Memorials of Faith or Fear? by Margaret Manning

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 1 John 4:18

...In some ways, a culture of fear invaded our nation on 9/11, just as it often invades my heart. Even as I write this, fears over our economy loom large as investment banks fold and the stock market declines. There are always fears, but as people of Christian faith, what do our fears say of our witness in this world? What do they say about what we love and value? Do our lives memorialize what we are afraid of, rather than giving witness to the God who tells us “fear not”? Oh, fear is real--there are always situations, issues, and trends that keep us awake at night. The issue is not the absence of fear, but whether or not our posture toward our world is one that memorializes fear or faith. Memorials are not built to help us hang on to fear. Rather, they remind us of what or who we love. The epistle of John encourages us to build a memorial of faith: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out all fear” (1 John 4:18). As we think about this kind of love, may our own hearts be filled to overflowing with faith that conquers our fears.

Comments: Last week our fellow COUGAR, Pat Castle, heard the news that his family had been in a car accident. Brian Curtis, a fellow Cougar, has a mom with cancer. Across our world, child trafficking is an epidemic. I cannot think of three things that would cause more fear in my life than those listed above.

I used to think that the opposite of love was hate. Nonetheless, today's verse speaks to the idea that the opposite of love is fear.

How can I develop such a perfect love for God and for my brothers and sisters that I do not fear, cancer, abduction and pain? I think the answer lies in our closeness to God Himself. If we can hear God speak to us, and if we love and trust His decisions, how could we fear?

For why fear man who can only kill the body? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

I am almost finished with William P. Young's book, 'The Shack'. It is a compelling read and a roller coaster of fear/anger/trust. It is a novel, not a theological text, but I do highly recommend reading it. I think it is something that would be worthwhile purchasing several copies and giving them out.

Love you in Christ,
Chad

Encore! by Jill Carattini

Take about 5 minutes to read this snippets version of The previous day's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Follow up by reading TODAY'S SLICE and forward any comments on your faith journey.

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him." (Lamentations 3:22-24)

Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 28 And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? (Luke 12:27-28)

A Slice of Infinity Snippets:
Jesus spoke of the kingdom as belonging to the likes of little children, and many have speculated the child’s ability to see the world with wonder as one of the reasons for it. G.K. Chesterton saw the child’s ability to revel in the monotonous as another. The child’s cry for more, reasoned Chesterton, is a quality of the very God who created them. “It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we. The repetition in Nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore."

For the child on the slide or the toddler with a story, “Do it again!” is far from a cry of boredom or routine, but a cry for more of life itself. This is likewise the joy of the psalmist, the cry of the prophets, and the call of Christ... Jesus asks that we consider the kingdom around us like little children, and thus, something more like God--finding a presence in faithful recurrences, grace in repetition, rumors of another world in the ordinary world around us. Here, even those within the most taxing of life’s repetitions--the daily care of an aging parent, the constant burden on the shoulders of those who fight against injustice, the labor of hope in a difficult place--can find solace.

Being Set in a Broad Place by Margaret Manning

Take about 5 minutes to read this snippets version of The previous day's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Follow up by reading TODAY'S SLICE and forward any comments on your faith journey.

Psalm 18
2 Samuel 22:2-51

A Slice of Infinity Snippets:
But God’s deliverance is a mighty deliverance! God doesn’t come quietly to rescue. God doesn’t slip quietly through the back door. David writes, “Then, the earth shook and quaked, the foundations of heavens were trembling and were shaken...God bowed the heavens and came down with thick darkness under his feet....The Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice...the foundations of the world were laid bare” (2 Samuel 22:8, 10, 14, 16). God’s deliverance creates a cosmic earthquake on behalf of “the man after his own heart.” Sent from on high, God draws David out of the many waters of despair and destruction. Even though confronted by powerful forces at work against him, David affirms that “The Lord was my stay. He brought me forth also into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me” (Psalm 18:19).

