Category: God

1/23/2021

and.. It was GOOD?

Most everyone agrees after a quick cursory glance and a collective cringe the year 2020 was not good.

In fact, 2020 was the 'dumpster fire' of years. And so.. I am praying for a much better 2021 and am not even shooting for good. I would settle for just ok.

but.. no matter what 2021 brings IN THE 'very' BEGINNING when God created .. it was good.

Let's review.

Genesis 1 - In the beginning, God spoke the universe into existence. Some witnesses of this moment claimed they heard a loud crackling sound like thunder, but most simply described it as a.. BANG.. actually a BIG BANG!

At this point let me be clear, I am not here to discuss Old Earth v New Earth theories. This would be above the pay grade of this cartoonist, but what I will say again is ..

God created and it was GOOD!

Genesis 1:1-31 To summarize, this daunting project was completed in 6 days where Day 1: DAY , NIGHT , the SKY were spoke into existence by our Almighty Creator.

Those first 6 days His creation included the sun, stars, land, waters, and all the creatures in the sea and on land were created.

Genesis 2:1-3 Then fast forward to 7th day and God rested. In contrast I installed a bathroom floor in our town-home recently and I rested on the 5th, 6th, and 7th days and while it turned out nice it was not Hubble Telescope spectacular like God's Universe.

To rule over the lands and seas God created MAN Genesis 2:7 in His own image from the dust of the Earth followed by creating WOMAN from man's 'spare rib' declaring it is not good for man to be alone. Genesis 2:18

To which Adam declared.. "Hey beautiful, where have you been all my life?"

Then God commanded Adam and Eve to "be fruitful and multiply".. to which Adam quickly started working on his times tables.

This creation story is all recorded into the Bible book of Genesis. While many Cosmologists believe the Big Bang was the creation of EVERYTHING from NOTHING followed by billions of years of random collisions and explosions resulted in our ever expanding universe, all the planets including Earth including life with all it's complexities.

Ok, I believe you can collide a chocolate bar with a jar of peanut butter and end up with a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup.. but this Universe has too moving parts + complexities that are bound together with rules and order for me to believe EVERYTHING came from NOTHING.

So I choose to believe there must be an intelligent design behind creation. For me, I believe in a divine creator that exists outside the confines of time and space. I believe this Intelligent Design is described in the Bible Book of Genesis.

May God bless each of you greatly in your pursuit of truth.

This is important stuff, and a foundation for life. If there is a God then the pursuit of Him is a greater science than can be found looking through any microscope or telescope. Bigger than Star Trek's five year journey exploring the stars.

Jeff (little bang) Larson

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1/15/2021

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Big God and.. Little God

This universe was born with the Big Bang as an unimaginably hot, dense point. When the universe was just 10-34 of a second or so old — that is, a hundredth of a billionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second in age — it experienced an incredible burst of expansion known as inflation, in which space itself expanded faster than the speed of light. During this period, the universe doubled in size at least 90 times, going from subatomic-sized to golf-ball-sized almost instantaneously.
- excerpt from Science.com article, June 6, 2017.

As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Ecclesiastes 11:5

Today, I return to one of my favorite topics.. Our Great God! From the micro to the macro of all things with order and purpose is the handy-work of our Creator. I won't belabor the point, but the complexity of all things from the micro level to the ends of the universe declare their is a God.

Science is..  the finite study of what infinite God created.
Science examines.. the boundaries of time and space, while
God transcends.. both time and space.

To summarize for those scoring at home.. God is BIG, and we are not.

Then we turn on the evening news that spews stories of panic and where blind vitriolic hatred replaces reasonable discussions. There are wars and rumors of wars, political divide and anarchy like I can't remember. Until the last year I believed the sun was at the center of the universe, but the evening news between the years 2016-2020 the center of the universe is actually a dark star named Donald Trump. All stories somehow seem to include his name. WHO KNEW!

note: This was not statement about Donald Trump (pro or con) but just the rabid obsession of the evening news.

What is missing in all of this is our God. The creator of our universe needs to be the center of our universe, not POTUS, the Pope, your job, your favorite sports team (Go Pack Go!) or.. ME. Don't put your hope in any of these things or you will be disappointed.

