Love from the Law

I have been teaching through Galatians in my Sunday Morning Bible study for the past few weeks and yesterday went quickly through chapter 5, where Paul introduces the familiar passage we all know as the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).  Last night, I woke up in the wee-hours and could not get this one thought out of my mind, so I got up and wrote it down. 

So, Paul is talking about the law and how it is not effective.   He is a lawyer who grew up on this stuff, and now he is making a case against the law.  Why?  Because Jesus kept the law completely and His act of sacrifice is sufficient in every way to save all who are drawn to Him completely.

I talked about how the law, in particular, Leviticus, is overwhelming.  There are so many details of the law that are expounded in this book, located in the middle of the biblical section called the Pentateuch or the Five Books of the Law.  Well, Paul quotes a verse from Leviticus in Galatians 5:14, when he says, “All the law is fulfilled in one word, even this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”” (Leviticus 19:18b) So, this amazing quote is a tiny little line, a subtext of laws regarding moral and ceremonial laws.  It is the antithesis to the first part of the verse where Moses wrote, “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people.” 

Paul notices not the LAW of the Law, but the whole sum of the Law in this little answer to the legal imperative.  Don’t take vengeance … Right?  Don’t be bearing a grudge … Right?  But Paul notes the thing Jesus used against the Pharisees and quotes, “Love your Neighbor as yourself”. 

Believe it or not, this is the most often quoted Old Testament text in the New Testament.   Yet it is tucked away in the middle of this giant book of the Law, Leviticus, an in-between legal do’s and don’ts like verse 19, ‘don’t let your livestock breed with another kind’ and verse 16, ‘don’t be a talebearer’.   Using the law, and quoting Jesus, Paul proves his point, that LOVE rules, not backbiting.  Legalistic do’s and don’ts enslave and creates this strife.  The Galatian believers were evidently becoming begrudging tale bearing haters because they looked deeply into the Law and saw all the do’s and don’ts and not the hidden gems like “LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR”.  

The SPIRIT of the Law is LOVE.  The fruit of the SPIRIT is Galatians 5:22-23, and Love represents the sum of God’s character.  When God’s Word is working in me, His character flows out.  His Spirit (His Word) produces a cluster of FRUIT.

·         Love, which looks like (and I list these in reverse order to emphasize the results):

o   Self-control: overcoming the flesh

o   Gentleness:  Strength under control.  (My trainer always says, “Use your core” (inner strength).  Gentleness is also Teachable and Humble.   Gentleness removes the desire for revenge or retaliation.

o   Faithfulness:  Loyalty and Trustw3orthiness.  Loyal to God and other people.  Also, a faithful person WON’T GIVE UP.

o   Goodness:  Active unselfish generosity.  Goodness produces and “Over and Above” or “Beyond the call of duty” attitude.  It is seen as moral and spiritual excellence.

o   Kindness:  Tender concern for others

o   Patience:  Long-suffering.  Enduring wrongs done.

o   Peace:  Inner composure.  Peace with God and Peace with others.

o   Joy:  Assured hope.

We all know the Love Chapter in 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13 where Paul defines Love.  I’d like to close this blog with another passage, 1 John 4:7-11 from the Message (MSG) translation:

God Is Love

^7-10 My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.

^11-12 My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!

Pirate Playship Project

OK, this is the third time to begin this post.  Everytime I try to go to a different location, like to check a date or grab a picture, when I get back to this page, everything I typed is gone.  I'm clicking save after every sentence this time.

Last saturday, I started a backyard project ... Pirate Playship for the grandkids.  I got the idea from my son-in-law back in June, 2010 (2-1/2 years ago ... almost as long as its been since my last post).  I started developing some sketches and thought I'd check out the internet for some ideas.  Lots of pirate ships you can build or buy, but i came across Derrick Hinkley's site, where he will come to your house from Nashville to anywhere in the USA and build the ship in your backyard.  His ship, by the way was the most "build able" and actually looked like a pirate ship.  That seemed crazy to me, so I hit the contact us button and asked him is he had a set of plans to purchase.  He replied that he did not, but that he was working on such a thing and would contact me as they came together.  I next heard from him in September 2011 and he said he was getting close.  In October of this year (2012) he emailed me and asked if I was still interested.  I'd pretty much blown off the idea of building a pirate ship.  The boys are almost outgrowing such a thing, and David and Alyson are looking at moving, so I'd have to build it at my house.  But I emailed him back and bought the plans.

