Love Wins 4

Does my daughter remind you of anyone? Hmmm?

Rereading Rob Bell's book reminded me again what a provocative writer he is, with many beautiful and poetic paragraphs. It also reminded me that it is not a bible study, that work must be done elsewhere. Gary Beauchamans book, Hope Beyond Hell is such a book.

I appreciate his defense of the fact that this view has a long history and belongs in the broad spectrum of theological views, and does not deserve any kind of theological ostracism or modern forms of burning at the stake.

Chan/Sprinkles rebuttal will be read and reviewed by me when I get a chance. They named it God wins, and I really do not see Bell saying that when love wins God loses. Bell leaves plenty of room for consequences and for correction of wrong doing.

I am through, and I go forward with a wider hope.

Learning about Water

Cruising the internet to learn about health and nutrition is alot like searching for theological debates. Their are systems of nutrition that battle each other for dominance. Just the issue of the ratio of fats to carbs to proteins is a battlefield royal.

Recently I have been learning about the glue that keeps it all working, H20, water.
How much should we drink? Is all water the same. We finally bought a water system at the house to deal with our hard water. It is salt based, and many say this leeches essential minerals from the water and should not be used as drinking water.

Some health advocates say that making changes to water can be the basic for restoring health to the body. So, this month I have added water experimentation to my carbohydrate refeeding experimentation. I am my own health Guinea pig.

Health researcher Matt Stone is studying the body of research done by a soil chemist/preacher/and nutritional healer who died several decades ago and left behind a diverse and loyal series of health practitioner's who advocate two water therapies that are easy to try.

First, distilled water with fresh squeezed lemons hourly, 4 oz. of distilled water half hourly. I am not going to share the science behind it. I am just doing it. Got to drink water every day, don't we? Its water, we need it, I am trying it. I will share results later if their are any worth sharing.

Second, the Japanese discovered and developed micronutrient water several decades ago and you can find it in any health food store and even in Frys. Science in brief, added minerals, smaller molecular structure gets into the cells to purge and cleanse more deeply. What sold me was the claim, a serious aid to weight loss. I can tell you this, it makes you take more trips to the poddy. But as a diabetic I am used to that.

Ministry under an unpopular president

A believer should always have some of his or her head in the clouds!!!!!

The majority of people in my world are hoping the President is a one termer. There is a tremendous amount of energy spent in conversation about what is wrong with our country and who and how can we fix it. These are all part of our political life in a democracy with a republican system of representation. We have the right to speak our minds, to protest, to vote, to complain, cajole, rant, and send Internet posts longing for a better day and a revival of a stronger America.

I am OK with all of this.....except for one thing, or the many things that relate to the one thing. As a follower of Christ I am called to see everyone in the light of His word and mission. I am called to emphasis the truth that my citizenship is in heaven, which makes me a bit of an alien on this earth, even when I am deep in electronic fantasy in Best Buy or pondering the price of peanut butter in the grocery....and when I am listening to political debate.

Elect me and my conservative friends and I will restore jobs and the good old days and mom's and apple pie and baby kissing. I will vanquish those liberals stealing my money and giving it away. You know how these conversations go. I listen to them and enter in, but somewhere deep in my spirit I know there are more important questions.

God, what are you doing with this culture and how can I be salt and light to this difficult and painful downturn? How can I express and encourage unity and love in a world of disunity and angry rhetoric? How can I remember that the world is very large, and you are involved with people of every nation and culture around the world, and not just monitoring presidential popularity poles like the rest of us??????

It is difficult ministering the timeless Gospel under an unpopular president. We are distracted from the things that really matter.

The arrogance of some preachers

What authority do these nitwits try to tell us God is judging this or that location by this or that act of weather?

God is showing the people of Phoenix how hot hell is????

God is showing the people of San Diego how wonderful the climate of heaven is???

The weakness of this persistent theological condemnation is that it speaks against God's settled purpose in the New Covenant. God does not go on vendettas, or deal geographically with people groups you various nitwits.

