Omnipresence of God

For parents of young children, few things are as precious as a good night’s sleep—both for their child and for themselves. Yet many parents struggle with getting their little ones to bed and ensuring they get the rest they need.

A poll from the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital sheds light on the sleep habits and challenges of children aged one to six years. Perhaps of greatest concern is that nearly one in four young kids struggle with anxiety at bedtime.

The poll, which surveyed a national sample of parents with kids under seven, found that the vast majority (90%) have a bedtime routine for their child. These routines often include:

Brushing teeth (90%)

Reading bedtime stories (67%)

Taking a bath (54%)

Praying (31%)

Talking about their day (23%)

But bedtime struggles are common, with 27% of parents describing the process of getting their child to bed as difficult. The poll identified that 23% of children were worried or anxious at bedtime and had trouble falling asleep. Once asleep, some children:

Wake up upset or crying (36%)

Move to their parents’ bed (43%)

Insist that a parent sleep in their room (31%)

Sometimes the wheels of justice turn slowly, but eventually they do turn. Such was the case for Billy Ray Trueblood, who was finally sentenced in May of this year for charges in connection with the 2019 death of accountant Alex Reser. Authorities say that Trueblood sold Reser counterfeit Oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl, which resulted in Reser’s death from overdose.

According to federal officials, the investigation zeroed in on Trueblood fairly quickly, as he was known for dealing opioids like Fentanyl. But they’d been unable to locate Trueblood until May of 2019, when one of the investigators happened to be watching the Portland Trail Blazers in an NBA playoff game and saw Trueblood captured on camera, seated just a few rows behind Blazers head coach Terry Stotts. Federal officials notified local police on hand at the arena, and Trueblood was arrested without incident.

At Trueblood’s sentencing hearing, Reser’s loved ones asked U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman for a harsh sentence. His father, Marty Reser, said in court:

[Alex] had so much to live for, but he died one day after we returned [from vacation]. For Billy, it was all about the buck … We were hoping for justice because our son Alex is not coming back … No one will ever again have the opportunity to spend time, create more memories with Alex.

Trueblood was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison and four years of supervised release.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Even when people think we’re successful at hiding from God, it’s all a fantasy. God knows us down to our core and there are consequences for sin. “… you may be sure that your sin will find you out” (Num. 32:23).

Thomas Torrance likes to repeat a simple story of what he calls “the unconditional nature of grace.” He writes, “Our grasping of Christ by faith is itself enclosed within the mighty grasp of Christ.” Then he shares this story and quote:

I sometimes recall what happened when my daughter was learning to walk. I took her by the hand to help her, and I can still feel her fingers clutching my hand. She was not relying on her feeble grasp of my hand, but on my strong grasp of her hand.

Is that not how we are to understand the faith by which we lay hold of Christ as our Savior? It is thus that our grasp of faith, feeble though it is, is grasped and enfolded in the mighty grasp of Christ who identifies himself with us, and puts himself in our place.

In an issue of CT magazine blogger and church planter Chris Ridgeway writes:

The digital voice assistant from Amazon hears me shoulder my way into the kitchen back door, arms loaded with bags. “Alexa, turn on the lights!” I command with a little desperation. “Thanks, Alexa,” I think as the lights blink on and I avoid a stumble with my gallon of milk. I don’t say it aloud—it’s a little crazy to thank your digital assistant, right? Plus, there’s that little question of who might be listening.

I don’t actually picture a headphoned FBI operative in a van outside. Yet once the lights are on, I sometimes wonder. As of 2020, there were 4.2 billion digital voice assistants being used in devices around the world. Forecasts suggest that by 2024, the number of digital voice assistants will reach 8.4 billion. These nearly universal microphones have started a new wave of discomfort about what or who might hear what we say in our living room or kitchen. What more private moments are these microphones capturing?

Perhaps the best starting place for a Christian view of privacy is to ask: Does anyone have privacy in the presence of an all-knowing God? In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve run among the trees of the garden in shame when they hear their Creator walking through the Garden. God asks, “Who told you that you were naked?” Before their transgression, before the curse, Adam and Eve were “naked and felt no shame.” Now they wear clothes and hide

It starts with: “Almighty God, to you all hearts are open.” If digital adopters worry that someone might be watching, believers know for certain Someone is and they know that Someone can be trusted even when authorities cannot be. Life as a believer starts with the truth that God does hear all and see all. The glowing Alexa in our kitchen becomes a digital icon of a greater spiritual reality.

