Came home from church last night sick.  Got so much worse I didn't sleep.  Been in bed all day, can't eat, etc...  Can't think either.

Yesterday for the first time since I moved to Edmond, I got in the car and drove to Oklahoma City for an appointment without using my GPS.  I knew where I was going and how to get there.  Yea!  It has taken me all this time to get comfortable with the highways in this area.  There are a lot more "angled" roads than there are in Tulsa.  Of course I've lived in the Tulsa area most of my life.

Navigation.  Some people don't read the Bible because they don't know how to navigate through it.  I would suggest you start in the Gospel of Luke or John, read through Acts and Romans and then read the rest of the short letters written by Paul, James, John and Peter--eliminating Revelation.  You would think that would be too much, but actually it's only a few pages.  If you hold your Bible up sideways and put your thumb between the New and Old Testaments, you will find that you are looking at less than a fifth of the pages in the Bible.  It's really really short.  Less than 1/4 inch wide.

My second suggestion would be that you underline passages that jump out at you.  I do my underlining in green when I memorize a verse.  But the rest of it is in pencil or pen.  Just get used to marking it.  I write in the margins as well--when I hear someone say something about a verse that I want to remember.

Skip the rest of the Bible for a later time.  If you get discouraged in your life, read some of the Psalms.  If you don't know what to do in a situation, read Proverbs.  Other than that, there isn't much you need to read when you are starting out.  But what  is there is powerful.

The Old Testament is for scholars who study prophecy and it's fulfillment in Jesus.  Which is important because it validates who He was. You can read all of that later.

In Ephesians 3:16-17 Paul gives us a reason to read.  "...to be strengthened...by his Spirit in the inner man...that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith..." so that you can know and comprehend the love of Christ.  Reading God's words gives us strength for times of trouble.  And lifts our Spirits.

If we believe in life after death, we would do ourselves a favor to learn about it.

My next door neighbor on the South is a retired minister.  He and his wife are really good to me.  If I have a problem, they seem to know what it is and take care of it.  Yesterday, my front exterior door wasn't catching exactly right.  Later--it was.  Dean fixed it.  He noticed it wasn't right and just did it without being asked.  His wife Jeanine had asked me over for tea--and while I was eating cake and drinking tea, my front door was restored.  They do things like that for me all the time.

Why?  Because they have a heart to help others.  I think they have adopted me.  God provides for our needs and He plopped me down in a perfectly, heavenly place to live.  My neighbors across the street are just as nice.  Every week Linda fixes beans and Mexican cornbread and sends me dinner.  She will send me something to eat other times during the week as well.

The other night, Linda and John were out of town and someone or something was in my back yard.  I called John--not knowing he wasn't home--and John immediately called a neighbor down the street.  Within a minute or two, this neighbor was knocking on my door with a strobe light and a gun--and proceeded to "case the joint."  All was well.

Why?  Because they all have hearts willing to help others.  Last night, Craig and Becky came by.  Craig set up my online banking account while he was here.  And cleaned the Koi pond filter.  And reset the timer on a display case in the hall--it has a light that I use as a nightlight.  My electricity was out last week and all the timers were "off."  He replaced my front porch lights that had burned out.  Becky brought me a box of anklets--she knows my feet get cold.

Why?  Because they have hearts to help me.  And others.  Becky is forever taking food to people she knows who are in need of some help.  She gets eggs from Pat to take to a friend who is sick and needs eggs that don't have all that antibiotic junk in them.  And Pat sends me fresh farm eggs as well.

Pat called this morning to see if I was ok.  Did I need anything?  Lisa calls every day between 5 and 5:30 as she is driving home from work to check on me.  Carolyn called last night to see if my sinus infection was better.  I am so blessed.  I am so grateful.  Family and friends are God's gifts.

We get together at Thanksgiving with our families.  And on Sunday, we get together with our other family--God's people.  We love our families.  Paul puts it this way: "...you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God...built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets--Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone..framed together, growing into a holy temple in the Lord." Ep.2:19-21  The first thing is the corner stone.  Then comes the foundation of the building.  Then you and me.

