With AARP just waiting for a reply, I continue to enjoy the wife of my youth, my first wife, and my children.  I feel that I am a very blessed man and I have many worldwide experiences in places and people that I cherish from the chair I write.  I have witnessed world strife, terrorism, and wars but even in the midst of danger, I have hope that is anchored in Christ and the plans He has for me.  

Very Hot Tom Kha Soup in Thailand

Some folks reading this blog like to hear the personal parts so to that end here is one.  I love to cook and I love to eat.  Taste and presentation are both important and the small herbs and spices make all the difference in my enjoyment of the ordinary to the very fine.  The food's texture, smell, feel, and freshness is also extremely important.  A favorite challenge is to eat a new food and try and guess what is in it and how it is made.  Cooking without a recipe is like painting on a blank canvas without any sketch lines.  I have a dear friend, John, that is a foodie and as a chemist, he takes analysis to a molecular level ;-)

We are going to be traveling to Europe soon and the bread, cheese and wine combination in one of the countries is calling my name.  We plan to stop in small towns and meet the people and savor the local fare.  Many thanks to dear friends that got us a Garmin so we could get lost and yet meet up with them on time.  This is some vacation time and time to explore new and diverse regions of the world.  There are many things to hold us where we are and many that have us travel.

Here is a newspaper quote from today: "A big difference, right now, is how interconnected we are. We can view these horrifying events in Japan online within minutes of their happening. Thanks to YouTube and smartphones, we can watch a tsunami wave devastate a town as if it were happening across the street and check a nuclear reactor's status on Twitter. 

The world learned of the Chernobyl disaster, mind you, two days after it occurred, after tracers picked up radioactive elements on the clothing of nuclear reactor workers -- in Sweden. A day later. 

That kind of relentless, disturbing news can prey on our psyche, and -- if we're not careful -- our pocketbooks. Worry affects our ability to make judgments and, ultimately, decisions -- even financial ones, experts say. 

It's why you need to take some steps these days to ground yourself before you make any wholesale changes to your retirement investments or escape from all this with a shopping spree." Oregonian 3/20/11

Today's news discusses the affect that global unrest in Libya, Yemen, and Egypt along with tsunami and earthquake damage in Japan; the threat of radioactivity, and even local crime or events can shake a person's mental status.  It is true and yet, I for one, know that my prayers to an all knowing and all powerful God, those prayers can affect much in ways through God's hand than if I had not prayed them.  This is not to say God requires my prayers, but that He has directed us to pray and He listens.  Something that is not on the same  level as these disasters and political changes is a small book, recently released, called Love Wins.

For a number of years I have enjoyed the ministry of Rob Bell through the Nooma video series.  I own a number of the DVDs and one year, as a family, we sent the ministry financial support.  But the words we speak (or write), mine included, can and will follow us determining the influence and impact that we have in this world.  Though I once considered Bell to be cutting edge in communication of faith, I better understand the position he takes; a position that I can't agree with.  My words here are more to state my position than to criticize his.

I wanted you to know that I am greatly disappointed in the position Rob Bell has taken.  Although I have not read the book, Love Wins, and will not, his interview on MSNBC YouTube was sufficient for me to hear that he does not see the gift of the sacrifice of Christ as the point of transformation and that a person's decision is made in this life, not available postmortem.  I believe his assertion is both a danger to those who might think that they will have a second chance and profoundly post-modern in his inclusive universalist hope.
Though I am far from a theologian, I find his comments hermeneutically unsound and his desire for God's love to over-ride God's justice (or any other part of God's character) totally unfounded.

I find Bell's position most unfortunate in so many ways.  After researching Bell further during a discussion with my pastor, I have not utilized the Nooma series and find myself now with a box of DVDs that are worthless because of his stance.  Though my pastor did not agree with me, we agreed to use watchful eyes and accurate teaching to bring this to light.

So before you stop reading as if this doesn't have anything to do with your life, let me say this as firmly as I can.  Everything matters about what decision you make while you are alive on this earth; who you say Jesus is to you?

"And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many." Hebrews 9:27-28 NKJV  

It doesn't say all; it does not say you get a second chance.  Let's just say, I wouldn't bet the farm that you will get a second chance after death to decide to love God... God doesn't change, He has always loved you.

"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved . For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."   For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved ." Romans 10:9-13 NIV

God's love is such that He sent Jesus to live among us; He has revealed it to us in specific and general revelation (see Psalm 19).  If Bell's position is right, why have millions of people risk everything in order to share the gospel?  Why did Jesus come and sacrifice Himself to take on the sins of the world past, present and future for you and me?  Why did Jesus command us, 

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."" Matthew 28:18-20 NIV

Don't be fooled, the decision is yours to make but you must make it before your earthly body dies for love to win.

Saigon Street = Life Decisions

If I were to write a book it would be more aptly titled, God Wins!  Of all the denial in the world it does not change the fact that God wins.