If only God would shake the heavens like this in our day and return our fortunes! If only God would save in a way that shores up our financial collapses, and transforms our economic hardships! If only God would deliver us in the same way God delivered David!

If this is the way we see God’s rescue, only as a return to the “way things were” or to a renewed sense of comfort and ease, then we have missed the point of the song altogether. God’s rescue shakes our foundations; it creates cosmic earthquakes overturning and upending all the things in which we place our hope apart from God. David tells us that The Lord was his stay. And David would come to need God’s earth-shaking deliverance again and again, as he lost focus and put his trust in security, and comfort, and the things of this world.

Ultimately, salvation does not come from the things God does for David, or for us. Salvation comes in the Lord as our stay and our total support.

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Our Disappointments Matter to God - by Ravi Zacharias

Take about 5 minutes to read this snippets version of The previous day's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Follow up by reading TODAY'S SLICE and forward any comments on your faith journey.

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. (Colossians 3:15-17, The Message)

A Slice of Infinity Snippets:
Thankfully, our disappointments matter to God, and He has a way of taking even some of the bitterest moments we go through and making them into something of great significance in our lives. It’s hard to understand at the time. Not one of us says, “I can hardly wait to see where this thread is going to fit.” Rather, we say, “This is not the pattern I want.” Yet one day the Shepherd of our souls will put it all together--and give us an eternity to revel in the marvel of what God has done. Our Father holds the threads of the design, and I’m so immensely grateful that He is the Grand Weaver.

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our next posting.
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The Path to Straight by Margaret Manning

Take about 5 minutes to read this snippets version of The previous day's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Follow up by reading TODAY'S SLICE and forward any comments on your faith journey.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
(Proverbs 3:5-6)

A Slice of Infinity Snippets:
Real trust in the Lord is only forged out of the fires of testing--testing that reveals whether we truly trust in the Lord or in what we want the Lord to give us. In other words, do we trust the Provider, or the Provider's provisions? In my own life, when it seemed that God withdrew the "provisions" and things stopped going my way, my plans failed, or my goals and dreams didn't materialize, I began to realize that my trust was in my own understanding of what was necessary to make my paths straight. So, as God had abandoned my plans, my test of trust began.

C.S. Lewis once wrote in his marvelous book The Screwtape Letters that in order for the believer to mature in faith and trust, God must withdraw "all the supports and incentives" and "leave the creature to stand up on its own legs--to carry out from the will alone duties which have lost all relish." He continues this thought through the character of Uncle Screwtape, the senior demon coaching his nephew Wormwood on the skills of devilry: "It is during such trough periods, much more than during the peak periods, that it is growing into the sort of creature He [God] wants it to be. Only then, when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy's [God's] will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys."

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The Yoke of Identity by Jill Carattini

Take about 5 minutes to read this snippets version of Yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Follow up by reading TODAY'S SLICE and forward any comments on your faith journey.

- David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17)

-Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. (Psalm 20:6-7)

-Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28-29)

A Slice of Infinity snippets:
As I read this account of David, I wrestle with thoughts of identity. Would I have taken the armor off though it wasn't my own? Would I have been myself, aware of my own abilities, or would I have tried to make someone else's armor my confidence? David is for me a helpful reminder that when our identity is found in God, authenticity and obedience are natural responses to life: David took off the breastplate of Saul because he knew the fortress of God.

And thus, David went into the valley authentically, facing Goliath as no one but himself, going forth not with confidence in his own being, nor confidence in any armor, but with confidence in the character of God.


Chad's Comments:
In today's reading, Jill encourages us to live an authentic life; one not putting on masks or taking on the identity of someone else. I find it thought worthy when she wrote, I would argue that abandoning ourselves to the person of God, we find ourselves able to become the person God has created us to be.

So, as I work through each situation of each day, I will endeavor to be mindful of keeping every thought captive; attempting to abandon my self and be transformed into the likeness of Christ's for his is the only solid identity worthy.

*To comment on this thread, visit the blog.
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our next posting.
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*Invite friends and family to join us on this faith journey.