Islands and coasts are subject to hurricanes and tsunamis. If Irene was a message to Washington, then he really has something to say to the Hurricane band between New Orleans and Apalachicola Fl. We get pounded there several times a decade.

The big island of Hawaii (may God grant me the chance to visit some day)has an active volcano because it is the youngest island, not because God hates the people of the big island. All the islands were created over a long period of time by volcanic activity. We flew into the tube of Kauai's now extinct volcano.

Tornado's are result of a clash between warm and cold air systems, otherwise Kansas is one of God's most hated states.

I could go on, it won't stop the crazy wave of end time millennial madness that will descend upon this world in 2012, its enough to make the Mayans turn over in their graves.

This is the Day

that the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be happy in it. As a veteran of hurricanes who lived on the gulf coast I could identify with all those affected by Irene, and of course, commisserate with any women named Irene whose name was used so cruelly for an act of nature, and I forgive those who coopted the song Good Night Irene.

I do not forgive those who speak for God and say this storm was a warning to our government. Like I read, they must be reading 2 Opinions 3:16. I now go to worship.

Reflections of seeing "The Help"

This is my family a couple of years before we moved south, my older sis stayed in New York.

From December of 1961 until December of 1989 I lived in Alabama and Mississippi. I was not born there, and the ways of the south were introduced to me suddenly at a very sensitive stage in my process of maturity. Last night at a viewing of The Help, based on Kathryn Stocketts novel, I felt as if I had been transported back into my past through the eyes of Skeeter, the college grad writing about life from the maids point of view.

The book could not have been written in that era, no one would have responded, but by creating that concept we are allowed to see firsthand the effects of segregation on a culture and how deeply hypocrisy and hatred can be hidden behind the beautiful faces of those young Junior League mothers in Jackson Mississippi.

Filmed in small town Greenwood and in parts of Jackson, it captured so accurately my four plus years in small town Troy Alabama, and our move to Jackson, Mississippi in 1965. The march in Selma, the closing of the city pools, the separate but equal lifestyle, the forced desegregation of the schools were all a part of my teen years.

The only difference between me and my friends was this, I had not been taught to hate. I was not culturally influenced by the deep traditions of Dixie, and was not of a personality type to jump on the bandwagon of hatred and racism. I joined a church at 13, a white only church, I had no black friends until college, I lived along with the established way of life, but deep in my heart I knew something was deeply wrong down there. The book and movie has powerfully captured a picture of that era.

I recognized street and home scenes in the Belhaven and Meadowbrook area, I recognized Brent’s Drugs where I used to buy Playboy Magazines in my hormonal years. The most powerful images in the movie were the confrontations surrounding the death of Medgar Evers, whose home and widow I would often pass when I worked an Insurance debit in the early 80s for two years. The church going ladies who cooked, cleaned, raised the children of those southern christian ladies, were, in reality living with their enemies and walking in love as best they could while being dehumanized in the major part of their lives at work.

Those years formed me. I loved them, and knew the old south had to change.

When a protocol actually begins to work

Engaging Maui with theological debate by car signing!

When a protocol actually begins to work you are astonished, and doubtful, and hopeful, and afraid it will disappear tomorrow.

As a person who lives with heart problems, my motivations for healthy eating and my studies in the area of health and nutrition are very personal. I am learning that there is no one size fits all diet and we all must approach our personal health with lots of basics and some degree of listening to our own bodies needs.

As I have moved more in the direction of a whole foods diet, my body seems to be responding with blood sugar readings that are normal after eating. If I continue on the medication I actually suffer from low blood sugar readings. My liver seems to be recovering its functions. Each trip to the gym adds that life giving stimulus of muscle movement, stretching, and metabolic stimulation. It is slowly doing what was promised. God really did design food to heal and nourish our bodies.

You listen to different ideas, engage the viewpoints on what is best to eat, what foods to avoid. Its just like any belief system, you have the status quo, the experimenters, the genius who is considered a quack. You have the quick and easy solutions which usually end up on late night half hour infomercials that describe fat just melting effortlessly off your body for four easy payments of 39.99. Sheesh!

