posted by James on 09/30/09

Clouds of Morning

It was an opportunity not to be missed! During the IBLP Staff Retreat, a young man flew up to the Northwoods with a little four-seater aircraft to spend the weekend with the team. When it was announced that he was more than willing to give rides free of charge on the next day, I decidedly chose the early morning slot. It was more than worth the loss of sleep to rise at daybreak to capture the dawn from the sky.

Everything went as planned, that Monday morning, except for one thing: it was cloudy. This meant no dramatic light, no fiery hues, no magical vibrancy! But because we cannot control the weather, it does no good to become anxious about such a misfortune. The only godly response is gratefulness: expressing content for what I have instead of on what I expect to be given.

But sometimes, God will give beyond our expectations, skillfully using methods we least expect. After waiting for a hopeful half hour, this misfortune translated into quite the fortunate happenstance. The clouds broke up into an prodigious assortments of expansive patterns and transformed the muddled canvas into a plethora of color.

It was the clouds that transformed the morning.

6 Comments » | posted in Photography

posted by Robert on 09/28/09

“It is now becoming clear that everything can – and probably did – come from nothing.” – Physicist at Ashton University, England

“Even if we don’t have a precise idea of exactly what took place at the beginning, we can at least see that the origin of the universe from nothing need not be unlawful or unnatural or unscientific.” – American physicist at Arizona State University

“The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved literally out of nothing, is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice.” – Popular evolutionist author

Hmmm. So now the big scientific idea is that nothing created everything? Pretty amazing, isn’t it?

Except for the fact that it is a scientific impossibility!

It takes God to create something from nothing.

Rejecting the idea of an intelligent designer requires blind faith that, ultimately, everything was created by nothing. Obviously, this is not a scientific idea. Sadly, this religion is being taught in our education system under the guise of “science.” Ray Comfort makes the absolute silliness of atheistic evolution abundantly clear in his new book, Nothing Created Everything.

“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (II Corinthians 4:4).

3 Comments » | posted in Tidbits

posted by Michael on 09/22/09

Before moving to West Virginia we had never been very successful at growing tomatoes. But in 2004 everything fell into place, and tomato growing has never been the same since. It started with some seeds my grandfather gave me, whose friend had been growing them in the area for a long time. This friend had obtained them from his uncle David who had been growing them in the area for a VERY long time. Secondly I was given some pointers for soil improvement that I had never heard before. Lastly I remembered some advice a great uncle had given us years ago. Materials and methods came together and some extra effort went into our tomato bed.

As our new plants grew I became more and more amazed at their size and strength. I had never seen such thick stalks that grew so tall (over 8 feet) with such big healthy leaves that resisted the early blight for so long. As the tomatoes began to form and grow, so did my excitement. They were actually getting big! Our largest tomato that year was just short of three pounds (by three ounces – 2 lb. 13 oz.) and the average yield per plant was almost 25 lb. What’s more, the harvest lasted until October 22. Ever since then I have wanted to grow a tomato that exceeded three pounds.

This goal was finally achieved in 2009 when we harvested three tomatoes that weighed over three pounds each (assuming our scales are accurate). This year our harvest started earlier than usual and is also ending earlier than usual, partly due to an unusually bad case of late blight (Phytophthora infestans) and what is probably a case of southern bacterial wilt (Pseudomonas solanacearum). The most productive plant yielded a little over 30 pounds – down considerably from previous years. On the positive side, during the first 12 days of harvest (Aug. 1-12 and 30 tomatoes) the average individual tomato weight was up to 1 ¾ lb! As usual, I  have a few ideas to make next year the best yet. But thanks will always go to those who have freely shared their wisdom and resources with me. Growing tomatoes is a lot more fun when you can see the plants respond to your efforts.

6 Comments » | posted in Possessing the Land

posted by James on 09/20/09

Sometimes, the intensity of work in ministry requires a retreat;

a retreat to study the past and plan for the future;

to focus on better understanding your fellow laborers;

to reestablish one accord;

to rest;

and to be rejuvenated!

Now we are prepared to press forward;
to tackle the tasks that lay before us!

Follow this link, for more pictures of the IBLP Staff Retreat.

4 Comments » | posted in Ministry Reports, Photography

posted by Jonathan on 09/19/09

This past week Mom had the opportunity to go to the Northwoods on a week long “Journey to the Heart.” Esther left at the same time to go back to Oklahoma City, leaving only Dad and the five of us boys at home. Thankfully Mom and Esther had left detailed instructions which prepared us to fill in for them while they were gone. We were amazed at the many chores that didn’t “automatically” clean up themselves! Here are  some of the ways we came to appreciate their responsibility and loyalty to our family.

- David: I missed their help and encouragement in my school work and music.

- Daniel: I appreciate their morning hugs, and smiles throughout the day.

- Michael: Their help with kitchen clean-up has saved me many hours and enabled me to move faster to other projects each morning, a luxury I no longer enjoyed while they were away.

- Donald: I realized how far ahead Mom and Esther planned in order to stock up on food we needed. That way we never had to go to the store.

- Dad: The three things I missed most were her presence, smile, and counsel.

It was lonely without them, but we had fun working together so Mom could take a week off for her much deserved retreat.

4 Comments » | posted in Family News