Matchless Design by Jill Carattini

-When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

A Slice of Infinity snippets:
Physicist and Nobel laureate Leon Lederman once jokingly remarked that the real goal of physics was to come up with an equation that could explain the universe but still be small enough to fit on a T-shirt. With this challenge in mind, Oxford scientist Richard Dawkins offers up his own T-shirt slogan: "Life results from the non-random survival of randomly varying replicators." The universe, he insists, has neither design nor purpose; it exhibits nothing but blind pitiless indifference.

Yet if the universe has always been a disordered series of time plus matter plus chance, how do we account for the intricate orderedness to life, the uniformity of nature, or even the intricacy of the very mind that asks the question?

..."We learn to praise God," it reads, "not by paying compliments, but by paying attention." In fact, much of Scripture is a call to remember and take notice, to bear in mind the stories of God in history and to fix one’s eyes on God’s presence in the world today. In may be that microbiologist Michael Behe is one who pays closer attention than most...

...There would be no reason for a pre-version of the mechanism to survive, and the probability of such an intricate, multi-component mechanism simultaneously and randomly developing at once is nil. They are mechanisms for which a solely chance-driven world simply cannot account. Accounting for them requires remembering another story.

Chad's Comments:
What story does your world view enjoin you to remember?

* The Street Church still needs volunteers and donations. (there are very few washers and dryers available for the homeless. So, even though they may not need coats, they will wear a shirt until it is really ragged and smelly, then simply throw it away. Clothing donations in the summer are strongly encouraged.

*To comment on this thread, visit the blog.
*Read today's slice and email me with your comments/questions/prayers for
our next posting.
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*Invite friends and family to join us on this faith journey.

As One Having Authority by Margaret Manning

Read 'A Slice of Infinity' each day and email Chad with your comments/experience/prayers etc. This ~5 minute recap, called 'COUGARS Daily' contains snippets from the previous day's A Slice of Infinity as well as comments from you.

- And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. (Matthew 7:28-29)

- And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?" (Matthew 8:27)


A Slice of Infinity snippets:
Indeed, the miracles that Jesus performed demonstrated the rule of God itself, and further, that the rule of God was going out to all who relied on Jesus. Jesus was not simply acting for God, but acting with God in such a way as to demonstrate that the Kingdom had come and had come with power and authority. Jesus’s words and his deeds bore out this kingdom reality--“and the multitudes were amazed.”

And we, too, are amazed. As we place our trust in God by following Jesus, we experience the rule of God in our lives and we experience something of that authority. The original language indicates that this authority gives us the capability or liberty to enter into God’s rule more fully and more deeply than we ever thought possible. Entering into God’s rule is about entering into Kingdom living, as first demonstrated by Jesus. As we enter through those doors, we are free to live out our lives in the mode or authority of the Kingdom. Accordingly, we too can bring healing, call powers and principalities to justice, bring order to chaos, and new life to what was dead.

This is what it means to have authority. It is not to live as an overlord or a dictator, but as one whose identity is so taken up into the life of God that one bears the imprimatur of the King. Thus, marked with Kingdom authority, we are freed to live in ways that reveal God’s reign.

Chad's Comments: I found it no coincidence that this reading is speaking of the Authority of Jesus to heal. Yesterday evening, Wolfgang (Wolf is the father of Zak, the young man we prayed for at our home who has severe scoliosis - such that he is only able to use about 25% lung capacity) and I talked about the healing services going on in Lakeland, Florida. Wolfgang had heard of this event from several people and has much confirmation that God is on the move in Lakeland. Even such that some from other countries whom have been to the services have went home and are seeing healings taking place there as well. Wolfgang is trying to decipher God's will in whether God would have him take Zak to the meetings to be healed of God. I told 'Chamo' (Wolfgang) that I would pray about it last night and this morning. Now, despite my desire, I really don't spend as much time in prayer as some may think. Actually, only a few minutes last night and again some thoughts about it this morning. Then, I read 'A Slice of Infinity' and thought that it was no coincidence.

