First pictured hummer of 2024
Green onions in before a cup of ramen.
He (or she – hard to tell) was sitting there for hours. Major points for staying still, zero points for tactics.
I try to read through the Bible every year. Different versions give different insights.
This year I’m using The 7-Minute Bible from Laridian. It’s chronological, so rearranged to read as the events happened. Duplicate passages have been combined (Kings and Chronicles, plus the Gospels). Certain descriptions have been removed (“The important descriptions of the tabernacle (and temple) are there, but not the exact dimensions of rooms, colors of threads in the cloth, nor other details that would only be necessary if you were an Israelite of that period tasked with building it from scratch.”). All this to get it down to something that an average reader could get through in seven minutes. Because it is condensed, it is being positioned as a devotional, not a Bible (and yes, it’s called the 7-Minute Bible because there is nothing else in there). So no book names, chapter or verse numbers. This should not be your only Bible, nor one for a Bible Study.
For instance, in my church’s Bible reading plan, we’re following Billy Graham’s suggestions, and today is John 9. In the 7-Minute Bible, that’s October 22.
It’s where I found the best line not spoken. Thundering in the absence of silence. Or maybe God isn’t a wise guy.
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Jesus answered, “This man didn’t sin, nor did his parents, but that the works of God might be revealed in him. I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud, and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing.
Therefore the neighbors and those who saw that he was blind before said, “Isn’t this he who sat and begged?” Others were saying, “It is he.” Still others were saying, “He looks like him.”
He said, “I am he.”
They therefore were asking him, “How were your eyes opened?”
He answered, “A man called Jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went away and washed, and I received sight.”
Then they asked him, “Where is he?”
He said, “I don’t know.”
And that is where I, unable to keep my mouth shut would have added “I couldn’t see him”.
God is wiser than I, by far.
I had minor surgery on my eyelids a week and a half ago. Didn’t hurt much, the bruising is mostly gone, and the benefits I was supposed to get are definitely there. I’m happy.
Another reason I’m happy is that the insurance company decided to pay its part of the bill. They didn’t come up with some reason for denying the claim – putting it in terms of expected outcomes, or insufficient justification, or something similar. It would all come down to “We don’t want to” or “We don’t think you’re worth it”.
My Dad is ninety years old, and is still getting medical care. The companies think he is still worth it.
But that doesn’t happen to everyone. Some people don’t have insurance, or the right kind or amount of insurance. They can get letters that say “Claim Denied”. That hurts, physically and emotionally.
But spiritually, we have the Great Physician. Jesus said that we were worth it – not us as a group, however you want to define the group. Not the members of Connections Christian Church, or New Day, or people who live in Madeira, or Ohio, or the United States. Jesus says to each individual one of us: “You are worth it”.
And He calls to us individually. Revelation 3:20 says “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me.”
And what we are celebrating now, with the wafer and the juice representing His body and blood, is Jesus’ decision to pay the price for us to come to Him. Dying a terrible death on the cross after a sinless life, that paid the blood price for our sins, and enables us to approach the throne of God boldly, as brothers and sisters of Christ. Let’s pray.
Father God, as You have recorded in Jeremiah 1:5, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb”. You know each of us individually, and you invite us each to join You here on earth and at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. You have declared that each one of us is worth Jesus dying for, and because of that we are called to live for You. Thank You for Jesus’ sacrifice and example, being Prophet and Priest and King. It is a plan only You could have come up with – it is more than we can ask, think, or imagine. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Communion meditation 12/10/2023
After a recent medical appointment, my copay didn’t quite cover the billed amount.
The place let me know. And let me know that a monthly payment plan was available if the amount was too high.
Choices, choices . . .
I picked up some new music recently, an offshoot band that included a couple people from another band I like. The music is pretty good, but I have to admit that part of the reason I bought it is because of the new band’s name: My Friend the Chocolate Cake.
I know some people are allergic to chocolate, but to anyone who can eat it, chocolate cake is pretty good. It is sweet, and good, and comforting – things that you’d want a friend to be. But despite the band’s name, chocolate cake isn’t – and can’t be – your friend.
I was going to look up “friend” in a dictionary, but we all know what a friend is. We can agree on a group definition. A friend is a person who –
And we can stop right there. A chocolate cake, no matter how tasty and scrumptious, is not a person. By definition, it can never be a friend, to me or you or anybody else.
You can have friends at school – all people. No cakes. You can have friends at work, or riding the bus, or down the road, or at a coffee shop. None of them are cakes. They can range from acquaintances to good friends, but they are all people.
Then there’s another level of friend. Not boyfriend/girlfriend, not best friend. Jesus can be your friend.
Proverbs 18:24 says “there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother”. I saw my brother this week, and we will always be close. Jesus is closer. That verse in Proverbs, from the Old Testament, was a prophecy.
A different musical group, Casting Crowns, has a song entitled “Jesus Friend of Sinners”. I think that’s a much better way to live than trying to be friends with something that you are going to consume.
In John 15:13, Jesus says “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”, and that is what He did for all of us sinners.
In the very next verse, Jesus said “You are My friends if you do what I command you”. Jesus had many commandments for us. The one I’m thinking of right now is from First Corinthians 11:23-26, where Paul says “For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord Himself. On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then He broke it in pieces and said, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way, He took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with My blood. Do this in remembrance of Me as often as you drink it.” For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until He comes again.” Let’s pray.
