That's why they call it the Living Word

Everyone has their hobbies. Or at least the things they always go back to when there's nothing else to do. Some play video games, some write stories, others sleep. I have discovered that I find myself seeking knowledge of the Bible. I look for the cracks and crevices that I have yet to explore. Last night, during a particularly boring stretch of free time, I found this.

I always knew the names of people in the Bible were important, and I knew that the human race is a living testament to not only the existence, but also the power and creativity of God. But this sealed it in stone for me.

ADAM

The first name, Adam, comes from the Hebrew adomah, and means "man." As the first man, that seems straightforward enough.

SETH

Adam's son was named Seth, which means "appointed." When he was born Eve said, "For God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew." (Genesis 4:25)

ENOSH

Seth's son was called Enosh, which means "mortal," "frail," or "miserable." It is from the root anash: to be incurable; used of a wound, grief, woe, sickness, or wickedness.

KENAN

Enosh's son was named Kenan, which can mean "sorrow," dirge," or "elegy." Where Enosh's name represented a miserable state of being, Kenan's name would be the corresponding state of feeling.

MAHALALEL

Kenan's son was Mahalalel, from the Hebrew mahalal (meaning "blessed" or "praise"), and El, the name for God. Thus, Mahalalel means "the Blessed God." Often Hebrew names ending with -el pointed to God, such as Dani-el, "God is my Judge," Nathani-el, "Gift of God," etc.

JARED

Mahalalel's son was named Jared, from the verb yaradh, meaning "shall come down." Some authorities suggest that this might have been an allusion to the "Sons of God" who "came down" to procreate with the "daughters of men," resulting in the Nephilim of Genesis 6:4.

ENOCH

Jared's son was named Enoch, which means "teaching" or "commencement." He was the first of four generations of preachers. In fact, the earliest recorded prophecy was by Enoch, which amazingly enough deals with the Second Coming of Christ.

METHUSELAH

The Flood of Noah did not come as a surprise. It had been preached on for four generations. Jude 14-15 quotes Enoch recounting a message from God about an impending judgement for the sins of mankind - this turned out to be the flood.

Enoch named his son to reflect this prophecy. The name Methuselah comes from two roots: muth, a root that means "death", and from shalach, which means "to bring," or "to send forth." Thus, the name Methuselah translates into "his death shall bring."

And, indeed, in the year that Methuselah died, the flood came. Methuselah was 187 when he had Lamech, and lived 782 years more (Genesis 5:25-26). Lamech had Noah when he was 182 (Genesis 5:28-29). The Flood came in Noah's 600th year. 187 + 182 + 600 = 969, which was Methuselah's age when he died.

LAMECH

Methuselah's son was named Lamech, a root still evident today in our own English word, "lament" or "lamentation." Lamech suggests "despairing." (This name is also linked to the Lamech in Cain's line who inadvertently killed his son Tubal-Cain in a hunting incident.)

NOAH

Lamech, of course, is the father of Noah, which is derived from the Hebrew nacham , "to bring relief" or "comfort," as Lamech himself explains in Genesis 5:29.

Here's where it comes together...

Hebrew.....English.........

Adam.....Man.........
Seth.....Appointed
Enosh.....Mortal......
Kenan.....Sorrow.....
....Mahalalel.....The Blessed God
..........Jared.....Shall Come Down
Enoch.....Teaching.
........Methuselah.....His Death Shall Bring
.....Lamech.....The Despairing
..........Noah.....Rest or Comfort

Here is a summary of God's plan of redemption, hidden here within a genealogy in Genesis.

The implications of this discovery are far more deeply significant than may be evident at first glance. It demonstrates that in the earliest chapters of the Book of Genesis, God had already laid out His plan of redemption for the predicament of mankind. It is the beginning of a love story, ultimately written in blood on a wooden cross which was erected in Judea almost 2,000 years ago.

This is also one of many evidences that the Bible is an integrated message system, the product of supernatural engineering. This punctures the presumptions of many who view the Bible as a record of an evolving cultural tradition, noble though it may be. It claims to be authored by the One who alone knows the end from the beginning, despite the fact that it is composed of 66 separate books, penned by some 40 authors, spanning several thousand years.