Let us truly enter into the Kingdom that is at Hand.

*To comment on this thread, visit the blog.
*Read today's slice and email me with your comments/questions/prayers for
our next posting.
*Check out Life Devotions and see if you would like to receive their daily snippets.
*Invite friends and family to join us on this faith journey.
* The Street Church still needs volunteers and donations.

short recap of 'In Defense of Listening' by Carattini

Read 'A Slice of Infinity' each day and email Chad with your comments/experience/prayers etc. This ~5 minute recap, called 'COUGARS Daily' contains snippets from the previous day's A Slice of Infinity as well as comments from you.

- So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)
- Hear, O Israel:^(A) The LORD our God, the LORD is one. (Deuteronomy 6:4)

A Slice of Infinity snippets:
"I like to listen," said Ernest Hemingway. "I have learned a great deal from listening carefully."...
And it still is. In homes where we are not put to death for owning a Bible, it is easy to forget the wonder of a God who speaks. As countless translations continue to emerge and divide us, it is easy to be distracted from the authority of words that never fade, but come into new generations and changing cultures with new influence. The words of Scripture are living and active, the Spirit leading us to the person of Christ within the pages. Read aloud or studied silently, God is speaking, crying out for ears to hear and hearts to search.

As Ezra read the words of the Law before a generation who had forgotten, the people wept in the presence of the LORD and immediately fell down in worship. When the apostle Paul's letter was read aloud to the Roman church, the words resounded similarly among the crowd: "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17). The voice of God is still speaking! The kingdom is among us! Who among us will listen?

Chad's Comments: Our daughter, Kaci, has said when asked, "I can't hear God, He's too far away." I too often think of God as far away and some entity off in the clouds. However, when I am open to listening to His Voice, I feel that He speaks very clearly. Kara and I enjoy the ride home from Church as we discuss what we heard from God and learned. At service yesterday, my wife and I each heard several things (by 'things', I mean what God put in our hearts out of what the preacher was saying, not the words of the preacher himself). When we were talking on the way home, we had great confirmation that God was giving us a the same message. God had birthed something in me about a year ago. Kara developed a desire for it and in the past few weeks it had become very meaningful and she longed to participate in it. Meanwhile, I had somewhat put the event on the back burner. However, God was still giving me a desire for something that I saw as a little more abstract. On our ride home from church, Kara's concrete endeavor and my abstract idea came together. This is a wonderful affirmation of the reality of the Holy Spirit in our midst.

Lord, Help me to listen! And when I hear, to act!

*To comment on this thread, visit the blog.
*Read today's slice and email me with your comments/questions/prayers for
our next posting.

*Invite friends and family to join us on this faith journey.
* The Street Church still needs volunteers and donations.

Creative Collaboration by Jill Carattini

Take ~5 minutes to read this 'COUGARS Daily' which contains snippets from the previous day's A Slice of Infinity. Read the 'Slice' each day and email me with your comments/experience/prayers etc. I will compile comments and put them into this 'snippets' version to share.

Here are the snippets/comments from FRIDAY. Remember, this is one day back, so when you have time, read today's 'A Slice of Infinity' and then send me your comments. If you have comments about this particular post, please log in to the blog and post there.

- “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son." (John 1:14)

A Slice of Infinity snippets:
.. When the New Testament writers began to speak of creation through the light of all they saw in Jesus Christ, they affirmed the Old Testament understanding of total dependence upon the maker of heaven (and) earth, but they spoke also of Christ’s presence as the Word at the beginning. Likewise, the early church began to see the role and presence of the Spirit in God’s creative work. Creation, they came to understand, and all we see within it, is the work of a Trinitarian God. Each person of the Trinity in relationship with one another brings forth out of nothing a creation reflective of the goodness and love of a divine community. In this image of God and the fullness of life in the Trinity, creation is affirmed not as emerging from any lack in God, but from God’s communal abundance. All of creation declares the glory of God, the work of the loving interaction between Father, Son, and Spirit.