Terrifying? Reassuring? It’s relational! If God is on our fringes, we feel violated. If he’s at the center, his presence feels like salvation itself. Salvation is a God who hears—who hears the weeping of lost Hagar, the celebration of humble Mary, the secret denial of scared Peter. Salvation is a God who knows our intimacy paradox—the simultaneous longing and fear of being known.

A 71-year-old woman was hospitalized with injuries to her head after her car’s windshield was destroyed by a hard, blunt projectile while she was driving along the freeway. That projectile? A turtle.

The 911 recording of the call recorded the following exchange: “There is a turtle in there,” a man can be heard saying. “A turtle!” the victim’s daughter exclaimed. “An actual turtle?!” Yes, an actual turtle. “It’s crazy,” said the dispatch supervisor, who took the call at 10:18am that Wednesday morning.

The woman was treated by first responders on the scene and, according to paramedics, did not lose consciousness on her way to the hospital. However, witnesses say the turtle walked away with just a few scratches on its shell, obviously benefitting from having its home attached to its back.

Authorities are unsure how or why the turtle ended up in the air, theorizing that perhaps it was kicked up by the tires of another vehicle on the freeway. However, the most shocking thing about this story is that it’s not the first report of such a turtle windshield assault. Apparently, a similar phenomenon occurred in neighboring Volusia County back in 2016.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Those who walk according to God's will can expect God's protection. Not that nothing bad will ever happen to us, but God has and will continue to equip you to withstand the things life throws your way.

An anonymous woman phoned the Krakow Animal Welfare Society with concerns about an unidentified, menacing object or animal in a tree near her home. When asked if it was a bird, she suggested that it might be an iguana, but she wasn’t sure. The “tree beast”--whatever it was--had been in place for two days, and some of her neighbors were afraid to open their windows out of fear of what it might do.

When animal welfare personnel arrived on the scene, they were prepared for the possibility of previously-abandoned domesticated animal, or even a wild beast that had wandered in from elsewhere. What they found, however, was a croissant. Apparently, the flaky French pastry had been lodged into the tree branch so high up that neighbors were unable to identify it from a distance.

The theory floated by the animal welfare spokesperson on social media was that perhaps someone had tossed it into the tree attempting to feed the birds, but it remained uneaten. Despite the hilarious nature of the misunderstanding, animal welfare officials reiterated that citizens should still call if they’re unsure about a potential animal-related danger.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Don't let the fear of unknown circumstances make you a prisoner. Trust that any challenge can be overcome, when you put your faith in God instead of circumstances.

Japan has appointed a "Minister of Loneliness" to try and reduce loneliness and social isolation among its residents as the country deals with rising suicide rates. During the month of October, more Japanese died from suicide than had died from COVID-19 in all of 2020. There were 2,153 suicide deaths that month and 1,765 total virus deaths up to the end of October, according to the Japanese National Police Agency. Studies show that loneliness has been linked to a higher risk of health issues like heart disease, dementia, and eating disorders.

People have worked to solve the loneliness issue in a variety of ways. One company designed a robot to hold someone’s hand when they’re lonely and one man charges people to simply sit with them and “do nothing” except keep them company.

Henry Drummond wrote:

Ascension … what if it didn't happen? Suppose Jesus had not gone away. Suppose he were here on earth NOW. Suppose he were still in the Holy Land--Jerusalem.

Every ship that started for the East would be crowded with Christian pilgrims. Every train flying through Europe would be thronged with people going to see Jesus.

Supposing YOU are in one of those ships. The port when you arrive after the long voyage is blocked with vessels of every flag. With much difficulty you land and join one of the long trains starting for Jerusalem. As far as the eye can reach the caravans move over the desert in an endless stream. As you approach the Holy City you see a dark mass stretching for (miles and miles) between you and its glittering spires. You've come to see Jesus, but you will NEVER see him.

In seaside towns all across the United Kingdom, authorities have posted signs warning people against feeding seagulls. The theory is that years of being fed by the public has encouraged the gulls’ aggressive behavior, including acts of outright food theft.

Nevertheless, researchers suggest a new, simple way to deter theft from the flying scavengers --staring at them. According to Madeleine Goumas herring gulls took on average 21 seconds longer to approach a bag of potato chips while a human test subject stared at them.

