Ocean Floor Crop Circles
“The fish of the sea will declare to you…
that the hand of the LORD has done this.”
Job 12:8–9
Hi Men: In light of what’s going on in our homes, the workplace, our cities, across our nation and throughout the world, HOW DO WE KEEP OUR PEACE? I recently read a report and watched a video on the Sudan.
It could very well be the most overlooked war crisis on earth. Islam there is 97% and Christianity is 3%. Sudan is ranked #4 on extreme Christian persecution, just behind Somalia (#3), Yemen (#2) and North Korea (#1). I won’t tell you what the slave traders in the Sudan are doing with Christian children and babies. The evil we see is all around us, at times over-whelming. Just this week I came across this verse in Genesis:
“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5
We all know what happened after that – Noah built the Ark so God could destroy man from the face of the earth for He was sorry He made them.
I know some of you guys are familiar with the McGuffey Readers that was first published in the 1830’s. Along with Ray’s Arithmetic, they served as the foundational text for millions of American students. They were one of the best-selling books in history, trailing only the Bible and Webster’s Dictionary ~120 million copies! Sadly, due to secularism, and political correctness, the McGuffey Readers were abandoned over 50 years ago.
Here is a sample of a thought problem that a 4th grade student would have to answer:
If 6 men can do a piece of work in 5 days, in what time can they do it if they receive the assistance of 3 additional men when the work is half completed?
That was considered a mental arithmetic problem for young students. No calculator. No smart phone. No multiple choice. No AI. Just reasoning. Here’s the answer.
“Erase all thought and fear of God from a community, and selfishness and sensuality would absorb the whole man. Appetite, knowing no restraint, and suffering, having no solace or hope, would trample in scorn on the restraints of human laws. Virtue, duty, principle, would be mocked and spurned as unmeaning sounds. A sordid self-interest would supplant every feeling; and man would become, in fact, what the theory in atheism declares him to be…. a companion for brutes.”
As you might guess, that quote ties back into Genesis 6:5 above and it nails this: remove the fear of God and man does not become more enlightened, he becomes “a companion for brutes.” We get to watch it play out in real time. When there is no fear of God, there is no restraint, no moral anchor, no accountability, and no final Judge. As we have said many times, “If we have a Biblical Fear of God, we will NOT fear man!” And…. What are the 2 biggest problems are in the Christian Church today:
- THEY HAVE LOST THE FEAR OF THE LORD
- THEY WANT TO SERVE GOD ON THEIR TERMS AND NOT HIS
So back to my question: HOW DO WE KEEP OUR PEACE?
The fear of the Lord does not rob the believer of peace, it anchors him in peace. Why? Because when we fear the Lord rightly, we remember that God is holy, just, sovereign, righteous, all-knowing, and absolutely in control. The headlines do not surprise Him. The wickedness of man does not intimidate Him. The nations do not knock Him off His throne.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9
I know this sounds crazy, like an antinomy, but the more you Biblically fear the Lord, the more you will love Him! Don’t forget … look at the Cross. What do you see?
PHOTO ABOVE
I have always wanted to include these geometric shapes in the Friday letter, so this week was the week. I’m sure most of you already know how those shapes are formed – and no, they are by aliens from Outer Space! Of course you guessed it, they are designed by the infamous (drum roll please) “Puffer Fish.”
Here are a few facts:
- These mysterious circles were first noticed by divers off Japan in 1995, but for years no one knew what made them. The “artist” turned out to be a tiny male white-spotted pufferfish.
- The fish is only about 4–5 inches long, yet it builds a circular sand structure about 6–7 feet across – using only its fins, body, and mouth.
- It takes the male about 7–9 days of labor to finish one design, and the current can damage it if he stops maintaining it.
- The design is not just pretty. The ridges and valleys help move fine sand into the center, creating a better place for the female to lay eggs. Researchers found the structure can slow water movement in the center by about 25%, allowing fine particles to settle there.
- Researchers describe the nest as a large geometric circular structure with radially arranged peaks and valleys and a fine-sand center – built as part of reproduction and female mate choice. AMAZING!
Now – You have to Watch This 3 min Video on the Puffer Fish.
IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD
This week I met Jake. I had called him out to help run an Ethernet cable from my office down to the modem, and he turned out to be a super nice guy.
About halfway through our time together, I said I have something for you. “Did you get your million-dollar bill?” He smiled, and I told him, “Actually, it’s way better than a million dollars, it has the gospel on the back.”
He lit up a bit and told me he had grown up in the Philippines and was raised Catholic. That opened the door for me to share my testimony with him. As we talked, he began opening up about his own life, including some medical issues and the painful loss of an older brother who died in a drowning accident – something that is still very traumatic for him.
From there, we talked about how short this life really is and how important it is to keep our eyes on eternity. I asked him if he thought he was a good person, and he said yes. So I pulled out the little “Are You a Good Person?” cartoon tract and shared what the Bible says: “There is none righteous, no, not one,” and “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” He seemed familiar with those verses and was very receptive.
Before he left, I said, “Jake, I have a really cool Bible I’d love to give you.” He said, “Why don’t we find a time to get together and talk again?” He gave me his card and cell number, and I am praying the Lord opens that door.
What started as a Ethernet cable job turned into what felt like a real divine appointment. I was grateful to the Lord for the opportunity. I will keep you posted……
Walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:31)
Dan
“When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this:
Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.”
(Ecclesiastes 12:13)
Men: Make sure you reflect on the (3) verses in this short devotional.
You will fail to “understand” that His hardships are an expression of God’s grace,
and you will become “weary in well-doing.”