I write this at 4 in the morning, having just watched what is being offered for the insomniacs on TV. I am trying a new protocol that has me experiencing the effects of a body cleanse. Whether mind, body, or soul issues, we are our own experiments.

One last visit

I made my third and last visit to my poor Kia Sedona today, at the Insurance holding lot. I wanted the Dash Mat that was pretty expensive since I bought the same model replacement car. I got permission and the guard said, "Have a seat, we will bring it right up",and I thought "What???" They have these huge Volvo car movers that allowed me to check the car one last time. Glad I did because I left my Bluetooth ear piece and some clip on glasses, and of course the mat.

Got my check at American Family, wrecks are personally expensive. I lost money and time on the repayment of this car. I hope we get to do the family trips I envision over the next several years.

Our city is very large, between my two stops I visited our huge downtown Banner Hospital to see one of our sweet ladies. Lots of driving, lots of humanity, lots of small business, lots of empty former car dealerships. Money makes the world go round....

Laptop restoration

The Sheraton Maui was used in the movie Hereafter with Matt Damon to represent a resort hit by the Asian Tsunami, its amazing how they weave shots together to produce the vision of the picture.

It took weeks for my daughters smart hubby to wrestle my Compaq back to life, and its brain exits again on two drives, ready to be remerged. One of the most amazing things in laptop technology is the growth of hard drive space in the newer ones. I have maxed out this drive on so many occasions just from pictures and music that it takes much more space than ever.

I understand the current popularity of tablets, but to me they will never replace the need for a keyboard. I am sticking with the large capacity and the functionality of the laptop, though they are a beast to lug around.

I have been teaching through Rob Bell's Love Wins for three weeks now and touched on Paul's restoration and reconciliation emphasis which is so beautiful and powerful to me. I remember how decades ago Chuck Colson opposed the death penalty after he established prison fellowship and hung around prisoners for several years. At the time it was not the popular law and order conservative message. As I have aged I see how much mercy God has shown me, and I see that after paying a just sentence the idea of restoration to useful life was attractive to his philosophy of ministry at Prison Fellowship.

I hope and believe that God sees broken and bondaged humanity that way. Western Christianity wants to destroy sinners, God wants to destroy the works of the devil and restore sinners to life. Bell believes God gets what God wants.

God and Syrian Independence

The building where we freely gather to worship as we see fit.

Dictators look so odd to an American. How on earth can one family run roughshod over a nation of people, living in luxury and power while abusing, killing, and impoverishing a nation of people. So many Syrians fled to American and love freedom and democracy but still love their homeland.

One such American warned us that it may take generations for such a country to stabilize and move toward democracy. I always wonder why the move from dictatorship to democracy is so difficult, expecially when a country like Syria has so much money from oil to work with. I guess its the nature of corruption.

My life is so different from those struggling people. I spent most of the last week trying to get wheels to drive, insurance money to cover the loss of wheels, and the everyday stuff of buying food in abundance, and enjoying freedom in abundance. It really is unfair in the big scheme of things, but I will continue to enjoy it, and pray it does not disintegrate into corruption as well.

Monday, Monday

A joyful weekend with our two lively grandchildren. We danced around the kitchen to O Happy Day, we listened to Train "Hey soul sister, listen Mister,Mister," while Ben lip sinked the words, we watched Tangled which is way up there on my list of best animated movies of all time.

Now its Monday, back in the office, thinking forward to duties and tasks, seeing the month of August beginning to fade, and with it the hope of cooler temps, still a hope, still a month away.

J.T. finally got my home laptop running but most of the content is on a storage drive so it will be a while before it will be running well, but I no longer have to carry a laptop home each day.

Looking forward to meeting #3 from Rob Bell's Love Wins....does God get what God wants?

O Happy Day

Exploring a Missionary Church in Kauai years ago.

Here is how my mind works. Today we were watching Secretariat, and the song O Happy Day plays during the film. I look it up to remember it became a hit in 1967 by the Edwin Hawkins Singers. They made 500 copys of the album hoping to sell them and were nominated for several grammies as a result. It became a top ten hit in the US and Britain. This is a song about the day Jesus washes our sins away. Pretty cool.

