I'm Back...

It's hard to believe that I have barely posted anything the last two weeks, but I have also been out and about most of the time. There have been families to move, children to babysit, projects to do, families to visit, company to host, and a conference to work. Well, most of that is not recorded on film, but I did take some pictures of the Metarko's move in.

 Mr. Metarko's new home here in NC.

Three big pods to unload.

The Hope Baptist Moving Crew.

Record time of 53 minutes to unload all pods. No items broken in the process!

We even helped them set up house. Pretty nice!

So that's one move in down. We had one earlier that week, and one the next week and we have a whole list of people on the slate to move in the next couple months. So the Hope Team will have plenty of practice before we go professional! I think I should become a Realtor. I could have a nice business with all the people moving.

One last picture from the move - the Herrin's son trying to keep the van from rolling down the drive.... Push man, push!

And this is called vision. My prayer is that this overgrown place will be mine one day, debt free, if the Lord should so desire. You couldn't ask for a better location, it would be great for blessing people, and the neighbors are incredible. If you would like to make a charitable donation to the good cause of reclaiming this house from the bank who owns it, let me know.... :-)

Under all those weeds, there is really a lot of potential... and ticks. Scores of them. In fact, probably more than the population of Wake Forest. :-P

The weeds actually aren't two high around the back door.

Well, that's all. Until next time... Adios!

Wall Street Journal - Making Christianity Cool Doesn't Work

"If the evangelical Christian leadership thinks that "cool Christianity" is a sustainable path forward, they are severely mistaken. As a twentysomething, I can say with confidence that when it comes to church, we don't want cool as much as we want real.

"If we are interested in Christianity in any sort of serious way, it is not because it's easy or trendy or popular. It's because Jesus himself is appealing, and what he says rings true. It's because the world we inhabit is utterly phony, ephemeral, narcissistic, image-obsessed and sex-drenched—and we want an alternative. It's not because we want more of the same."

 - Brett McCracken, The Perils of 'Wannabe Cool' Christianity, The Wall Street Journal

JOHN SUTCLIFF, "THE PRAYER CALL OF 1784"

Upon a motion being made to the ministers and messengers of the associate Baptist churches assembled at Nottingham, respecting meetings for prayer, to bewail the low estate of religion, and earnestly implore a revival of our churches, and of the general cause of our Redeemer, and for that end to wrestle with God for the effusion of his Holy Spirit, which alone can produce the blessed effect, it was unanimously RESOLVED, to recommend to all our churches and congregations, the spending of one hour in this important exercise, on the first Monday in every calendar month.

We hereby solemnly exhort all the churches in our connection, to engage heartily and perseveringly in the prosecution of this plan. And as it may be well to endeavour to keep the same hour, as a token of our unity herein, it is supposed the following scheme may suit many congregations, viz. to meet on the first Monday evening in May, June, and July, from 8 to 9. In Aug. from 7 to 8. Sept. and Oct. from 6 to 7. Nov. Dec. Jan. and Feb. from 5 to 6. March, from 6 to 7; and April, from 7 to 8. Nevertheless if this hour, or even the particular evening, should not suit in particular places, we wish our brethren to fix on one more convenient to themselves.

We hope also, that as many of our brethren who live at a distance from our places of worship may not be able to attend there, that as many as are conveniently situated in a village or neighbourhood, will unite in small societies at the same time. And if any single individual should be so situated as not to be able to attend to this duty in society with others, let him retire at the appointed hour, to unite the breath of prayer in private with those who are thus engaged in a more public manner.

The grand object of prayer is to be that the Holy Spirit may be poured down on our ministers and churches, that sinners may be converted, the saints edified, the interest of religion revived, and the name of God glorified. At the same time, remember, we trust you will not confine your requests to your own societies [i.e. churches]; or to your own immediate connection [i.e. denomination]; let the whole interest of the Redeemer be affectionately remembered, and the spread of the gospel to the most distant parts of the habitable globe be the object of your most fervent requests. We shall rejoice if any other Christian societies of our own or other denominations will unite with us, and do now invite them most cordially to join heart and hand in the attempt.

Who can tell what the consequences of such an united effort in prayer may be! Let us plead with God the many gracious promises of His Word, which relate to the future success of His gospel. He has said, “I will yet for this be enquired of by the House of Israel to do it for them, I will increase them with men like a flock.” Ezek. xxxvi.37. Surely we have love enough for Zion to set apart one hour at a time, twelve times in a year, to seek her welfare.

Attached to John Ryland, Jr., The Nature, Evidences, and Advantages, of Humility (Circular Letter of the Northamptonshire Association, 1784), 12.

