Time Passages

Here we go again...as this weekend we said goodbye to another family member.  I lost my cousin Jay to numerous health issues at, what now seems to me, the young age of 71.  It is so weird to realize all of your parents' generation is gone and now you are on the front line with your generation stepping off into eternity.  Believe me, you don't know how it feels until you reach that certain point in your life.
Jay was one of the family's resident humorists.  Just like our cousin Jim who preceded him in death by a couple of years, you could always count on him to provide plenty of smiles and laughs.  For me, the younger cousin who looked up to these guys, they were the life of every family get-together.  As I was sharing with someone at the memorial service, I regret how most of our family is/was far apart geographically and over the years did not spend a lot of time together.

Life is precious...time here is short.

Climate change and all that crap

This has nothing to do with whether you like or dislike the current resident of the White House:

http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2015/11/why-the-paris-climate-deal-is-meaningless-000326se:

Truth for Today

My days as a premillennial, dispensationalist came to an end when I started reading the text of the Scriptures more than Scofield's notes.

God is still on the Throne

 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”^[a]

²⁰ Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. ²² For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks^[b] foolishness, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.--1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Despite all the madness that's happening in this country and the world, be sure of this....God is not mocked, Satan and man will not ultimately triumph.  

To God be the glory.  Even so, come Lord Jesus.

A Good Statement on the Church

The Church is more than any denomination or organization. It overlaps formal institutional entity and exists in fellowship and community groups that meet regularly for worship and biblical edification. It consists of every soul united to Jesus Christ. "Almighty God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of they Son Christ our Lord" (The Collect for All Saints' Day). The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments be duly ministered according to Christ's ordinance, in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same" (Article 19).

The pure word governs the genuine ministration of the sacraments. Authentic Anglicanism with its loving adherence to Scripture and deep devotion to worthy worship of Almighty God is well-suited to a generous ecumenism. While it cherishes its own Reformed Catholic heritage it can rejoice in any people or place where Christ is adored and commended. It maintains its Confessional standpoint faithfully but willingly holds hands with any who truly confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. That spiritual oneness does not deny diversity or insist on institutional conformity.--Rev. Roger Salter

What About Mary?

I am one of those people who must continue to study and investigate.  My current area of study is Catholicism.  The one area I have the most problem with is, as one might expect, is the teaching on the virgin Mary.  As an Anglican,  I can accept calling her the Mother of God (Theotokos) and I will even give you that she was ever virgin.  However, when it comes to the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, and titles such as Co-Redemptrix and Queen of Heaven.....well I just cannot get past it.
I will continue my search and studies in this area.  I know I may be chastised by friends and family for saying this, but I believe the Catholic Church has a lot going for it.  There are just a few of their teachings I cannot wrap my brain around.  At this time I am leaning toward the idea that the one true Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is either the Catholic Church or the Orthodox Church.  I continue, sadly, to find more problems with Protestantism as I investigate these subjects.

Early Retirement?

Following up on my last post announcing my entering the ranks of the unemployed, so much has happened over the past month and it's happened quickly.  If all goes according to plan, in less than two weeks we will load a moving truck with all our worldly possessions and begin a new life in the coastal area of our state. There is no full-time job awaiting me.  How is this possible you ask?  You "unload" most of your stuff, including the house,  and have a wonderful son who is willing to take you in to his home.  We are combining forces and assets to acquire a three story house one block from the Atlantic Ocean.  This is like a dream-come-true for me and who would have ever thought it would take dismissal from a job to initiate the entire project.  In the meantime there is much to do and I will probably not post again until after the move, but we will see what the future holds.  These are exciting and anxious times!