The Wiki tells me the original song came from the 17th Century, by Phillip Dodderidge to which a chorus was added in the 18th Century, which became the song which became wildly popular in the Movie, Sister Act 2. It has been viewed on You Tube millions of times. This did require a significant addition if soul and rhythm.

The boy on Sister Act 2 sang it when he was 15 and went on to form a group of soul singers, one of which he would marry. Whoopie Goldberg is neither a nun nor a Christian, but I love her anyway. She sang beautifully in both those movies, and they had a very uplifting message.

Now I am singing it in my mind all day long and I buy it on Amazon for 99cents.

So, if the feeling is right I will play it before our service starts tomorrow, and remember that every day is a happy day for the believer, we are more than conquerors and are being transformed from glory to glory in the face of Christ.

Blemished

One of the things that I like about my new/used vehicle was the condition of the exterior. So when I went to close the deal today I noticed a bunch of scratches on the front bumper, checked the pictures I took yesterday, and sure enough, someone had backed into the bumper in the show area where only salesmen park. Go figure that.

They are going to fix it, and I can make a punch list if I find anything else over the weekend.

We are enjoying a weekend with Shannon and Ben, swimming tomorrow and general good times when they are in the house.

Car replacement shopping

Did I mention how much I enjoyed owning a Kia Sedona, it rides well, not flashy but nicely appointed, affordable for seven passengers, lots of room. I still want to enjoy packing the grandkids off on a vacation while they still want to, and throwing golf clubs, small pieces of furniture and boxes of food for the rescue mission.

Went back to the dealer that sold me my new car 2 years ago. We decided to replace the value of our old car if possible, not replace with a new car, but with a car of a similar age and condition.

This vehicle was probably purchased several months after my 2009, it is a 2010, still technically one year old, just a tad more mileage, and I must admit, less wear and tear on the exterior and interior than my deceased ride.

Showed the pics to Laura and she is in agreement. One week of car sharing was enough for me. We will finalize the deal when the insurance check is ready for us. We are again thankful.

Hurricane Camille 42 years ago

Beautiful eroded cliffs on Lanai last summer.

I was a camp counselor in Mentone, AL. That morning cars were pulling up to take some of our campers home early. Hurricane Camille slammed into the Mississippi Gulf Coast with killer ferocity, far more deadly than Katrina. It really changed the look of things down there. We never thought something that bad could happen twice???

16 year old Laura and her mom and best friend spent a good bit of time at the Sun and Sand Motel in Jackson, while her dad stayed home and ended up on top of a table as the water invaded their home on the bayou. The next big one, Katrina, finished off the home for good and it is only a memory.

This also means that I have been involved in ministry for 42 years. Time is flying by.

Totaled!

That was the assessment of the insurance claims rep. So now he makes a settlement with the two owners of the car, my bank and me. They get theirs first, I get whats leftover from his valuation and must choose another vehicle without a trade in. Scary stuff.

We enjoyed a meal at Joe's Real BBQ where Birthdays eat free with our kids last night.

I made two trips to clean out the vehicle at the impound lot. Of course, I forget my garage door opener, and found a favorite book under my seat, glad to have it.

I am helping a friend who is writing a small book about lives inevitable brokeness, he wants to call it...poop happens. So many Christians love to tell of close calls and near misses as angelic miracles and God's special care.

I crashed, I feel bad for me and the other driver for losing our transportation, I am thankful no one was hurt.....and poop happens!!!!!

Happy Birthday Laura

My dear hard working wife is still my greatest treasure.

Today at Fellowship

My limo girl on our first trip to Maui.

Everyone was sharing their car wreck stories. Mine is about average. In seminary I lost control of my car on a rain slick Hwy and went off the road backwards and wrapped three sides to a fence.

In my 30s I was heading to the license bureau to renew a lapsed license and pulled in front of a car and we crunched

Hit from the rear four years ago causing the totaling of my favorite car. And this, which was a doozy.

