June 15, 2013

The other day I wrote a post about certain nobles, contemporaries of Nehemiah, who would not dare to associate with common people doing common labor. Today’s post is related to that idea.

Luke 11:46 NASB – But He (Jesus) said, “Woe to you lawyers as well! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers.”

The brazen irresponsibility of laying down requirements on the citizens, when the ones loading them on people’s backs make sure they are not subject to the same rules, is an affront to the Almighty. (There’s a clue for you. Yes, I believe Jesus and The Almighty are One.)

Is such practice not a tacit admission that the requirements are not desirable or good? If they were, why not gladly also submit to them? God hates differing weights and measures. This practice surely qualifies for that definition.

Every law from which Congress exempts itself ought to be void. DOA.

“You go first; we’ll follow.”

Photo via: Morguefile

Who? Me?

There is an account in the book of Nehemiah of a massive wall rebuilding effort around the ancient city of Jerusalem. People worked side-by-side to get it done in 52 days, in spite of great opposition. Groups of people who are involved are described by name. An interesting aside occurs in the account, which reveals that not everyone was excited about getting the wall rebuilt.

Neh 3:5 ESV – “… next to them (other workers) the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.”

The nobles of the Tekoites “didn’t lift a finger” it says in another translation. Is that surprising?  (Further in the passage, rulers of other groups did get their hands dirty, so this attitude was not pervasive among Nehemiah’s peers.)

Humans have such a tendency to pride. Pride is one of those weeds that continually needs to be pulled. The moment you think you are humble, then you are not.

Some individuals present themselves to be at a higher level than the masses. They exempt themselves from lesser things. As I reflected on this observation of the behavior of the nobility, the US Congress came to mind. How many laws do they pass which they “don’t lift a finger” or “stoop” to obey, because they make provision in the law to be exempt from it?

Can you be a person of integrity and vote for such a law? The practice seems the height of self-serving arrogance. Maybe there is some consideration I am missing which has not yet been explained to me.

Feel free to write in and tell me what that is.

Other than that – get out there and serve. Until you learn to serve, life will not go as well for you as you would like. The more you serve yourself, the less happy you will be.

Photo via: fotopedia

May 18, 2013

Those who intend to contend with a child of God enter dangerous territory.

For this is what the LORD says: “Even the captives of a mighty man will be taken, and the prey of a tyrant will be delivered; I will contend with the one who contends with you, and I will save your children.

- Isaiah 49:25

How would you like to start a fight with someone and find yourself on the wrong side of the Almighty Warrior? Not only will God contend with the foes of His followers, but He will provide for his followers’ children.

It seems to do no injustice to Scripture to extend that promise of protection and provision to grandchildren. We have a faithful Father. He will not take lightly those who attack His kids.

He promises to enter the arena on our behalf. Can you picture a more lopsided mismatch?

If you are attacked by enemies of God (even self-proclaimed Christians) maybe the proper response is humility and compassion.

They’ve chosen an Opponent who will not lose.

Photo: stock.xchng

May 2, 2013

Do What You Will

In all his scheming, the wicked arrogantly thinks:” There is no accountability, since God does not exist.”

Psalm 10:4

This is the hope of the self-proclaimed atheist, and a core doctrine of the Humanist Manifesto: “No deity will save us; we must save ourselves“. The atheist earnestly desires to do whatever he well pleases. Removing God is a handy way of freeing himself to do just that.

What an extreme, self-propagated delusion. I believe their rage against God is an indication for most atheists that they actually believe in His existence, and they don’t like that one bit.

The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist.” They are corrupt; they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good.

Psalm 14:1

Living Like a Fool

Pretend God isn’t real. Get your university degree. Assume your knowledge is all-surpassing. Disdain to receive truth. Claim it does not exist, except for your special enlightened truth, nowhere more highly exalted than in your own head.

Declare with conviction the absolute that there are no absolutes. Ignore the Source of truth with the pretense that you and your esteemed colleagues have just lately, after all these millennia, put everything together for the rest of us. Fail to discern the difference between knowledge and wisdom.

Worship yourself

‘God doesn’t exist.’ (Are you sure?) Your words betray you. You are a fool. On the current course, there is no hope.

But, God is gracious and ready to redeem. Many former atheists will testify to that. You can have hope, too, but you have to quit being a fool.

Scripture quotes: Holman Christian Standard Bible

Photo: stock.xchng, morguefile

April 23, 2013

Satan has always intently pursued the Seed of the Woman. He’s the energizing spirit behind child sacrifice and murder. It started early. The first son born on earth killed his brother, who was the second born son on earth.

Pagan nations have practiced child sacrifice all through history. Pharaoh went for all the Hebrew boys when that tribe living in Egypt grew to what he considered unmanageable size.

When the Messiah was born Herod scrambled the troops to wipe out every boy child aged two or younger in Bethlehem. That was a direct attack on the Seed of the Woman. The intent was to snuff God’s redemptive plan. Later Satan tried to get Jesus to commit suicide by jumping off a pinnacle.

It happened again at the Crucifixion. Surely the Evil One thought he had won when Jesus gave up His Spirit on the cross. The Revelation sheds light on that drama.

