Laminin - a tiny protein you really need to know about!

You really should see this amazing protein that holds our cells together. Louie Giglio does a far better job of explaining it than I ever could. Check it out - you will not be sorry!

Every Great Artist Signs His Work

Have you ever noticed that every great artist has a trademark signature? Signatures can be an indicator of authenticity. As impressive as some artistic creations may be, there is no artist ever whose work can compare to that of Jesus Christ. Have you ever noticed how intricately things work together. It really is amazing. Collosians 1:17 states "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." There is no more amazing evidence of this than in the case of laminin. You see laminin is a protein molecule that holds the very cells of our body together. Without laminin, we would cease to exist. You really must view the picture of laminin to understand God's signature.

From the tinniest of structures that literally hold our bodies together by joining our cells into organs and organs into bodies to the furthest reaches of space, God's signature is everywhere. The furthest galaxy that the Hubble Telescope has been able to view yields yet another signature of God's amazing signature. From great to small from our very makeup to our furthest adventure, God has signed our world. Is there any doubt of the majesty of Jesus Christ? Surely not! How great is our God!

How Selfish Am I?

Lunch time rolls around for me at work and it is time for me to grab up some grub, get a cold diet coke, and close the door to my office to work on this blog or to read up on the Volunteers for a little while. It's the 30 minutes or so of solitude in an otherwise crazy hectic day for me. So today as I sit down to eat a spicey italian from Subway I am in a football frenzy. It is just 2 days till the Big Orange hit the field and so I journy over to Volquest.com. I click on the message board and there are 900 members online posting and chatting about all things involving the University of Tennessee athletics, but mainly football. As I scroll down the list of articles to see if I want to read one my eyes pass by a short title that I have seen numerous times before and have even posted. I am here to read about football and the Vols, not about life and problems....I try to convince myself to go past the link....don't look back....don't do it. Shame on me!!! You see the headline to the link is simply "PRAYERS NEEDED." Those simple words on an ever-changing bulletin board with 900-1500 people per hour viewing it can have huge implications indeed. As I click on the link, a young man says his 24 year old brother is ill and hospitalized and he doesn't know what to do so he begs for prayers. The doctors cannot determine what is wrong, but he has enough foresight to know who can. God can. Yes dear friends God can use college football message boards to work miracles too. I should know, he helped me. When my mom had heart surgery I was encouraged with over 100 well-wishes and prayers from that very same Volquest board. You see, when it comes right down to it, God focusses us on what is important, even when our carnal nature desires news about football and basketball, God says - "STOP! Someone is hurting." Thank God for opening my eyes and for using whatever means are available to get his word out. And thank God for dragging me kicking and screaming to his people who are hurting even when I am too selfish to do it willingly.

The B I B L E

As an attorney and follower of politics I am no fan whatsoever of political correctness. I am ashamed that there is such a word that sends people cowering back to the seclusion of their own homes due to the fear that they will offend someone and perhaps even get a lawsuit as a door prize. Now, it appears this most nasty word is even infiltrating the most holy of all books, the Bible. The New International Version (NIV) is looking into updating its text to be more "gender conscious." Wonderful, instead of just corrupting our minds and making us guarded in everything we say, now political correctness is attempting to change the Book that gives life. Sometimes I just shake my head at people.

Blessed in the U.S.A.

Sometimes we take for granted how blessed we are to be Americans. It is also easy during the current struggles where it seems that every aspect of Christian life is under attack to forget just how blessed we are to live in a country where we can get up and go to church without fear of being killed just because we are Christians. In Iraq, this is far from the case. That being said, it is encouraging that Iraq is yielding a great crop of new Christians and it is easy to see that God is working there as muslims are having visions that are causing them to convert to Christianity. How great is our God!

WSJ Confirms - New Health Plan = Taxpayer Funded Abortions

The Wall Street Journal has confirmed that the President Obama's new health care plan would open the way for taxpayer funded abortions. As Christians, when will we take a stand? Why do we stay silent?

Step Back New Hampshire! Are you kidding me?

New Hampshire Judges have decided that a 10 year old home-schooled girl with an "above average" intellect must attend public school because she is too adamant about her Christian beliefs and she should be exposed to "other possibilities." Wow! And people make jokes about southern folks. I am glad I live in Tennessee. Surely to goodness this gets overturned.

The Devil in the Details!

The A.C.L.U. which I believe secretly stands for the Anti-Christian Liberals Union lost in court this week. While it does my heart good to see the extreme liberal organization take this to the chin, I wonder if there should not be some sort of counter-suit against their lawyer for making what clearly seems to be a less than straight faced effort to besmirch Christianity.

