Jack’s Winning Words  5/12/22

“Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.”  (Saint Augustine)  Have you ever prayed for a miracle to happen?  Perhaps, right now, you’re asking for a miracle.  One of the reasons why I feel comfortable “preaching” about miracles is that they give hope to people.  We don’t know everything about every thing!  The unexplainable does happen.  Call it a miracle, or an act of God, if you will.  So, keep on hoping.  A father came to Jesus asking for his son to be healed.  Jesus asked, “Do you believe?”  The man replied, “I believe; help my unbelief.”.  Have you experienced any miracles?  ;-)  Jack

FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  Good morning, Thought-provoking WW.  I appreciate St. Augustine and his contribution to the Church.  Wise man, I believe.  Also appreciate that Martin Luther got a lot of faith formation reading St. Augustine.  One thing I’ve observed about some Christians is that people can have trouble accepting that God can overturn laws of nature, when it serves His purposes and so everything that happens, even everything in the scriptures, they seek to understand rationally, according to laws of cause and effect of human scientific logic and reasoning.  A lot of stuff becomes improbable for them and so they just substitute symbolic or metaphorical interpretations in trying to make things relevant in their lives.  In the face of all this, one just has to be humble and accept the mystery of God’s and man’s different ways and thoughts and try to live peacefully among all the unknown stuff, while still keeping faith in God’s goodness in creating us and all of His creation and believe fervently He is leading and guiding and redeeming us.  God is good all the time; all the time God is good.  Enjoyed reflecting on these WW,.  Thank you for generating them. ===JACK:  Augustine was very important to the early Church.  St Augustine was the first settlement of Europeans in America.  I went to Augustana College, which got its name from the Augsburg Confession which got its name from Augsburg, Germany, which got its name from Saint Augustine.

FROM MAGGIE:  Thank you, Jack, for helping me refine what a miracle is… I posted Augustine’s quote on my FB page. I hope it offers others hope.===JACK:  Winning Words is meant to be a daily brief message of enlightenment and hope.  I'm always pleased to know when it "hits the mark."

FROM COPPER COUNTRY BOB:    See if these qualify:  *  Tanzania evangelism service.  We attended as guests.  The next morning the report was that a man's leg was lengthened one inch and he could walk as normal.  *  Messiah Church, Mqt.      I preached the sermon.  As I sat down in the front pew my body was in uncontrollable shaking and I saw the ceiling of the chancel filled with angelic beings. *   In Tanzania, I was asked to preach in a church recently burned by Muslims because one of the youth had pissed on his buddy's Koran.    As the pulpit hymn was being sung my Bible began to vibrate.  I took the hand of my interpreter and placed both of our hands on the Bible.  We both experienced the vibrations.  God is alive!    Easter is real!   Alleluia!===JACK:  I take it as you have described, since I was not there.  Jesus did many miracles that only a few experienced.  Do we doubt that Jesus performed miracles, because we did not see them?  Do we doubt the resurrection, becaused we were not able to put our fingers in the nailprints, or to put our hand into the wound in His side?

FROM THE SCIENTIST:  I keep a playlist of such songs. At one point a few friends at work would share a “happy” song of the day with each other as a pick-me-up.===JACK:  I've got a list of "pick me up" songs" ...in my head.  

FROM NORM'S BLOG:  y initial inclination was to add two words to the last part of the quote to make it read “what we think we know about nature.”   The second though that I had was that we are pretty good at suspending disbelief to enjoy movies like the wave of superhero movies of late. Perhaps, we would enjoy life more and experience more miracles if we suspended our disbelief in them and just let them happen.  Mankind’s ego is what drives him to try to explain and understand the things that are happening all around him in life. Rather than just letting life happen and enjoying it, we find the need to understand why something happened, what caused it, and figure out a way to control that cause in the future. So, for most, it’s all about control or trying to seize control of the future.

Since trying to control the future is a futile cause to begin with, we are constantly frustrated and perhaps even angry about how things unfold. What are we to do? The Bible tells us - Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6) ===JACK:  Trust is easier said than done when it comes to trusting people....and trusting God.  There's a song:  "Trust and obey, for there's no other way."