The plans are actually an instruction manual, with step by step directions for building the ship.  They are accompanied by a set of you-tube videos and a one-hour telephone consultation with Derrick.  The videos are actually kind of entertaining, like watching a home-improvement show.  In fact, in the second video, they call it "The Extreme Pirate Ship Makeover Show".  I have to admit, however, I tend do doze off after 10 minutes or so, and each of the 9 videos are 20 to 30 minutes long.

I got the base built last week-end, leveled and supported on concrete block foundations.  It only took 10 hours, but I had to make 3 trips to Lowes for different things, and one trip to Home Depot for stuff Lowes didn't have.  Derrick and his crew built the one in the video in 4 days.  By myself, I'm thinking it might take me 10 full days, which is Saturday's only, so I'm thinking I might be done sometime mid-March or early April.

 This is a picture of what the ship is supposed to look like when I get done.

I purchased the materials for phase 3&4 this afternoon and plan to start the walls for the lower level, set the 4x4's and maybe set the floor joists for the upper decks tomorrow.

Will update as the ship progresses.  Arrgh!

wondering on the net

Been looking on tumblr.com for Shnannon, mom said she was there now and not on blogger.com.  story time for shannon on blogger is only showing me posts that are over a year old.  something is not right with that.  i tried to open my own tumblr account.  i did it but i really don't know what to do with it.  so I guess I'll just go run on the treadmill for a while.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

After a long day at work, finishing inspection reports late and then an excellent meal that Vicki prepared, I spent the rest of the evening packing for Colorado.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Left the house about 4:00 am. Drove all day to Durango, CO where I bought my elk tag at wall mart, along with a few supplies from a list I made on the road. As I drove and was thinking about hunting and camping, it would occur to me that I needed this or that and I would jot it down.

I arrived in camp about 5:45 Colorado time and began immediately setting up camp. I camped in Ironton Park, in the Saratoga site, the same site Jeff and I camped in last year. I was almost done when I heard a bull elk bugle. It sounded like he was less than 100 yards to the north of me, just across the creek. A few minutes later he bugles a short scream again. I picked up my bugle call and let loose a soft, high pitched scream and he immediately screamed back a long, aggressive bugle, followed by several growling chuckles. My heart started racing, and I made a cow call and he came right back with a short, scream, like saying, "get over here babe".

I was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, but I pulled on a camo hoody and picked up my bow, strapped on my release and headed for the creek. By the time I got to where the bugling was coming from, he was gone. I made a couple of cow calls, but never heard back from the bull. But I had a renewed excitement for this trip. The next afternoon I was talking to a guy from Ohio and I told him my story and he said that about that time, a bull and his cows crossed the highway just north of the campground, stopping traffic on 550 for several minutes.

I got into my sleeping bag about 9:00 pm and even though I was sleeping on the ground, I slept pretty good after a super long day.

Friday, September 16, 2011

I had set my alarm for 5:30 and woke to a pretty nice morning, about 44 degrees and calm. I at some yogurt and a GoLean granola bar and dressed for hiking. The sky was clear, but I packed my rain gear anyway, which turned out to be an excellent idea. I drove up to the first abandoned mine and parked the truck, grabbed my backpack, strapped on my release, picked up my bow and started walking uphill. The road is very steep, and it was just starting to get light. I hiked up to the south upper meadow with full intent of going to the north end of the north upper meadow, but it was 10:30, I'd heard only one faint, far away bugle earlier, but not seen any elk. I stopped to rest, ate some elk sticks and a Cliff bar while the rain subsided for a few minutes. I sat there, watching the meadow for about an hour, and it continued to rain off and on the whole time. I was very fatigued from the steep ascent, and it was now 11:30, so I decided to walk back down.

Once back in camp, I ate my tuna and spinach wrap Vicki made for me and took a nap in the truck. When I awoke, it was still raining and very cold. I tried to call home with OnStar, but they said I didn't have enough minutes. Couldn't connect with OnStar to get more minutes, so I drove out to the highway to glass the meadows up top. That is where I met the guy from Ohio, who also told me that the elk I'd heard that morning came from the west side of the highway with tree branches stuck in his antlers and ran across the highway south of tailings pond and into the forest, screaming ever so often.

