Why the title?

"Pioneers take the arrows"

Oh, wait. I should be upbeat and taking arrows doesn't sound like an upbeat thing to say.

So, let me amend that statement.

It was courage and vision that led the pioneers to leave behind a comfortable, settled life and trek West to begin a new life in a new place. Many of those from the East that went West found a strength within themselves that they didn't see while they were in their old life. Instead of being one of those that just kind of went along with the others in the old life, they became leaders and visionaries in their new lives.

The sentiments of that last paragraph come from a favorite author, Louis L'Amour, in many of his books. So, I can't really say that it is an original thought from me. However, what he said is truthful.

Welcome to being a pioneer. Look ahead and ignore the "barking dogs" that give you negative opinions and comments. Louis L'Amour also spoke of the barking dogs.

In some of his stories, it was usually a father or older man telling a young boy how it was that when the Westward bound Conestoga wagons rolled through towns, the dogs came out to bark at them. His character then told the young listener that the barking didn't stop the wagons from going on to their destinations.

Following the advice of the Louis L'Amour characters, may we all forge ahead with our plans, after carefully considering all consequences and leave the "barkers" behind.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Gazing Upon the Face of God

This evening, I watched more of The Truth Project. In the first hour (lesson 3) the study was about “Who is Man.” Watching that episode can leave one in a dejected state, especially when one considers the EVIL that man seems to perpetuate.

In year after year, decade after decade, century after century, mankind continues to do the same terrible things, in spite of the humanists of this age that want to tell us that man is “basically good” and that there are not any real evil things about man.

At the end of each episode of The Truth Project is a summary of that lesson and then a little bit of video from the next episode that serves as a tease. At the end of the dejecting episode 3, the tease for episode 4 informs us that the upcoming episode is going to ask the question, “Who is God.”

With the need for something uplifting before going to bed, I decided to watch episode 4 as well. In different places in the series, the moderator/instructor teases with the thought that in this series of lessons, we will have the opportunity, as much as God will allow us, to gaze upon the face of our Creator and God.

Of course, God has revealed Himself to us in his Word, in that the Bible has showed us what He is like and that He sent His Son to this earth to serve as our means of hope for salvation. It is up to us to look for Him and that hope. We live in the knowledge that we are made in his image, not in the physical sense, but in the spiritual sense. God is Spirit and our existence is part spiritual. Why else would peoples who have never been approached by missionaries seek to find gods?

It is in man’s nature to want to find God. Even though the Communist countries severely persecute those who wish to express a religion based upon God, the peoples of those countries risk torture and death go find God. If you have read back in earlier posts, I told the story of the Eastern European Mission ministry that started out as smugglers of Bibles into the Soviet Bloc countries.

Should you be interested in that story, it was way back in March, and here is a link to that posting:

http://ignoringthebarkingdogs.blogspot.com/2011/03/in-praise-of-smugglers-now-gone.html

Anyway, looking for God is really easy. At the moment, I can’t remember the scriptures by book and verse, but the Bible speaks of the heavens declaring the glory of God and that all of creation reflects His glory. As a photographer, I have been blessed in that I can usually see God every day in something of his creations.

That evidence may be the smile of a child, a wide panorama of beautiful nature, or just the simple little flower at my feet. Some of the finest examples of beauty and grace are found in the “critter world.”

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Ah, such diversity of creatures the earth has. I would venture to guess that each species has a distinct and sometimes unique relationship with other parts of nature. And each and every species of animal or plant displays God’s wonder and beauty.

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Did you see the ant? Did you know that God has named all the stars? Don’t you suppose he also has a name for each of the creatures?

I may begin to be more likely to share some photos that I ordinarily wouldn’t due to the concerns of others that might wish to steal my photos for their own benefit.  It would not be the first time someone has “stolen” an image and entered it into a contest with the hope of winning a prize.

But, I should share my prizes, that being my photos, so that others can see the glory of God and not be deprived by my selfishness.  Since I am a work in progress and wanting to be more God-like, I probably should do more sharing.  I guess we shall see if I can succeed.

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