regard to interpreting andunderstanding scripture.  And now, withthe popularity of this TV series and more and more people hearing about andconsidering these things, I am compelled to speak openly about them.

Makeno mistake, I AM a Christian Believer, a “new creature in Christ Jesus,” havingbeen “born again from above” and knowing that He is the Spirit of Christ Whoresides in me and guides me.  

   http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians+5:17&version=AMP

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%203:1-7&version=AMP

Andthe first point I wanted to make in my earlier post was that we who have become“new creatures in Christ Jesus” should not fear new ideas and new understandingabout our human origin!  And also thatChristians recognizing God’s World extends beyond earth is not new!

Iquoted Archibald Alexander Hodge(1823-1886), an American Presbyterian leader and the principal of PrincetonSeminary between 1878 and 1886.:  “Now,the great system of human redemption must in some respects stand alone,conspicuous and pre-eminent, above all other plans and systems of God. Eventhough God work through eternity, even though he work through infinity, God hasbut one Son The incarnation of the Son of God cannot be repeated. This is anevent, even in the annals of eternity and in the annals of the universe,without precedent, without parallel, without equal. And this incarnation of theSon of God, this taking upon himself the very nature of man, this unitinghimself through the body of man with the whole material universe, andthrough the soul of man with the whole moral and spiritual universe, must inits very nature have wrought a change affecting universally and intimately allthe provinces and kingdoms and all the individuals which it embraces. Besidesthis, a system which is worthy of the incarnation and the death of the Son ofGod must be something transcendently superior. I do believe that among allthe commonwealths of the sons of God--and I believe these are infinite innumber, in extent, and in variety--this commonwealth of redeemed humanitymust occupy a central and interior position; that it is something unique,unparalleled, which cannot even in the universe of God be frequentlyexperienced by any of his creatures. And this which seems to us to be possibleand probable appears to be absolutely confirmed by the apostle Paul in hisEpistle to the Ephesians, where he says, as you will remember, that in thefulness of time this great undiscovered secret, which God had hitherto kept tohimself, he had now begun to unveil gradually and slowly through the gospel; towit, his purpose to make men "accepted through the Beloved," hispurpose to bring us under one Head in Christ, and to consolidate under one Headin Christ all things which are in heaven or upon the earth, "even inhim."

http://www.theopedia.com/A._A._Hodge

Is it time for more Christians to begin thinking outside the box!

LatelyI’ve been viewing and enjoying the History Channel’s series exploring theevidence for Ancient Aliens having visited the earth “from above.”  http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens/articles/ancient-alien-theory

 I first began to consider this back in the1960’s when I read Chariots of the Gods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chariots_of_the_Gods%3F    And, over the years it has been a part ofmy understanding of scriptures, a fact I have kept mostly to myself in order toavoid being ostracized by the rank-and-file of Christianity.

But,make no mistake, I AM a Christian Believer, a “new creature in Christ Jesus,”having been “born again from above” and knowing that the Spirit of Christresides in me.  

   http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians+5:17&version=AMP

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%203:1-7&version=AMP

Andit is central to my calling to teach the imperative that a person must haveintimacy with the Spirit of God in order to be a true Christian disciple.

Nonetheless,suggestions from the series that human beings were actually created and fromtime-to-time modified by aliens who tampered with the DNA of ancient earth’sbipeds have certainly gotten my attention. And although I have certainly re-thought many of my earlierinterpretations of scriptural events, I am no less “in Christ Jesus” than Iwas!  But I did feel rather alone in myunderstanding for awhile.

Inresearching other Bible teachers’ thoughts on this subject, I came acrosssomeone I did not previously know, A. A. Hodge, and something he wrote andtaught in Seminary classes:

Excerpt from God'sCovenants With Man--The Church  By A. A.Hodge

Now, the great system of human redemption must in some respects standalone, conspicuous and pre-eminent, above all other plans and systems of God.Even though God work through eternity, even though he work through infinity,God has but one Son The incarnation of the Son of God cannot be repeated.This is an event, even in the annals of eternity and in the annals of theuniverse, without precedent, without parallel, without equal. And thisincarnation of the Son of God, this taking upon himself the very nature of man,this uniting himself through the body of man with the whole material universe,and through the soul of man with the whole moral and spiritual universe, mustin its very nature have wrought a change affecting universally and intimatelyall the provinces and kingdoms and all the individuals which it embraces.Besides this, a system which is worthy of the incarnation and the death of theSon of God must be something transcendently superior. I do believe that amongall the commonwealths of the sons of God--and I believe these are infinite innumber, in extent, and in variety--this commonwealth of redeemed humanity mustoccupy a central and interior position; that it is something unique,unparalleled, which cannot even in the universe of God be frequentlyexperienced by any of his creatures. And this which seems to us to bepossible and probable appears to be absolutely confirmed by the apostle Paul inhis Epistle to the Ephesians, where he says, as you will remember, that in thefulness of time this great undiscovered secret, which God had hitherto kept tohimself, he had now begun to unveil gradually and slowly through the gospel; towit, his purpose to make men "accepted through the Beloved," hispurpose to bring us under one Head in Christ, and to consolidate under one Headin Christ all things which are in heaven or upon the earth, "even inhim."

I wholeheartedly agree!  But now imagine my surprise to discover whenand where  this was taught!

http://www.theopedia.com/A._A._Hodge

… Posted also @JerusalemHill

 The url www.jerusalemhill.org will now direct visitors to my oldest blogs site: onjerusalemhill on Xanga.com.  This is a new door into my story-telling mission which is opening because www.jerusalemhill.net is now closed.  Why .org now instead of .net?  Only God knows; and He hasn't told me everything yet.  He prompted me to make the change and I obeyed.  I am His servant and His friend; but He is clearly the Leader and I am the follower.

 I have been invited to sing along with many others this next Sunday evening at First Assembly Evangelistic Center (my local church).  I prayed a lot about this apparently-opening door because mischievous spirits up in the sound booth sabotaged the CD/DVD accompaniment tracks the last three times I attempted to serve the Lord singing in this church. I had thought the Lord was closing the door on my singing at FAEC; so the invitation prompted me to inquire of the Lord about it.  He prompted me to explore the possibility of a gifted keyboard accompanist; and I did that.  Then He prompted me to sing without any accompaniment or amplification at all because the acoustics are good there and my voice is certainly loud enough to be heard.  I had actually settled upon that solution when my mother informed me she had heard a request for me to sing a particular song which I sang there many years ago.  This is not the first request for me to repeat that song.  I have heard several during the last few years.  And when I was asked directly during Wednesday night's Bible Study, I felt His approval in my spirit that offering the accompaniment CD for our sound engineer to play again is in His plan.  How will this turn out?  And why now?  Only God knows; and He hasn't told me everything yet.  I have received His prompts; and I will obey.

 My story-telling and my singing...  All that I say and do is about Him and for His Glory.  A door closes and another opens as if to remind me.  I am His servant and His friend; but He is clearly the Leader and I am the follower.
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http://jerusalemhill.revelife.com/752822710/struggling-with-god/