Month: May 2018
Reflection on Romans 8:12-17
Scripture
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters,you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.
Observation
God’s Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. Therefore we are no longer captive to the sinful nature. If we live by the flesh we will die, but if we let the Spirit put to death our sinful nature, we will live.
We have received the Spirit of adoption by which we call God, “Abba, Father.” We are children of God and therefore heirs with Christ- both to glory and suffering.
Application
I have no obligation to sin.
All of humanity is bound to sin. We are captivated by it, ruled by self-centredness, pride, lust and greed.
When Jesus came into my life, I was born to a new life, born in the Spirit. The Spirit of God came in and set me free form the sinful nature.
I am now under no obligation to sin.
Before I was born again, all I knew was the fleshly sinful nature. I couldn’t avoid sin and had no desire to do so.
But the Spirit convicted me of sin and then forgave me and gave me the way out of sin. The fleshly sinful nature was replaced by the divine holy nature.
I don’t have to sin. I do sin, but there is no excuse. It is a choice to go back to the old ways, to let the flesh dictate my actions rather than the Holy Spirit.
It is awesome to realise that God really has set me free from sin.
No obligations to the sinful nature.
No necessity to sin.
Prayer
Lord, you really have set me free from sin. Once the flesh was all I had, but then you came and set me free. Now sin is a choice and holiness is my calling. Hallelujah! Please help me to make the right choice, to walk in the path of holiness. Amen.
Today’s Bible Verse
For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God,
Titus 2:11-12 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/tit.2.11-12.NLT
Reflection on Isaiah 6:1-8
Scripture
Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom shall I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?”
I said, “Here I am. Send me.”
Observation
Isaiah sees the Lord sitting on a lofty throne, the train of His robe filling the Temple. Mighty seraphim surround the throne singing praise to the Lord. The voices shake the Temple, and smoke fills it.
Isaiah is filled with fear because he recognises his own sin. One of the seraphim touches Isaiah’s lips with a burning coal from the altar and declares that his guilt is taken away.
Then the Lord asks, “Whom will I send to this people?” Isaiah volunteers, “Here I am Lord. Send me.”
Application
God is a sending, missionary God. His desire is to send His people to tell the world about sin, God’s love, and His forgiveness.
The mark of the truly born again christian is that they are willing to be “sent”; that is to be God’s messenger. Isaiah’s guilt was not taken away for his own benefit alone. It was done to equip him to go and tell God’s message.
We get it wrong when we think that we have been saved for our own benefit alone. The blessing is to be shared, for when we share a blessing we multiply it.
My salvation equips me to tell others how to be saved. In fact it energises me to “Go” and tell others.
God will not stop sending His people until the very last person on earth is saved.
Whenever we pray, praise or worship the Lord, our attitude should be, “Lord here I am. Send me.”
Prayer
Lord, please show me who you are sending me to today. Who is the person you want me to take the gospel to? Here I am Lord. Send me. Amen.
Facts Overcome Fear-Mongering
As the fear campaign against CSG ramps up, a few facts from the U.S. moght help counter the nonsense, or maybe not.
From Wattsupwiththat.com
America! Frac Yeah!
Guest commentary by David Middleton
How American Science Made Government Regulations On Emissions Unnecessary
By Hank Campbell — May 18, 2018
In 2009 the U.S. government attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and pledged to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by 2020.
To make it happen, the Obama administration directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to lead the way starting with carbon dioxide (CO2) and that resulted in the Clean Power Plan (CPP) in 2015. While the goal was laudable, no one is in favor of more pollution, it was a blunt instrument because it unfairly penalized fossil fuel power plants…
[…]
The Paris Agreement is now gone in America, what federal politicization of science giveth politicization of science can taketh away, but the emissions reductions the government sought still happened despite a lack of regulations and for that we can thank American science and technology.
Though the added regulations have not come to pass, that’s been a good thing. Without onerous cost increases on the poor, built-in higher rates due to solar and wind programs aside, the free market has continued to cause CO2 emissions to plummet, so much so that in 2017 America reached the CPP’s desired 2025 target. That’s not due to solar or wind, finds the study in Environmental Science & Technology, it is overwhelmingly due to natural gas. Thanks to modern natural gas extraction techniques such as hydraulic fracturing…
[…]
[…]
If the federal government stays out of picking winners and losers in energy, the trend toward lower emissions is likely to continue.
[…]
That’s something we can all cheer.
[…]
Hank Campbell is the antithesis of Chris Mooney.
And… From the No Schist Sherlock files…
UC study finds no evidence of drinking water contamination from fracking
The three-year study found no relationship between methane concentrations in groundwater and proximity to natural gas wells.
By Michael Miller
May 18, 2018
A study of drinking water in Appalachian Ohio found no evidence of natural gas contamination from recent oil and gas drilling.
Geologists with the University of Cincinnati examined drinking water in Carroll, Stark and Harrison counties, a rural region in northeast Ohio where many residents rely on water from private underground wells.
The time-series study was the first of its kind in Ohio to examine methane in groundwater in relation to natural gas drilling. The results were published in the journal Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.
“Some people had elevated concentrations of methane in their groundwater, but the isotopic composition showed it wasn’t from natural gas” said Amy Townsend-Small, associate professor of geology in UC’s McMicken College of Arts and Sciences.
“What we found is in most cases it was probably from underground coal in the area or biological methane produced in groundwater.”
[…]
They found no increase in methane concentration or composition in groundwater over the four years of the study, despite the presence of new shale gas wells drilled in the study area. Likewise, they did not find higher methane levels in closer approximation to shale drilling.
Researchers did find wide variability in methane concentrations in the drinking water, ranging from 0.2 micrograms per liter to 25.3 milligrams per liter, which is strong enough to catch fire in enclosed spaces. But researchers found no relationship between the methane observed in drinking water and the new gas wells.
[…]
“Some people had elevated concentrations of methane in their groundwater, but the isotopic composition showed it wasn’t from natural gas. It was from a different source,” Townsend-Small said. “What we found is in most cases it was probably from underground coal in the area or biological methane produced in groundwater.”
[…]
This should come as no surprise… As hard as the Obama maladministration EPA tried, they couldn’t find a single specific incident in which frac’ing was related to water pollution.
Apart from Gasland-style lies, there is no evidence of frac’ing polluting groundwater/
COLORADO FLAMING FAUCET NATURALLY OCCURRING METHANE
Locally, in Fort Lupton, CO, the film shows a resident igniting his tap water, leaving the impression that the flaming tap water is a result of natural gas drilling. However, according to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC), which tested this resident‟s water in 2008, at his request,: “Dissolved methane in well water appears to be biogenic [naturally occurring] in origin. …There are no indications of oil & gas related impacts to water well.”(COGCC 9/30/08). This means that the natural gas in the resident‟s well water is of recent bacterial origin, which could result from the poor well completion and hygiene, or penetration of shallow coal seams. The film‟s implication that natural gas production and hydraulic fracturing are to blame is blatantly false.
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New Life Narrabri 