Searching for Wisdom (part two)

One day while visiting the opening of the new primate house at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, one of the trainers asked me to participate in an intelligence exercise. Not on my intelligence, mind you, but on one of the mother gorillas there.

The trainer had me pull out some photos from my wallet to show Ms. Gorilla. The primate, who is nose to nose with me on the other side of the glass, would view my pictures one at a time. As I held a picture up for her to see, she would focus and stare at it for a few seconds, then she would tap the glass to let me know she was ready to glance at another picture,this went on until I was through showing her all of the pics I had in my possession. The primate family are known to be some of the most intelligent creatures on earth.

One of my favorite characters and lines from the Wizard of Oz was the Scarecrow and his wishful singing of,"If I only had a brain!"

Believe it or not, God gave each of us a brain. Though at times in school
some of my teachers may have questioned my possession of one. Needless to say, it is our responsibility to fill that brain with knowledge. And it's an even greater responsibility for those who are believers and followers of Christ.

There have been many scientific disclosures on what we fill our minds with and how it affects our lives. What we fill our minds with can and does affect our: attitude, behavior, our rest, and our peace.

King Solomon urges us to get wisdom:

"Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get understanding." (Proverbs 4:7)

And that understanding we are to get is through the Word of God. Biblical wisdom unites God, the Source of all understanding, with daily life, where principles of right living are put into practice.

If we fill our minds daily with what the media gives us, it only brings in a spirit of fear and restlessness which affects our what? Our attitude, behavior, rest and peace!

The Apostle Paul, while in prison for the second time, reminded Timothy in his time of struggle, that:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2Tim.1:7)

Having a sound mind means "safe thinking". When we discipline our thought patterns to according to what the Word of God says, we are seeking out the best knowledge and wisdom that money can't buy.

Einstein once said, "Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character."

Trusting in God and searching for wisdom and knowledge through His Word shows a strength of character. And filling our hearts minds with Him brings about a peace that no one can take away. Not even the world.

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You,
because he trusts in You. (Isaiah 26:3)

Searching for Wisdom in the Eye of the Storm (part one)

In the midst of the latest storm to hit our area, and watching the weatherman track tornado's on his dopplar radar, my mind began to wander at the advance weather technology we have today compared to 50 or 100 years ago. I also did some advance research on wisdom in the Bible, as storm after storm passed by.(thankfully the power remained on!)

The only way to track a storm 100 years ago was by looking outside at the sky and actually feel the change in temperature. Today we can track a storm coming from at least two or three states away, and literally pinpoint its expected arrival time.

It is amazing when you compare any kind of technology to the past. Our medical technology is so advanced that someone who has knee replacement surgery can find themselves up and walking in just 3 days. Football players from the early to mid-1980's speak of having 20 or more knee surgeries and still suffer in pain today.

I've read some great testimonies from Christian medical doctors who readily admit they are thankful for the intelligence that God has given them to fulfill their duties as doctors. And this makes me wonder how many of the other "high intellectuals of the world" can admit that.



The growth of wisdom in the world through the years is a curious thing. Thomas Edison went through over a hundred light bulbs before he got it right.

Two of my favorite "wise men" are Einstein and King Solomon. No matter what Einstein did, he made his mistakes count for something as he kept trying until he succeeded.
Einstein once said that:

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex. It takes a touch of genius-and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction."

I think that opposite direction Einstein
was referring to was what King Solomon wrote about in the Book of Ecclesiastes.


For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God. This is also vanity and grasping for the wind. (Ecc.2:26)

When we use our intelligence for the good of mankind in Christ-likeness and not hoard things up selfishly for ourselves, God enters joy into the equation. Those that use their intelligence only to gain wealth will never really be satisfied nor obtain any kind of "real peace".



Obtaining knowledge makes you smart, but understanding where that mind you were given came from to obtain that knowledge makes you a genius!

Grace and all of it's Mercies

"Since this is Aunt Bethany's 80th Christmas,why don't we have her
say grace."

(pause)

"They want you to say grace."

"Grace? She passed away 30 years ago!"

"They want you to say grace.(pause) The blessing!"

Aunt Bethany bows her head and begins:

"I pledge allegiance, to the flag of the United State of America..."


This is one of my favorite dinner scenes, coming from the film
Christmas Vacation.

You can look at grace in a humorous way and you can also learn grace the hard way through situations in life.

The other day I was following behind a car when it suddenly ran over a squirrel which was trying to run across the street. ( why must squirrels try crossing when a car is coming and then try and manuever between the tires as if it were a maze?)This reminded me of my first lesson on administering a form of grace when I was 14 years old:

My grandfather had picked me up one day so I could go help paint his house. While driving down the main road leading to the house, we came across a black and white kitten lying in the middle of the street. It had been hit by a car and was barely alive, quivering in pain. My grandfather pulled off to the side of the road. As he got out of the car I asked him what was he going to do. To me it looked like there was nothing you could do to save this tiny creature. My grandfather didn't answer me as I proceeded to follow out of the car. He opened the trunk and pulled out a small rubber mallet. No traffic was approaching as I followed him toward the kitten. I'll spare you the gory details, but my grandfather took the mallet and lightly tapped the top of the kitten's head. I, being the 14 year old wimp that I was, watched in a very squeemish way. As he took the dead kitten to the side of the road he quietly explained to me that he had to take the pain away so the kitten wouldn't suffer any longer.

