Could There Be Life On Planet Gliese 581g?

Astronomers say they have spotted, for the first time, a planet beyond our own in what is sometimes called the Goldilocks zone for life: Not too hot, not too cold. Just right. This new planet sits smack in the middle of what astronomers refer to as the habitable zone, unlike any of the nearly 500 other planets astronomers have found outside our solar system. And, it is in our galactic neighborhood, suggesting that plenty of Earth-like planets circle other stars.

There are a lot of unanswered questions about this strange planet. It is about three times the mass of Earth, slightly larger in width and much closer to its star - 14 million miles away versus our 93 million. It's so close to its version of the sun that it orbits every 37 days. And it doesn't rotate much, so one side is almost always bright, the other dark. Temperatures can be as hot as 160 degrees or as frigid as 25 degrees below zero, but in between - in the land of constant sunrise - it would be "shirt-sleeve weather." It is unknown whether water actually exists on the planet, and what kind of atmosphere it has. But because conditions are ideal for liquid water, and because there always seems to be life on Earth where there is water, astronomer Steven Vogt of the University of California at Santa Cruz believes "that chances for life on this planet are 100 percent."

The only problem with all of this is that the planet is 120 trillion miles away, so it would take several generations for a spaceship to get there. However, while this seems like a long distance, in the scheme of the vast universe, this planet is "like right in our face, right next door to us," astronomer Vogt said in an interview.

Hebrews 11:3 tells us: By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. Ephesians 4:10 says: He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe. Many verses in the Bible tell us about a Creator unlimited by time or space. We cannot even comprehend distances like 120 trillion miles. Somehow that doesn't seem to me to be "right in our face, right next door to us." Last summer we drove out to the West Coast and back to St. Louis, about 8,500 miles, and we were totally exhausted. The incredible thing about this is that the God who created the universe, who I am sure, delights in us finding things like new planets, is the same God who knows me intimately. The Bible tells me that he knows things about me that I do not even know. Have you ever tried to count the number of hairs on your head? Once again, science, and specifically astronomy, have blown me away with the vastness of God, and yet He knows and loves me, me. Wow...

Some Thoughts About Judas and Remorse

I had an interesting conversation with Nicole, our 18 year old first year college student, recently. She is writing a script for our youth human video team. Part of the script deals with Judas, the disciple that betrayed Jesus. She said that basically what she has been taught is that Judas was a greedy person who probably didn't believe in Jesus from the start and only followed Him for what he could get personally. In the script she is writing, she was wondering if there was more to the story, did he feel any remorse, and will Judas be in Heaven? I gave her a couple of things to think about regarding what the scriptures have to say, particularly in Matthew 26 and 27.

After we ended our conversation, I did some more thinking about Judas and what his motivation was in betraying Jesus, and then his tragic end. The one question Nicole asked, "will Judas be in Heaven?", really got me thinking. It seems like one of the keys to Judas' motivation may be found in the story of the expensive perfume being poured on his head while he was at the home of Simon the Leper in Bethany. Mark says "Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, 'Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor'. And they rebuked her harshly." Was Judas among these? Was this a tipping point for Judas? Verse 10 of Mark 14 says, "Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them". The "Then" of this verse comes right after the account of the perfume incident. Interesting thought...

One more thought, why would Judas ask during the Lord's Supper if he was the betrayer unless he thought that Jesus would not know, and not point him out? Would he make himself the deliberate object of scorn in front of his peers? Even after all the miraculous events that Judas had experienced with Jesus, he apparently did not believe that Christ was God, and was all knowing. I think Judas was taken completely by surprise when Jesus said, "Yes, it is you." I believe that Judas' world was turned upside down by that one incident. Now, for the first time, he clearly understood who Christ was, and that he would be "selling Him down the river". I believe that from the time that night that he kissed Christ in the garden to point Him out until the next morning when Judas went to the temple to return the money, he was in the greatest anguish a person could be in. Early the next morning, when he could not resolve the situation, when he couldn't fix it, in desperation he threw the money at the priests and ran out and took his own life.