I got back into camp about 4:00 pm and gathered my stuff for an evening hunt. It had stopped raining and the sun popped out for a bit to warm me up. I walked from camp, across the creek to the north and up the bank where the bull and his cows had come through the evening before. I sat on a rock in good cover and waited till dark, but they did not use the same route that night.

Back in camp, I boiled some water for a meal of chicken curie and rice, drove down toward Ouray, and called my wife. After dinner, I crawled into my sleeping bag for a rough night on the ground. It rained all night long. I got up at least six times to step outside and it was getting colder.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

When my alarm went off at 5:30, it was still raining so I decided to stay in the sack, rather than dress in the rain and go mountain climbing. I finally got out of the sleeping bag about 7:30 and it was still raining. I ate cold chicken and risotto for breakfast and then climbed into the truck to get warm. It was 38 degrees. I watched X-MEN First Class. By noon it had warmed up to 39 degrees and the rain had turned to a mix of snow and rain. As I am writing this, the snowflakes are big and fall hard onto the truck. Kind of like snow, rain, hail. I think I'll climb into the back seat and take a little nap. Crazy, but I'm truly thinking of packing it all up and heading back home!

Well, the sun came out and the mountain tops were white with snow. In camp, everything was wet and white with a "dusting" of heavy wet snow. I drove up to the pond (Jeff will know where that is) to look around. The ground at that elevation (just under 12,000 feet) was covered with 4 to 6 inches of snow and it was about 34 degrees up there. There were a couple of deer grazing above the pond and I sat and watched the does. 2 fawns appeared and then their mother and another doe. They meandered up and over a little ridge. In the mean time, I walked a bit, sat a bit, took a few pictures and blew on my elk bugle call a couple of times. After a bit, all of the deer came running back into the valley of the pond and stood alert with ears and eyes turned from whence they'd come. My thinking was that my elk calling had interested a bull and he was on his way to our sanctuary. I hustled to a stand of brush, bow in hand and ready to cow call him over for a shot. One hour later, nothing. The deer had returned to grazing and only occasionally glancing back over the ridge. Eventually, they even returned to the high point and lost their urgency to flight. The sun began to creep toward the western horizon, so I climbed back into the truck and made my way back down the mountain.

 

 

  

That evening I feasted on freeze-dried lasagna. It was amazingly good and I ate the whole bag, while I watched a Dirty Harry movie in the truck. I decided that the back seat of the truck was much more comfortable, so I grabbed my pillow from the tent and pulled a blanket over me in the back seat for the night, rather than sleep on the ground in the tent. It was warmer in the truck, and I turned the truck on with the heater on low for short periods of time during the night. But my knees began to ache because you cannot stretch out and I tossed and turned most of the night. The sky cleared though and the stars and the moon lit up the woods as the temperature dropped into the 20's that night.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Finally, it was morning, and I was so sleepy from the rough night that I didn't really want to get up and go hunting ... but I did. I went back to the road I started on Friday morning and started walking. The only problem was that my stomach was torn up, rolling and aching. I didn't get far before I had to stop for relief. In fact, my walking was interrupted 4 times that morning. Freeze dried meals may be convenient, because of the light weight, and they may be delicious, but they run through you like ... well ... after a couple of hours I decided to head back to camp. I'd planned on hunting all day Sunday, sleeping in the woods that night and heading back home on Monday morning, but after thinking on that a bit, I decided that I'd rather sleep in a bed that night. By noon I had everything loaded in the truck and was on the highway, headed north.

The drive home was pretty un-eventful. Apart from having to stop quite often during the first leg of the trip. I made it to Raton, NM where I got a pizza from Pizza Hut and an excellent night's sleep at the Holiday Inn. In bed by 10:00, I slept nearly 10 hours! Got a cup of coffee and headed home. The only elk I saw on this trip was on the way home, 500 yards off the highway in southeastern Colorado. They had buffalo too. Still, that was kind of cool, but it would have been so much nicer if the elk had walked into my hunting area while I was sitting, waiting and watching. Oh, well, I'll never tier of seeing the mountains, breathing the thin mountain air and seeing those star-lit skies. The rock formations, waterfalls, snow on the peaks ... it is all so amazing.

I thank the Lord for allowing me to enjoy that part of His creation one more time.