Those verses are a picture of a building built with stones.  I like to think of myself as the pebble on the South side six rows up from the bottom.  Holding my place with all the other pebbles, rocks and stones in the building.  Not very important, unless I fall--and then the stones around me start to crumble.  We are all important in God's building.  We hold it together.  We are his church.  His abode.

Jesus said to Peter, "Peter, you are a pebble, but upon this Stone (corner stone) I will build my church."  Some religious groups take that verse to say that Jesus built his church on Peter, but if you read Greek, you find the correct interpretation called Peter a pebble and Jesus the Stone.  Christ is the corner stone of the church, not Peter.  Peter is a pebble.

I built two houses from scratch in my lifetime.  The most important part of the house was the foundation.  I watched them dig the trenches and pour the concrete.  I opted for the deepest trenches and the most reliable concrete company to do this job.  The rest of the houses went up without a hitch because they were built on a solid foundation.

We finished the book of Leviticus Sunday.  It was really hard to teach.  But it ended with an easy theme.  It was a list of "If/then" statements.  Being a mathematician, If/then statements make sense to me.  It listed what God would do for us "if."  We have responsibilities.  And "if" we are faithful to do them, "then" God will bless us.  If you are His child, you will be blessed--if--.  You can't expect God's blessings if you aren't in line with his will.  The relationship will remain--you are his child.  But the fellowship will be broken.

The best thing about Thanksgiving is family.  Ours has a reunion every other year at Thanksgiving and everyone knows what food item they are supposed to bring.  We usually have between 28 and 40.  Never less than 25.  You think it is going to be chaos, but at the last minute, everyone puts what they brought on the table and there is a feast.  Two turkeys and a ham.  Becky always bakes 8 pies.  And makes crust from scratch which is heavenly.  Carolyn sent pecans from her tree for the pecan pie.  Fresh.  So good.  My job is to make dressing and giblet gravy for all those people.

I had people sleeping in all the beds and on the sofas last night.  So did Becky.  We both have four bedrooms, so that was a lot of people that stayed.  Fun.  I love it.  It's the best weekend of the year for me.  I get to have all my people interacting with each other.  And as long as I can keep the Democrats and the Republicans in different rooms, it stays peaceful.

And they all are Christians--for which I am eternally grateful.

I'll get back to writing on Monday when everyone here has gone home.

God bless you and yours.

Have a wonderful day of thankfulness.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving!!  And do I have something to be thankful for--in spades.  I woke up at 4:30 this morning, fixed my tea and sat down to do the crossword.  And the electricity went off.  Talk about pitch black.  I was sitting in my chair and had to feel my way along in the darkness to get back where I keep the flashlights.  Then I had to figure out where the candles and matches were.

I tried to do the crossword by flashlight, gave up and about then, Squig came shivering up into my lap.  No heat.  I covered up with a coat and blanket in my chair, covered Squig up and he kept my hands warm.  He snuggled down and went to sleep.  Not me.  I started worrying about how I was going to do my part of Thanksgiving dinner without a cooktop.

Sometimes we forget about what we should be most thankful for until we don't have it.  Water--hot water, food in cans, electricity, ice.  Start there and then think car, gas, etc., good roads, (well, it is Oklahoma--so perhaps I should say "generally good roads.")  Then go through the list of things that work on your body: your eyes, ears, taste buds,  arms,  hands, legs and feet--all of which some people don't have.

The list is endless.  Hot air, cool air, a roof over your head.  Some people don't have those.

We are so awesomely blessed.  Praise God who from all blessings flow.

"Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights--in whom there is no variableness neither shadow of turning." James 1:17

 "In every thing give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."  1 Thessalonians 5:18

Have a thankful and blessed day.  You will be doing the will of God.

