John to John--What?

• John 3:16: ". . . For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. . . ."
  
  The time-old message: believe on the Son of God and you will live in communion with God forever, the excellent of selfless love. Christ died for the sins of everyone, even though only a few will accept the gift. The rest will spurn the good He has done for them.
  
  John 3:5-8^a has me wondering (ie, thinking of what it means), especially verse 8: "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." We understand that the wind blows where "it wishes" because God has created it, ultimately controlling where it blows. We can hear the wind, but we don't really know how it starts blowing or where it will end up. Being saved is similar, if we are to believe this passage. (And so we are to believe!) We do not know who God will choose from His field, and when He selects, we do not know all the sin from which he has been rescued. We do not even know what God will have him do. Truly living life dangerously in the hands of God: true life through Christ's sacrifice and the grace God has given us and dangerously because we know not what fires God has preordained us to go through in this age.
  
  ^a = John 3:5-8: [5] Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. [6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7] Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' [8] The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
  
  
• Here's the recipe for a delicious spinach smoothie (no joke, it is delicious!):
  
  1 orange
  handful of grapes
  1/2 c of pineapple
  1 banana
  several handfuls of spinach
  soy milk
  
  Feel free to substitute in normal milk or whatever. Also, the more stuff you free, the yummier it's going to be. (I like really cold smoothies.) We have a Vitamix, so I don't know how well other blenders hold up to ice. =( Oh, well, it's still tasty! =)
  
  
• Here's a link to excellent, traditional American politics, Imprimis: http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis.asp.
  
  
• 1 John 4:10: In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
  
  We do not love God in the sense of our own working out of love. We love God because the Son who dwells within us loves God. Everything good is from Christ; apart from His mercy and grace, we can do nothing good. Thus, we should not fret about our failures; instead, we should commit ourselves to Christ, living in hope and faith.
  
  My dad did a good teaching with 1 John 4:17-19 once. I can't remember all the verses he used, but it tied in with this. You see, he was saying that the beginning of a good relationship with God is, first, fearing Him (He is almighty, powerful, creator, etc) and, in maturity, loving Him (He is good, love, kind, etc). It is good to fear God because He the only one who can do permanent damage to you, but this is not the relationship He wants to have with anyone. He wants to have joy and communion with all the children of Adam; unfortunately, He can't/won't because He has given the children of Adam the choice to turn away or toward Him. "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18)
  
  1 John 4:17-19: [17] Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. [18] There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. [19] We love Him because He first loved us.