Bleed Holes

“If you’ve ever been sat on a mind-numbingly long flight, and you were fortunate enough not to get the middle seat, you’ve perhaps wondered why the airplane window has a tiny, mysterious hole near the base. It’s known as a breather hole or bleed hole – and it's there for a very good reason. When a plane cruises at 10,600 meters (35,000 feet) above Earth's surface, outside air pressure drops to about 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) per square inch, far too low for a human to remain conscious. To keep passengers safe and not unconscious, the cabin is artificially maintained at around 3.6 kilograms (8 pounds) per square inch. This creates a physical strain.  To deal with the problem of pressure, windows on most commercial planes are constructed with three layers of strong, thick, synthetic resin. Only the outer and middle panes are truly structural, designed to withstand extreme temperature changes and the large pressure difference between the cabin and the outside world…This is where the bleed hole comes in. Typically found on the middle pane, its job is to allow cabin air to flow into the small gap between the middle and outer layers. This ensures the cabin pressure is primarily placed on the outer pane, which is designed to be the strongest. If the outer pane were ever to fail — which is an extremely rare occurrence — the middle pane is still sturdy enough to take over the job of bearing the pressure.”*

I hope we have some “bleed holes” in our own lives. The physical and emotional struggles of life can create times when pressures build and strain occurs. “Bleed holes” could be a hobby we enjoy, a friend that encourages us, time away from regular routines, prayer and worship, etc.. They can be anything that helps us deal with the pressures of life. Ignoring the strain can cause us to say and do things harmful to ourselves and others. It's important to find a way to deal with the stresses that will come.

God loves you!

Mike

*https://www.iflscience.com/why-is-there-a-tiny-hole-in-airplane-windows-82433

Watch Out For The Kangaroos!

Australia's Jay Vine was knocked down by a kangaroo on the final stage Sunday but recovered to win the Tour Down Under cycle race, the first event of the 2026 World Tour. Vine was knocked from his bike when two large kangaroos bounced onto the road on a high-speed section with about 96 kilometers (61 miles) left in the undulating 169.8 kilometer (105 mile) stage through the hills around Adelaide. Video of the incident posted by SBS Sport showed Vine and other cyclists on the ground as the kangaroo hops across the road, trying to avoid a throng of competitors. One social media commenter called it "the most Australian crash I've ever seen." Three riders — Menno Huising, Lucas Stevenson and Alberto Dainese — were forced to quit the race and the kangaroo also was injured…"Everyone asks me what's the most dangerous thing in Australia and I always tell them it's kangaroos," said Vine, who won his home race for the second time in three years. "They wait and they hide in the bushes until you can't stop and they jump out in front of you. Point proven today.*

This story sounds an awful lot like human experience in general, doesn’t it? We are engaged in the race of life, minding our own business, when…BOOM! Seemingly out of nowhere, a “kangaroo” jumps into our path and, the next thing we know, we are surveying the wreckage and checking out our scrapes and bruises. Of course the “kangaroos” of which we speak are not actual animals but the struggles we face. Things like the death of a loved one, a financial setback, a divorce, the betrayal of a friend, etc.. Not things you plan for but can happen. What can we do? We “...run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…” (Hebrews 12:1-2).  We get back in the race. We may have a limp for a while but we press on toward the prize (Philippians 3:14).

God loves you!

Mike

*https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cyclist-jay-vine-hits-kangaroo-win-tour-down-under/

What About The Ten Commandments?

Are what we refer to as the Ten Commandments binding upon Christians today? The short answer is “No.” Those commandments, found in Exodus 20:1-17, were given by God to be sure. But they were part of a covenant God made with the Israelites at Mt. Sinai, referred to biblically as the “Old Covenant” or the “Law of Moses.” But that Old Covenant was becoming obsolete and ready to disappear by the time of the first century (Hebrews 8:13). The New Covenant of Christ was to replace it. The Son of God fulfilled God’s purposes for the Old Covenant (Matthew 5:17). That is why Paul could say that “...Christ is the end (goal, completion) of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4). That is why Paul could say that “...the Law has become our tutor (guardian) to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (Galatians 3:24-25). Christ provided a way for peace between Jew and Gentile “...by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace…” (Ephesians 2:15). Believers today are not under the “Law of Moses.” We are under the “Law of Christ” (1 Corinthians 9:21; Galatians 6:2).

So, if we are not bound by the Ten Commandments, are we free then to worship other gods, murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, and so on? No. With the exception of the command to keep the Sabbath, the moral principles behind the rest of the Ten Commandments are included in the instructions given under the New Covenant. Can we learn from how God dealt with His people under the Old Covenant? Of course (Roman 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). But we have a “...better mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6).

God loves you!

Mike

The Ways Of The World

Genesis 19 records a horrific tale of human sin and divine judgment. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in the first twenty-nine verses has no bright spots except for the rescue of Lot and his daughters. But even that part of the story degenerates quickly. “Lot went up from Zoar, and stayed in the mountains, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters. Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him that we may preserve our family through our father.” So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose”

(Genesis 19:30-33 NAS95).