1. How is it that we are joining God in creation as a community?
2. What kind of kingdom are we illumining by our life together and influence upon the world?
3. What kind of stories are we telling and retelling, and how are we inviting those around us to join in the great Story we have been given?

As the Father has invited us to participate in his good work of creation, so Christ has called us to join him in furthering the community of the kingdom among us. By the Spirit, might our very presence in this creative community be as a great light to the world.

Chad's Comments:
As I peruse the enormous amounts of information thrown at us daily through media and mind, I begin to recognize the 'influence' of culture, media and mind over my interpretation of scripture and relationship building. Oh, may God give us wisdom and discernment.

Reflect on the three questions above. Let God lead you into the answers. What does He want me to create? (possibly this involves your line of work or maybe your hobbies. Maybe it is just an idea that comes to you and may seem odd or insignificant. Ask God if it is something He has for you.) What does He want me to collaborate in creating? (This could be a work Bible study as Danny has created. This could be the COUGARS blog that you participate in. This could be helping at church or getting involved in a missions program or street outreach that God is already moving in.)

I wish I journaled more. Telling and re-telling HIS-story is a wonderful way to see God's hand and build my trust in HIM.

Remember: to comment on this thread, visit the blog. Also, read today's slice and email me with your comments/questions/prayers for tomorrows post.

* Make Space for friends in your life. Enjoin them to belief.
* Post your stories of God's intervention on the blog.
* Look for ways to share Awe and Wonder with children - leave suggestions at CougarsDaily.blogspot.com
* Consider joining Life-Devotions (a group of about 100 catholics and protestants sharing their faith through daily devotions and discussion - strong pro Life content)
* The Street Church
* Voice of the Martyrs

Our Father the Weaver - Ravi Zacharias, May 22nd

Take ~5 minutes to read this 'COUGARS Daily' which contains snippets from the previous day's A Slice of Infinity. Read the 'Slice' each day and email me with your comments/experience/prayers etc. I will compile comments and put them into this 'snippets' version to share.

Here are the snippets from yesterday. Remember, this is one day back, so when you have time, read today's 'A Slice of Infinity' and then send me your comments. If you have comments about this particular post, please log in to the blog and post there.

- “After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also." (John 14:19)

A Slice of Infinity snippets:
..A purposeful design emerges when the Father weaves a pattern from what to us may often seem disparate threads. Even today, if you will stop and attend to it, you will see that God is seeking to weave a beautiful tapestry in your life.

Chad's Comments:
The two stories Ravi told in this post were amazing to me. It is really special to think of the story of the father and son making the Saris; how a beautiful pattern emerges from Father weaving and Son obeying. Also, to see the verse on his grandmother's grave as no coincidence reminds me of my personal journey and God's grand design that leads my experience into something useful.

Yesterday, mom shared this story:
As we were driving home last night I was tired & negative..... & was (sharing) really complaining to my husband....... about how it seems that everyone expects so much from me ...... & I give & give & give...... & no one seems to give in return....... & he stoped to get something for the car..... & when he went in & I was sitting complaining to GOD about how I felt....... GOD SAID: YOU WERE NOT PUT ON THIS EARTH TO BE SERVED ........... YOU WAS PUT HERE TO SERVE OTHERS & QUIT YOUR COMPLAINING & BE SO THANKFUL THAT YOU CAN...He really hit me over the head but I needed it...... We all need to remember this...... NEVER , NEVER, NO NEGATIVE THINKING IT TAKES THE GLORY OUT OF YOUR SOUL........... WHEN MUCH IS GIVEN MUCH IS REQUIRED........... We are so blessed...... GOD IS SO AWESOME..........

Remember: to comment on this thread, visit the blog. Also, read today's slice and email me with your comments/questions/prayers for tomorrows post.

