Paul Asay

Sierra Leone, November 12 – 18 2018 Tuesday:   The flight arrived at airport after dark, and we walked out of the airport to get tickets to the ferry. $40 per person to ride about 10 miles across to Freetown.   We loaded in a bus who took us the short drive to the boat.   Smooth ride on a somewhat small boat at night so it was pleasant. Meet by two drivers who took us to dinner where I had Chicken Shawarma and a coke.   Then took a short drive to Barmoi hotel. Nick and I stayed in one room, all the others split into groups of 2. Wednesday: Woke up early so we could run on the beach.   Walked down a little unsure where to find it, but was no problem.   The beach itself could be beautiful, but was covered with trash. Mostly just awful. Ran 2.5 miles Nick who was running better than me. Felt super-hot at the end. Walked back up the hill to the hotel and into the big gate with a guard. Got in a quick swim in the small pool there that felt great. ...

Discussion in Sunday School class was dominated by the results of the Berlin Marathon. What if we determined to live the Christian Life with the effort that Eliud Kipchoge runs the marathon? What would we need to be successful? Here is the goal of Christian Living: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. Mark 12:30-31 Here is the results of our discussion: Be in constant prayer for direction and purpose so that you can be in as close of contact with God as possible. Allow the Holy Spirit to be your guide. Surround yourself with others with the same goal. May include distancing yourself with those who lead you the opposite direction. Be forgiving – The art of wisdom is knowing what to overlook. Take our thoughts and actions captive. Keep a steady focus on the prize. Do not let your circumstances define success. (Running on a dirt trac...

You may or may not be familiar with Blaise Pascal, or his famous wager, but if not it is well worth a quick look.   Just a bit on Pascal himself, he was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic theologian.   A child prodigy who developed one of the first mechanical calculators, did extensive work in many other areas of mathematics and science before dying at an early age of 39. Here is Pascal’s Wager in no uncertain terms: A rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does not actually exist, such a person will have only a finite loss (some pleasures, luxury, etc.), whereas they stand to receive infinite gains (as represented by eternity in Heaven) and avoid infinite losses (eternity in Hell) The logic behind it: 1.    God is, or God is not. Reason cannot decide between the two alternatives. 2.    A Game is being played... where heads or tails will turn up. 3. ...