Will we see Judas in Heaven? As the rope tightened around his neck, did Judas have time to breathe the words, "O God, please forgive me?" What do you think?

The Solitude of Rustling Leaves

I watched part of an infomercial the other day for a yard tool. I'm kind of a tool nerd, so I enjoy hearing about and looking at new tools. This was a 3 in 1 yard blower, vacuum and mulcher. The cool thing about it is that you do not need any attachments. You simply flip a switch and it changes from one function to another. For 3 easy payments of $29.95 plus shipping, it could be all mine. "But wait..." If I called in the next 10 minutes they threw in all kinds of goodies. The main selling point was all the time I was going to save by blowing all the leaves and debris in my yard, all over my yard. With the voice-over trying to compete with the blower, it was a very noisy infomercial. After a few minutes I went back to the football game I was watching.

Today I mowed and raked my yard. I thought briefly about the vacuum/mulcher tool as I raked leaves by hand. Then I thought a little bit about the tool as I swept leaves and cuttings down my sidewalk. It would have saved me a lot of time. However, I enjoyed the quietness and solitude. Since this was the middle of the day on a week day, there was almost no sound in our neighborhood, just the sound of my straw broom on the cement. I needed that solitude today. Kathy and I are wrestling with a very difficult situation with our 16 year old. We are at the point of not knowing what to do. My prayers have been reduced to a simple "help us, O God". In the solitude of sweeping the sidewalk and street, and then looking back at my work and seeing a groomed yard, I felt good about my work, but a lot better in my spirit because I had taken some time to let God's presence touch my life as I worked. I took plenty of pauses as I prayed, thought, pondered and said "help us".

I don't think I'll be ordering the 3 in 1 yard tool. I need more of these moments of solitude. Moments when God knows everything I'm feeling when I can only manage a feeble "help us". Maybe you can breathe a "help them" for us, when you think about it.

Wonderful Name, Jesus

Yesterday I posted a Facebook status about the Choir rehearsal I had just come from. One of the senior pastors I worked for in Albany, Oregon, Allen "Tex" Groff replied and said in part, "I wish I was there..." His comment to my post reminded me of a wonderful experience we had in Albany one Christmas. First Assembly was a great place to work and to attend. Pastor Groff encouraged creativity in every area of the church, expecially with his staff members. I think every staff member thought he was their biggest fan. He kept a file drawer full of examples of his staff's accomplishments. The way I found out about that file drawer was when one of my original choir songs was published by Manna Music. I took a copy of the published song into one of my meetings with Pastor Groff. After he congratulated me on my accomplishment and looked over the printed copy, he opened the drawer to put the copy away, and explained to me about what was there. The great thing about working for Pastor Groff was that he had been a minister of music, and he was a wonderful musician and lead worshipper. I knew for sure that he was my biggest fan.

Well, on to the Christmas story. For the second half of this year's production we were performing the Rodger Strader musical King of Love. One of the early songs in that musical is Wonderful Name, Jesus. I had asked Pastor Groff to narrate the musical. He had rehearsed on his own and we were putting it all together at the dress rehearsal. Since he had not heard the choir and orchestra rehearse prior to the dress rehearsal, this was his "first listen." The orchestra began the introduction with a gorgeous string introduction and harp gliss. I turned towards Pastor Groff to give him his narration cue. As I raised my baton to cue him, I realized he wasn't looking at me. His face was in his hands and his shoulders were shaking. It was quite obvious that heaven had touched earth at that moment, and he had been swept into God's presence. For a few moments we all rejoiced in God's goodness and the promise of the Redeemer. When Pastor Groff was finally composed enough to say something, he apologized for stopping the rehearsal. Everyone assured him that this was a wonderful moment and there was no apology needed. We went on to finish the rehearsal and performed our musical that year four times to nearly 5,000 guests. Everyone said "this was the best one yet." (they say that every year) However, I think it might have been, because I think that every choir member, every orchestra member, and each technical crew person was touched by God's presence in a special way during that rehearsal. I will never forget this experience. Even now as I write these words, my spirit senses God's presence in a very real way. If you have iTunes loaded on your computer, you can listen to the song that touched us all. http://www.qpg.com/custom/1006077/kol04.mp3