The Answer Is....

Earlier, I posted a question about an amazing little animal. This animal is able to withstand extremes from boiling to near absolute zero, mountaintops to ocean trenches, the vacuum of space to 6 times the pressure of the deepest ocean trench. The question is, what is it?

The answer:

Water Bear

I was unable to find a free for use picture so you can go here to read about this amazing little creature.

We serve such an amazing Creator! While the little water bear is an amazing animal, consider man, made in the image of Almighty God. 

Psalm 8:3-9, "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!"

Taking a Stand in Education - Public School Principal Steps Down

A friend of mine, Mike Metarko, recently wrote an article for Chalcedon's Faith for All of Life, called "America's Trojan Horse: Public Education." Mike has recently quit his job as a public school principal after coming to a realization that public education was wrong from its foundations. The Trojan horse needs to be destroyed, not repaired. It needs to be destroyed before it destroys us. The following is Mike's resignation letter. Praise the Lord for the stand he was willing to take.

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with strong conviction that I write this letter as my formal resignation effective Thursday, July 1, 2010 from my position as Principal of Hanover Elementary School, where I have devoted the last five of my 14 years in the Bethlehem Area School District. Though there is no job at present to which I will be going, God has clearly persuaded me through His Word and through my research into the foundations of our educational system that I must end my career in public education.

For the last fourteen years, I have worked diligently to be the “salt and light” spoken of in Matthew 5:13, but I have realized that while I am plugging up pinholes in the dike that holds back the tumultuous waters of public education, the improperly laid foundation has been eroding beneath our feet. God states, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7a). This means that neither God nor moral character can be separated from true education; in fact, the glorification of God and the building of Biblical moral character must be the basis of true education. In the words of Benjamin Rush, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, “We profess to be republicans [in form of government], and yet we neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government, that is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by the means of the Bible. For this Divine Book, above all others, favors that equality among mankind, that respect for just laws, and those sober and frugal virtues, which constitute the soul of republicanism.”

But what have we done? We have thrown God, Bibles and prayer out of our schools based upon an inaccurate interpretation of the “Separation clause”, while openly proselytizing the religion of Secular Humanism (Smith v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County, Ala). We have divorced morality from education and focused only on what special interest groups perceive as the “right” content knowledge. We manage the masses at the expense of the individual. As with most educators in the system, I have been sincere in my efforts to apply the doctrines of those we call the founding fathers of education, but I have realized that I have been sincerely wrong. My research into the real philosophies and beliefs behind men such as Rousseau, Dewey, Hall, etc. has opened my eyes. I am now aware that not only have I not been working for God, I have been working in complete opposition to Him. I mistakenly thought I was on neutral ground: there is no neutral territory.

That said; let me assure you that my argument is not against those I have worked with for the past 14 years. I have a love for my colleagues and friends; most are wonderful teachers of a curriculum they have been given, most truly love the children and will do anything for them, most sincerely try to improve our children, our city, our nation. But we have all taken our eye off the mark of what the chief end of man is. The nation’s statist system of public education is the real issue.

The Bible is overwhelmingly clear in that the primary responsibility in educating a child rests with the parents (Deuteronomy 6, Ephesians 6:4, etc.). We need parents to be parents once again, families to be families once again, fathers to be the father and leader, mothers to be the mother and nurturer. It does not “take a village to raise a child”; it takes a family entrusted with the Word of God. Our children are not to be wards of the State; on the contrary, they are creations of a God of love, justice, and redemption who loves us so much He sent Christ to die for us so that if we believe in Him and profess Him as Lord and Savior, He will grant us eternal life. He does not need us, but we need Him. He has given us the roadmap to life and to education: the Bible. I pray that He may manifest Himself in your life as he has clearly done so in mine.

Respectfully,
Michael J. Metarko

It is the father's place to train his children according to Deuteronomy 6. The most basic and fundamental propositions of the public school system are contrary to God and His Word for they deny the basic spheres of jurisdiction set up by God as well as the authority of Scripture. As Christians, we are not to reform the systems that the world produces in opposition to the Word, but rather seek their overthrow. We don't want the Bible back in the public school, we want the children back in their homes to be trained and discipled by their parents in the Word of God. We want the public schools to be emptied and closed for government has no place in the education and training of children. Public schools are inherently anti-God and they cannot be reformed.

29,000 miles!

I don't have a whole lot to say tonight mostly because I know if I thought about it, I would be here too long. So in light of the time:

Less than 1000 miles till I have 30,000 miles on that thing. It currently is at 29,283.4. If I can squeak a 700 mile trip in before October, I will have put on 30,000 miles in less than two years. I think the Life of Washington Tour that I will be on, Lord willing, will put me over the edge.

