Son of Man. Son of God.

I just finished an exercise in Matthew. I went through and blocked out all the times, "Son of Man" appears in the book. Then I went through and circled all the times "Son of God" is stated. I had heard in College that "Son of Man" and "Son of God" were huge themes in the book, but simply doing this exercise has really opened up some great thoughts and insights.

1. Jesus refers to himself only as the "Son of Man". Not once does he ever refer to himself as the "Son of God". He could have, but he never did.

2. Whenever "Son of God" appears it is stated by either Critics/Enemies, or Believers.

3. Three statements of belief: I will note that the disciples say it once after their experience of Jesus walking on the water, through the storm. Once by the Centurion and other soldiers who exclaimed it during the earthquake at Calvary. Another occurrence by the demons who were sent out from two men into a herd of pigs. The other five statements are made by the two thieves, the priests, and Satan. All made in mockery.

This was a rewarding and enlightening exercise. I would recommend it to you as a great way to see the humility of Christ in the midst of mockery, slander and torture. He never breaks! Truly he is the Son of God!

Matthew 14:33

In The Name of Jesus

Aaron, I know that you have already read the book, but my oh my. Henri Nouwen's work In The Name of Jesus, is a must for all those leading in the 21st Century. I found it to be practical and called out the deeper struggles without completely crippling the reader. I felt encouraged and challenged, disciplined and loved. This is a must.

(oh I got it at the CCU Library for $4 on the book sale shelf. Aaron you should visit often. HA!)

I am so impressed with Flight of the Conchords

God Provides

I've been keeping a word file that I call "A Book of Remembrance". Something that I write in when God does cool things for us. I'll print it up when I get enough pages and years from now our kids can read all the good things that God has done for us. We need to record these remarkable experiences. I just finished an entry in it and I thought I could post it on the blog. So, maybe this will give you a little window into our lives and inspire you to share more of the wonderfully practical (some not so practical - but blessings / gifts all the same) things God does in our lives on the blog.

Last night Lori told me that something went wrong with the finances and we didn’t have the right amount of money to pay the bills on time (due very soon). We really didn’t know what we would do so we prayed for God to help us somehow. I prayed later on that night – more fervently – that He would make a way somehow. I really didn’t know have any idea He would do it.

Today I went to move our white Oldsmobile (’94 Cutlass Supreme) to our side of the street. It had been sitting in front of our neighbor’s house for about two months because the breaks needed replacing (and we couldn’t afford $650 right now) and I had been meaning to move it (let alone just start the car every now and then). It started right up but when I pressed the gas it was like the wheels were frozen or something. I pressed harder on the gas and it went slowly. I figured, “whatever, it’s only 20 feet across the street”. But it started squealing… our neighbor, Felipe, from across the street came and motioned to me – I stopped and he told me that the back right tire wasn’t moving at all. The other tires were just pulling it along. After that he said he’d give me $500 for it without even looking at it. Hmmm… I hadn’t thought of that. I parked the car and told him I’d think about it. There was one long skid mark from one parking spot to the other.

I went back inside and thought, “Wow, God is providing, I think.” I looked on the Kelly Blue Book website and it seemed like a good deal. When Lori got home we prayed about it and we felt like it was right. So, I took action on it and we sold the car! What an answer to prayer – right on time. Thank you God for answering our prayers.