Boo. Yah.

Bayron

My childhood best friend has hopped aboard the fame train by joining a local band called Hendrick, who is about to hit it big with the national release of their debut album, Exhale. Once he starts rakin' it in, I'll probably hit him up for the $100 he owes me. Maybe...we'll see.


Anyway, it must be awesome to be in a band that actually has a following. I was in a band called Temptive Season in college, but it just wasn't meant to be. Mostly because we sucked. But while sitting on the computer this morning arbitrarily surfing the internet for nothing in particular, I stumbled upon something better than a fan club.

Introducing:

There's nothing better than an Argentinian power-metal band from 1999 that just happens to be named after you. I don't know, maybe it's my Hawai'ian charm that somehow found its way into their soulless, tattooed hearts. Or perhaps they did a google search for "most attractive man alive" and clicked "I'm feeling lucky."
Whatever the case may be, I am extremely honored and deeply touched that a group of hardcore rock-faced stoner men would want to band together in the name of a young, 13-year-old homeschooled tube-sock-wearing white kid.

Ok, I'm done entertaining myself now. Time to work.

Why does God let...

...you finish the question yourself. We've all heard it a billion times.

No one wants to accept that there is no such thing as an innocent person. Know why? Because

"if I admit that everyone's corrupt, then I'm admitting that I'm corrupt. I mean I have my dark sides and I've done some questionable things, but who hasn't? I'm not a bad person. Nobody's perfect...but that doesn't mean we're all evil and going to hell. That's so harsh. I'm still a good person: I haven't killed anybody."

How many times have you heard that? People are completely lost without their precious self esteem, and to be called a sinner just isn't "good for their complexion" these days. God forbid you offend anyone. People who ask stupid questions about the nature of God just want to make a point. They don't really want to know. They are so apalled by the notion of someone pointing the finger that they reject the people as a whole.

Well, isn't that rather presumptuous, Ryan, making a claim like that about such a broad range of people? No. Y'know why? Because the people who are searching - the people who really want to know what's really out there - they actually look. They'll pick up the Bible and start reading. They'll ask real questions. They'll find a church and go. It's times like those that verses like Matthew 7:8 come into play.

I once saw a TV show called "What Would You Do," where they stage a scenario in public that is generally accepted as morally wrong, and secretly record the reactions of passers-by, in an effort to see how the average American would react to said scene. Some stand up for justice, others adopt the moronic idium "D-G-I, don't get involved." One episode involved a sandwich shop worker who refused to serve a group of Hispanic men (all staged with actors, of course). One observer tore into the worker, telling him that he should not discriminate on the basis of race. The worker replied, "Well I don't speak Mexican, how am I supposed to serve them?" And then the observer said this:

"Mexican isn't a language. Maybe you should educate yourself about these people before you discriminate against them."

Bingo. There are those who seek in earnest, and there are those who merely wish to bash conventional religion. But the people who ask the question rhetorically, how educated are they really about the belief system of Christianity? What do they know beyond the common household names like Adam and Eve and Noah and Jesus? If you're going to discriminate against us on acccount of our spiritual belief, you had better read up on exactly what those beliefs are, or you are no better than the shopkeeper and you know it.

So, why does God allow bad things to happen to "good" people? There is an answer to that question, and it is a simple one. But don't ask if you don't really want to know the answer. If you want to attack God, take it up with him, not his people. Because with the amount of faith it takes to even stand up for Christianity in this world, a simple question isn't going to begin to move us.

Don't talk about my God unless you know who you're dealing with.

No title, just read.

I've learned something recently: the minds of men and those of women are drastically different in every way. I was reading a book this morning, and man, this guy can draw relationships like a map. Check it out.

