free will

Suppose I bring up before you to-day in illustration a child. It has no past, no history. It can do what it pleases, of course; and if I say to it, “Will you do this?” it replies, “I will.” The child does just what any one wishes it to do. Now, take a man of education and of character, a man of principle, a man of convictions, a man of purpose, a man of fixed habits, and you cannot make him do this or that. What he does is already determined by the character of the man, habits which have been crystallized into character. The child is unformed — he can do anything; but the character of the man is fixed, and he cannot do what is against his conscience, and he cannot do what is improper in his mind or view. It is uncertain what the child will do, hut it is very certain what the man will do. Now, I ask you, Which is the more free? Is it the child or the man? Is the child free, or is the father free who can stand up in the most trying times, determined from within by the forces of his character and by the good habits of his life? You take a man — take a father and compare him with God: concede the father to be a man of high character, such as General Grant, and sanctified by the Spirit of God, firm as a rock. Yet, after all, the strongest human being may be tempted, may be overcome by seduction. But when you look up at Jehovah, whose character is not uncertain, whose character is eternal, who cannot do that which is foolish and who cannot do that which is wrong, which is the more free? Is Jehovah freer than man? Is the man freer than the child? Therefore, I hold that a man is free just in proportion to his convictions, just in proportion to his capability of determining his action from experience, just from his fixedness and crystallization of character. A man is free in proportion to the direction and development of his character. A holy character is the highest form of freedom.

work day 2

finished 3 lots

started early (around 8:30)

not too tired tho the hills were steep and the soil soft and crumbly

i like

Working

im down in oakland, california. vick asked me to come to work with him to earn some money. we clear brush to help prevent fires. its the kind of work i don't despise because it works, it isn't futile and pointless is what i mean. but it is hard and it does require persistence to finish one large lot in one day so im grateful to God for an opportunity to mold my character ( and for the cash of course )

but i haven't read from the Bible today so im gonna go do that right now. cya

Free Will

Suppose I bring up before you to-day in illustration a child. It has no past, no history. It can do what it pleases, of course; and if I say to it, “Will you do this?” it replies, “I will.” The child does just what any one wishes it to do. Now, take a man of education and of character, a man of principle, a man of convictions, a man of purpose, a man of fixed habits, and you cannot make him do this or that. What he does is already determined by the character of the man, habits which have been crystallized into character. The child is unformed — he can do anything; but the character of the man is fixed, and he cannot do what is against his conscience, and he cannot do what is improper in his mind or view. It is uncertain what the child will do, hut it is very certain what the man will do. Now, I ask you, Which is the more free? Is it the child or the man? Is the child free, or is the father free who can stand up in the most trying times, determined from within by the forces of his character and by the good habits of his life? You take a man — take a father and compare him with God: concede the father to be a man of high character, such as General Grant, and sanctified by the Spirit of God, firm as a rock. Yet, after all, the strongest human being may be tempted, may be overcome by seduction. But when you look up at Jehovah, whose character is not uncertain, whose character is eternal, who cannot do that which is foolish and who cannot do that which is wrong, which is the more free? Is Jehovah freer than man? Is the man freer than the child? Therefore, I hold that a man is free just in proportion to his convictions, just in proportion to his capability of determining his action from experience, just from his fixedness and crystallization of character. A man is free in proportion to the direction and development of his character. A holy character is the highest form of freedom.

Working

Last night my dad gave me ANOTHER lecture about working and that work is not a curse and that we should love to work and how to love work, and all that, and today i had the chance to apply it.
I had to paint two rooms twice. Usually i hate to do something so monotonous but this time i didn't notice it, time just flew by just because i tried not to think about how boring it is. (it wasn't)

There's a difference between work and futility in work. And this time it wasn't a futile job because the paint was just right and the method was good (long pole with roller). But the most important thing is to realize that you're not working for money, for the boss, for yourself or for free; but that you're working for God and that you must do it as for Him. Really. No mind -bending here. Its not just a mind-set, its true. We belong to Jesus Christ, and we answer to Him. If you do your work as for Him, He will repay you for every work you do just as much as a missionary's work. Theologically sound. Study it out.

I work for God.

On "What will you do when you grow up?"

Wherever God put you right now, you must be faithful, do your job the best you can.

We don't necessarily need to dig deep and stress out about finding a "career" because God is preparing us in the circumstances we are in.

Wherever you are, be content.

Modification to the bow

i added two planks of bamboo on the arms between the handle and fiberglass plank (for extra strength)

so this is what it looks like

i'll finish it off by wrapping the whole thing with sports tape (maybe camouflaged)

it has about a 20-25# draw weight (that means the power it has in #per sq in if you pull the string back to 28'' )