Where the NASB95 in verse 31 has “...come into us after the manner of the earth,” the NET Bible (1st ed.) has “...to have sexual relations with us, according to the way of all the world.” It’s likely that the older daughter, when speaking of “the manner of all the earth” or “the way of all the world,” was using a Hebrew idiom referring to how things work in the world (cf. Joshua 23:14; 1 Kings 2:2). If a woman is going to have a baby, there needs to be a man involved. That’s true. But I would argue that what is not customary and normal is for a daughter to have sexual relations with her father. The Bible calls that incest and it is not godly behavior, no matter what the world thinks.

The “way of all the world” is not always the right way. Remember: “There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way that leads to death” (NET Bible, 1st ed.).

God loves you!

Mike

Good News

Want some good news? “The five-year cancer survival rate in the US has reached 70% for the first time, according to an American Cancer Society report released yesterday. The figure, based on diagnoses from 2015 to 2021, is up from 49% in the mid-1970s and 63% in the mid-1990s. The ACS attributes the rise to wider and earlier screening, lower smoking rates, and advances in targeted and immunotherapy treatments. Survival has improved across most major cancer types, including thyroid (98%), prostate (98%), testis (95%), melanoma (95%), and breast (92%), though racial, economic, and regional disparities persist. Myeloma (blood cancer) survival nearly doubled to 62% since the 1990s, and liver cancer survival more than tripled to 22%. Rates were lowest for cancers of the lung (28%), liver (22%), esophagus (22%), and pancreas (13%). Between 1991 and 2023, advances in cancer care prevented an estimated 4.8 million deaths.”*

Want some even better news? The survival rate for those affected by spiritual death can potentially be 100%! Of course, without treatment, all who sin will die spiritually (John 8:24). Our sins separate us from God (Isaiah 59:2). And every sinner experiences this spiritual death -- no exceptions. But every sinner can be rescued from this death.This is the power of what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross (1 Peter 2:24; John 3:16). We can’t cure ourselves but He can! By putting our faith in Him and what He accomplished for us, our spiritual disease is cured (Ephesians 2:8-9). Jesus said it this way: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26). And as long as we remain faithful to Christ, we are eternally cured. Sin and death no longer have any hold on us. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23; cf. Romans 8:1-2).

God loves you!

Mike

*1440.com, 1-14-26

Time

“The U.S. government calculates the country's official time using more than a dozen atomic clocks at a federal facility northwest of Denver. But when a destructive windstorm knocked out power to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) laboratory in Boulder on Wednesday and a backup generator subsequently failed, time ever so slightly slowed down. The lapse "resulted in NIST UTC [universal coordinated time] being 4.8 microseconds slower than it should have been," NIST spokesperson Rebecca Jacobson said in an email. That's just under 5 millionths of a second. To understand just how brief an instant that is, Jacobson noted that it takes a person about 350,000 microseconds to blink…By Saturday evening, power had been restored to the NIST facility in Boulder, and crews were working to evaluate the damage and correct the 4.8 microsecond drift in due time.”*

If you have ever wished that time would slow down, I guess you finally got your wish! Think about all you can get done in those extra 4.8 microseconds. The truth is, as long as we are breathing, we all have the same amount of time available to us. We all have only the relatively brief moment we call “today.” We have used up the past and the future is not yet available to us. James reminds us that we are “...a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). So instead of trying to live in the past or the future, it is best to make the most of today. “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity” (Colossians 4:5). “So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16). “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).

God loves you!

Mike

*npr.org; “How a power outage in Colorado caused U.S. official time to be 4.8 microseconds off”; December 21, 2025 

Make Sure Your Head Is On Straight

“Pastor Stephen Brown taught swimming and diving for a number of years. He tells about a young boy named Billy. Billy had watched so many professional divers and wanted so much to dive like them that he refused to take time to learn the basics. Time after time Brown tried to help Billy see that the most important thing about diving was to keep his head in the proper position. If his head entered the water properly, Brown explained, the rest of his body would enter the water properly–at least, more properly than it had been.  Billy would dive into the pool, do a belly flop, and come up grinning, “Mr. Brown,” he would shout, “were my feet together?” “Billy, I don’t care whether your feet were together or not,” Brown shouted back. “Make sure your head is straight, then everything else will work out.” The next time Billy would stand on the edge of the pool and really concentrate. Then he would dive and, once again, make a mess of it. “Mr. Brown, were my hands together?” “Billy,” Brown would groan in frustration, “I’m going to get you a neck brace and weld it onto your head. For the hundredth time, if your head is right the rest of you will be right. If your head is wrong, the rest of you will be wrong.” And isn’t that true in all of life? If our head is wrong, our marriage will probably suffer. If our head is wrong, our priorities will be fouled up. If our head is wrong, it may even affect our health in a negative way. God understands our distress and God seeks to make us new persons so that we can handle our distress more effectively.”*

It’s true, isn’t it? If our thinking is messed up, the rest of our life usually suffers. But if our thinking is right, we tend to do what is right as well. Our thoughts drive our actions. As we start the new year, let’s get our heads on straight.

God loves you!

Mike

*thedisciplers.com/sermon-illustrations-for-new-year/