We have a new pet of sorts this summer. It's an Orb-Weaving Spider. We first noticed it early in the summer, but you can only see it at night. Every morning, this web is gone. One of the mysteries is where the web goes. Does the spider eat it? We don't know, but the spider rebuilds it every night. It's over on the edge of the patio (You can see our giant red oak tree behind it in this picture) and I figure it's helping with the mosquitoes out there.

It's amazing to watch it weave this web every night. It patiently walks around and around, spinning the web as it goes. It's incredible engineering and design when you think about it. (Clearly this arachnid was designed!) It's interesting that it doesn't get caught in its own web.

48th Birthday Party at Our Place

Really enjoyed our 48th Birthday for Jody Morton, Michael Bennett and me. Present were: Mortons, Bennetts, Magees, Harrises, Lusts, Furnishes and Cannons. I cooked burgers on the grill.

Twin Fawns

I was sitting at the table tonight, eating some excellent shrimp gumbo that my wife made. It was as good as Landry's! Suddenly, these twin fawns came walking up to the window. I grabbed the camera and the dog so he wouldn't scare them off and snapped a couple of pictures. The fawns were beautiful with full spots. This second picture is a large jpeg file if you would like to download it for your desktop.

The Faith of a Child

I walked past the pool deck in our back yard about thirteen years ago. We had an above-ground pool and a high deck on one side so we could get in it. The deck was about four feet off the ground. My son, David, was about two years old at the time. Just a little guy.
As I walked past the deck, David, who was standing in the middle of it, suddenly ran to the edge at full speed and jumped off of the deck at me. I just happened to see him out of the corner of my eye. I quickly turned and caught him in my arms, spun him around, and set him on the ground. He ran off in one direction and I continued on my way.
When I read what Jesus said about having faith like a little child, that's what I think of. David had total and complete faith that I would catch him. If I hadn't caught him, he would have crashed to the ground, possibly hurting or killing himself. He didn't give it a second thought. He made the leap of faith and never looked back.
Please understand me: I had already earned his trust or he wouldn't have given it to me. God has also earned our trust with the Bible and his intervention in our lives. David's faith wasn't a blind faith, it was an earned faith, supported by the evidence of my behavior up until that moment in his life. Our faith in God is also supported by the evidence. But faith takes you one step - or leap - past what you know for certain. David couldn't empirically prove I would catch him, but his faith told him I would.
A child's faith is also a humble faith. Jesus said so himself. A child knows he needs you to catch him and it doesn't bother him at all. Jesus said if we do not become like a child, we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In other words, we must realize we need him to save us. A child has no problem asking for help. Some adults feel they can earn their own entry into heaven, but Jesus said we cannot.
Do you have the faith of a child? Have you made the leap into his arms? If he drops you, you'll crash to the ground, but you trust him anyway. You have evidence, but your faith takes you one jump beyond it. If you place yourself completely at God's mercy, you are right where he wants you to be. Take the leap of faith. Adventure - and heaven - is waiting.

Jasper, Clear as Crystal

I preached a couple of Sundays ago from Revelation 21 where John said the new Jerusalem shone like “jasper, clear as crystal” (Revelation 21:11). I looked up jasper and found it to be green, red or even beige, but not clear. I wasn’t sure what that could mean, but I presented the scripture as it was written.
Of course, I didn’t think any more about it. Then, four days later, I was driving home from Tyler. I noticed a new building being built by one of the local hospitals. This building’s sides are made of tinted green glass. In other words, it’s a normal, windowed building that we all see all the time.
Then it hit me. Wait a minute, that’s what John saw – tinted windows. Of course the new Jerusalem would appear just as any modern city. But John had never seen glass. He had never seen a building – or a whole city – made of tinted glass. That must be what the new Jerusalem looks like!

John was trying to describe something he had never seen before, just as he described helicopters in Chapter 9: 7 – 10.
And some people still don’t believe the Bible is true?

Memorial Day 09

We went out to the Texas State Railroad Park to see the military displays, including a reinactment. Really neat.

A Miracle in Colorado

Has anything like this ever happened to you? I was a kid on vacation with my family, sometime back in the ‘70s. We were in Lake City, Colorado. We had arrived the day before and, as far as I know had not fraternized with any of the locals.

Sunday morning we got dressed and went to the local Baptist church. (This picture is what the church looks like today.) No big deal. I’m sure my mom is the one who insisted that we go. Anyway, when we walked up onto the front porch, a lady met us at the door. None of us had ever seen her before, but she said something astonishing. She pointed at my dad and said, “I believe you are a song leader.” Then she looked at my mom and said, “And you are a piano player. Will you lead us in worship this morning?”
My dad led the singing and my mom played the piano. From what I recall, it was a small crowd. I don’t even remember who preached, but I’m talking to my folks to get a clearer picture of what happened that morning. Mom says my dad even sang a solo. I don’t remember that. But I do remember what happened on the porch. I saw it with my own eyes.
So, how did the woman know that my dad routinely led the singing at our church? More astonishing, how did she know my mom could play the piano? If she had asked, “Can you lead in singing, and can you play the piano?” It would have been completely different. But she didn’t ask – she said it, then asked if they would do what she already somehow knew they could do.
I’m working on piecing this together – when exactly we arrived, what year this was, how old I was. When I get more details, I’ll post.