God Leads Us Along

I love hearing the stories of the hymns and songs that we sing. Many are forged out of great sorrow and grief, and many are written out of tremendous joy and rejoicing. George A Young was a preacher who made his living doing carpentry work. He and his wife eventually entered full-time ministry, going from small church to small church in rural areas. Their experiences were many-some good and some heartbreaking. Often those with whom they worked were too poor to help in supplying the needs of the preacher and his wife and family. George and his wife did not waver, saying "God is doing the leading all we have to do is follow. He will not forsake us in time of need and is also very much aware of our situation wherever we are."

After many years, the Youngs were able to scrape enough money together to buy a small lot and George began to build a small home for his family. It took them several years to complete the house. At last the day came, and the Young family moved into their own home, how wonderful it was! Then disaster struck while George and his family were away holding church services. It is thought that someone, not in sympathy with Young and his preaching and not in favor that the likes of him should have a home of his own, set fire to it. When the family returned, their home was a heap of ashes. All that George and his family had sacrificed for and dreamed of was now a memory.

As Mr. Young stood and looked at the ashes, his heart was sad but he found a deep consolation as he remembered the priceless things he possessed which could not be destroyed by fire. Perhaps, like Job, this could be an attack of Satan but he was not alone, for God was aware of it all. In his mind, words began to form -
     Tho' sorrows befall us and Satan oppose,
     God leads His dear children along.
     Some thro' the waters, some thro' the flood,
     Some thro' great sorrow, but God gives a song.
     In the night season and all the day long.

George A. Young had been given the beginning of a song in his deep night of despair-a song that would lift many burdens and give light and encouragement to untold thousands in the years ahead. Within a few days he had written three other verses and in 1903 God Leads Us Along was first published.

That Was Quite A Year Part 2

Kathryn Kuhlman's Las Vegas crusade was, I believe, a high point in her ministry. "Sin City" opened its heart and city to her and the Las Vegas Convention Center was packed the day of her crusade there in 1975. I was sitting in the first balcony, first row. I could see the stage perfectly. I did not want to miss a thing. As a young minister, I was eager to see the power of God move in the hearts and lives of people. Sometime during the service a breeze blew from the right side of where I was sitting. Since it was hot in the building and there was no air movement, the breeze caught my attention. I followed the direction of the breeze even though I could not see any visible sign of it. I followed it from my right to my left and I kept looking in the direction that I thought the breeze was going. As I watched towards my left, I saw a commotion down on the convention center floor, near the edge of the balcony. I saw people moving around and suddenly a gurney begin to move. I realized then that I had seen this gurney come in earlier, before the service started. When they came in, the person on that gurney was very still and was obviously being attended to by medical people. By the time the gurney, and the person pushing it reached the platform, the whole place had gone nuts. I don't remember all the details of the story, but I do remember that this person was near death. They had been brought to the service against doctor's wishes and now this person was strong enough to push their gurney all the way to the platform. This event was made all the more real to me because I had seen this person being wheeled in earlier, and now I had witnessed a tremendous miracle. A lot happened that day, it was quite an experience. By the way, you can see Kathy in this picture of the platform. Look for the harp.