My wife, or course, has never had a ticket or an incident. Practically perfect in every way.

Could have been worse!

I debated about keeping this to myself, but my life is an open book and it would come out sooner or later, so.

I had a pretty serious accident today. No one hurt, two vehicles pretty much totaled.
He thought he had the light for a left turn, I was proceeding forward and in a flash he was in front of me and I slammed on my brakes and slammed into him. My airbag deployed and my right front hit his right rear. I must have been turning left while braking which explains why I hit on my passenger side.

It was on a very crowded freeway access road, a few stopped to see if we were hurt, one guy affirmed to me that the other driver had run through my green. Someone called the police as an eye witness and left a number so the truth will out. Meanwhile our vehicles are busted to bump-kiss, and mine on the second anniversary of it being new.
They both got hauled off to the impound. I got a ride to the Mall in the arresting back seat of a police car and waited for my wife to discover her phone was on vibrate while I destressed with a caramel frappichino at Star Bucks. Thankful.


Now the hassle of insurance and car repair??? or replacement. But, it could have been worse with bodily injury as the force of the collision knocked his tire over a retaining wall and broke his axle and drive shaft.

Saturday alone

Summer is for playing on a beach somewhere!!!

My hard working wife is learning some mandatory computer skills today so I am a free bird. I have plans to execute.

She believes that the government attempts to standardize and leave no child behind are ultimately damaging education. Some people are suited to work with their hands, and a few will have the gifts to change the world in some field, and those of us in the middle can help in ways suited to our own capacities. We need a system that finds and sets free gifted students. Educate everyone, let some leave the rest behind.

I read another article on the fact that even if you are no Einstein, you can improve your intelligence by improving your memory, as the ability to remember facts and ideas is part of the process of intelligence. If you use it, you will strengthen it, if you neglect it, you will lose it. Hence my desire to return to scripture memorization and the inspiration I received last week in San Diego. Some time each day will be spent with my verse of the week.

Listening to Donovan, an english poet/singer from the 60s yesterday had a strange affect on me. As an aging hippy he still retains some of the zest that made coming of age in that time so interesting. He got the crowd singing along to "Happiness Runs" and by the end they were all hilariously happy. Another song emphasized that happiness is an attitude and a choice. I do not worship happiness, but I find that serving a God who has triumphed in the cross makes me grateful for each day, and....happy!!!

Metabolic experiment half over, the easy part

Textures in tree bark, a very popular subject in nature photography.

So, I mentioned that I was trying something the get my metabolism healed and more active. Though I have very active exercise program and a pretty strict low carb diet I had stopped losing pounds or inches.

Would you be willing to gain a few to get back on track? Yes, so for the last two weeks I have stayed less active and eaten mostly healthy but added back a number of carb sources. I have gained some weight, now I will tighten up and see what happens.

The body, according to all researchers,tries to protect its fat stores when it senses caloric restriction or over stressing , so you have to convince the metabolism not to slow down by changing your routines. Another way of saying it, is that you cannot lose weight by staying hungry or working out for hours on end.

I know we are all different, as we enter the season of political debates about the republican candidate to oppose Obama, I am unable to enter in with abandon. Just elect me and I will fix everything, no longer impresses me, and the problems we face are so enormous. I am sympathetic with the person who said that money buys votes, and until we fix that, overspending will never stop. Our republic is in danger and I am trusting God above political systems, even if He slays me, I will trust in Him. Don't think unkindly of me for not entering the bickering and the posturing.

Are we born immortal?

Kansas Bob has an excellent blog I recommend you read, great layout and great thoughts. He asked the question about our souls being immortal.

I never have been taught or believed our souls were immortal, a verse at the end of 1Tim says only God is immortal. I do not think our souls are plucked from the soul tree or recycled through multiple lives.

We are conceived, we have a soul, but I was taught that that soul would never die. The idea in scripture about the resurrection of both the just and the unjust seems to be the sticking point. Why would God raised the wicked? Why not just leave them dead? They give an account for the deeds done in the body, and are punished.