Salvation by grace--not good works.  This letter, Ephesians is the letter that defines that concept.  Paul, who had lived his entire life by the law and good works, is ecstatic about what God has done through grace--and wants to make it absolutely clear to people that it is a gift.

Eph.2:8-10,15 "For by grace you are saved through faith; and that is not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any one should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ  Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them...having abolished in his flesh...the law of commandments contained in ordinances.."

Those verses are the clearest and most concise description of how we come to God.  It is by faith in Jesus.  Period.  His atoning death and resurrection.  We believe.  We have faith in Him.  Nothing you can do will earn it.  Jesus paid it all.

However, our lives are a constant testimony to the world of who we are.  After salvation, our desire is to please God.  It isn't because there are rules, it is because we love him that we want to live by His design for our lives.  Are we perfect?  No, we fail.  But we pick ourselves up and with his grace, we try once more.  I personally don't want to do anything that would bring the Father shame.  I personally don't want to feel God's disappointment in me--because I love Him and am so thankful for what he has done for me.  But that is not what saves me.  He Himself, is my salvation.

You and I are the children of God, in different stages of growing up.  You and I must not judge another child of God.  You wouldn't give a baby a steak and baked potato and salad and say, "Enjoy!"  Christians start out wherever they are and start growing.  "For he is our peace, who has...broken down the middle wall of partition between us." Eph. 2:14.

Our job is to love each other, encourage each other, provide for each other and be a help in time of trouble.  Just because you have conquered something in your own life doesn't give you the right to judge someone who hasn't.  Help them.

There is a phrase in Ephesians that doesn't occur anywhere else in the Bible.  Ephesians 2:1-2 "God quickened (made alive) those of you who were dead in trespasses and sins.  You used to walk according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, (that's the phrase) the same spirit that now works in the children of disobedience."

There are two spiritual forces at work in humans.  Good, and evil.  Paul calls this evil force (Satan) a prince of the air.  It is all around us, and within us.  Think of it this way:  If you have children, you know for a fact that you never had to teach them to do wrong.  You spent their entire childhood trying to teach them to do good.  We are, by nature, (born) inclined to do wrong.  It must be fought.

Don't bite.  Don't spit.  Don't steal.  Don't lie.  And on and on.  It takes constant instruction to teach a child to "Do unto others as you would that they should do unto you."  Which is basically one of the two natural laws of God.  "Love the Lord with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself."  Left to themselves, children grow up into self centered brats.  Every elementary school teacher will attest to the fact that learning "goodness" begins in the home.  It's almost impossible to straighten a child out that has been raised in a home of "badness."

This "Prince of the Power of the air," that Paul talks about is what the Bible calls the natural inclination of man--a force, Satan, that has great power to destroy us.  It also indicates that we should, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.  (1Peter 5:8)  Paul says it one way; Peter says it another.

But we--Christians--have been "quickened."  We have been made alive.  We have been given the power of God within ourselves--His Holiness, His life.  "Christ in you, the hope of glory," which Paul said is a mystery that has now been made clear.  We have power to conquer evil.  We have the power to be what God wants us to be.  Without Jesus, you can't do it.  He is your holiness.  We become a Christ--ians when we repent and ask him to take control of our nature.

Every action movie uses these concepts.  Good versus evil.  Star Wars, Cinderella and the Seven Dwarves, etc.  We want the good to win.  We are on God's side.

There's no way I can do every verse in Ephesians, but I will comment on parts of it.

In 1:13-14, Paul says, "...when you trusted in Christ...after hearing the word of truth...after you believed...you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance..."  Earnest is a word that means down payment.  We get His Holy Spirit as a down payment now.   We get the rest in heaven.  We are heirs.  "Now if we are children (of God), then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ." Romans 8:17                                     

Finishing the first chapter, Paul tells them that he prays for them--prays that God would give them the spirit of wisdom and knowledge of Him, and that their eyes might be opened.

That's what we all want.  The ability to use knowledge--which is wisdom.