On one of our trips to Los Angeles for a service at the Shrine Auditorium, I went to the Kuhlman office with Kathy's father to pick up up music for the choir rehearsal that night. I sat out in the reception area while Paul gathered the music. Just as I sat down, Miss Kuhlman and one of assistants came through the door. Paul introduced me. He and Miss Kuhlman's assistant went into another office to get what they needed and Miss Kuhlman sat down and we had the opportunity to talk. I asked her the one question I had wondered about ever since my interest in the miracle healing power of God had gripped me. "How does God heal?" "How do you put yourself in the position for God to work through you so miraculously?" I sat with baited breath, knowing I was going to find out one of the deepest and most hidden secrets of Christian ministry. Her answer was, "I don't know". In my mind I thought, "how can you not know?" We talked some more about the meetings, she was interested in my ministry and my family, and we enjoyed a few more minutes together and we all left the office. The next day, at the service, I had the backstage experience I described yesterday. Then I knew the deepest and most hidden secret of divine healing ministry...total reliance on God's power, resting on a humble servant. I will never forget that year.

That Was Quite A Year

We have a 3 picture frame on our living room wall, near the hall that leads to our bedrooms. I look at those 3 pictures every time I walk down the hall. Tonight, as I paused to look at them more closely, I was reminded of one of the most significant years of Kathy's and my life.

The center picture shows Kathy sitting in a chair, next to her ebony Lyon & Healy A10 harp. She is on a stage, behind is a large organ with the organist sitting on the bench. There are other people on the stage. The bottom picture shows Kathy's harp again with Kathryn Kuhlman standing next to it. The top picture shows Kathy, Kathryn Kuhlman and myself. The middle picture was taken in Las Vegas at one of Kathryn's largest crusades. The other two pictures were taken at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

The last year of Kathryn Kuhlman's ministry Kathy played several times at the once-a-month Sunday afternoon services at the Shrine Auditorium. Kathy's dad conducted the large choir that sang at the services, as well as the praise & worship. My role was the chief harp mover. At some meetings I sang in the choir, at others I sat in the audience and at a couple I stayed back stage. It was one of those times backstage that I watched something that I will never forget. Miss Kuhlman, as she was called, was pacing back and forth behind the large stage curtain. Each time she turned my way I could hear her say things like, "I can't do this without You", "please let Your Spirit rest on me", "don't let me do anything on my own without Your leading". If you don't know anything about Kathryn Kuhlman, she had a marvelous healing ministry. By the time she was waiting to go out to speak and minister, in each of her meetings, people had already been healed outside the auditorium as they were waiting to get in, people were healed inside the auditorium before the meeting started and all throughout the meeting itself. In fact, she never prayed for anyone for healing. She did not want to take any credit for God's miracle working power. All she really did was interview people who had already been healed. If you only saw her public ministry, you would never know how much she relied on God's leading and presence in her life.

Next time I'll tell you about her Las Vegas crusade and what I experienced there, as well as a visit in her Los Angeles office. She was quite a lady. I think I'll go look at the pictures again. Oh, by the way, my Kathryn was named after Miss Kuhlman. That's a story for another time.

By 2031 You May Be Able To Go On An Earth Orbiting Sightseeing Tour

Every generation can remember things that were in use at one time, and then gradually were phased out until they only existed in garage sales or museums. In my generation, computers replacing typewriters was a major change. Early in my professional career I became quite adept at using an IBM Selectric typewriter. I took typing in 9th grade and could type quite fast. Later I learned how to change ribbons, change font balls, do minor maintenance and generally became a Selectric "help desk", although that term didn't exist at the time. I still remember buying my first computer. It was at an Office Depot type big box office supply store. My computer with its monochrome monitor and dot matrix printer was huge, slow, and very non-user friendly. But it was incredible... Now, 20 years later, I'm composing this blog post on a computer that doesn't even begin to compare to that first one. I have a flat screen display, 4 gigs of ram, an optical drive and numerous wireless devices. Plus, I'm connected to the world wide web. Things I didn't even dream about when I was using that first computer.

