Noah David Aragon

Noah David Aragon entered the world on Monday, September 17th. He weighed in at 7lb, 14oz. His mom and dad, sister and brothers are very proud, as they should be. I got to see him for just a brief moment yesterday, he seemed to be in a hurry to get back to the nursery.

We are so excited that he's here...and he is gorgeous, by the way!

Welcome Noah! We've been waiting for you, and are so thankful that you're finally here!

GOOD PAIN

I just read this story on Drudge...

Carlos Camejo, 33, was declared dead after a highway accident and taken to the morgue, where examiners began an autopsy only to realize something was amiss when he started bleeding. They quickly sought to stitch up the incision on his face.

"I woke up because the pain was unbearable," Camejo said, according to a report on Friday in leading local newspaper El Universal.


I guess if "unbearable pain" wakes you up and keeps you from being put six feet under...I would call that really, really good pain.

In God We Trust...right? This Sunday evening service (5:30pm) I'll be talking about trust, specifically, our trust of God, entitled, "Do you Trust ME?"

There are times in our lives, when we may find it easy to trust God. Things seem to be going well, we're feeling great, and positive.

Then there are those other times, when we are fearful, doubting, anxious, tired. When we're afraid, does that mean we've stopped trusting God? Some would say yes, but I believe David told us something different...

Psalm 56:3, "When I am afraid, I will trust in you."

September 11, 2001

I follow the Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan, which gives you daily Scripture to read from the O.T., N.T. Psalms/Proverbs. Check out the reading for 9/11...

Isaiah 30:25, "In the day of great slaughter, when the towers fall, streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill."

YOWZA!

God Allows U-Turns

I'm speaking in our Contemporary Sunday (8:30am) service this week about Hezekiah. As a kid, in Sunday school, the only thing I could tell you about Hezekiah was that there wasn't a book of the Bible named after him. I know this because teachers used to often try to get kids to turn to the book of Hezekiah, just to see who would. Anyhoo...I digress....

Specifically, I found my study of Hezekiah's life so very inspiring. He followed after the reign of king Ahaz, a godless man who had been instrumental in turning the hearts of Israel to idolatry, and he also just happened to be Hezekiah's father. Good lesson to be learned here...no matter how you may have been raised...God allows U-Turns!

Hezekiah followed God wholeheartedly. This is evident as you read about his life in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. He restored worship to the Temple and removed the sources if idolatry from the Israelites and from the Temple.

The Bible also talks about another king, named Amaziah. In one of the saddest verses you can read it describes his life...

2 Chronicles 25:2, "He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly."

If you feel that your devotion to God is less than wholehearted...no fear...GOD ALLOWS U-TURNS! :-)

Anthropocentric

I discovered a new word today. I came across it as I was reading. For those of you who already know its meaning, you may want to stop here and go to a more scholarly blogger :-)...

ANTHROPOCENTRIC

Function: adjective

1. Considering human beings as the most significant entity of the universe

2. Interpreting or regarding the world in terms of human values and experiences.

3. AMERICA (ok...that last definition was mine...but you know what I mean...)