Author: heinsite

Oh My!

Coronavirus (Fusion Medical)

Worry! Fear! Panic!  The coronavirus has produced a lot of worry, fear, and panic.  The quick spread of the coronavirus is concerning, but as Christian I need not worry or  be afraid. I still worry a little because the unknown is scary, but I need to remind myself that God has this and he is ultimately in control.  We trust him because he desires the best for each of us, and we can rest in the peace that he gives. There is no need for fear and worry.   

Most who get sick with the coronavirus will have mild symptoms.  That is the case for 80% of those who get it. About 20% get it bad and only about 1-2% of the cases will result in death. That 1-2% is about 10 times of what it is for the flu.  Those who are old or with fragile health are the ones at greater risk of serious complications.

As a child of God,  I should respond to the situation with love and concern for others.  It is those of old age or with fragile health that we need to be concerned about.  That is why taking the warnings and recommendations seriously is important. I don’t want to infect a vulnerable person.  I am doing a better job of washing my hands and doing it more often. I will do more disinfecting. I will go to less events, and I will be more careful at the events I do attend. The goal is to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.  I will be especially careful around those of fragile health or old age. The last thing I want to do is to infect them. That will mean more phone calls and less visits. I don’t want to isolate them either. And there may come a time when I could be of service delivering meals to those quarantined.  Those are my plans. What are yours? How calm are you? Don’t worry. Don’t panic. God is there for you with his love and peace.

Who am I?

hats

What defines me? Who am I?  What is my identity? Those questions get asked by a lot of people.  I have asked those questions of myself over the years. I can come up with many different answers.  I am a retired computer person, a retired research meteorologist, an American, a graduate of the University of Washington, a graduate of Camas High School, a Lutheran Christian, a husband, and a heterosexual white male.  None of these answers really matter. What matters is that I am forgiven and loved, a child of God. That is who I am. That is what matters, and it is all because of what Jesus did out of love for me and you.

We tend to make a big deal out of our identities, many times too big of a deal.  We get into “us versus them” tribalism. So we compare ourselves, our group identity, with others, and say something like this, “We are better than you because we are the great UW Huskies and you are only lowly WSU Cougars”, or vice versa. Rivalries can be fun, but they are not important and are not defining who we really are.  Deep down inside we are all the same. There is no “us versus them”. We all are broken, corrupt, self-centered people. We are sinful people in need of help. The strange thing is God still loves us despite our many faults. It is his unconditional agape love (talked about in the last post, What is love? – heinsite) that restores us to him.  We are loved and forgiven. We can be his, and that becomes our identity.  We become forgiven and loved children of God. Turn to God and receive his love.  That is what really matters.

What is love?

love you

February is the month, where we make a big deal out of love, especially here in Loveland, Colorado.  The English word love is not well defined. You can come up with several definitions of love depending on the context.  I have found one definition that I think does a fair job of covering what it means to love. I think it is a good definition.

“Love is a commitment you make to act in someone else’s best interest. True love can only be known by the actions that it prompts.” (“God Space”, by Doug Pollock, p. 92)

Many think that love is a feeling.  I would disagree. Love is not a feeling though feelings are many times connected with love.  Love is altruistic. It puts the other person needs first.

A great description of love is found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends.” (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+13&version=ESV)

The Greek word for love in this passage is agape.  It is a selfless unconditional love. (Greek has many words that can be translated as love.)  It is the primary word for love in the Bible. It is the love that God has shown us. Romans 5:8 says, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  This passage shows that God’s love is tangible, an action that is directed toward each one of us. It is also unconditional. We did not have to get our act together. We were “still sinners”. And it is a sacrificial love that cost Jesus his life.  

Look back at 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a.  Replace the word love (and it) with Jesus or God, and read it again.  That describes Jesus. It is who he is. You can replace love with your name instead, and see how well you do.  I know that I fail many times at these things. I tend to be selfish and not selfless. Many times it has been my needs and my happiness that have driven my love actions.  My love has not been pure as it should be. Thank God that he is not like me. He loves us totally with that selfless unconditional agape love. Though you can not always count on me, you can count on God.  His love is there for you. He always desires the best for you.

Starting A Blog

I am starting a blog, https://heinsite.blog .  In the blog, there will be a variety of posts.  I am doing this because I want to share with you.  From the posts you can find out what I am interested in and what I consider to be important.  Many of the posts will be Christian or spiritual oriented, but not all posts will be on those topics.  Since this blog was originally setup many years ago by Gail she may also post on it too. My plan is to do about 2 posts a month.  I will announce them on Facebook and via email. Let me know if you want to be on the email list. My posts will always have the category of “Paul”.  The blog will allow comments but they will be moderated so it may take a little time before they are approved and show up on the site.