* Make Space for friends in your life. Enjoin them to belief.
* Post your stories of God's intervention on the blog.
* Look for ways to share Awe and Wonder with children - leave suggestions at CougarsDaily.blogspot.com
* Consider joining Life-Devotions (a group of about 100 catholics and protestants sharing their faith through daily devotions and discussion - strong pro Life content)
* The Street Church
* Voice of the Martyrs

The Apologetic of the Apologist

Take ~5 minutes to read this 'COUGARS Daily' which contains snippets from A Slice of Infinity. Invite your family and friends to participate in reading with you daily. Then, consider sharing your comments or faith questions at CougarsDaily.blogspot.com

- Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong! (1 Peter 3:13-17)

A Slice of Infinity snippets:

I have little doubt that the single greatest obstacle to the impact of the gospel has not been its inability to provide answers, but the failure on our part to live it out. The Irish evangelist Gypsy Smith once said, "There are five Gospels: Matthew Mark, Luke, John, and the Christian, and some people will never read the first four." In other words, apologetics is often first seen before it is heard...

...The skeptic is not slow to notice when there is a disparity, and because of that, may question the whole gospel in its supernatural claim. Yet when they are met with gentleness and respect, we will help meet the deepest longings of the heart and mind, and they will find where true discovery lies. Let us live so accordingly.

Chad's Comments:
How quickly I can identify with the many times I have not given respect or gentleness when someone asks me a question. Often, I feel attacked and respond in anger and fear. We need not be fearful. Christ is sitting at the right hand of the Father and the Holy Spirit will give us words to say when HE decides we need them.

Ben's Comments:
I thought todays slice really applied to what we were talking about at breakfast on Saturday. Loving the skeptic. And answering them with "gentleness and respect." A great cross reference to this was a verse in Col I was looking at a couple of days ago. Col 4:5-6 "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." Our conversation should be full of grace. An unbeliever will run the other direction if we don't first build a relationship with them and converse with them with grace on our tongues. Jesus was our example of this. He took time to go to people's houses even when he was busy on a trip.

I will do what I can to be sure this snippets version gets out tomorrow. We will be traveling to my brother-in-law's wedding in Kansas City. - Wouldn't it be cool if I ran into Jim and Elaine at a gas station or something (Jim and Elaine receive this blog announcement and live in K.C.) If I don't get it out, that doesn't get you off the hook for not reading the slice. =)

* Make Space for friends in your life. Enjoin them to belief.
* Post your stories of God's intervention on the blog.
* Look for ways to share Awe and Wonder with children - leave suggestions at CougarsDaily.blogspot.com
* Consider joining Life-Devotions (a group of about 100 catholics and protestants sharing their faith through daily devotions and discussion - strong pro Life content)
* The Street Church
* Voice of the Martyrs

Hoax or History? - by Jill Carattini

Take ~5 minutes to read this 'COUGARS Daily' which contains snippets from A Slice of Infinity. Invite your family and friends to participate in reading with you daily. Then, consider sharing your comments or faith questions at CougarsDaily.blogspot.com

- For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. (2 Peter 1:16)

A Slice of Infinity snippets:
Scottish skeptic David Hume is perhaps history's most famous critic of the miraculous. Hume once stated that if historians consistently agreed that the Queen of England died and then reappeared a month later, he would be willing to accept any explanation but a miracle of God. Responding to Hume's thought-experiment, philosopher William Lane Craig marks an essential clue in investigating the miraculous. Says Craig, "I would agree that a miracle without context is inherently ambiguous....The religio-historical context is crucial in understanding miraculous events. This is why...the Queen's return would only perplex us [while] the Resurrection gives us pause."(2) Craig’s response posits the importance of the context in which Jesus performed his miracles, a context that was brimming with religious significance, and therefore cannot be separated from any consideration of the whole. The supernatural acts Jesus performed were an authentication of the divine authority he was simultaneously claiming. He had professed equality with God, which was why many of the religious leaders accused him of blasphemy, and his startling miracles were further attestation of his startling claim. What's more, his resurrection was the crowning end to the unparalleled claims for which he was crucified.

