Last night involved fire eating, limbo dancing, and Ashley doing a flip on the dance floor – great time.
This morning, equally as great: breakfast in bed while listening to a Ronnie Smith sermon-providing application for the use of prophesy over speaking in tongues (without interpretation)…please head over to the Austin Stone website to check it out if you are interested because he gives a great present day take away – it is titled “Speak the Gospel”…boiled down, he says, if you are a believer-tell people why you are so different-tough to do, but he knows this…
We then played gin rummy for an hour (Ashley is winning 75-31).
We canceled our tour this morning because we got to swim in a waterfall yesterday and didn’t want to sit in a taxi for an hour to go see a super tourized drive through volcano that exploded 40,000 years ago…we saw it from a distance on our horse back ride.
So we went to the pool instead did our Bible study, got to hear a St. Lucian “bluegrass” band play for a couple of hours with the youngest member pushing 70 (just a guess, but fairly certain), and had a great brunch buffet for lunch.
We got to sit back by the pool and I finished reading “Furious Longing of God” by Brennan Manning – I am going to be writing about this a lot in the near future because of the impact it has already had on me-I’m excited to share.
Here’s a snippet: Manning said that he has chosen to get “caught up in the reckless raging fury they call the love of God.” I had never thought of God’s love in these terms, but wow…so true.
The rain clouds started coming in, so we came back to our room, worked on our Marriage Investment Plan, which is almost complete – and then watched “Fever Pitch” on a tiny portable DVD player as the rain poured.
The rain just stopped and we are headed right back to our spot for the sunset, only 2 more left…which also means Chloe-only 2 more days-we miss you.
here comes the sun again
———-
Well last night was an awesome night- My cheerleading helped me alot on that limbo and flip 
Ronnie was a dancing machine last night- We had so much fun! We actually stayed up till 11:30.. Wow.. late nighters.
Today was possibly my favorite day of all- Breakfast in bed, Austin Stone Sermon, Bible Study, Pool time while reading “Believing God” by Beth Moore, Lunch Buffet (I had BBQ, made me feel a little closer to the boro), a little more pool and reading, then back to the room to work on what Luke and Stacey like to call “A Marriage Investment Plan” like a Business investment plan… We came up with a “Mission Statement” and “Steps” to get there. (Thanks for the idea stace and luke).
After that we got to lay in bed and watch a movie on our portable DVD player… “Fever Pitch” It was pretty good.. it was just nice to rest and watch a movie (Ronnie stayed awake the WHOLE time too).
I wanted to share a little bit of the book I’m reading cause it really makes you think… But first my question for you is- Do you BELIEVE GOD or just believe IN him? I’ll tell you about my book tomorrow- We just came up after the rain to enjoy the sunset and have an iced tea… mom and dad, sounds like we are doing exactly what you’re doing now.
I’m hungry and can’t wait for dinner- It’s only 5:20 and i’m already brain storming what i am going to choose tonight!
We love yall! Have a good evening….
So…do you believe God or just believe in God? What’s the difference if you think there is one?
ltlo
Happy Memorial Day to everyone in KY and TX. That question is interesting and fired me up. I’ll give it a shot. Forgive my spelling. In my humble opinion:
The act of believing is one of God’s greatest gifts to humankind. God engineered the gift. Self transcendence is inherited and has been passed on from generation to generation by DNA. Adam and Eve were devoid of spiritual DNA encoding and were banned from the Garden of Eden. God’s Biblical evolution of spirituality has taken millions of years and many generations. It began in Genesis and continues through Revelations.
Noah was probably the first to have a significant DNA sequence for spirituality. His descendants were the first qualified to occupy God’s Holy City, Jerusalem. They climbed the mountain. Grace was first used associated with Noah scriptures. God labored with humankind until He created the sequence He sought.
God is continually creating. God still labors with humankind. He is alive and in dynamic equilibrium with all universes and all DNA, and us.