Recently I pulled up Phil Keaggy’s True Believer Album and listened for the first time in three years. The song “The Survivor” is an eloquent marriage of Psalmist language, Crucifixion imagery, and imagined thoughts of baby in a womb facing impending destruction. The song finishes with a boisterous, chaotic passage which makes me want to shout and cry at the same time.

I haven’t talked to Phil, but there’s information out there that the song was inspired by the experience of Gianna Jessen who survived a murder attempt (abortion), although the “procedure” inflicted cerebral palsy on her. Here she is telling a bit about her life.

One line of Phil’s song in particular strikes at the heart of murderous schemes: “the solution they had planned”.

• Pharaoh’s solution: Kill future Hebrew men to make them stop populating.
• Herod’s solution: Kill all the 2-and-under boys to be sure to get that pesky future king.
• Satan’s solution 1: Kill the Messiah before he got started.
• Satan’s solution 2: Get Him to jump off a pinnacle.
• Satan’s solution 3: Crucify Jesus and end the competition.
• The Pharisees’ solution: Crucify Jesus and protect their turf.
• Margaret Sanger’s * solution: Clean out undesirable portions of the population. 
• Adolph Hitler’s “final” solution: Rid his nation of the inferior Jews (including children) and perfect the race.
• Abortion supporters’ solution: Get rid of parasitic babies and enable avoiding responsibility for choices

Oh, the irony. A tenet of “pro-choice” seems to be to daily disallow over 3300 people to ever make a choice. Another tenet seems to be choice without consequences. It’s the familiar cake-and-eat-it fantasy.

Back to the song: the passions of anger mixed with triumph in thundering drums, raging guitar and Phil’s vocal cries brings me to joyful tears nearly every time. Murderous intent against the Son of God and the innocent in the womb brings a justifiable anger. In that anger there’s triumph in the fact that the plot against the Son turned out for our eternal good, and that the innocent in the womb, in this case, survived the attempted murder.

Children are a target of the Evil One because they represent newness of life. They represent the ongoing fulfilling of the Original Commission. The Book of Proverbs says, “Those who hate me (God’s wisdom) love death”. By extension, they hate God.

Listen to the lyrics. Feel the emotion build. Think on what it means to kill over 3300 babies a day. Think on the joy that resulted from the Resurrection, which has ultimately defeated death.

* Has Planned Parenthood ever specifically renounced any of the motivating values and purposes of its reprobate founder, Margaret Sanger? I haven’t found any evidence. If it’s out there, please let me know.

Photos: Stock.xchng, MorgueFile

Go ahead. Be giddy.

April 15, 2013

Most of us don’t really get grace. It’s too unlike how we usually think. We usually want to gain approval or get revenge, depending on our understanding of life. A friend of mine recently posted, on her Facebook page, an article by Chuck Swindoll. He colorfully described the scandalous lavishness of grace. Even with his communication skills, it is likely he fell short of a full description.

This friend of mine has come into a personal knowledge of the grace of God in the past two or three years. This has made her beautifully childlike in her adoration of Almighty God. The wonder overwhelms her again and again. I described her recently as “giddy with grace”. She agreed.

That is an appropriate emotion for something so ridiculously, unfairly bestowed on us. God is incredibly lavish. We think we need to earn points. We think we need to withhold approval from people who do not measure up to our standards. That’s not gracious, is it?

I think the grace that a person passes out to other people indicates how much grace that person has received, or has understood they have received. Why are there so many rule-checkers? Why do some keep certain folks at a distance? Why do some keep track of wrongs? Why do some withhold approval? I think these behaviors are in proportion to the inability of the witholder to fully receive and believe the grace that’s been offered.

Go ahead, be giddy. You have received something you know you never deserved and never will, but God has showered it on you anyway. How could we not be giddy?

If you have in your heart a demand that God treat you fairly, take time to be thankful that He does not. Do you really want what you deserve? I don’t.

Photo from: Stock.exchng

Reblogged from Monster Hunter Nation:

December 22, 2012 There is a national conversation going on, and it's primarily emotional vomiting and bleeding all over the place. Most of the conversation is not the result of critical thinking, of awareness of history, or of the understanding of consequences of choices made. Some years ago Congress foisted one of its many logic-defying travesties upon the populace, which is called the Federal Gun Free School Zones act. When things like this are passed, it makes me wonder if there is anyone in those hallowed halls who actually thinks. They in essence hung a sign out front of every public school that says "Welcome to Your Local Hunting Preserve for Innocent Human Beings". The "hunting preserve" language is embedded in this richly presented, fact- and history-based blog by Larry Correia. Honestly, I was unaware of him until today. I think he needs to visit the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives, then go on a national education tour. We need to reinvigorate Common Sense before it completely expires. This blog article answers every single argument for "Gun Control" of which I am aware. Whenever you hear politicians say "It's for the children", red warning lights should be going off on your dashboard. Please take the time to read and digest this wonderful article: "An Opinion on Gun Control". This is one of the few persons I have discovered in the conversation who has the robust credentials and knowledge to say things on the subject that are connected with reality. He also has the basic understanding of human nature that so many elected officials seem to completely lack.