Goumas said, “Gulls are often seen as aggressive and willing to take food from humans. So it was interesting to find that most wouldn’t even come near during our tests. Of those that did approach, most took longer when they were being watched.”

Potential preaching angles: 1) Sin; Omniscience of God - Wrongdoers tend to back away when they know they're being watched. God is the ultimate all-seeing eye, and does not turn a blind eye to evil. 2) Satan; Spiritual Warfare – We must also be on guard at all times for the attacks of Satan who is always lurking.

In C.S. Lewis’ book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, a young girl Lucy, her brother Edmund, and their cousin Eustace are taken to Narnia where the Christ-figure is a lion named Aslan. The three of them go on a voyage and come to the island Where Dreams Come True. This is where nightmares come true. The ship’s crew is overcome by fear and begin to wildly row in the darkness. Each sailor hears a different terrifying noise: huge scissors, enemies crawling up the side of the ship, and gongs.

So what does Lucy do? She prays: “Aslan, Aslan, if ever you loved us at all, send us help now.” The darkness did not grow any less, but she began to feel a little—a very, very little—better. “After all, nothing has really happened to us yet,” she thought.

A ray of light falls on the ship and Lucy sees something in it like a cross. It is an albatross. The albatross circles them three times, lands on their mast, and then flies ahead of them leading their ship out of the darkness. But no one except Lucy knew that as [the albatross] circled the mast it had whispered to her, “Courage, dear heart,” and the voice was Aslan’s.

In a few moments the darkness turned into a greyness ahead. Then, almost before they dared to begin hoping, they had shot out into the sunlight and were in the warm, blue world again. And all at once everybody realized that there was nothing to be afraid of and never had been.

Possible Preaching Angles: May we never lose heart. May we hope that God will answer our prayers even when we’re tired and afraid. We pray so that we never lose heart and we never lose heart because we pray.

New parents are having a tough time naming their offspring. For starters, the baby’s name has to be freely available on social media. Before the advent of social media, when it was time to name the baby, soon-to-be parents dug into their family history or cracked open a baby names book. Not anymore. Names are big business.

When a child is born parents formerly purchase the name as a domain so they’d always have it. That’s not good enough. Parents are now relying on available Snapchat, X, and Instagram handles to name their kids. The reason: Many parents want their kids to have a social media presence before they’re born. After birth, social media might help them in business.

For example, according to an article on Business Insider, “The highest-earning YouTube star in the world is an elementary-school kid who makes millions reviewing toys. Ryan, the 7-year-old ‘host’ of Ryan Toys Review, a popular toy-review channel on YouTube, jumped from No. 8 to No. 1 on Forbes' annual list of YouTube stars who are making the most money.”

Possible Preaching Angle: Choosing a child’s name is also important in Scripture. At times God chose and announced the name of the baby before birth (Isaac - Gen. 17:19; Cyrus – Isa. 44:28; John the Baptist – Luke 1:13; Jesus – Matt. 1:21). Scripture also assures us that God our Father know us by name and that we are unique in his sight (John 10:3).

According to internet market research firm YouGov, “the social media generation is the one that feels the most alone.” Their report details a surge in feelings of loneliness among the millennial generation, currently between the ages of 23 and 38. In their poll, thirty percent of millennials reported feeling lonely either always or often, compared to 20 percent of their boomer counterparts. Given that loneliness tends to trend upward as people increase in age, such an uptick among younger adults is concerning.

Researchers are also interested in the question of how internet accessibility factors into the equation. Millennials are the most likely to be frequently online, so it’s possible that consistent social media usage on personal devices could be contributing to feelings of loneliness.

No matter the cause, it seems that loneliness can have adverse effects on our health. It’s correlated with higher blood pressure and more heart disease, and increases risk of death by 26 percent.

Nevertheless, researchers were quick to point out that it’s not all bad news. Small doses of loneliness can help. Psychologist Maike Luhmann said, “As long as we then do what we should do—reconnect with people—then loneliness is a good thing. It becomes a bad thing when it becomes chronic. That’s when the health effects kick in. And it becomes harder and harder to connect with other people the longer you are in the state of loneliness.”

Potential Preaching Angles: Feelings of loneliness can overwhelm us, but God promises to be ever-present. Since so many of us suffer from loneliness, by extending ourselves and reaching out to others, we aid in our own recovery.