How about the future? What is coming in the next 10, 20, 50 years? A couple of months ago, 40 Japanese scientists came together to map out the things they thought they would develop in the near future. Here are some of them. 2020 - Thin, flexible electronic displays replace newspapers. 2022 - Synthethic blood makes donation unnecessary. 2026 - Domestic humanoids become common. 2028 - Smellovision televisions that produce tastes and smells grace every living room. 2023 - Doctors use medicine to control any cancer. 2033 - Stem-cell techniques can produce artificial organs. 2035 - Commercial flights are 100 percent autopilot. 2040 - Earthlings establish a manned lunar base.

I thought is was interesting that except for dealing with cancer, none of these forecasts dealt with the human condition. Will we find answers for the anger and mistrust that permeates our world? Will a nuclear war have taken place by 2040, crippling the world and diminishing the population? The movie I Am Legend dealt with a world wide virus that wipes out all but a tiny group of people. Could that happen? In Jeremiah 29:11 we find this wonderful promise. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Regardless of what is on the horizon, both positive and negative, God has a plan for us. Help us, O God, to put our trust in You. Help us to look to You first, to stand on Your promises. Thank You because You know us, love us, and have planned our future.

Where Are the Leaders?

When it comes right down to it, most of us are followers. We may have a leadership role at work, or in a club, or a church group, and at home, but most of us do not bear the load of "the buck stops here" leadership. For followers, there is a comfort level in knowing that someone else is in charge. That someone else is affirming our work, looking out for us and making decisions that will be good for us.

As I have watched national and international events unfold recently, I have come to the realization that the unrest we feel, the raw nerves that are being set off by talk of racism, extremism and all the other "isms", is coming from a lack of leadership. No one is in charge when it comes to our national and international economy. No one is delivering answers in the escalating racism rhetoric in our country. No one has a handle on immigration. The "burn the Koran, move the mosque" circus is playing to capacity crowds. Everyone has an opinion, but no one seems to have any answers. No one seems to be able to bring anyone together to find solutions. There are no peace makers. News coverage has become combative as the right and left side of the political spectrum take swings at each other. We are less than two months away from the midterm elections and the political climate will continue to heat up. The problem is, however, that while it appears that a majority of Americans are rejecting the direction our President has taken the country in, there doesn't appear to be much of an agenda from the other side to deliver answers to the situation we find ourselves in. How do we create jobs, how do we jump start the housing industry, how do we deal with illegal immigration? What should be our response to the inevitable nuclear weapon development in Iran? Is there a solution to the deteriorating financial markets in Europe? The questions go on and on, and no answers in sight.

We need Godly leaders on every level to step up and lead. Rather than praying for these situations, we should be praying for leaders who are not afraid to lead, regardless of the political fallout. Some of the greatest leaders in the Old Testament were the prophets who spoke the Word of God with boldness, they were used of God in mighty ways, and nations were changed. They weren't the most popular men, and sometimes they had to run for their lives, but when the people got themselves in trouble, they always sought out the "man of God." Oh God, in the midst of this leadership vacuum, would you raise up leaders. Men and women who speak the truth boldly, with authority, and without regard to the political consequences. Father, we need Your wisdom and authority. Help us, O God and may Your name be exalted throughout the world.

Staying On the Message

In 2010 I have been reading a daily volume titled The One Year Christian History. I have really enjoyed all the stories about Christians and the events that impacted their world. Some of them have been great moments, and some not so good. Today's reading was about Georg Blaurock, a Catholic priest from Chur, Switzerland who was born in 1491. He came to Christ about 1523. In his devotion to personal study of the Bible, he became convinced that baptism was for believers in Christ, not infants.  Georg joined a group known as Anabaptists, meaning rebaptizers. In 1525, the Zurich city council warned all parents in Zurich that they must have their children baptized within eight days of their birth or face banishment from Zurich. The Anabaptists decided to fight this edict and so arrests were made and people went to prison and, it appears to me a lot of people got off the message of the Gospel. While still in his 30s, Georg Blaurock, a promising preacher and man of God, was burned at the stake because of his beliefs on baptism. This seems like such a terrible waste of a life, and the issue deviates so far from the core reason that we exist as Christians.

