David Finley

Delmarva is the name of a peninsula shared by Delaware, Maryland, and northern Virginia. It juts into the Chesapeake Bay, forming the boundary between the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the waters of the bay itself. This past summer our family experienced the privilege of traveling the full length of the peninsula. From Norfolk we crossed the Chesapeake Bay to Cape Charles, traveling the entire peninsula in just over four and a half hours.

Is fatherhood still a subject that needs to be addressed today? While children and fathers exist in the world, it is safe to conclude that the subject remains relevant.

In the first book of the Bible we read in Gen 1:31-2:1, “And God saw every thing that he had made, and be-hold it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.”

In the above verse that serves as the title, God is addressing Job. His question, along with more than three score like it, includes speaking of the Behemoth, a herbivore with a tail like a cedar. He also mentions a sea creature, the great Leviathan. These all reveal with crystal clarity how little Job understood after all. Job wisely responded, “Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth” (Job 40:4). With Job, we recognize that it is impossible from our vantage point to understand the omniscience of God.

“In the beginning, God created”— these five words form the premise of the entire scriptural narrative. They explain foundational truths that we hold as self-evident and infallible.

As Bacchus cast the die, he watched with hope and anticipation. Will he win the eight denarii wagered or will he lose? As the die begins to fall, he remembers the day of his first win. His heart sinks as he realizes the dice have not favored him lately lost, lost, a week's wages slowly he wanders home shivering in the cold more than a little hungry. "I will make up the loss, one way or another!" he convinces himself. So it has been with mankind. The temptation always exists to live by chance and one's wits.

Recently, I had the privilege of flying with United Airlines out of San Juan, Puerto Rico. In transit and out of curiosity, I began to read the in-flight magazine provided in the seat pocket. An article concerning Mardi Gras caught my eye which I found informative and revealing. Part of it reads as follows:

"Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price" (1Pe 3:3-4).

First patented in 1884 by Paul Nipkow in Germany, the television has become the most sought out form of medium the world over, challenged only by the recent development of the Internet. With this in mind, I asked myself the question how would Jesus view the television if it had been available in His day? Would He see it as an outlet that could have enhanced His ministry, enabling Him to preach to the masses in a more efficient and large scale way? Would He have used it to send God's message to every Jew and Gentile in all of the civilized world?