In horror movies, the monster is scariest before you actually see it. For one local woman, that principle extended into the interior of her home. Washington County Sherriff’s Office responded to a 911 call from a woman who reported hearing a burglar locked in her bathroom. She saw shadows shifting under the door, and after officers appeared on scene, they heard a persistent rustling under the same door.

So, after issuing several commands to come out, and having brought in a K-9 unit for backup, they finally opened the door. "With guns drawn, deputies open the door to encounter the suspect … an automated robot vacuum," the sheriff's office said. “We entered the bathroom and saw a very thorough vacuuming job being done by a Roomba vacuum cleaner," Washington County Sheriff's Deputy Brian Rogers said.

The suspect was not taken into custody, however its likely to be sentenced to several months of continuous domestic servitude.

Potential Preaching Angles: In the eyes of God, the things we are afraid of are insignificant. Fears don't just make us scared, they can inhibit us from living out our calling. God commands us not to be afraid because nothing exists outside of God's control and God's enemies are impotent in comparison.

A Dutch astronaut has described how he accidentally contacted American emergency services on 911 while in orbit above the Earth. Astronaut André Kuipers described the experience while speaking on a radio program about his missions and communications between the Earth, satellites, and astronauts orbiting the planet.

Kuipers explained that while trying to contact NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, he missed an all-important number and accidentally called the US emergency services. He said that to reach the center in Houston, orbiting astronauts have to dial 9 for an outside line, followed by 011 for an international line. But of course, doing so while floating around in space is trickier than from a desk on Earth. “I made a mistake, and the next day I received an email message: Did you call 911?”

His communication slip-up set off a security alert at the Houston center. The emergency staff began by checking the room where the space station’s line connected to Earth before discovering that the source of the call was from orbit. Kuipers explained that it is surprisingly easy to communicate with Earth while aboard a space station in orbit. He said astronauts can reach terrestrial phones via satellites around 70 percent of the time. “I was a little disappointed that they had not come up,” he joked.

While there are a variety of obvious technical limitations for emergency services to respond to a call more than 200 miles above earth, it's still nice to know that even in space, 911 is there to help.

Possible preaching angle:

1) Prayer; Omnipresence of God – It is very reassuring to know that believers are never too far to be out of touch with God’s help in time of emergency. 2) Error; Forgiveness; Mistakes – God never condemns an honest mistake. He remembers that we are imperfect (Psalm 103:14) and prone to error.

A principal from the Lower Moreland School District took action to keep students calm when their bus was stuck in terrible traffic due to a snowstorm. Dr. Brian Swank, principal at Pine Road Elementary School, told CBS Philly he received a phone call from a parent of a fifth-grader who said the bus was stuck in traffic, so he decided to call that student.

While they were on the phone, the student told him that the younger kids were “freaking out.” Swank then had the idea to get the kids’ minds off of the road conditions. Using FaceTime, Swank called the student again, assuring them the “grown-ups” on the bus, along with police, would make sure they would get home safely. After that, he began to read books to them to pass the time. After four-and-a-half hours, the traffic began to move and the bus was able to drop the students off.

“I just FaceTimed with our students that are still stuck on buses. They are warm and in good spirits. I read them some books and assured them that the grown-ups are working hard to get them home safely.” —Dr. Swank pic.twitter.com/3ppc5cL0PF

Possible Preaching Angle:

God shows the same compassionate attention to his adult children when they are fearful, stressed, and feeling helpless. He is the one who promised “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5) and through his Word we find strength and hope.

A pair of thieves probably thought they had gotten away with it after they broke into a Santa Clara, Calif., company and carried off a box of goods. But their choice of loot, which may have looked like chargers to the thieves, gave police a distinct advantage. That’s because the hand-sized yellow devices in the box were actually GPS trackers typically used by freight manufacturers to track the location of shipments. After discovering the theft, the founder of the Silicon Valley startup, began using a company computer to track his stolen devices and alerted authorities. Police made an arrest within 48 hours and recovered $30,000 worth of the devices.

Located in the southwestern region of the United States is a tourist attraction that draws thousands of visitors every year. It is a six-hour drive from the nearest airport and 33 miles from the nearest town. It claims no majestic rock formations or redwoods. Resting in unremarkable landscape, its focal point is nothing more than a small brass disc, roughly three inches in diameter—a government survey marker designating the point at which four different state boundaries meet: Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. Tourists pose for photographs on all fours—feet in two states, hands in two more—faces beaming with delight of being able to boast that they are in four places at once.

