Prayer and Faith

Here is a short, 2 minute vlog on Prayer and Faith:

A Big Fish In A Small Pond - Part 4

....As time went by, we were down to just one guppy when all of the sudden it happened. No, I didn't get to see the frog engorge itself on  a guppy - but now there were many little guppies swimming around! Apparently, one of the guppies who had made it this far spawned and delivered 10-15 guppies.

Once our girls saw this, they were excited...then worried. "Dad, you can't leave them in there! The frog will eat them!" Against my better judgment, I fished them all out, mother included, and put them in their own tank. One interesting fact we learned after this is that a female guppy can spawn many times after only be fertilized once.  Now, this tank resides in our oldest two girls room and it is filled with guppies (the younger two have the beta tank).

So, for the longest time now, we have only had the Cory Catfish in with the frog. But that changed this week. I went into town (that's what we do now that we live in the country-side here in AR) and found some new fish-mates for our frog and catfish. These new mates needed to meet some criteria: they needed to be able to be in the tank with different species, and they needed to be TOO BIG to be eaten by our frog. With this knowledge in hand, we picked five silver dollar tetra and brought them home.

After draining and cleaning the tank, I replaced the rocks with sand, a second log-like hiding structure, and a live plant. I was going for a more realistic-looking scene this time. Once the water was treated and ready, I returned the frog and catfish, then floated the bag with the silver dollar tetra. Twenty minutes later the new fish were swimming around in their new environment, checking out all the nooks and crannies. There fish are much larger than our frog and definitely have no fear of him.

So, what did I learn through all this? Here are a couple of things that come to mind:

• Don't assume. If I hadn't assumed that the frog was the same, we might this have 5 neon tetra today.
• You may be a big fish in your small pond, but there are always fish bigger than you! 

A Big Fish In A Small Pond: Part 3

Here is Part 2

...When morning comes, I wake up before everyone else and go to the living room and begin to count the fish: one...two...three.....and.....and....uhhh.....NOT AGAIN?!?

Now I know something else must be up because the girls were asleep the whole time. Was the frog eating the fish? I don't know about you, but when there is a question about something in our house, we quickly get out our electronic devices and "google it." A quick google search (with images) revealed to us an unexpected truth: our frog was not who we thought he was. Instead of picking out another Dwarf frog at the local pet store, I picked out an African Clawed frog. These frogs LOVE to eat small fish!

So, what did I do with the other three fish? Well, I did what anyone else would have done. I left them in there because I wanted to see this frog eat one! Unfortunately, it never happened. Don't get me wrong, he ate them, but I never got to see it. But I wasn't going to let that stop me! So, I went back to the locally owned pet store and told him my situation and what I wanted to do. He understood completely and took me to...the feeder fish. I had him scoop me up a bag full of feeder fish (grey guppies) and I took those fish home and poured them into the tank. I was bound and determined to see this frog eat a fish!

It was hard to keep count of the guppies, but there were around 15-20 of them swimming all over the place. I sat by during the daytime and never witnessed this feeding frenzy. Night would come and I would sit in the darkened living room with only a small light and watch the frog swim around. But still no dinner time theater for me. And worse yet, the number of guppies was dwindling fast.

As time went by, we were down to just one guppy when...

....more to come soon.

A Big Fish In A Small Pond: Part 2

Here is the link to Part 1 if you have not read it yet.

...I woke up the next morning and gave the tank a quick glance on my out and thought nothing of it. The frog is mostly active at night, and I saw some fish swimming around.

Well, when I got home that evening, I sat down by the tank just to watch what is going on. I am not sure why, but I find it interesting to watch the activity in the tanks. Maybe it is the tranquility of it (though as I will soon find out on this evening, that tank was anything but tranquil), maybe it is the color, or maybe it is that there is a whole world taking place under water in those tanks. I'm not sure, but I know that I like to spend some time checking them out. But back to this story.

As I looked in on the tank, I began to do what I still do today: count the fish. So, I counted one dwarf frog, and then begin to count the tetra: one...two...three...four.....and.....and....wait, where is #5? I call Darci in, and she only counts four. The fifth one is gone, but where? Obviously, one of the girls did something to it. They were so fascinated with the tank, I bet they got the net and scooped one out and it died so they flushed it! Those little brats (don't worry, I didn't say that to them. Just what I was thinking)! So, I give each of them the 3rd degree, and they all had the same answer: I don't know?!? Now I know for sure they are up to something. They are definitely in cahoots. But, with no hard

evidence or confession, what can I do?

As I go to bed that night (after the girls and Darci are asleep), I count the fish: one...two...three...four. When morning comes, I wake up before everyone else and go to the living room and begin to count the fish: one...

...to be continued...

A Big Fish In A Small Pound: part 1

Most people have hobbies. One of my hobbies is keeping up with our aquariums. As of right now, we have four total:

1. A 10 gallon tank with 2 Sunburst Platy's, a Dalmatian Molly, 3 Zebra Danio's, and a Ghost Shrimp.
2. A 10 gallon tank with 1 Cory Stripped Catfish, an African Clawed Frog, and 5 Silver Dollar Tetra.
3. A 5 gallon tank with a momma Guppy, and all her baby guppies that survived the frog (more on  that later).
4. A 1-2 gallon tank with a Beta.

Monday evening, I took the girls to the pet store to get some supplies for tank #2. I had let the water level go down on that tank knowing that I was going to replace the rocks with sand and get another structure and a live plant. At this time, the only thing in that tank was the frog and the catfish. Not a lot for a 10 gallon tank, but there was a reason for that.