An American Tale - making a black and white issue shades of gray.

America is a wonderful country. I am so blessed to live here and we have had God's hand on us as a country enabling us to become the most affluent nation in the world. Well sure, other countries may have higher per capita incomes, but no one has the income levels and the freedoms we enjoy in America. That being said, no one is better at pushing the envelope and blurring issues that should be black and white into mere shades of gray.

The church I belonged to in Memphis, TN, Kirby Woods Baptist Church and its former preacher brother Bob Pittman always said that you love the sinner and hate the sin. Homosexuality is a sin. It doesn't mean that we should hate homosexual people, but it does mean that they are living in sin while in the lifestyle. With this Biblical truth in hand I must admit that the Lutheran Church's decision to allow homosexual preachers has severely disappointed me. Now do not misunderstand, every preacher in America sins, but not every preacher in America lives their sin in blatant disobedience for all to see.

Some churches in the Lutheran faith need to examine whether their leadership has their best interest at heart, or if they are merely being transformed to the world instead of rising above it.

The Song of the Week.

The Song and Video of the week this week is from In Christ Alone - Adrienne Liesching and Geoff Moore.

Vacation Bible School Week - Children truly are gifts from God.

It is VBS week and I am teaching the kindergartners. I must admit, I had no idea what to expect, but after having had the group of kids for the week, I can truly say that children are gifts from God.

As John Greenleaf Whittier, the Quaker Poet, penned in "The Barefoot Boy" -

"Cheerily, then, my little man,Live and laugh, as boyhood can!Though the flinty slopes be hard,Stubble-speared the new-mown sward,Every morn shall lead thee through Fresh baptisms of the dew;Every evening from thy feet Shall the cool wind kiss the heat:All too soon these feet must hide In the prison cells of pride,Lose the freedom of the sod,Like a colt’s for work be shod,Made to tread the mills of toil,Up and down in ceaseless moil:Happy if their track be found Never on forbidden ground;Happy if they sink not in Quick and treacherous sands of sin.Ah! that thou couldst know thy joy,Ere it passes, barefoot boy!"

Children have such a wonderful view on life, they do not see the corruption and stress of life. They know only playing and enjoying life. Much too, is how man was designed I believe and if we would ever truly turn everything over to God so much freedom we would find. That, however, seems easier said than done. But for this VBS teacher, living intravenously through my kindergartners this week has been a blast. Surely there can be no question why Jesus loved children so much.

Does Jesus Use Dreams to Speak to Us?

My wife is a firm believer that the time each day that we are closest to God is while we are asleep. It is then that our worldly worries take a backseat to our subconscious mind. Without a doubt God used dreams and visions to speak to people time and time again throughout the Bible. I myself have been visited on numerous occassions by dreams that seemed to have a message that was more than meets the eye. Dreams are mysterious, uncontrolled, and not well understood. Surely each of us have felt the power of dreams in deja-vu experiences that seem to suggest that there is a lot more to this whole dreaming thing than we may first realize. Jeff Leslie certainly believes God speaks to us in dreams. His is a remarkable story that should inspire us as Christians to stay positive through all things. If you need a pick me up, and you want to see that Jesus is still working miracles today, I encourage you to read this story of hope by Jeff Leslie. I know it was a blessing to me.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

This weeks video of the week is "Slow Fade" by Casting Crowns.

After calming the waves, Jesus is using them:

When you think of the Arab world there are numerous things you think of....Christian Radio is probably not one of them. This being said, over a million Arabs are now within the Christian radio waves HCJB Global.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

This weeks Christian Video is John Waller's "Still Calls Me Son!"

Exactly What Did you Expect?

Numerous Christian leaders are expressing dissatisfaction with President Obama over his first round of decisions. While this is not meant to be a political forum, I have to wonder out loud - what did these Christian leaders expect exactly?

American Idol - Gone Christian?

Last night as I rested and watched American Idol, I was rather surprised and quite happy to see Danny Gokey sing "Jesus Take the Wheel." Jesus can get all the airtime he wants on television, any time he wants to. I am pretty sure that the creator of the universe can do as he wishes, but he prefers Christians to spread the word and this outspoken song being sung in front of millions of viewers around the world resonated nicely with me. Kudos for Danny Gokey, who just stepped out and became a role model for numerous Christians by doing what all Christians are supposed to do....telling others about Christ.