But the tourist fascination with The Four Corners Monument reveals something about us human beings: we cannot be in more than one place at one time. We can move from one place to the next, but we cannot occupy two places simultaneously. Yet God, who is spirit, is able to be everywhere fully present. God, unbound by a body, is not limited to one place. He is not merely big, he is uncontainable, able to be present everywhere.

In 1949, an American company released the first commercially available CCTV system. Two years later, in 1951, Kodak introduced its Brownie portable movie camera to an awestruck public.

Today more than 2.5 trillion images are shared or stored on the Internet annually—to say nothing of the billions more photographs and videos people keep to themselves. Meanwhile, in a single year an estimated 106 million new surveillance cameras are sold. More than three million ATMs around the planet stare back at their customers. Tens of thousands of cameras known as automatic number plate recognition devices, or ANPRs, hover over roadways—to catch speeding motorists or suspected criminals. Proliferating as well are personal monitoring devices—dash cams, cyclist helmet cameras to record collisions, doorbells equipped with lenses to catch package thieves—that are fast becoming part of daily life. Then there are the billions of images of unsuspecting citizens captured by facial-recognition technology and stored in law enforcement and private-sector databases over which our control is practically nonexistent.

There's even more. Presently the skies are cluttered with drones. That figure doesn't include the fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles used by the US government. Nor does it include the many thousands of airborne spying devices employed by other countries—among them Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.

We're being watched from the heavens as well. More than 1,700 satellites monitor our planet. From a distance of about 300 miles, some of them can discern a herd of buffalo or the stages of a forest fire. From outer space, a camera clicks and a detailed image of the block where we work can be acquired by a total stranger.

Possible Preaching Angles: "We're being watched from the heavens as well," the article says. Compare the impersonal, menacing "watching" described in this article with the personal, ultimately loving "watching" of the omniscient God described in the Bible.

John Ortberg shares the following story:

A few weeks ago, when I was out surfing, there was no one else in the water except for a huge guy practicing martial arts on the beach. After I'd been out a little while, a tiny wisp of a kid came paddling up out of nowhere. I couldn't believe he was out there by himself. He pulled his little board right up next to mine. He was so small he hardly needed a board. He could have stood up in the ocean on a Frisbee. He told me his name was Shane. He asked me how long I'd been surfing. I asked him how long he'd been surfing.

"Seven years," he said. "How old are you?" I asked. "Eight."

Then he said, "What I like about surfing is that it's so peaceful. You meet a lot of nice people here."

We talked a while longer. Then I asked him, "How did you get here, Shane?"

"My dad brought me," he said. Then he turned around and waved at the nearly empty beach. The Goliath doing martial arts waved back.

"Hi, Son," he called out.

Then I knew why Shane was so at home in the ocean. It wasn't his size. It wasn't his skill. It was who was sitting on the beach. His father was always watching. And his father was very big. Shane wasn't really alone at all. Neither are we.

Possible Preaching Angles: At its core, the gospel is the invitation to an intimate relationship with God. It tells us we are never alone.

Traveling by yourself isn't always the most fun: You might start to miss home, your family, your friends. A hotel in Belgium has come up with an idea to comfort lonely travelers. For just a few dollars a night, guests can rent a fish that can stay with them in their room.

David Dillen, the hotel's manager, explained that the scheme started "a few years ago. The idea was to surprise our guests, as we always try to do…We rent a few fish per week."

But what about animal cruelty? Are these fish treated well—and do they want to be rented out? "We take very good care of our fish; they have been with us for over four years now, so if they were not taken care of, they would have died a long time ago," Dillen said. "They also have a big fish-tank in the housekeeping department, with a shelter, oxygen, and plants."

As Business Insider sums it up: "Perhaps fish aren't the best cuddlers, but it's nice to have a friend nearby when you're in a new place."

Potential Preaching Angles: Renting a goldfish—sounds a little silly, right? Yet those of us who have experienced periods of grief and loneliness might be familiar with such seemingly desperate thoughts and behaviors. In the psalms, we see the psalmists crying out to God many times with their own impassioned pleas for God to be near to them in their darkest times: "Turn to me and be gracious to me, / for I am lonely and afflicted" (Ps. 25:16).