Unfortunately, it doesn't include my trips to Texas, New Mexico/Nebraska, Colorado, Sections of the Road Trip, Mount Vernon, Orlando, Boston, New Orleans to Indiana to Raleigh, Raleigh to Indiana to Colorado, the Shenandoah Valley tour, and probably a few other trips I have taken. If I added these 10 trips in, I would be well over the 30,000 and maybe over 40,000 miles on there. It's too bad I don't have a built in odometer!

Praising the Lord for safety along this amazing journey.... signing out.

Man Abased and God Exalted

We want nothing but to behold the glory of God and to see Him exalted by all, and everywhere, to be happy. When I read the descriptions of the heavenly world, I see nothing so prominent as these two great truths: Man abased and God exalted….Behold! ‘what hath God wrought?’ – Gardiner Spring, quoted by Iain Murray, Revival and Revivalism: The Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism 1750-1858, p. 345

Pennsylvania!

Since my last post, I have driven almost 600 miles, surprised my relatives by showing up at the Glick Family Reunion in Pennsylvania, visited the farm once owned by my great, great, great, great grandfather (hope I got the "greats" right; if not pardon my slip), seen some absolutely beautiful countryside and farmland in the valleys of PA, and spent some good time fellowshipping with family and friends. Good news is that my car got 28 miles a gallon on the last tank and that was with driving on winding, hilly, slow mountain roads and while driving with the air going full blast. This is an amazing thing since the car is quite old and has over 180,000 miles on it - not to mention that it is a full size car with an 8 cylinder engine.

My trip started around 5:00 pm on Friday afternoon. I drove 410 miles to Penn Valley Christian Retreat Center in McVey Town, PA, arriving about 1:15 am. The point was to surprise my relatives who were having a Glick Family Reunion there. They did not know I was coming. My brother from Indiana did the same except he arrived about 8:30 this morning. 

Here are a few shots from the day:

Sun arising in PA.

Another shot with a different hue.

One last one.

Too bad there was a post in the way. This panorama shot would have been all the better if the sun would have been in it. It is from the back balcony of the retreat center.

My uncle and I went for a walk and I snapped these along the way.

Have you ever wondered where those stock photos came from with a single tree in the middle of a field? Well there is the answer.

This little hummer let me take a couple pictures.

Family Photo!

Wanna play?

Afterward, we went on a tour of local Glick history sites. We took a long caravan of vehicles over the mountains and into the next valley.

The view from the top of the ridge was incredible and made me wonder why I have to live near a big city like Raleigh. :-(

This is the valley in which my great, great, great grandfather had a farm.

The farm once owned by John Glick.

The believed site of the old cabin that John Glick built.

Wood beams under the house.

John's grave on the property.

The family around the grave site.

The old spring that John used for water (not original shack).

After this, I drove about 130 miles to Gary Martin's home in Ephrata, PA to spend the evening/night with him and his family.

Well, that's all!

Beautiful Night

Some severe storms just rolled through with lots of close lightning. Unfortunately, it was so rainy and humid, that the lightning lit the whole sky in blinding flashes so no spectacular lightning shots. I did get a couple neat pictures though:

Lightning and city light lit storm clouds.

Lightning lights the sky and reflects off my Crown Vic (used a short flash to light the sign in the first image - unfortunately is is a little distracting, but the background and reflections still look neat).

Lightning flashes in 30 second exposures.

Biblical Revival - A Vision for a Life Lived to the Glory of God

Revival - we must all agree that we cannot cause it. Revivals are not things we schedule for a week in the spring. Nor for Saturday night. I think of Gardiner Spring who said,

“Revivals are always spurious when they are got up by man’s device, and not brought down by the Spirit of God.”

They start with a genuine, Spirit produced hearing of the Word of God. At the same time, an awakening within the people of God, while the work of the Spirit, can be the result of obedience to the Word. We recognize that the Spirit must prepare our hearts, but we should leave that to God, trust that He will prepare our hearts, and then obey the Word.

Obedience must come in many areas. God calls us to humility, prayer, an open heart to the Word of God, genuine faith, and then obedience.

The Lord says,

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

This evening, the Lord brought to mind a passage which I believe would bring revival to the church if the church actually grasped the depth and meaning of this passage and the ramifications it has on everything we are about, everything we think, everything we do, everything we say, everywhere we go. The passage would first promote humility as we realize how we have sought after that which is worthless and maybe sinful more than the true riches of God. It would humble us as we consider just how little we live life for Christ and His glory alone. It would promote prayer as we seek the Lord's forgiveness and as we praise Him for His greatness, giving glory to His name. It would cause us to seek God as we beheld His infinite value. And it would cause us to turn from our wicked ways as we came to an understanding of our purpose for existence and the greatness of the knowledge of God.