Da Gym (per Amanda's request)

I have been going to Fit Together for the past, I don't know, 6 years? When I first started, I was over 255 lb. and always feeling wore out, achy, sluggish ... I lost about 50lbs. in 8 months or so, was doing my cardio regularly, got up to running for an hour on the treadmill. When I started I was walking for about 20 minutes at a time. I actually won the cardio challenge and won a new pair of tennis shoes. I bought all new clothes, even some new hunting clothes, and went to the mountains elk hunting. That was my goal, to get in shape for the "elk hunt of a lifetime". So, after the elk hunt, I let the diet slide, stopped the cardio, but still did my 5:15am work outs every MWF. Gained a little weight back, but called it "lean mass". I built back up to 3 to 5 miles 3 or 4 times a week on the treadmill and ran in a 5k that spring, 30:52. I was 50 years old. The cardio thing is what really gets hard to keep up. The next February, at 51, I ran another 5K with Ange, and finished in 36:21. Lost a little endurance I guess. Last year, I tried to get in shape for a half marathon. In August I ran a quarter marathon in like an hour and 6 minutes. I was at 235lbs, still not where I wanted to be, but my foot started hurting all the time. Plantar Fasciitis I guess. Really, I had to stop running. I still went elk hunting with Jeff and when we got back from the mountain hiking trip, I was down to 225 and feeling pretty good. Late fall is the hardest time to stick with the program. Since then, I have slowly crept back up into the 240's and have been as heavy as 250. I've been riding my bike since the late spring, up to 20+ miles, no problem. But running still seems to be a problem for me. I've tried swimming laps in the pool, but have a hard time staying consistent with that work out. Tyler asked me if I wanted to do a triathlon with him on Oct 2, and I've been trying to get into condition to do the 500 meter swim, 21 mile bike ride and 5 mile run but I'm not sure that I'm going to be ready.

My trainer at the gym has had me doing cross fit workouts, lots of core and cardio stuff. One day, at the end of my circuit he put the weighted vest on me an I got on the treadmill. He set the incline at 15 and I started walking at a 3.2 ... 3.5 ... 4.0 (jog) ... and then 4.5 and then up to 5.0. Running up hill with a weighted vest on for 2 minutes had me sucking air so hard, I sounded like I was an asthmatic. I tried to grip the handles and get a heart rate reading, but I was sweating so profusely that it wouldn't register. When It finally did, my heart rate had slowed a bit, down to 161 bpm. 55 year old hearts aren't supposed to beat much faster than that.

I had my blood work done the other day and my cholesterol is too high (220) and my triglycerides are above normal, which means I have too much fat in my blood. Everything else was OK, blood sugar, Billy Reuben (I know that's spelled wrong, but that's what it sounds like) was OK, liver functioning OK. But how do you get the fat out of your blood? and how do you get your cholesterol down? Diet and exercise.

So, you might say, it sounds like your exercise is going OK, but you still need to do cardio 3 or 4 times per week, 20 to 30 minutes of jogging or fast walking ... OK, but 1 hour of bike riding 3 times a week is what I've been doing pretty regularly. So, what about the diet?

Well, it is hard to generalize the diet. I mean, we eat healthy. We seldom eat red meat. Mostly fish and chicken, and more fish than chicken. We eat salad almost every evening. Vegies are steamed or raw, maybe grilled, never (hardly ever) fried, and then stir-fried with very little oil. Only EVO or grape seed oil when we use oil. I have to admit, we have had ice cream as an evening desert snack several evenings this summer, and we got on a popcorn kick earlier this summer, but have recently cut both of those out ... for the most part.

This next week I am going to keep a food journal (again) as that seems to help in reminding me where I'm messing up as far as caloric intake.

I have found that after age 50, it is very hard to loose weight. I'd really like to be going to St. Louis next month to participate in the triathlon with Tyler, weighing in at under 200 pounds. To paraphrase the lyrics from an old Eagles song, 'we haven't seen that since 1969'. Well, anyway, it's been a long time. My thought is to starve it off, but everybody keeps telling me you have to keep the calories up to keep the metabolism up. If you starve your body, the metabolism shuts down and you gain weight just by thinking of food. So I say, what the heck, I need the calories, so I eat it or eat a little more, and then I get on the scales and you guessed it, the weight is the same or a pound more than last time.

I'll keep the journal and see how it goes in the next few weeks.