The Ant and The Grasshopper from Aesop’s Fables

November 28, 2012

My friend Dennis from North Dakota sent me this updated fable several days ago. I don’t know what Aesop had in mind in his specific culture when he wrote the fable, but he pointed out a common weakness in human nature. The “old version” shown below is a synopsis and not the whole story. Do you want to see how up-to-date Aesop is? Read the two versions:

Old Version

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

Modern Version

The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.

CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast.  How can it be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, “It’s Not Easy Being Green“. ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the ant’s house where the news stations film the group singing “We Shall Overcome“.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel to pray for the grasshopper’s sake. President Obama condemns the ant and blames President Bush, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the grasshopper’s plight.

Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Piers Morgan that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar and given to the grasshopper.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant’s food while his government house, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant’s old house, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn’t maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again.

It Didn’t Turn
Out Well

The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident, and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize and ramshackle the once prosperous and peaceful neighborhood. The entire Nation collapses, bringing the rest of the free world with it.

What is the point?

Personal responsibility is increasingly anachronistic in these United States. With entitlement mentality embedded in the hearts of more and more citizens, people tend to think their problems are the fault of someone or more likely some group. This leads to increased divisiveness, pitting classes against one other for political or economic advantage. The greater the emphasis on the collective, the lesser the emphasis on the individual. The lesser the emphasis on the individual, the smaller the emphasis on taking responsibility.

It doesn’t work out well for anyone. In the short term it seems peachy for a few. For the society, however, corruption is sown, and degradation follows.

I wonder what a good dose of growing up might do for us all.

What do you think? Is the fable accurate?

[Images via: Wikipedia Commons, stock.xchng]

November 13, 2012

There are people who believe that illegal immigrants working in the U.S. should be offered a chance to apply for legal status. Does this make sense to you? What of those who have done it right and sought citizenship according to the law? I have friendship with two excellent young men from the former Soviet Bloc who did just that. Each of them sought for years to enter the high privilege (not the “right”) of citizenship of this Union.

These men are highly intelligent, moral, productive, and contributed much to the city and society in which they lived. Yet, our immigration system put up obstacles at every turn. One finally made it after eight years or so of consistent effort. The other finally gave up in discouragement, after ten years – that’s 10! – and moved to Vancouver, Canada. He is now a citizen of that nation. Yet, people can just break in, flout the law (because they know there will be no consequence or enforcement), and gain a path to what is withheld from people who do it right?

How does that make sense?

How is that just? You know what will happen. Illegal immigration will skyrocket when it becomes clear that doing so is the quickest the way to become a citizen. While “offering a path to citizenship” sounds like a response of compassion, how does it express justice and true integrity to all the current citizens and to those who, because of their appreciation and respect for the rule of law, try to do it legally?

What would you do if you came home from a vacation and found a family had broken into your house, were set up in three or four of your rooms, had been using the shower and eaten food from your refrigerator? Sure, they had mowed the lawn, which is a job you admittedly don’t enjoy doing. (But that also meant the neighborhood kid you had hired for the job had not been able to earn the money.)

How would you feel if they had upgraded your cable TV plan, charging it to your account? How would you feel if they were driving your cars around town? What if, when you issued a strong suggestion that they depart the premises, they told you they had a right to your things, and demanded that you stop discriminating against them? (Other than these things, the home invaders are nice and friendly, and seem to have good family values.)

If you can tell me that you’d sit down with them and kindly help them work out a path to legally becoming a part of your household for the rest of your lives, letting them live with you until the legalities are worked out, then I will conclude that you truly have the courage of conviction on this issue.

This is a “nice and compassionate” but incredibly naive and misguided idea. If we follow it, and give those who are guilty of breaking and entering a path to citizenship, having obtained that privilege by ignoring the laws of the very country they say they want to join, at the least – the very least – they go to the rear of the line. They can wait their turn behind those who have been trying for years to enter legitimately by respectfully ringing the doorbell.

Still, you will telegraph to the whole world: “Go ahead and commit ‘forced entry’. We’ll reward you. We have no respect for our own laws, so we can surely understand why you don’t”.

In trying to be just, in reality you perpetuate a severe injustice.

What do you think? Would you settle the people in your home? Why not? Why is that any different from national policy?

[Images via: stock.xchng, MorgueFile

October 22, 2012

This post is in reference to “The Best of Mark Steyn”, from the Thunder on the Right Blog.

They reprinted, from Front Page Mag, a review of After America: Get Ready for Armageddon by Mark Steyn

I want to read this book. (So many books, so little time.) Steyn is a wonderful writer and speaker, and makes his points sometimes with scathing humor.

The quotes from the book in this review tell me that Mark has articulated what has bubbled about in my mind for sometime about our sad nation. His capacity for analysis and articulation surpasses mine. He has put into understandable words the truly sorry decline of the United States of America.

We are (have been) exceptional, as the only nation founded on an ideal. When the ideal is cast off, the nation recedes. I hope and pray the course can be reversed, but do we have the will to see to it?

Do you believe it’s the right course for America to cast off everything that has made it unique in all history? If so, why? Where is the power in becoming a generic nation?