When Christ was praying in the garden of Gethsemane before his arrest and crucifixion, he prayed that the Christians at the time, and all Christians to come, would be one, just like He and the Father are one, so that the world would know that the Father had sent Him. In other words, that love would be the prevailing characteristic of the people of God, so that a watching world would have tangible evidence of a loving God who is manifested through the lives of His children. Our message must be that the love of God has been freely given to us and that He forgives our sins and reconciles us to himself.

This morning on the news I heard this: "In protest of what it calls a religion "of the devil," a nondenominational church in Gainesville, Florida, plans to host an "International Burn a Quran Day" on the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks. The Dove World Outreach Center says it is hosting the event to remember 9/11 victims and take a stand against Islam. With promotions on its website and Facebook page, it invites Christians to burn the Muslim holy book at the church from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m."

If this takes place, how will this church ever minister to Muslims who are seeking after Christ? How will this affect the Muslim view of Christianity? What this misguided event will do is to provoke other Christians to condemn this church, Muslims will condemn this church, and the Gospel will be the loser. We are living in difficult times and the church of Jesus Christ must stay on the message. He is our Redeemer, our Savior, and He wants to draw all people to Himself. We must love people into the kingdom, not condemn them. Oh God, help us to listen to Your voice, to do the things You have asked us to do. May Your will be done in our lives.

So Long, Spudley

Fifteen years ago we added a new member to our family. Our good friend, Ron, owned a pet store in Grand Junction, Colorado. He was a member of our church and lived across the street from us. One day he came over and said that a breeder he worked with had a Pekingese puppy that he would give away. While this puppy had a great bloodline, his plumbing didn't form properly and he would never be able to breed. With all our kids jumping up and down saying "yes, we'll take him", how could Kathy and I say no. So a brand new puppy joined our full house. The first job was to name him. Both our boys were basketball players and they decided that our new puppy resembled a short player in the NBA, Spud Webb. Somehow I suspect that if Spud Webb had known that a new Pekingese puppy had been named for him, he would have doubted it was a compliment. But after a lot of names and input from everyone in the family, the name Spud stuck. Somewhere along the line, he also became know as Spudley. Spud lived with us in Grand Junction, moved with us to Oklahoma City and then for the past eight years in St. Louis. 

Spud was a great dog. We had a lot of wonderful years with him. He really became part of our family. Spud loved Josh. Every time Josh came over Spud acted like a puppy again. He loved to have Josh hold him. One time when we were Skyping with Josh and Kelly from South Africa, Spud heard Josh's voice and started to respond as if Josh was in the room. 

 Earlier this year we became aware of the fact the Spud was slowing down. He still came to the door to greet us when we came home, but a lot slower. I even think his tail wagged slower. In the last two weeks he really slowed down. He didn't even want to go outside. He ate very little. On Monday it was apparent that he really wasn't doing good. We decided Tuesday evening that Spudley needed to see a vet. On Wednesday morning, before we could get him to a vet, he breathed his last breath. He was on Kathy's and my bed, he had been there since Monday. Kathy left the room briefly to do something in another part of the house and when she came back, Spud was gone. Today we dug a deep hole in our yard and laid him to rest. Shawn helped me dig. Shawn took Spuds passing really hard. Spud slept in Shawn's room a lot. Shawn is going to miss his buddy.

I'm not the greatest pet person. I suppose I could have gone my entire life without having a dog. But I'm glad Spud was part of our lives. We'll really miss him. I wonder if we'll see Spud again. Last night a friend told me that he was positive that pets would be in heaven. I guess we'll see. For now, we have pictures and memories of Spud, and that is enough.