A man can focus like a laser on one thing and forget the rest of the world. While this can benefit him in that one arena, it can make him overlook other things that need his attention. A woman, on the other hand, is more multi-conscious, able to maintain an amazing awareness of many factors at once. She can talk on the phone, cook, know where the kids are in the house, and be planning for tomorrow...all simultaneously. Adding to this, a woman also thinks relationally. When she works on something, she is cognizant of all the people who are somehow connected to it.

Both of these tendencies are examples of how God designed women to complete their men. As God said at creation, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him" (Genesis 2:18). But these differences also create opportunities for misunderstanding.

Men, for example, tend to think in headlines and say exactly what they mean. Not much is needed to understand the message. His words are more literal and shouldn't be over-analyzed. But women think and speak between the lines. They tend to hint. A man often has to listen for what is implied if he wants to get the full meaning.

If a couple doesn't understand this about each other, the fallout can result in endless disagreements. He's frustrated wondering why she speaks in riddles and doesn't just come out and say things, or says "I told you so" when she never actually told him so. And she's frustrated wondering why he's so inconsiderate and doesn't add two and two together and just figure it out.

Here's the solution: the man needs to realize that his woman deeply longs for her husband to be thoughtful. It is a key to helping her feel loved. When she speaks, a wise man will listen like a detective to discover the unspoken needs and desires her words imply. If, however, she always has to put the pieces together for him, it steals the opportunity for him to demonstrate that he loves her. And that's what romance is all about.

Written At A Rest Stop

It's always somewhat endearing when someone tells you that you remind them of someone they look up to. Unless they mean it in a bad way. Like the other day, I was chatting the day away with one of our customers at work, when she said this:

"You remind me of my dad. He's an artist like you...yeah, he never finishes anything he starts."

Zing! That hit the spot. But only because it's true. I guess it's something we artists have in common. That, plus the insanely immense lack of organizational skills, abundant enthusiasm for life's little pleasures, and an overwhelming desire to be acknowledged.

But I digress. It made me think. A wise man once told me that I interface with the world through short bursts of intense passion. And I thought about the phases I've gone through in the past few months. Painting, writing, illustrating...sometimes it's not even art. Sometimes it's a video game I get myself wrapped up in, or an e-book on my iPhone. My newest 'thing' is construction. That's right, workin' with my hands in a manly, sweaty, grunty way.

I built shelves. For the wall.

Right now I have a few chunks of cut, sanded, painted wood sitting in my garage that, with the help of a few screws and L-brackets, will hopefully become a headboard.

But do you know what the difference is between this woodworking thing and everything else I've started? I'm going to finish it! Maybe it's because it's a short, simple project. Maybe it's because I have an elevated sense of motivation to get it done (e.g. the room being a constant mess and my wife's pillows falling off the bed every night until it's finished). Either way, it's going to get finished.

I started a paint studio...of sorts. It hasn't seen any action lately. I started illustrating a book I wrote...I'm 3 pages into it. I started reading a book that someone else wrote...I'm about 50 pages into it. I even have unfinished blog posts that I just never went back to.

So yes, I do interface with the world through short bursts of intense passion. And yes, I am not known for finishing what I start. But if I change that - if I finish every little project I undertake, and continue to apply that same passion from start to finish...maybe I will start to make ripples. Maybe the things I do and the stuff I create will become self-sustaining testaments to the artist in me, instead of half-complete artifacts of what I once dreamed, resigned to a life of collecting dust and wondering what they might have become.

That's the key - finish what you start.

It's not the imaginaion I struggle with. Using a little creativity, a mild knowledge of magnetism, and a few minutes of free time, I came up with an idea for the most awesome light source in a room. Leaving all scientific jargon aside, I've come up with a way to place floating light bulbs in various locations around a room - making physical contact with nothing but the air around them - which can turn on and off at the flip of a switch, but without having to be plugged into anything.

The problem isn't in dreaming stuff up. My problem is in making it happen. So if I practice finishing the little things I start, then maybe those little things will become less little. Then they might evolve into big things, then huge things, then a room lit by floating light bulbs!

So the first thing to do is make a list of all my unfinished projects and finish them. But that, my friend, is a task unto itself.

Here's to new perspectives on old ideas.