Someone asked me the other day if I was biased in any way.  I answered, "Yes.  I am.  I don't tolerate ignorance very well.  Stupid, I can tolerate.  Stupid can't help itself.  But ignorance drives me nuts."

There is another thing that I don't deal with very well in people, and that is when they have absolutely no knowledge as to what they are talking about, but proceed to expound upon their "opinion" anyway.  And trying to  have a conversation with them just makes it worse.  No point in trying.
 
When I know a little bit about a subject, rather than offer an opinion, I sometimes say, "Humm...That's an interesting thought."  Best to keep my mouth shut when I encounter "ignorant."  That kind of person doesn't want to listen, or they already would have done it.

But if someone wants to listen, I know something about God's word--especially Paul's letters.  I take the verse seriously that says, "Be ready to give an answer to anyone that asks a reason of the hope that is within you..."  I try to be "ready" in those cases.  Note the words "that asks."

That's what studying the Word of God is all about.  Being ready when someone asks.  Hitting someone over the head with your opinion--on something Biblical--doesn't work very well.

Once we are His children, "...we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to his grace." Eph. 1:7  Grace.  A free gift from God, purchased by the blood of Jesus.

My Sunday class has been studying the book of Leviticus.  I can't wait for it to be over.  It is such a difficult book.  It explains all the laws concerning sacrifices.  Law, after law, after law.  Details in minutiae.  Hundreds of items placed in the Tabernacle to receive Sin offerings, grain offerings, meat offerings, peace offerings, wave offerings, etc., etc.  It is mind boggling.  It makes me tired.

But in Christ, all that was done away with.  One sacrifice, for all time, for all men and women.  He is our sacrifice.  Paul said this, (in the letter to the Romans) "...by the deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."  In other words, we couldn't keep all the Old Testament laws if we tried.  Thank God for doing away with them.

King David recognized that all the laws weren't what God was wanting anyway!!  God wanted our hearts.  In Psalms 51:16-17, David says, "You don't want sacrifice--else I would give it.  You delight not in burnt offerings...the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart..."  Even though David didn't know God's plan to sent Jesus, David knew that God wanted him to repent.

So after Paul introduces himself in his letter to the Ephesians and tells them of God's grace in doing away with all those burdensome laws, he introduces a word that he uses over and over again in his letters.  (1:9)  The word is "mystery."  Paul says that, "...he (God) has made known to us...the mystery of his will."  I had to read all of Paul's letters to find out exactly what this "mystery" was that he was talking about.   I found the answer in Colossians 1:25-27.  "Even the mystery that has been hidden from the ages...which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

God's plan was to put Christ in our hearts.   Instead of imposing laws from the "outside," we would choose to do what was good--from the "inside" out.   God changes our "want-to."

Just think, if Paul hadn't been converted to Christ, we wouldn't have over half of the books in the New Testament.  But because he found Christ, and was saved by the grace of God, Paul had a story to tell.  And he did it superbly.  He was a scholar of the Jewish Torah.  He studied at the feet of Gamaliel--who was the top scholar of the day.  Paul was brilliant.

He was the consummate person of the intelligentsia to connect prophecy concerning the coming Messiah with the person of Jesus Christ.  No one writes like Paul does.  The other disciples were common men.  Fishermen, etc.  Not Paul.  Today we would say that he graduated from Harvard, got his Masters at Yale and his Doctorate at Oxford.  Paul was smart.  Knowledgeable.  A virtual sponge of the history and writings of the Jews.  Abraham, Isaac, Moses, David.  Paul knew everything about them.  He knew all of the prophetic writings of the elders of the Jews.  He knew Jewish history.

So when Paul wrote a letter to someone, it was full of connections to the Old Testament.  He pulled everything together and explained why Jesus was the Christ.  I said I was going to write about his letter to the Ephesians, but it is important that you first understand the man who wrote the letter.

Eph. 1:4-7 "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself...in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins..." is a passage that, by interpretation, separates one group of Christians from the rest of us.  They are called Calvinists.  They believe that not everyone can come to God--that God has already decided who gets redeemed and who doesn't.  Who has their sin forgiven, and who doesn't.  But that's just not Biblically possible.