Chad's Comments:
For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased," we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:17-21) emphasis mine.

Did God just say through Peter that prophetic word is more sure than their eyewitness testimony? Did God just tell us that the words of the Old and New Testament hold more argumentative weight than experience? Wow. Can we accept it? God's Word is more true and real than our own experience.

* Make Space for friends in your life. Enjoin them to belief.
* Post your stories of God's intervention on the blog.
* Look for ways to share Awe and Wonder with children - leave suggestions at CougarsDaily.blogspot.com
* Consider joining Life-Devotions (a group of about 100 catholics and protestants sharing their faith through daily devotions and discussion - strong pro Life content)
* The Street Church
* Voice of the Martyrs

Reading Between the Lines - Jill Carattini

Take ~5 minutes to read this 'COUGARS Daily' which contains snippets from A Slice of Infinity. Invite your family and friends to participate in reading with you daily. Then, consider sharing your comments or faith questions at CougarsDaily.blogspot.com

- "Now faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see" (Hebrews 11:1)

- "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Hebrews 12:1).

A Slice of Infinity snippets: "From Noah and Abraham, to Rahab and saints left unnamed, we find faith moving across the pages of history, the gift of God sparkling in the eyes of the faithful, the hope by which countless lives were guided. In this brief gathering of biographies, the writer seems to tell us that faith is understood functionally as much as philosophically, and that our own faith is more fully understood by looking at the lives of the faithful. For in between the lines that describe faithful men and women is the God who makes faith possible in the first place."

Chad's comments: When I look at my Grandfather, Dale, I see a continual pressing on. A perseverance through rough times and a steady, strong will. My Dad has always pushed me to ask the tough questions of my mentors and my mom has always enjoined me to trust God. I am very thankful for the example of the faithful that have gone before me. Without these examples of faith, I could be floundering about in a sea of unwillingness to accountability and responsibility. Ask yourself, 'who have been faithful witnesses in my life?' and 'How might I be a faithful witnesses today?' Ask God to show you whom He wants you to be in relationship with today.

If you are sitting in a coffee shop by yourself and you feel God impresses on you to purchase a cup of coffee for a total stranger, will you do it? What will you say to the stranger when they ask you why you did it? Perhaps you would simply say, "God told me he wanted me to buy you that cup of coffee." And when they ask you what you want, you can say, "nothing, enjoy your coffee."

Franciscan Benediction -
May God bless us with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
So that we may live from deep within our hearts.


* Post your stories of God's intervention on the blog.
* Look for ways to share Awe and Wonder with children - leave suggestions at CougarsDaily.blogspot.com
* Make Space for unbelievers in your life.
* Consider joining Life-Devotions (a group of about 100 catholics and protestants sharing their faith through daily devotions and discussion - strong pro Life content)
* Voice of the Martyrs

We Follow Another Author - by Jill Carattini

Take ~5 minutes to read this 'COUGARS Daily' which contains snippets from A Slice of Infinity. Invite your family and friends to participate in reading with you daily. Then, consider sharing your comments or faith questions at CougarsDaily.blogspot.com

- "And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.'" (Acts 3:23-35)

- "Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven." (Hebrews 1:1-3)

A Slice of Infinity snippets: "The hope of the Christian worldview is perhaps that the story of humanity, indeed, our own stories, are not ultimately in our hands. We seek an author who is far greater than chance and not limited by time, for we follow a God who proclaims that we have a hope and a future. We daily live into a narrative that runs parallel and counter to the dominant narratives of our world, because we have been shown an author with the power to resurrect the darkest of stories."

Chad's comments: Last night, Kara and I were viewing a PBS documentary on the coorelation between social standing and health/longevity. In general, the study seemed to indicate that people who have more ability to control their circumstances; make decisions on their job, live in pleasant areas, purchase nutritional food and have the time to make it, etc. were healthier, longer. I couldn't help but think about the pressure, from the top down, for Americans to 'succeed'. We press in and on so much with our daily lives that we don't have time for solitude. May we have the courage to slow down and seek the peace that passes all understanding. May our joy be evident to those around us - and if it is not, may we seek it wholeheartedly.