Believers in Christ are asked to be stewards of God's grace:

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in it's various forms. (1Pet.4:10)

Showing mercy and compassion can be easy, but also can be hard on the eyes of those who don't understand it.

In a recent "rerun episode" of Everybody Loves Raymond, the Barone family spend Thanksgiving with Robert's wife Amy's family. Things don't start out so well when the men find out there is no television set in the house to watch football. Then a bird innocently flies into the window and gets hurt. Everyone is beside themselves seeing the bird hurt. Amy's mom takes the bird and tells everyone she'll take care of it and brings it into the kitchen. When she comes back out they ask how the bird is. Amy's mom answers,"Fine." They all ask her what did she do, her reply comes in the the motioning of a snap, sound effects included. Everyone falls into shock as they begin to argue. Amy's dad explains that his wife had to put it out of it's misery. The entire Barone family is now up in arms for the rest of the day.That is until Amy's mom comes out of the kitchen with a large bird fresh out of the oven and places it on the dinner table. All is forgiven. "Come on everybody, dig in!" "Hey,save me a turkey leg!"

Like I said, grace can be found humorously, and it can be found the hard way, but either way, just go ahead and administer it to the world.

On Top of a Rock

Stop for a minute and think about what you see in both of these pictures. Isn't it interesting they both chose a rock to either stand or rest on? The mallard duck is on a rock near the bank of a creek where other ducks are swimming around searching for food. From the few moments I perceived his actions, it looked as if he just decided to just "chill on top of a rock".

As for the wolf, (pic taken at the zoo) it looks like he just chose the highest elevation possible to take a mid afternoon nap. I never got the chance to see him wake up, rise up, and manuever himself off of that ledge "fearlessly" without falling. But I am pretty sure he made it.

So here we have the mallard duck on a rock standing in contentment and a wolf resting in peace high atop a rock. And my guess is you know where I am heading with this!

After David leveled the mighty giant Goliath, David exclaimed to God these words for delivering him from all of his enemies and from the hand of Saul:

"The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

The God of my strength, in whom I will trust"; (2Sam.22:2,3)

To be content and at peace, no matter what situation your life may be in, means you have chosen to stand or rest on the solid rock of Jesus Christ.

Who would've thought standing and resting on a rock would be a comfortable place to be at.

Sports Tidbits:Lessons to be Learned

This past week was filled with sporting news lessons to be learned:

1. Before the start of the World Cup, Brazilian referees had to take a class to learn the many English-language obscenities so that players that verbally abuse the ref's can be penalized. However, the referees are not learning these obscenities in the 11 other different languages spoken at the World Cup. So what does this say about America in general?

I think one of the nature's of man is unfortunately the use of obscenities in the heated competiveness of sports and in fixing things mechanically. It is our nature to slip out an expletive either when we are driving for an easy layup and miss the shot or trying to put a new doorknob in a door. I definitely include myself in this category of the nature of man, but also find myself wanting to break that habit, especially because I want to set a better godly example for those around me.

But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more unglodliness. (2Tim.2:16)

2. A contrite Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers gave an interview in reference to his off-field problems of sexual misconduct and exclaimed:

"I was young, dumb, and immature. All the time I didn't see it. I was gaining everything but I was losing a lot of who I was raised to be."

How many of us have been like that? Especially Christians. It is so easy to get sucked into what the world has to offer and forget how we may have been raised, or have forgotten who we are in Christ.

A far greater reward awaits those who are not out for worldly gain but are content with Christ:

Now godliness with contentment is great gain.

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. (1 Tim.6:6-9)

It is okay to desire and have things, as long as you don't let them consume you to where it leads you away from Christ.

3. One of the biggest headlines of the week was the Perfect Game That Wasn't. Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galaraga was one out away from throwing a perfect game no hitter. The last batter for that no hitter was called safe in a close play at first base. The replay shows the hitter was actually out and the umpire blew the call. After the game, the umpire Jim Joyce viewed the replay himself and then owned up to his mistake and apologized. Galaraga accepted the ump's apology with grace and forgiveness. Both men exhibited what men in America should really be like.

4. Then, for Chicagoans, the biggest news of the week was the Chicago Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in 49 years.

First we had former Hawks player Jeremy Roenick cry in the broadcast booth after the Hawks had won. The past 2 weeks prior, he had been all over television and radio bad mouthing the Hawks and saying he hoped they would lose. Some of his venting frustration was due to his being pushed out of Chicago in the mid 90's when wanting to stay and being shipped off to play for Philadelphia. Some say his emotional tear up was one- part elation of Chicago winning and another part jealous over never winning the Cup while playing here in Chicago.

Men have that competitive edge that drives them to want to win and hate to lose. Actually, nobody likes to lose. And everyone loves a winner. But if you can take those losses, no matter what they are in life, and build something positive from them, then all is not lost.

And speaking of building, I love the way the Chicago Blackhawks have taken players from their past teams and have made them ambassadors for the team and for the game of hockey itself. What the Blackhawks are doing is remembering the past to help build the future.

Whether it's one player or an umpire's past mistake or another player's lost seasons of the past, to take those misfortunes and build on it in a positive way becomes a greater victory. And if you know Jesus as your personal Saviour, your greatest standing ovation awaits you:

"You will go out with joy, and be led out in peace.

The mountains and the hills will break out into sounds of joy before you.

And all the trees of the field will clap their hands." (Isaiah 55:12)