You can't take one or two verses out of the Bible without trashing the meaning of the rest of it.  We all remember John 3:16, "For God so loved the world...that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish."  The New Testament is replete with verses that bid, "Whosoever..." to come to Christ.

God predestinated all of us to be adopted into His family.   The opportunity to become a child of God is for everyone.  But some people say, "No."  The choice is up to you, and me, and every individual.  Are you a believer?   Have you said,  "I give Christ my life.  I will live it for Him.  I repent of my sins."  If you are sincere, Yea!! You've been adopted.  'Welcome to the family.  The family of God.

"To believe something with absolute certainty, one must start with doubting."  (A quote of the king of Poland in 1766.)  The Apostle Paul, and Lee Stroble--the atheist who wrote, "The Case for Christ" both are highly qualified doubters of the resurrection of Jesus.  Both changed their minds with explosive results in their lives.  They made a 180 degree turn.  (So did the Apostle Thomas.)

Paul was killing Christians with a vengeance.  He was traveling from city to city stoning them to death.  Those who believed in the resurrection of Christ were his targets.  Paul thought he was doing God's work by killing heretics who threatened the Jewish religion.  Acts 8:3 "As for Saul (Paul), he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, identifying men and women, and committing them to prison."  Rather like the caliphate in the middle East today--which says if you aren't Muslim, then they will kill you.  Death by religion.

Paul, "...yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest...", for a letter to give him authority to travel to other cities and arrest people. Acts 9:1.  But on the way to Damascus, Paul met Christ.  And was forever changed.  Now he had to convince the disciples that he was a different, new, born again disciple of Christ.  The Apostle to the Gentiles.

Peter, James and John didn't trust Paul when said he was a Christian--much less an Apostle.  And they were certainly justified.  Acts 9:26 "And when Saul was come to Jerusalem...to join himself to the disciples...they were all afraid of him and didn't believe that he was a disciple."  But Barnabas, a loving Christian man, vouched for Paul.  Then, Paul explained that God had called him to witness to the Gentiles--which was strange to the disciples.  They believed Jesus was a Jewish Messiah and they had no concept of God including Gentiles into the mix.  Who did this man, Paul, think he was!!

Paul had everyone against him at this point.  But he did not let it deter him.  He began to preach God's message to the Gentile peoples, and write prolifically to encourage them to stand fast and not be discouraged.  And we have those letters.  An eye witness account as to what happened in Paul's life.  So when he writes to the Ephesians and says,"..he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy...having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ," Eph. 1: 4-5, Paul was telling everyone that God wanted us.  He chose us.  Jews and Gentiles.

The letter to the Ephesians starts this way  1:1, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God..."

When someone wrote a letter back then, they reversed the order that we use today.  Instead of starting with the name of the people you were writing to, you stated who you were.  (Today, we would give our name at the end of the letter.)  However, the letter to the Ephesians starts with, "Paul."

Not only did Paul want them to know his name, but also his standing.  He was an Apostle of Jesus Christ.  There had been 12 Apostles.  But Judas was dead.  So Matthias had been chosen by the other eleven to fill his place.  Problem is, Matthias was chosen by "lot," (kind of like tossing a coin for heads or tails).  Matthias wasn't "called."  Christ didn't tell them to replace Judas.  If Jesus had wanted Judas replaced, He had plenty of time after the resurrection to do that.  So what happened?

Jesus had appeared to the disciples before he left them--to be taken up into heaven.  Jesus told all of them to 1. Go to Jerusalem and 2. Wait for the Holy Spirit.  Which they got "half" right.  They left the Mount of Olives and returned to Jerusalem.  But Peter, who was never much good at waiting, decided they needed to have an election--while they were sitting around waiting on the Holy Spirit.  Oops.