Forever? or "for the purpose of repentance", or "until their debt is paid". For believers, it seems as though immortality is a gift of God. A "soma" body, free from the effects of "sarx", the sins of the flesh, in which to enjoy God's creation in ages to come. It is a deep and mysterious subject. I still believe Love Wins.

Love Wins 3

I am leading a small group through the major premises in Rob Bell's Book Love Wins, in the months that have followed there have been some answering books, the SBC reaffirmed that the conscious torment of Hell was indeed eternal. The profs at the Nazarene School had donors threaten to stop giving if Bell was allowed to rent space for a meeting. He has been given pejorative names in the game we love to play.

Christian History magazine had the good grace to dedicate a whole booklet to the development of the doctrine of hell and the current literature and studies available.
This is one of those cat out of the bag moments in Christian thought. The traditionalists are not going to be able to silence those who have seen a wider hope in scripture.

I agree that you cannot make a lock tight case for any view from scripture. There are inferences and connections that lead some to continue holding the traditional view, while others see annihilation or conditional immortality, and a growing number see ultimate reconciliation as the most consistent. I am glad to see this day.

To affirm that there is right and wrong and ways of living that hurt self and others, is not to argue against God's commitment to judge and to restore. I prefer, as I said tonite to be a single human unit of optimistic unconditional love in Christ. I believe that's how Paul laid out this wonderful new covenant, and while as an American I am thankful for a strong defense, I join those who look forward to the day when swords are beaten into plowshares, or some equally useful implement to feed and cloth humankind.

Investor Woes

Loved the sand messages on the boardwalk in Coronado. It did make me think of the Kansas song "All we are is dust in the wind". I think visiting that vast silent grave yard made me reflective of our mortality this week.

I have always believed that saving is investing in our country and way of life. We need to get some money safely into our possible future so we save and invest. Then in our recent life the heck gets kicked out of the system like this week. And, I am not and never will be the guy who is watching and trying to guess when to get in and get out.It is a bit discouraging.

How about Diana Nyad at 61 trying to swim 90 miles in the ocean. Even though she had to stop it is encouraging.

Tiger's caddy goes with a winner

The beauty of walking the grounds and halls of the Dell on Coronado Island brings back a turn of the century gentillity in the overstuffed furniture and dark oak walls. It feels like the Titanic must have felt although 1888 predates it. What a grand property.

Adam Scott and his caddy teamed up to win in Akron today. A good caddy is a policeman, protector, advisor, counselor, coach, and almanac. I look forward to the new team, and still hope Tiger can be a player again.

I am struggling with how the new affects me. I know I need to know what is going on, but at some point hearing bad news and alarming news and negative news just weighs me down because I cannot do one thing to change anything, so I am cast cares and considering just a daily peek and not an immersion.

Thank you, Reuben Wallace

He is a slight man, soft spoken, with an infectious sense of humor. He reminded me of a slender version of Al the owner of the burger joint in Happy Days early years, kind of sweet and sad eyed.

He spent 30 years as Chaplain at Point Loma Nazarene College, and mentored a generation of young leaders during chapel and Sundays at the Campus Church.

He wrote a commentary on Preaching through IICor. 3-5. He rose to speak and flawlessly quoted a whole chapter from memory without any sign of boasting about it. He told the story of how his Bible memorization started, and I pointed out the problem of having so many translations making Bible memorization difficult, and he agreed, stating he did his in KJV.

An overall point he made was the need to read the bible aloud, discuss it in community with others, and commit it to memory. Amen.

Another speaker, former student, now on staff, President of the Nazarene Seminary for a decade stood to speak....and quoted his text from memory. He was inspired by Dr. Wallace, he said.

I was inspired, so I ordered a Kindle version of the NKJV and am working on IICor. 5 as a starting place. I think the NKJV keeps the beauty of the KJV and have that familiar ring to it when speaking. We will see if I have the brains left to do this.

Lucy, You got some Splanin' to do

San Diego flower pics.