That passage is Romans 11:33-36:

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

How often do we seek after that which is not the true riches? How often do we value the world more than the treasure hid in the field, which when the man found he sold all that he had to buy the field? Do we love the world's wisdom more than the wisdom and knowledge of God? Do we delight more to learn some new thing the world has to say than to dwell upon the Words of the great shepherd?

Further, do we really view all things - including ourselves, our families, our churches, our jobs, our properties, our conversations, our thoughts - as for Christ? How might that change our life? If we realized - not just in word, but in real understanding - that all of life is for the glory of God and God alone, would that not change the way we live our lives? If our thoughts were constantly on whether we are glorifying Christ, we would redeem the time. That thing which is unprofitable, it would become worthless in our sight because our vision is filled with the true riches. That conversation with our neighbor would become an opportunity to glorify our King and to tell of the riches of knowing Christ. Wrong treatment would now be an opportunity to glorify Christ. All of life would be changed if we just grasped that we are here because of, through, and for Christ and that that means everything is to be for His praise and His glory, no matter what.

Oh Lord, send revival to your people. Let us humble ourselves under your mighty hand and let us develop a God glorifying vision in which your glory is our highest goal and your knowledge and wisdom the greatest riches.

Volcanoes - Mammoth Displays of the Power of God

We have to admit - Mt. St. Helens was a powerful eruption. It was the most destructive in US history and unleashed power equivalent to approximately 20,000 Hiroshima sized atomic bombs. No small feat. But how does this volcano compare in the grand scheme of things? A little diagram might help us to see just what we are looking at a little better.

Mt. St. Helens produced an impressive amount of ash - .25 cubic miles. The ash plume reached 80,000 feet in 15 minutes and the east coast in 3 days.

But in sheer volume of expelled material, is this actually all that much? Not really.

A fissure in Iceland opened up in 1783-1784 that produced a whopping 3.8 cubic miles of basalt lava. Not as violent for sure, but in terms of actual material, that is a huge increase.

But about 1,800 years ago, a New Zealand eruption dwarfed even that.

Mt. Taupo produced 8 cubic miles of ash. That is a lot of ash compared to little old Mt. St. Helens!

But is it the biggest eruption? Not in the least, soon after the flood, our own Yellowstone erupted and produced at least 480 cubic miles of ash producing a hole so big, you have to use satellites to discern its edges. So how does that compare with the above? Well, powerpoint won't let me zoom out that far, so this screen shot is the best I can do.

Mt. St. Helens now is so small we can't even see it. The cube for Yellowstone is 48 inches to a side while poor little Helen is only .025 inches to a side.

The next illustration does not exist because I am incapable of producing it. Imagine the cube for Mt. St. Helens to be only .00025 inch to a side. This is 1,000th of an inch = 1 mile. Then imagine that the Yellowstone cube would be only .48 inches to a side. Then imagine a cube 480 inches to a side - where 1,000th of an inch still = a mile. Now we are talking an eruption! Presumably during the flood, an eruption in Russia covered 130,000 sq. miles with over 480,000 cubic miles (in volume) of basalt lava. Another one in India covered 200,000 sq. miles over a mile deep.

What an awesome God we serve. Shall we not glorify the Great King? Praise the Lord and give Him the glory due His Name.

What Am I? Can you Guess?

I am:

1. One who declares the greatness of God by displaying His creativity and provision in a way distinct from other animals.

2. I am so distinct from other animals that I belong to my own phylum.

3. My kind can be found from the Himalayas to the tropics.

4. Small

5. I can be frozen to almost absolute zero and thawed back out - and live through it.

6. I can be boiled alive - and not die.

7. I can withstand pressures at six times the pressure of the deepest ocean trench.

8. I can be completely dehydrated for nearly 10 years. To resurrect me, just add water.

9. I can survive the absolute vacuum of space and direct exposure to the sun's radiation.

10.  I received my name because I walk in a way similar to my namesake (a land animal) but live in the water.

What am I?

The Grand Canyon in High Speed!

Grand Canyon and Louisiana from Ryan Glick on Vimeo.

I took these time lapse video clips on the road trip while hiking into the canyon and while driving across elevated roadway in the swamps of Louisiana. The bridge may have been crossing from Louisiana to Mississippi, but I don't recall.