Consider and Understand – Day 150 Red Book
The purpose of these devotionals is to help you think Biblically
Solomon said, “As a man thinks, so is he”
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
Psalm 139:14
Men:
Some years back, our scout troop took a group of the older boys to Alaska to “ice-climb” on glaciers (Root Glacier). Reflecting on Ps 139:14, I remembered two of the boys racing up the side of a glacier to see who could reach the top first. Just like when Dr. Ben Carson had everyone in that room raise their hand, what was going on as the boys were making their way to the top.
Just think what the eyes, brain, hands, feet, muscles, lungs, heart, nerves, etc., were doing as they raced to the top. It’s mind-boggling to reflect on ……..
Bonus: I ran across these stats in the article mentioned below.
Question: Without looking, how fast do a mosquito’s wings beat?
- Did you know you sneeze at 120 miles per hour – and your eyes automatically close when you do?
- Your heart pumps about 75 gallons of blood every hour while you sleep.
- Your lungs contain about 300 billion tiny capillaries, and your entire blood supply passes through your lungs about once every minute.
- The focusing muscles in your eyes move an estimated 100,000 times per day, and the retina contains 137 million light-sensitive cells.
- A mosquito’s wings beat an amazing 500 times per second – while a housefly’s beat about 190 times per second.
Make sure you read this short article: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made. It is a quick three-minute reminder that the ordinary things we overlook every day are shouting the magnificence of our Creator.
May Letter
by Jonathan Henrichsen
Last time, we addressed how boundaries help establish connection with our children. I think they do more than that — they build resiliency.
Mary and I had an amazing visit with our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter last week — we love being grandparents! So much joy in watching her grow and interact with us more and more.
Her parents are doing such a wonderful job, but being together is also like a 25-year flashback in time. We remember so well both the joys and challenges of parenting a toddler, and as fun as that was, we are happy to be in the grandparent role this time around.
I was struck again during that visit by what happens in children when they are asked to meet a challenge rather than have it removed. I always found it so tempting to step in and spare them the struggle, and that solution has the benefit of providing an immediate end to the emotional upheaval. If my kids are making a beeline for some taboo item around the house (which, let’s be honest, is a multiple times a day occurrence), and my response is to get there first and move it out of reach, I have solved the immediate problem. But I’ve also lost an opportunity.
Nassim Taleb wrote Antifragile to explain how some systems don’t just withstand stress, they require it to grow stronger. Human beings fall into that category — and the work of developing antifragile little people starts earlier than we think. But the parent who runs ahead and clears every obstacle is producing the opposite — even with the best of intentions. We call it support. It may be closer to fragility training.
This mirrors the way that God parents us. Trials are ordained by God to work in our lives to produce character, endurance, and hope (Romans 5:3-4). I want these same things for my children, but I am acting contrary to that every time I mistake removing struggle for helping them.
I wish I could say I did an amazing job of this when I was the dad and not the granddad! That’s one of the few upsides to getting old. I hope something in my look back is useful to you as you look ahead.
With gratitude, Jonathan
Personal Development Foundation
www.pdfdn.org
P.O. Box 271 Zionsville, IN 46077
(610) 906-2776
jhenrichsen@icloud.com
What’s Wrong With Boys?
Men:
This is a powerful article of the 2 teenage boys that shot and killed 3 people at the Islamic Center of San Diego. At some point these 2 boys, raised in the church, were radicalized. The article mentions the following verses as to what we are seeing more and more of………
“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.” (2 Tim 3:1–7)
Here are a couple lines from the article that caught my attention:
Boys need godly, mature men in their lives. Ideally, Dad should be the first of those. To know what a Christian man is, boys need a model. They need a father and other godly men to come alongside them to guide and correct them.
Finally, young men need the gospel. Addicted to dopamine hits, gambling, and porn, some of them despair of ever being free. They need to know that the grace of Christ is greater than all their sin, including their addictions. They need to know that impenitence is the path to hell but they also need to know that Jesus receives the filthiest sinner who turns to him in faith.
What Are the Things That Distract Churches
From the Great Commission?
Watch On YouTube (2:35 Minutes)
A short video I watched this week asked a very important question: What is distracting churches from doing the Great Commission?
Two comments in the video really stood out to me:
- Church leaders can get so caught up in the “business” of church ……. budgets, buildings, staffing, programs, and ministry problems, that they lose sight of the bigger picture: making Christ known where He is not known.
- Parents can get so wrapped up in their children’s future, sports, academics, extracurriculars, college, careers, and success — that very little focus is left on whether their children are ready to give themselves to making Christ known where He is not known.
The presenter of the video is Chad Vegas (Co-Founder). “At Missionary, our passion is to spread the word of Christ and support those dedicated to the Great Commission.”
Here are the speakers for their 2026 conference: Missionary.com/2026#speakers
Church Under a Tamarind Tree
Praise God with Christians in Burkina Faso
In the searing heat of the African Sahel, members of one Burkinabe church thank God for the shade of a single tamarind tree. They currently do not have a church building, so they meet under the tree for services lasting three to four hours.
The lack of a building has not stopped this church’s activity. Its leader, Pastor Joel, has challenged the congregation to memorize the entire book of John, and several believers can already recite multiple chapters.
Pastor Joel was born in northern Burkina Faso in an area dominated by Islam but now leads this church in the northern part of the capital city. Islamist attacks against Christians in Burkina Faso have increased dramatically in recent years, and today, few Christians remain in the northern and southwestern parts of the country.
ARE YOU?
