Marc’s Musings

I firmly believe God talks. And that dreams are one of the ways He talks. But apparently I can’t understand the language yet.

I few weeks ago, I woke from a dream specifically remembering “47:20″…I think it was a time in the dream. But when I woke, I knew it must refer to Scripture.

Do you know how inconvenient it is to find what books have 47 chapters and then of those which ones have 20 or more verses? Oy.

So today, I decided to BibleGateway.com it. Very easy!

Here are the results for the only 2 47:20’s in the Bible:

Genesis: So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s,

Ezekiel: “On the west side, the Mediterranean Sea will be the boundary to a point opposite Lebo Hamath. This will be the western boundary.

Clear as mud, huh?

Wish I’d checked this earlier. I might have remembered the context of the dream!

(The one from Genesis is, for me, one of the saddest passages in the Bible. The next verse says that Joseph made all of Egypt slaves to Pharoah. How ironic that a few centuries later, the descendants of Joseph become the slaves, isn’t it?)

A friend just emailed me this great CNN article about how young evangelicals don’t fit the “evangelical” stereotype. Or a political party.

These two guys are out promoting a book Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals. But this is more than selling books. Here’s a quote from CNN:

Back on stage [Shane] Claiborne takes the crowd through a multimedia presentation.

“With the respectability and the power of the church comes the temptation to prostitute our identity for every political agenda.”

It’s nice to see evangelicals questioning the lock-stock-and-barrel acceptance of partisan politics.

I’ve been listening to Air 1 recently and have heard an incredible song by Brandon Heath called “Give me your eyes.” Here’s the chorus:

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me you heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

Man. That is the kind of prayer I wish I prayed more often.

[Thanks to stykel for posting the lyrics.]

I used this for the invocation at Rotary today. Since so many have asked for it, I’m posting it here.

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.

-written on Mother Teresa’s childrens’ home in Calcutta, commonly attributed to her

I found this on the website of the Prayer Foundation. I know nothing about the organization, but I am glad they posted this!

I’ve been a fan of the Highlands Abilities Battery ever since I took it back in 2002. It’s still something that helps me in finding the right “place” for myself.

And like Victor Kiam, I liked the company so much I became a trained administrator of the Battery.

So I was thrilled to see it mentioned in a Wall Street Journal article!

(Seeing that my colleagues offer the Highlands “usually for about $450″ makes me wonder if my $399 is too low. Hhmmm.)

Read the whole artice at WSJ.com.

File this under the “you can’t make this stuff up” column: a man was re-elected as mayor in a Bulgarian village even though he’s dead.

I’ve heard of dead people voting in places like Chicago, but not of being elected to office.

Reuters reports one person explained his reason for voting for the dead man:

“I know he died, but I don’t want change,” a pro-Ivascu villager told Romanian television.

I think this guy’s in for a rude awakening: change comes whether you like it or not!

Read the entire story at: Reuter’s Oddly Enough.

There’s a great article about Boot Camp for New Dads in TIME Magazine.

The link is: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1812052,00.html

The next one at Inland Hospital is this Saturday, June 21 at 9 a.m.

Cale’s reading the 7th Harry Potter book for the first time.

Today, Dobby died. It was sad for all of us.

Em writes about it at her blog.

More of my three year old’s language. You won’t find these words on the street. But this guide will help you if you ever have the privilege of navigating through our family life.

A “tie-bow” or “bie-toe” isn’t an exercise video. It’s that thing daddy wears around his neck when he goes to the hop-spit-tal.

A “hop-spit-al” is the place where daddy works and the cool helicopter lands.

“Moh-cky and Cheese” is the yellow pasta dish that she helps mommy make. The stuff daddy doesn’t eat even though she thinks it’s so yummy.

If she says “I give you,” you have to figure out what she means by the context. It usually means she forgives you.

Here’s a picture of Inland’s management team. We got to serve lunch to around 400 employees.

The best part? The take away gift was a squirt gun so most of us got soaked!