This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it. Psalm 118:24

The maid of honor at our wedding, Misty, has a cousin who is very ill. Misty sent us this message last night:

We got some bad news on Meredith. She was out to dinner last night and had a seizure. They did a brain MRI and found about 6 lesions on her brain. She has decided to go with immediate radiation on her entire brain to hopefully get it all. there are serious side affects, vomiting, dementia, loss of hair etc. Please pray for her comfort and Gods hands on her and her family. Thank you all. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/meredith

The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

* Post your stories of God's intervention on the blog.
* Look for ways to share Awe and Wonder with children - leave suggestions at CougarsDaily.blogspot.com
* Make Space for unbelievers in your life.
* Consider joining Life-Devotions (a group of about 100 catholics and protestants sharing their faith through daily devotions and discussion - strong pro Life content)
* Voice of the Martyrs

You Are My Witnesses - Jill Carattini

Welcome God every morning: Read today's 'A Slice of Infinity' (~5 minutes) The email you're receiving is a 'snippets' version containing a quick synopsis of the reading. This synopsis is posted to the COUGARS Daily blog and the blog generates the email to your inbox. I encourage you to read the 'A Slice of Infinity' article AND these daily snippets. Then, consider sharing your gift of faith by posting a comment on the COUGARS Daily blog.

- "The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree. Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: We heard him say, 'I will destroy this man-made temple and in three days will build another, not made by man.' Yet even then their testimony did not agree" (Mark 14:55-59).

- “What kind of man is this that even the winds and the waves obey him?" (Matthew 8:27).

- “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy,” asked others. “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Luke 5:21).

A Slice of Infinity snippets: "At the heart of our identities as Christ’s witnesses is our answer to the very question Jesus embodies, “Who do you say that I am?” And while our answer is hopefully much more than mere preference, it is vital that we realize we are answering with every moment of our lives. Some of the loudest testimonies are spoken without words."

Chad's Comments: What areas of my life do I argue with Christ over? Is our objection to following Him simply one born out of mere preference? Danny Meece and I spoke on Saturday - both of us struggling a little with the same issue. How do we look different from the world around us? What draws people to ask us about the Love of Jesus? In Danny's life, it looks like a Bible study that he began in the break room of his office - him and one other person - an event of great magnitude. For us, it may simply be starting with giving dignity to those around us. Perhaps telling the janitor 'thank you' for their service to you. As we enter this Holy week rapidly, I encourage you not to give up under the weight of the cross you carry. And don't judge or condemn your neighbor, but, like Christ, pick up your cross, dig in, persevere and love them unto death.

* Look for ways to share awe and wonder with your children.
* Create Space for unbelievers in your life.
* Consider joining LIFE devotions (a group of about 100 Catholic and Protestant Christians sharing their faith through daily devotions and dialogue - Strong Pro Life content)

In Spirit and in Truth by Jill Carattini

Welcome God every morning: Read 'A Slice of Infinity' (~5 minutes) The email you're receiving is a 'snippets' version containing a quick synopsis of the 5 minute reading. Then, consider sharing your gift of faith by posting a comment on the COUGARS Daily blog.

Verses Pertinent to todays reading: Jesus shouted to the crowds, "If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me." (John 12:44)

A Slice of Infinity snippets: "...a person can say she believes in Christianity, or does not believe in Christianity, and not be thinking about truth at all."

Chad's Comments: What areas of my life am I not trusting God? I assume that I want to control these areas out of fear. What is the fear and what is the lie that those fears are based on? Oh please Lord, display these areas to me and let me find your perfect LOVE that casts out the fear so I might trust you more.

* Create Space for unbelievers in your life.
*40 days for life campaign (ends March 16th)
* Consider joining LIFE devotions (a group of about 100 Catholic and Protestant Christians sharing their faith through daily devotions and dialogue - Strong Pro Life content)