CAT Announcement Received Today

Downtown Peoria: Update regarding recent red-winged blackbird attacks (Peoria Area)
Throughout the past two weeks, red-winged blackbirds have attacked several Caterpillar employees outside the AB Building. These attacks have created a safety concern for pedestrian traffic, predominantly along the intersection of Washington Street and Main Street. The protective birds had been responding aggressively to activity around their nest and hatchlings. Caterpillar has taken action to prevent further attacks on employees.

Caterpillar obtained a Nuisance Animal Removal Permit from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to remove and relocate the nest, as the bird is protected under the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The tree where the nest had been located has also been thinned in order to discourage future nesting.

The Nuisance Animal Removal Permit is valid for 30 days, and Caterpillar will continue to remove future nests to prevent future disturbances. If you have any questions, or need to report an attack, please contact Corporate Security.

the Word which lives outside the book.

I had never thought of the bible as being God, just as a biography about John Lennon does embody the man. But there is difference. Lennon's book has a final chapter. While some may contest that he lives on through his music and his influence, his spirit, alas, has departed. But God is ever-present. His likeness is not bound beneath the ink on the pages...

God reveals in John 14...

15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."


25"All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

There are some schools (or churches) of thought that place the final power and authority in the bible. If all believed this to be true, then there would be no reformations, no "protestants". After all, if a discrepancy were to arise between believers, why not just consult the final authority. But what if the answer isn't there? Or the human that interprets the 1st century text from a 21st century viewpoint gets it wrong? Where's the authority lie then?

I believe that the bible is extremely valuable. It lets us followers of the Christ know where we came from. It paints a portrait of our God and gives us glimpses of what it means to truly live, filled with Him.
BUT.
I can't live with glimpses. with snapshots. with a few frames of a movie that is to last a lifetime.

God came to earth. He lived, He died. And the Spirit lives on. It is with this Spirit that should and does have the ultimate authority. It is a conduit to the Father. And when Spirit-filled people come together in a community and allow the Spirit to grow and flow out of that community, a revolution of extraordinary things is possible!

Studying the text of the bible is good, but living out what is possible through the Spirit is earth-shattering. As I continue to learn and meld, I pray that I become less so He can become more.