So did you watch Tiger Woods’ press conference on Friday?  By now anyone who cares has seen it, I suppose.  A difficult situation for anyone to be in and though it is of his own making, that doesn’t make it any less hard for him to go through it.  To stand before the judging eyes of the world and admit one’s faults has to be the most embarrassing situation a person can experience.  Though only God knows his heart, Tiger’s words seemed sincere. 

Of course, Tiger had a much more difficult “press conference” to go through; the one he had to have with his wife, Elin, when she first learned of his infidelity.   This was assuredly much more difficult.  To have to confess to her, the person to whom he is the closest in the world, and to see the look of pain on her face, knowing that he was the cause of that pain. And Elin’s pain is deep, strong, and real. You see, pain is directly proportional to intimacy.   

All of this got me thinking about God and his relationship with us.  God did not need us but he created us to have another outlet for his joy, happiness and intimacy.  I believe God enjoyed his relationship with Adam.  They walked and talked in the cool of the evening, Adam receiving love, joy and instruction from the Author of life.  Someone estimated that it would have taken Adam about 100 years to name all the animals and God was with him the whole time enjoying his child’s growth and creativity. They had the closest relationship any two beings have ever had. 

In one act of defiance it all ended.  How Adam, now stained by sin, must have felt to have to face God after his fall. The Bible tells us that God’s eyes are like flames of fire.  The holiness of God must have been a fearful thing to face, but that was not the worst part of it.  God had to send Adam and Eve out of the garden as judgment, but that was not the worst part of it.  Sin had now entered the world, but hat was not the worst part of it either. 

No, the worst part was God‘s broken heart.  Please don’t think me sacrilegious at this idea of a broken-hearted God.  Look at God’s reaction a bit later. More sin by humans brings these feelings from God, And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Genesis 6:6. God grieves!  We know how great God’s love is; what must the grief of God be like?  The  depth of intimacy of His relationship with Adam would have been the cause of a powerful grief. 

Thankfully, the God who loves that much is also a forgiving God.   His plan to redeem mankind kicked in, and we can have a restored relationship with Him.  God loves each of us with the same depth of feeling that he had for Adam.  He desires to restore everyone who is far from Him.  I want to work to bring the joy of relationship to those who don’t know Him yet. It’s not quite Eden but it will be soon.

What can we say about this unusual amount snow? Global warming in reverse? Judgment from the Lord? Entering into an ice age? The end of the world? Maybe one or all or none of those reasons but these are the reasons we hear the most. How about some positives? Families get to spend time with their children. I just have to stop a moment and say that this has to be a great thing. However, I have heard many news reports of frustrated parents who are inconvienced by their children being home for a week and a half. What then do you do about the summer time? Just asking. But seriously enjoy your kids because before you know it they'll be grown up, off to college, and will be starting families of their own. Another great reason for this snow is that the drought in the midwest is officially over. So you know what that means? Prices in produce will start to decline because there will be an abundant harvest. And the most important reason, I think, is that there is a renewed sense of hospitality in coming together to help our neighbor. People who have never worked together before are building new relationships, stepping outside of themselves, and going beyond the call as Jesus did to help those in need. So let's go forth and embrace the snow not as our circumstance but as an opportunity to stop and take a look at good things we have. 

I'm sitting here thinking of a topic to blog on. Mainly because I see Toni has crept up behind me challenging my status as the most frequent CTV blogger. The NBA just had its annual All-Star game and through out the weekend there were festivities and entertaining contests going on. Many times when athletes win awards they always want to, "Thank God" first. Some of these are sincere while others are just speaking as a drone giving us a bottled answer. Many times I have heard people say they are sick and tired of hearing athletes bring god into their sport and accuse the kurt warners and tim tebows of verbally choking us with their faith. Lets twist this debate around a little bit and ask this question, why don't we as Christians get irritated with celebrities or athletes that give us the canned "I wanna thank God" speech for cheapening the expression to the rest of us that honestly and sincerly want to use the public platform to thank and glorify christ. and that is where I am leaving this. I want to hear your thoughts and reactions.

Just wanted to keep all of you informed about the state of Israel. It's so important for us who know the word of God to keep one eye on America and one eye on Israel. I love the philosophy of Billy Graham to keep "a Bible in one hand and the newspaper in another." Though we live in a world filled with bad news we have immediate access to good news at all times. So keep your Bible close to your remote or computer!

The following is a report from Joel Rosenberg, a dear friend of Cornerstone TeleVision

NETANYAHU SAYS EZEKIEL 37 HAS COME TRUE By Joel C. Rosenberg

(Washington, D.C., February 1, 2010) -- Thanks for your prayers. I just got home late last night from a month-long teaching tour around the world for The Joshua Fund. It's good to be home, but upon landing I learned that Ahmadinejad is threatening to unleash a "harsh blow" to the Judeo-Christian world on February 11th. No one's sure what he means exactly, but the U.S. is moving new naval forces and Patriot missile batteries into the Gulf region, just in case.

A few highlights from the past few days:

* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week traveled to to Poland to commemorate the 65th anniversary of liberation of Auschwitz. Speaking on the actual site of the Nazi death camp, the Prime Minister warned the world of new genocidal threats against the Jewish people and the importance of acting early enough to prevent such threats from coming to pass. In a stunning and remarkable moment, Netanyahu also declared to the people of Europe and the world that the prophecies of Ezekiel 37 have been fulfilled. The Holocaust, he said, represented the "dry bones" and "graves" of the Jewish people, and out of that horror the State of Israel was resurrected, just as the Lord said would happen through the Hebrew Prophet Ezekiel. Rarely has any world leader given a major address on an international stage declaring End Times prophecies from the Bible have come true. But that is exactly what Netanyahu did. [Details and the full speech on the weblog.]

Check out Joel's website for more information