Thunder and Lightning!

The weather these past couple weeks reminded me of Ithaca and Seattle weather. It's like Ithaca weather because it's perpetually cloudy and deprived of sun; it builds that gloomy and dreary atmosphere, driving people depressed to the point of suicide (FYI - Cornell does not have the highest suicide rate in the nation)! It's also like Seattle weather because it's always misty in the morning and it rains at least a little bit each day.

The last leg of the car ride coming back from Kentucky featured one of the most exciting and frightening display of nature's raw power I've ever seen. We hit a gigantic thunderstorm system that covered the entire state of Pennsylvania. It was lightning and thundering every second and it started hailing somewhere in the middle. I simply can't describe in words how crazy it was, I wish you were there to see it.

While struggling hard to see the road two feet in front of the van, I wondered if God was talking to me in thunder. Perhaps that's why I just love thunderstorms so much. They never fail to give you that "out of the world" feeling ... humbling you to reaffirm that you have no control whatsoever of the world around you. It blows my mind when I try to imagine how BIG God must be and how small we are. I wish I had the chance to revisit that thunderstorm again.

Comments

Ken said…

yup ... we were going to tie frank to the rack on top of the van and see what would happen to him during the hail storm, but he didn't think it was a good idea for some reason.

12:13 PM

Tim Keller is my Hero!

I happen to LOVE Tim Keller. Here's an article about him on NYTimes several weeks ago. When I was in East Asia, Keller would preach to us almost every Sunday through my trusty MP3 player. I listened to him for two years before I finally saw him face to face when I visited Redeemer last July. I can still remember how I couldn't focus on the message that first Sunday because he looked so much different than how I pictured him in my head for two years. Preaching the Word and Quoting the Voice By Michael Luo , Published: February 26, 2006 In the twilight of the biggest snowstorm in New York City's history, the pews of a rented Baptist church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan were packed for the Rev. Timothy J. Keller's fourth sermon of the day. About 4,400 people attend the church; many joined after the Sept. 11 attacks. The 600 or so who braved the snow for the evening service got what they had come to expect — a compelling discourse by Dr. Keller, this time on Jesu...

YHWH

God is the most God-centered being in the universe . - John Piper People always asks, "If God created us so that we can glorify Him, doesn't this make Him pretty vain?" Well, I don't think that vain is the correct word for it, but it does make Him very God-centered. Take the Exodus story for example, God appointed Moses to deliver the Israelites from slavery from the hands of the Egyptians. There were ten deadly plagues and God hardens pharaoh's heart time and time again. So ... why did God do that? Let's take a look at some scripture: Exo 7:3,5 "But I will harden Pharaoh's heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt ... The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord , when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the songs of Israel from their midst. " This theme repeats throughout the next few Chapters (7:17, 8:22, 9:14-16, 12:12, 14:4), God demonstrates His power through these plagues so that both the Israelites a...

Christianity Lite

Several people have told me that I sound angry or bitter in my last post. My response to that is: I'M NOT ANGRY OR BITTER ... haha. Now that's settled, let's risk sounding critical and judgmental with the following post. One of the fears I have for the modern church is that in order to penetrate into the mainstream, the chuch is diluting its message and portraying an unbalanced view of the Gospel. In our strive to change the common stereotype that Christians are intolerant and conservative, churches becoming more and more vague about its beliefs and tenants. Please don't misunderstand, I am all for being more culturally relevant and reaching out to the masses, but not at the cost of compromising our values. Yes, Jesus reached out to the outcasts and "sinners," and we should do the same by displaying love rather than condemnation. But even when Jesus saved the adulterous woman from being stoned in John 8, He said to her after the crowd left, " Neithe...

The Constant Wanderer

Search This Blog