Humans have a genetic predisposition to believe in God. How to practice what to believe is different from that genetic predisposition. Humans have a gene code for spirituality to believe in God.
Different is the meme complex for traditional religion, that is perpetuated by humans. Our genes predispose us to believe. But they don’t tell us how to practice what to believe. Our religions, or memes, are part of our cultural heritage. Religious beliefs evolve over time. Religions are passed on as memes (mimicking) or cultural traditions. Spirituality is passed on by DNA.
Self transcendence is a spiritual instinct encoded in our genes or DNA. Self transcendence is a term used to describe spiritual feelings that are independent of traditional religiousness. It gets to the heart of spiritual being. Self transcendence is a condition when the soul has become totally manifest and open to God’s Word and His Grace.
Some practice traditional religions, but haven’t manifest their souls or spiritual self. God sees those window dressings. Some manifest their spiritual self and don’t practice traditional religion. They are manifesting their hearts alone. God sees the inerds of the heart. Togeather, practicing within a church family and manifesting spirituality are better for humankind and families.
It gets to the nature of the universe and our place in it. Self transcendence is the yardstick scientists use to gauge the intensity of one’s spiritual feelings. Spirituality is the joy of Holiness transformation when humans become receptive to the Holy Spirit. God and science cannot be separated. However, many have tried unsuccessfully.
Science proves the living existence of God every day. From many of us scientists’ perspective there is continuing Holiness perception of Our Almighty God that He functions transparently and is alive. God is All.
Spirituality during prayer and meditation can be measured neurochemically and with MRI. It can also be measured with The Cloninger Scale. TCS was developed to measure what it means to be spiritual.
Great gospel music puts me in a zone. I am spiritually receptive to the Gospel of God by intellectual sermons and other moving modalities.
Religion is a group activity but spirituality and believing are individual realities driven by DNA and inheritance. Thankfully, our parents and ancestors have fostered our spirituality and prevented regression, backsliding and mutation. God created humankind so that each person will attend to the light in their own heart. Each has their own DNA and light.
Faith is the belief that all the universes are framed by the Gospels of God, His Word.
Its ok to seek better scientific understanding of belief in God. Some are stronger Christians like apostle, Thomas Didymus became, when he questioned.
I see God’s wonders every day. I believe God and I believe in Him. I am confident that Ashley and Ronnie’s generations will continue teachings of good works, as preached in Gospels by the seed of David, Jesus, the Christ, who was branded by God with righteousness and born in pure, perfect union with the Word of God.
I’ll hush.
Love,
DocBear
Hi Ashley and Ronnie,
I believe God is who he says He is. He is holy, loving and perfect. He is to be revered. He desires us to know Him more and more through his Word and Spirit. I love God so much and I know He loves you both so much, I can’t wait to see the light shine through you both as husband and wife. He has saved me from a life of false gods and emptiness. Great is our God and worthy to be praised. I love you both.
Cloe is having a blast at cavi-camp. She likes to curl up with Caly when she is tired of playing with Cammie. I am sure she will be excited to be back with you on Wednesday. Keep looking for God in all you see.
Love,
Mom
Hey Ashley and Ronnie. I hope you have had a great day last day! Dad and I have enjoyed our day in the smokies. In reply, I believe in God, but more importantly, I BELIEVE God for my every breath and every good and perfect gift. Until this year, my faith was very strong, but I didn’t have a testimony. Today I can testify that God has carried me through a very emotionally tough year. I owe my strength, my joy, my peace, and my increased love for God and all people to Him. I BELEIVE He can, and will do whatever I ask in Jesus name, in His time and in His way. I now thank Him for My Testimony. Praise God. I love you both, and thank Him for what he has done and will do in your relationship. Love, momma marla
Wow…now the rest of the world can understand a little bit better why we feel so blessed to have the family that we do.
@doc I love your take – thank you for taking the time to share; I look very much forward to our conversations in the future
@mom thanks for the encouragement & love – see you in a couple days!
@marla thank you for the advice & being a SUPERmominlaw