We became intrigued with the frog through the girls home-school science curriculum. So, we went to a local pet store chain in the Westland, MI area and we found an African Dwarf frog. These frogs will not eat other fish. At that time, we had one small, one gallon tank, so we picked up the five gallon tank. With a bigger tank, we decided to get some fish to go with our Dwarf Frog. Our girls picked out five of the neon tetra. They are not very big, but they are very colorful.


As we get home we set the tank up and begin to feed the frog the dried bloodworms that we got for it. It was fascinating watching this frog, under water, with its little T-Rex like arms shoving food in its mouth. All the while, the tetra swim around and enjoy their new environment.

Well, unfortunately, the frog did not last long. Not sure exactly why, but I decided that instead of going back to this chain pet store (which had A LOT of dead fish in their tanks), I would go to the local owner-operated pet store and pick out another frog there. I walk in, find the tank, get another frog, pay for it, take it home, and introduce it to its new tank. After floating the bag for some time, we release the frog to freely swim in his new home with his new tank mates.

Everything was going just as planned. Then, one monring...

Stay tooned for Part 2.

Are You Apart or A Part of Jesus?

Are You Apart or A Part of Jesus? - John 13:1-17

As Jesus is gathered with His disciples, He gets up from the table to begin to wash their feet. When gets to Peter, Peter refuses to let Jesus wash his feet. Jesus was the one who Peter promoted as the Messiah, the Son of God (even if he didn't quite understand it fully yet (Luke 24:45, etc.), there was no way He was going to wash his feet. At this point, Jesus tells Peter that if he won't let Him wash his feet, that Peter will have no part in His work (John 13:8). Peter's response (John 13:9) shows that he misunderstands verse 8 and now is asking to be completely washed. Jesus responds and lets Peter know that the washing He is administering has nothing to do with salvation, but an example of not only humility and servanthood, but the daily cleansing that each believer needs. Just as the dirt from the roads would gather on the feet of a person as they walked the city streets, even after coming from the central bath house (read more about it here) where they have been fully cleaned, sin gathers in the life of the believer and we need that daily cleansing, or repentance of sin. So, this is not only an example of humility and servanthood, but a picture of our need for daily cleansing from sin as believers.

With this in mind, when we reconsider what Jesus said to Peter, we see that Jesus warns him that unconfessed sin with keep Peter apart of the ministry and fellowship of Jesus. If we want to be A PART of the work of the Lord, we cannot allow unconfessed sin in our heart and life. Ephesians 5:25-26 give us the mode of washing today: the Word of God. It is through our daily, consistent study of the Word of God that we can be washed of the daily sin that gathers. Without this daily washing, we will not be A PART of our Lord's work, but it will keep us APART from the work.

So today, at this moment, are you APART or A PART?

Grace & Politics

While I could start off by saying there has been a lot of politics in the news today, the truth of the matter is that politics are always a hot-issue button. But what does the Bible say about our role a born-again believers within the realm of politics?

Titus 3:1 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,

We see from Paul's words to Titus that we are subject to the office AND the person in the office. Not just to be respectful of the office, but obedient to the office AND person. Even if the person holding the office makes it difficult, we are to obey the office.

At the writing of this letter, Nero was in charge of the Roman Empire and Western World. The following info on Nero can be found here:

Nero (Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus; 15 December 37 – 9 June 68) was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death. In 64 AD, most of Rome was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome, which many Romans believed Nero himself had started in order to clear land for his planned palatial complex, the Domus Aurea. He is infamously known as the Emperor who "fiddled while Rome burned"[7] and as an early persecutor of Christians. He was known for having captured Christians to burn them in his garden at night for a source of light. This view is based on the writings of Tacitus, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio, the main surviving sources for Nero's reign.

It has been said that no one embodied the very spirit of antichrist more than Nero. So if Christians were expected to be subject and obedient  unto good works towards Nero, what would be expected of us today? Peter said that it was better to obey God than man (Acts 5:29), but what was the context? (Acts 5:17-32). They were charged with not preaching that Jesus was the Messiah and that it was the Jews who killed the Son of God. This charge was for all times and in all places. So, when government arrest us and tries to make us completely stop the preaching of the Gospel - we must stand against it. Or, when the government makes a law that would force us to do something contrary to the clear teaching of Scripture, we must stand against it (EX: Daniel, refusing to pray to King Darius, lions’ den). But lets be honest: has that happened to us today, here in America?

How did Jesus react to the government during His earthly ministry? We see one of the ways in Mark 12:13-17. Consider this - do you think Jesus agreed with everything Caesar did with the tax money? Yet, He said to give to Caesar anyway. Why? Because he would be the one accountable for how it was spent;  we are accountable for not obeying the laws and not paying the tax.

How did Paul react to the government during his ministry? Paul, even after being arrested and jailed on multiple occasions, never called for a change in government. Instead of getting caught up in political dealings, Paul focused on his calling as a missionary and evangelist to a lost and dying world in need of Jesus. The persecution he faced from governments was his cross that he bore. His goal was to not know anything, except for Jesus and Him crucified. But lets be honest: more people know Christians by their politics and their faith.

So then, what is our duty to government?

1. Pray - 1 Tim. 2:1-2.
2. Obey - this is what we see in the text of Titus 3:1.
3. Here in America, we also have a third duty - make our voice count when it comes time to vote.

But as we vote, we realize our hope and strength is not found in government and ballots. And once we make our voice heard at election - we move on serving the Lord no matter the election outcome.

Why is obeying those who have the rule over us so important?

Romans 13:1–2  — 1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

So, before you forward that email, or share that Facebook picture, or tweet your disgust of our current politicians, remember Romans 13:2 and think, "When I complain, say spiteful and mean-spiritied things, and rebel, I am really doing so against God."