Love the Lord God with all your soul, heart and mind and others as yourself. Matthew 22:37-39

I repeat these words of Jesus often as this must be the returning starting point of each day. To lose focus in life of these two greatest commandments of Jesus will skew your day. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.

Now let me take a moment to reflect on life with a proper perspective.

I am sitting comfortably at my desk din my warm home. sipping coffee while typing on my computer..
Just outside my window it is a Minnesota winter in my suburb of Minneapolis where thousands of parallel lives are busy about their day.
This city sits in the equally cold state of Minnesota,
Minnesota is one of 50 states in the United States of America where millions more go about their lives.. all important to God.
Our country is in this even more complex and diverse world with millions (all important to God) more parallel lives go about their day.. and
this world hangs in our Solar System orbiting around the Sun. And our Solar System hangs their nicely in our infinite (ever expanding) Universe.

Now back to Earth in my home where I sit in my office chair. Our God is both so breathtakingly BIG, and also so very personal all at the same time. Is it possibly to fully grasp this truth? NO, but what other way could it be?

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

So I leave today's ramble on two cups of coffee and on my way to a third cup with the prayer that our focus not be on this big world with it's big angst, but instead on our Amazing God the creator of all things, and the lover of you and me.

How can we help but love and serve Him. How can we help but pursue Him.

Jeff

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12/3/2020

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The WOW Factor

The Wow Factor paraphrased - is an experience and/or observation that grabs your attention and holds it.. as you exclaim "WOW".

For me, I love sports. The speed, power, finesse, strategy, and teamwork of great athletes and teams playing to win the game. The thrill of victory and agony of defeat was the tag line for the old 'Wide World of Sports' show, and this all makes me go.. WOW!

It also love Art. Ok, not true art.. but cartoons. You may never catch me in an art gallery perusing the works of Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet, Rembrandt, or Leonardo de Vinci, because I save my WOWs for Gary Larson - The FarSide, Berke Breathed - Bloom County, Bill Watterson - Calvin & Hobbes, and Jim Unger - Herman. WOW!

side note: one of my favorite Christmas presents of all time my wife bought me The Complete Farside collection (3 volumes) in hardcover. While many may think, "WOW, what a wasted of time and $$, but for me it was simply.. WOW!

Others love beautiful music. Music is that Wow their lives while I am busy checking my TV for a game while drawing Back Pew cartoons. It may be a symphony, jazz quartet, rock & roll, hymnfest, or a modern worship service there is for most of music that makes us go Wow. Of course I am old enough now that hip-hop, pop, and rap leave me shaking my head, cringe, and mutter "people like this stuff?.. wow."

Of course Disco, and Polka music I will just say.. no comment.

Next, let's travel further from the center of my universe as we look up at the night sky mesmerized by the stars while our planet Earth orbits around a blazing ball of burning gas (not Washington DC,.. it's the sun) realizing we are only one planet of 8 or 9 planets orbiting this sun and all this is part of The Milky Way Galaxy in an ever expanding universe all with order all functioning with precise science and math.. which the collective scientific community responds in one voice.. WOW!

- note the above is an 89 word runon sentence... WOW.

Did I choose your WOW tirgger? Well no matter if it is science, music, art, sports, or watching the Wheel of Fortune ( I like the wheel) realize all WOWs come from our creator.

Don't get me wrong, our Wow moments are real and there is no need to apologize for shouting wow (unless you are in church, or during a funeral).. BUT step out further to realize our God is the source of all things WOW.

If we don't we miss the point of this big ol' Beautiful world. Life is not about me, my passions or hobbies.. LIFE IS FOREMOST ABOUT GOD, and the worship and adoration he deserves.

How great is our God! WOW!

For as the Heavens are Higher than the Earth so are my ways than your ways, and my thoughts yours. Is 55:8-9
He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Ps 147:4
Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? Ps 77:3
and last but not least
For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes will not perish but have eternal life. Jo 3:16 Wow, and WOW!

Thank you God for your amazing creation that is your handiwork, and thank you for your love and grace in this life, and the promise of eternity with you our wonderful creator.

