Bald Cypress trees at the Guadalupe River State Park. Quality woods growing in our area include soft woods like Bald Cypress and Southern Pine, and hard woods like Live Oak and Water Oak. But some plants on the Texas Gulf Coast are intriguing but useless. There is the Chinese Tallow, a decorative but much-maligned invasiveContinue reading “Hard Woods, Soft Woods, and Woods for the Fire Pit. Ezekiel 15:2-7.”
Author Archives: Steven Wales
G.T.T. or Gone to Texas: Ezekiel 7:7-8.
In the early 19th century, Mexico invited Americans to settle the territory of Texas, build farms, schools, and churches, “deal with the hostile Indians,”* and settle the wild land. Desperate to populate the territory and build the economy, Mexico offered land grants of 170 acres for farming crops, and over 4,428 acres (a league) forContinue reading “G.T.T. or Gone to Texas: Ezekiel 7:7-8.”
The Trail of Tears. Jeremiah 27:12.
Image: “The Flight of the Prisoners” by James Tissot, 1896, a painting of the people of Judah being driven from Jerusalem to Babylon, a Biblical “Trail of Tears.” Americans love the Bible. We print Bible verses on our tee shirts and coffee cups, stencil them on our walls, bumper-sticker them on our cars. The BibleContinue reading “The Trail of Tears. Jeremiah 27:12.”
No One Can Stand in the Presence of God’s Glory. Ezekiel 1:28.
If you could see God, the sight would be overwhelming. You would not survive. We know that no one can see God’s face and live, Exodus 33:20. But I’m not sure how to account for what lawyers call “the mechanism of the injury.” What exactly would be fatal about the encounter? Would the sight ofContinue reading “No One Can Stand in the Presence of God’s Glory. Ezekiel 1:28.”
The Einstein Visa: One Way to Escape an Oppressive Regime. Jeremiah 37:17.
Have you heard of the “Genius Visa”? Some call the EB-1 Visa[1] the “Einstein Visa,” and it is one of the tools the United States uses to control the tide of immigrants pouring into the greatest nation on earth[2]. It is a simple idea: we open the doors to our nation a bit wider forContinue reading “The Einstein Visa: One Way to Escape an Oppressive Regime. Jeremiah 37:17.”
Trafficking … in Humans. Jeremiah 52:27.
“Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land,” Jeremiah 52:27. Once an interesting, fresh phrase, “Human Trafficking” has been talked about so much in the last twenty years it may be in danger of becoming a cliché. But don’t tune out. The Bible has a great deal to say about what weContinue reading “Trafficking … in Humans. Jeremiah 52:27.”
Woe Be Unto Pastors Who Destroy the Sheep. Jeremiah 23:1.
Once again, Jeremiah addresses false prophets and fallen preachers[1]. (I never realized how often preacher-scandals were addressed in the Old Testament!) Doesn’t this sound like a page out of today’s headlines? “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” Jeremiah 23:1. The prophet continues: “Therefore, thus says the LordContinue reading “Woe Be Unto Pastors Who Destroy the Sheep. Jeremiah 23:1.”
Misplaced Confidence. Jeremiah 49:16.
Petra was recently chosen as one of the “New 7 Wonders of the World.” Petra was a thriving city in the desert with buildings and homes carved directly into the cliff walls. As many as 20,000 people once lived in the Petra area, accessing water from an amazing system of cisterns and ceramic conduit. InContinue reading “Misplaced Confidence. Jeremiah 49:16.”
Replace Self-Affirmations with God’s Affirmations. Psalm 139.
Are you familiar with self-affirmation? Merriam-Webster defines SELF-AFFIRMATION as “the act of affirming one’s own worthiness and value as an individual.” An article[1] online reports real-life examples of celebrity self-affirmations: Lizzo says, “I started talking to my belly this year.” Every day she tells her belly the following: “You deserve all the space in theContinue reading “Replace Self-Affirmations with God’s Affirmations. Psalm 139.”
MEMORIZE: Replace Your Thoughts With God’s Thoughts! Jeremiah 15:16.
Imagine with me: You are an unhappy young person, low-key depressed. You think you are happy, maybe, at least while scrolling on your phone. But all you get on social media is ads and sales pitches from influencers and pointless videos of car crashes, street fighting, two kids dancing, concert clips, comedy clips, storytellers goingContinue reading “MEMORIZE: Replace Your Thoughts With God’s Thoughts! Jeremiah 15:16.”
Household Words: 