Father God, it is so easy for us to worship things that have been created – a golden calf, a cake, other people. Remind us, now and always, that only You are worthy of our devotion, our adoration, our worship. Jesus lived His life for you, and calls us to do the same. Thank You for His sacrifice, His example, His lordship. In Jesus’ name, amen.
I gave blood yesterday, at Hoxworth. I had an appointment, I showed up, they took me to the place I needed to be, shoved a needle in my arm, and boom – a pint of blood to help someone who needs it.
Kind of like Jesus, definitely kind of not.
Jesus had an appointment. From the book of Esther, which Jesus would have studied: “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Jesus knew. The answer was “yes, He did come for such a time as this”.
Jesus showed up. Luke 2:11 says “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Jesus was fully God, and fully man. To get here, physically on the earth as a human, He had to be born.
Jesus went to the place He needed to be – the cross. Hebrews 12:2 says “for the joy that was set before Him He endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Going to the cross was necessary. Not good. Not enjoyable. Necessary.
They shoved a spear in Jesus’ side. John 19:34 says “one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear”. This was prophesied in Zechariah 12:10. “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.”
Blood came out from him – probably not all, but between the scourging, the crown of thorns, and the spear, I’d guess several pints. That same verse from John continues “one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water”.
And that blood didn’t help just one or two people – it helped everyone by opening the pathway to salvation. First John 1:7 says “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” It’s not our walk – we aren’t saving ourselves by how good we are. It is the blood of Jesus.
That’s what we are celebrating right now, and it is a celebration. Jesus gave His body and His blood for us – individually. For me, specifically. For you, specifically. He didn’t give up His Godship when He came to earth. I think He remained all-knowing, omniscient. I think He knew who was going to get the parts of that pint of blood I gave yesterday, and why, and the outcome of their injuries or conditions. I think as He was on the cross, He knew who would be in the house today, and what you were going to be thinking as we take the wafer and the juice representing His body and His blood. Let’s pray.
Father God, thank You for the gift of Jesus. Thank you for His obedience, for His sacrifice, for His perfect life. Thank You for creating a way that we can approach Your throne boldly, as justified sons and daughters. Thank You for calling us to this reminder that a real person died so that we could be free. In the name of that person, Jesus Christ Your son, amen.
In the past couple of weeks, I have been spending a lot of time with TriHealth, getting various tests done at various facilities. This past Monday I was at a place so new that Google Maps didn’t know where it was. I doubt a hundred people had been inside that CAT scanner before me.
I’m lying on my back while a nurse I’d never met was getting ready to inject something into my arm so they could see my blood vessels better. And I start wondering why I trust the machine, trust her, trust TriHealth.
The machine – I’d been in those before. Not this one, but similar ones. And with it being new, I would tend to trust it more. They would want it set up just right.
Trusting the nurse – she seemed competent, and she had been hired by TriHealth. If I trust them, I should be able to trust the processes they use to hire people.
But do I trust them? Yeah, I do. I get most of my care from them, and they have done a good job across the years. They are staying in business, so they are doing something right. And that new building didn’t advertise as Billy Joe Bob’s CAT Scans and Fender Repair – they were dedicated to one thing. You could argue over whether that one thing was helping people, or making money while helping people, but there was no question that they were helping.
And then my thoughts turned to Jesus. Do those tests of trust apply to Him as well?
The newness is reflected in Lamentations – His mercies are new every morning. And yes, those mercies are set up right. First time, every time.
Do I trust the processes that Jesus has? Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” So that would be a yes. Set it up once, run it the same way until the end of time – literally.
Then do I trust Him, personally – God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Yes, I do. I trust Jesus more than TriHealth, more than my electric supplier or my internet provider, more than I trust myself. I know that He is doing something right – I see it all around me, and in myself. I know that He is helping people. Money isn’t involved – He could create a mountain of hundred-dollar bills just as easily as the loaves and fishes were multiplied. He is helping people because He loves them. And He showed that by dying on the cross, even though He had committed no sin. He died to pay the price for my sin, for your sin, in order for us to be with Him forever. That’s somebody I could trust – eternally. Let’s pray.
Father God, thank You for the opportunity to gather today, to remember the debt that Jesus paid on the cross, to remember the sacrifice of His body and His blood, represented by the wafer and the juice. Thank You for the great love shown that terrible day, and that trust that You have in Jesus, and through Him to us. Thank You that the price for our sin was paid once and forever, and for all who accept it. I don’t understand that level of love and trust, but I am blessed to accept it and hold on to it. In the precious name of Jesus I pray, amen.
I’m working on a PC – somebody didn’t want it anymore, the hard drive had crashed. Picked up a terabyte SSD to replace the non-spinning rust. Downloaded Win10 and picked up a cheap key. Dumped it onto a spare thumb drive, but the BIOS apparently wasn’t set up for booting that way.
Google how to get into the BIOS, which for this Acer Aspire ES 15 is slamming the F2 key after hitting the power on. And bummer – the donor set a password.
BiosBug to the rescue! You can work through the “no password” screens to get to a place where they provide an 8-digit system number. Drop this into BiosBug and it will give you the unlock password.
It works. I dropped $10 in the jar on my way out the door, because they saved me from opening the case to disconnect the CMOS battery. Well worth it, and it’s one of those things that you don’t know you need until you need it bad.
What did we ever do before the internet? Guessing that’s why repair services, those hi-tech priests in white lab coats, could get away with charging $75 just for diagnosing a problem.
Awed Manor 
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