Blessings

Jeff

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11/2/2020

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My Faith Box for 2020

I guess by strict definitions I am a protestant, but technically more of a protestant MUTT.

Actually I would like to be simply defined as a CHRISTIAN thank you very much. I am not being a rebel, but I don't fit nicely into any denominational box. I respect the views of others, but have to come to my own conclusions on all the nooks and cranny faith issues.

And let me be clear I am not judging anyone elses choice of 'box' unless.. you have a SNAKE in it.

So with this in mind I place all I have learned from God and his church and it all fits nicely in 'My Faith Box'.

The next challenge is fitting My Faith Box into the ever changing Post Modern Society box aka the PM Society box. This is a big box with lights and sounds. Inside their is a society of blended cultures with ever changing faster than a speeding bullet technology, and much much more. All the bells & whistles of the PM Society box are distracting and often attractive BUT I need to be careful when fitting My Faith Box in the PM Society Box. This can be messy.

I believe a classic Billy Graham message shared.. We are called to be in the world, but not of it.

And certainly not a frog simmering in a pot of secular values.

So In this PM Society box I find things like.. The internet. Which is both an incredible resource for

LIGHT (faith, family, friends, news, resources, etc) and
DARKNESS (anger, hatred, self-indulgence, porn, addictionetc ).

The internet also offers the ever evolving social media kit at no extra charge where I can text, Tweet, post on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TicTok, or blog.. Blog? Sounds like a cheap horror movie from the 1950s.. 'The Attack of the 50 Page Blog'.

In our PM Society box I can also stream music, videos or even sermons (if I am feeling particularly spiritual ) of any big name preacher or subscribe to Cyber Clyde's Bed Hair Pod Cast. Rumor is Cyber Clyde is trending... maybe.

This can all be done from the convenience of my office chair while donning the same gym shorts, tank top, and bed hair just like Cyber Clyde.

When PM Society is not on the computer it is on your smartphone, or surfing HD TV with a bazillion (I actually counted and there are actually ONE bazillion) sports, news, and movie channels.

In PM Society Box people buy meals, high buck coffees and lattes through a drive through window... or have them even delivered to their door. They will soon even have their groceries delivered by little retail drones. I can't wait til they do appliance deliveries via drones. When that happens I am canceling Cable TV and just following the Home Delivery Channel.

My Faith Box is now feeling a little agitated and stimulated at the same time. So far I am having trouble keeping all this PM Society box stuff out of My Faith Box. I see a TV remote is in my Faith Box, and an Amazon Prime Card. In fact I think grease from a leaky fast food bag from the PM Society box is soaking into the corner of My Faith Box and sadly I like the smell. I kind of like some of this PM Society stuff, and it is easy to justify their place in my Faith Box. I THINK I NEED HELP.

OK, I may not be so desperate that I need a Faith Box Exorcism, or an Exterminator, but I could do some spring cleaning... here in November.

My serious prayer is to have an honest Faith Box, with the word of God in it that never changes and a prayer list that is ever changing. In this box I pray I do not confuse my political beliefs are important but should never be confused with my Faith.

I want to be in this world but not of it.

This world (aka PM Society Box) is a mess! It is filled with noise, smells, and sights that are often far from God. It is a box that NEEDS GOD, not religion of man, but needs GOD THE CREATOR and JESUS OUR SAVIOR.

In this world now, in the PM Society box is needed a return to God's Truth. WE NEED A REVIVAL.

Regarding Revival: I listened to a sermon a while ago by Louie Gigglio and he said "Where there is pain, where there is a mess this is where a revival can happen". No one has a personal revival when life is going perfect. So by this definition this world is ready for a revival, and better year in need of a revival is this hot-mess Covid-19 compromised 2020.

OK, probably I took the box analogy a bit too far about a half a blog ago, but if you are still with me I pray God inspires in us a love for Him and His ways that make us truly salt and light in a PM Society box that is in contrast bland and existing in the dark like a mole eating rice cakes.

Jeff (All Boxed in) Larson

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and.. It was GOOD?

Big God and.. Little God

The WOW Factor

My Faith Box for 2020

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