He told the group that since Judas was dead, they needed to replace him.  And the replacement needed to be someone who had accompanied them during:  "...the time that Jesus went in and out among us...beginning from the baptism of John unto that day he was taken up from us...a witness with us of his resurrection." Acts 1:15-26  Any number of men fit Peter's description.  

Peter's heart was in the right place.  He made a list of qualifications for the job of Apostle.  He was ready to get started doing the work of the Lord.  But like you and me, sometimes we ask God to bless what we have already done--without asking Him if He wanted us to do that thing in the first place.

They chose two men, Justus and Matthias, cast lots, and Matthias was chosen.  He was a good man I am sure.  But you never hear of him again.  So when Paul wrote to the Ephesians, he wanted them to be sure and know his standing.  It was by, "...the will of God."  Nobody cast lots to elect Paul as an Apostle.  Paul was God's man for the job.  Called.  (Paul would not have qualified for Peter's list.)

It is amazing how dependent I have become on my Mac.  I have been 7 days without it since I broke the screen.  It felt like I had lost my right arm.  Funny, 20 years ago I wouldn't have even know how to use it--or what to do with it if I did know how to use it.

I have gone though my regular routine every morning, but when I got to the part where I edited and posted, I found myself reading the funny papers instead.  I realized that I have read a zillion comic strips in my time, and none of them comes close to "Peanuts."  The characters are so true to themselves.  Year after year.  And now that they are being repeated, it shows that they are timeless.  So heart-warming and funny.

In the Sunday paper, there are a lot of "trial" strips.  Mostly stupid.  Inane.  Rude.  Ignorant.  I wonder who can stand to read them.  Or why they would want to?  Every now and then, I read one or two of the new ones just to see if I have changed my mind.  I haven't.  Unfunny.  Just dumb.  Whatever happened to "Popeye?"  If Charles Schultz can die (in 2000), and Peanuts is just as funny as ever, why couldn't those other old strips be repeated?  They were certainly better than what is currently being written.

It's like wishing for Bob Hope, Jackie Gleason, Fibber Magee and Mollie, or Jack Benny.   Or Red Skelton.  They were just funny.  No dirt, no bad words.  Just comedy.  Maybe I am over the hill, but when you depend on four letter words to make a joke, something is wrong.  This generation of writers and comedians don't seem to understand irony.  Or dramatic pauses.

Enough.  I'll try to get back to something worth discussing on Monday.  Get back in the groove.  After 7 days not typing, my fingers aren't connected to my brain.

God bless you for staying with me.  My friend Sally (lives in Hattisburg, Miss.) and I are going to study Ephesians on the phone starting next week.  That's probably what I'll be writing about.







 

I dropped my Mac.  Ruined the serene.  It's in Re-hab.  Won't post before next Friday.

I am finally going to leave the dark ages of writing checks, stamping and putting a return label on an envelope.  I am going to do my banking on line.  I think I must be the last living dinosaur.  I tried to set it up myself.  That was amusing.  All I did was prove that I couldn't get it done.  I have three people lined up to help me.  I'll take the first person I can get.  Big step for me.  I've been reluctant to do this with all the hacking going on.

My music director, (Jerry Miller) who is also the director at teacher's meeting, just finished leading the music at a revival.  He came back with something he learned and shared it with me.  Something that he said he had never thought of.  It turns out that I hadn't either.

We know the stories in the New Testament about Jesus' miracles.  And remember that when he preformed a miracle among the Jews--who were trying to trap and kill him--he would tell the person who was healed not to tell anyone about it--about what he, Jesus, had done.  Because he didn't want to arouse any more irritation among the Pharisees or the priests--those who were plotting to kill him for heresy.  Healing the sick wasn't the thing he came for--he still had a much greater mission to preform.  He was on his way to the cross to die for our sins.  

But when Jesus cast the demons out of the man who was possessed, (and cast the demons into a bunch of pigs), Jesus told the man who was cured to go home and tell everyone what he, Jesus, had done, and what had happened.  (That the man was free from demons.)  Of course, his friends and family would know immediately something had happened since the man had been crazed and cast out of town years before and forced to live in a graveyard.