That's my favorite line from the Lucy series. She always thought she could get what she wanted by bending the rules, white lying, and looking so lost when she got caught, and we loved her for it. When I watched them as an adult I felt she was an incredibly selfish and self centered person. But I loved her too.

She was flawed but love able, and long suffering Husband stayed with her, at least in the series, not in real life.

We are all tragically flawed but we have a Father who knows that and stays with us.

My car is now two years old. It was a a great decision for me to buy a Kia Sedona, I love the room to haul people and things, the high ride, the comfort and decent gas mileage. On the 8th of August it will have about 26,000 miles, about average for someone with a short commute to work. May she continue to serve well.

August is my healing metabolism month. I am doing some things differently in terms of fueling my body, exercising, and getting rest.

August is my exploring deeper Bible study in which we will engage the inclusive message of Rob Bell and others to test our orthodox opinions on "How It All Ends"

Passing by Tattooine

Matching Power boats, one larger than the other. I am wondering how much expendable income it takes to enjoy a few trips a year in one of those sleek weekenders?

360 miles is just too long to run to San Diego for the weekend. Its six long hot hours of driving....sad. For my far away readers there is a massive sand dune called Imperial Dunes as you enter California that played the backdrop for the sand scenes in Star Wars. It feels like driving through Arabia.

The first time you exit the vehicle to gas up after leaving the coast you hit a blanket of steamy, windy, strength sapping heat that makes you want to risk homelessness on the streets of the coast rather than head home. But....I am home.

Over the years I have so enjoyed exposing myself to different faith families in my summer studies. The Nazarene faith began by one Pastors decision to make church a welcome place for the working poor in LA. I like their emphasis on Jesus as a servant leader and how we cannot be haughty when we follow one who reached down to our level and washed feet.

I love San Diego

What a great city. In three days I have seen it from all sides and the beauty of this oceanside property is breathtaking, not to mention the fresh cool mornings and evenings.

PLNU Seminar by the Sea was surprisingly challenging. The depth of spirituality in this tradition is impressive, not for its power but for Christlike simplicity. I have been moving in the direction that these men pioneered for living a life of love for all people, rich and poor, and especially the poor for the Nazarenes. These leaders love scripture, the Christ of scripture and the life emptied in service. One of the things I want to do that they have modeled is the memorization of whole passages of scripture. When you live and relive a test, it lives in you.

If I had another life I would find a home here and enjoy it for dedades, since I don't, I will resolve to come here as often as I can to see the fog roll off the ocean, to hear seagulls making a racket, and to be enchanted by the flowers, trees, and climate.

Bedrooms and Playgrounds

San Diego is surrounded by communities that are different in so many ways. Point Loma is an Isthmus, Coronado is really a land bridge. Yesterday my battery died again on Harbor Blvd at the center of tourism. I was dining at Anthony's on the Pier with old friends and was given a jump by the kindness of strangers.

I saw one city when dealing with the Kia, and my friends church and home in another. So many beautiful places to live here. My home in Sun Lakes is the same size and cost half of the price he paid for his.

I parked a mile or so from the Dell in Coronado late in the day and walked the beach and the grounds of that historic and popular resort. Beach goers and vacationers everywhere this week.

Todays lectures and discussions were wonderful. I feel like I met a true mentor in the man who was the University Chaplain for decades. A heart for scripture.

Point Loma

PLNU has a very notable outdoor amphatheatre overlooking the ocean.

It is easy to envy the folks in a city that bustles with activity and beauty and a climate that is near perfect. We counter with traffic issues and high costs which would make this a difficult place to prosper and relax. A vacationer has the free run of the town and the sensitivity to realized he is in a really beautiful place.

The college is a bustle of group meetings and is in full preparation for the return of classmates. Our study time was interesting and worthwhile. Having an issue with my battery. They never last more than two years in the desert.

What a fabulous climate

I am loving the cool morning air at Humphries Half Moon Inn, San Diegos most Hawaiian style resort. Walking the grounds and enjoying the flowers and the Polynesian themed resort.

Several thousand chairs set out for a Chicago Concert tonight. A huge marina out the back side. I am going to enjoy exploring this part of San Diego.