The question is:  Why did Jesus tell that man that he should go and tell about Jesus, and not the others?  What my director said was maybe it was because the man possessed with a demon was a Gentile.  And this was a way for Gentiles to learn the good news that Jesus--the Jewish Messiah--had come to save everyone.  Not just the Jews.  The good news of salvation is for all of us.  Jesus had no fear of the Gentiles doing him harm.  I had never put that together or thought about why Jesus told that particular man to go and tell his friends.

As for the man who owned the pigs which ran over a cliff?  I'm sure he wasn't very happy.

I am reading the biography of Ulysses Grant, by Ron Chernow--the Pulitzer Prize winner who wrote "Washington," and "Alexander Hamilton.  It is interesting.  But a challenge  to read.  Chernow writes beautifully, but he uses words that I have never heard before.  So I decided to record,  and look up every word I didn't know in the dictionary--to find the meaning.  Which I did.

In one hundred pages, I listed over forty words I didn't know, and subsequently looked up.   I will probably learn the meaning of a bunch of new words before I finish--since there are 965 pages in the book.  Now, the thing I need to do is remember them.   However, if I remember any of them it will be an accomplishment.  Here are a few of over three hundred words I didn't know:

imprimatur--person's guarantee that something is a good standard
peroration--conclusion of a speech intended to enthuse
fillip--stimulus
bruited--spread
fortnight--two weeks
interregnums--a period when normal government is suspended

I should have known "fortnight."  I didn't.  I had heard it but didn't know exactly what it meant.  I did know it was a time period, but didn't know for how long.

One thing I did learn from the outstanding imprimatur (!) that Chernow wrote about Grant's life.  Grant was unfairly branded by history--eclipsing his sterling qualities.  This book gives an account of his life--from birth to death.  I recommend it for anyone who is interested in history.  It is excellent.  I have a much better concept of the political events of the Civil War.  As well as the battles.

I won't remember that word "imprimatur" in the morning.  I guess that's why Chernow won a Pulitzer prize in literature.  His command, and use, of the English language is exceptional.

As soon as I finish "Grant," I'm going to read something easy.  Something in which I know most of the words.  However, there's nothing wrong with stretching your mind a little bit.

There is really only one question that a person must ultimately come to grips with.  And that is: does he think the world--and all that is in it--is the result of intelligent design, or happenstance.  A person must, along with Descartes, conclude one or the other."

Descartes said, "I think, therefore, I am."  You can read the entire "Proof" of Descartes--which is pages and pages long.  He was a mathematician who set out to prove through "if/then" statements the existence of a supreme being.  I read the entire proof.  His logic is faultless.

"Intelligent design" is the current politically correct definition for anything that is not evolutionary in design.  The Cambrian period, in archaeological history, has upset the apple cart of evolution-theory, because there are no precursors for Cambrian life.  Which means that life in the Cambrian period just kind of "popped up" out of nowhere.  And there are eight or more totally different kinds of life in that period.  None of which have precursors.  No strata evidence.  Nowhere in the world.

I think, therefore:  Things don't just pop up out of nowhere.  You need natural selection from somewhere.  Something previous.  Or evolution of some sort.  Or you need a creative event.

Intelligent design would include these concepts: 1. That we came from some outer-space planet, or 2. That there is a Supreme being that designed all of the universe.  If we  came from another planet, who designed the people on that planet?  So ultimately, intelligent design has a name:  God.  But that word doesn't have a place in the current scientific community.

I've made my choice and I call it "God."   It is the one question that every person must answer.

Which brings me to the second question:  Is there life after death?  I've made my choice.  If Jesus was God--which I logically came to the conclusion that He was.  (Read my account on Thomas.)  Then, did he conquer death?  The resurrection accounts of dozens and dozens of people at different times and different places have been recorded and validated.

He arose.  He conquered death.  And we will live again with Him.  Forever.  Praise God.