I really don't have one. Ya, I know. Some of you have heard me teach. I am moderately skilled at that. I am no Plato or Paul, but I do all right. I do not consider it a gift. It is something I have sharpened with practice and if I am not studied or prepared the result can be disastrous. I am not a natural teacher. It's just not who I am. People sometimes think that because you know stuff, you should be able to help someone or teach. Not true.
What is within my skill set is to deliver a lesson from scripture and be as prepared as possible to field questions that may come up. What I like to do is ask questions and guide people to the correct answers. My method is a modified Socratic method. It works for the group I teach at church. Another thing that makes me successful at teaching this class is that everyone in my class has known me for decades. If I did not have that advantage, I probably would have failed as a teacher some time ago. These people tolerate me because they know me and love me and I am very grateful for that advantage. They are also patient with me and more than willing to correct their teacher when they think he is wrong. Another reason why I love these people. They are gentle, but firm. Not easily mislead.
I was asked today if I would advise someone on a particular subject. That is not really something I do. I am not a tutor or mentor. My personality quirks alone would be enough to mess someone up unless they really understood me and knew I did not intend harm.
I thought about this for a while and actually considered doing it and then said no. I know who this person is. She has attended my class in the past with her father. I did not figure that out until just now, but I believe that's true. She will do just fine without me. She has a strong faith and a desire to make that faith work. She does not need the advice of this old codger whose real life experience is very limited.
So I think I will stick to my little group at 0800 and teach them until we are all dead and then move on to the next stage. My skill set is limited. The time I have left is limited. I have enough responsibilities to keep me busy until that time is up. My usefulness to the body ends there. I haven't got anything else to give that is worth anyone's time. But thanks for asking.
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Love Your neighbor...The Post Script
I thought it might be useful, if not instructive, to revisit the second greatest commandment which is "Love your neighbor as yourself". This commandment laid down by Jesus in the gospel of Matthew 22:40 is also the second half of a commandment of God in Leviticus 19:18. The full verse in context reads like this, "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as your self. I am the Lord."
When Jesus said what He said in Matthew, was He changing the intent of the command from Leviticus or was He merely expanding it and in the broader context of the Christian faith and the Church, what does it really mean?
It's obvious to me that the Leviticus passage is intended to apply to the Hebrew people of Israel and how they related to each other on a daily basis. The intention is that instead of trying to avenge every wrong committed against you; you should leave room for a bit of forgiveness and grace. You see to your neighbor's needs as they arise and you treat them in the same way you would like to be treated in all of life's situations.
Does this mean that you actually have to like your neighbor or spend time with them beyond what is needed to achieve love's purpose? I don't really think so. As a matter of fact, it might mean just the opposite. It might mean giving them their space or leaving them alone or simply making yourself available if there is a need. The best neighbors are considerate of all needs. They are not always up in your bidniss as the expression goes.
I do not think that it was Jesus' intention to change this meaning. I do believe He intended to expand it beyond just the Jewish people however, because he knew the age of the gentile church was coming.
So how does this second greatest commandment apply in the church age. The book of Acts tells us a lot about how the Church lived and existed early on. What we see there almost communal living. Acts 2:42-47 indicates that the new church members held everything in common, they shared everything, they ate together and they sold their possessions as needed to give the proceeds to those in need.
The question is, were they applying the principles of the second greatest commandment or was their behavior merely an act of survival? I am voting for survival here. The early church was persecuted and it was mostly poor Jewish and Greek Jewish people. There were many widows that were uncared for. They were seeing to each others needs in very simple and unique ways. They did these things because they had to, otherwise the whole of it would have fallen apart. To be sure, they were loving their neighbors through these actions and it was needed in that environment, but their survival also depended on it.
And that brings me to today. Should the Church be living in the same fashion today as the early church did? Do we need to be living communally and sharing everything? Is that degree of togetherness really necessary here in North America?
As the Church, we have many responsibilities to each other and we should be helping each other as needed, treating each other as we would like to be treated, but I reject the idea that we need to be in each others houses all the time, eating together and being together. As a wise Chinese philosopher once said, "company, like fish, begins to stink after three days." Even the early church evolved to the point that they were meeting once a week.
There is a strain of thought in the church today that suggests, if your church is not the church of Acts 2, then it's not New Testament. I reject this categorically. Nothing could be further from the truth (in my opinion). If members of your church are calling you in the middle of the week and wanting to come over to your house to "pray" and you are not up to house guests because you have worked all day, you should not have to concede to their self invitation. If, on the other hand, they are calling you because they want you to participate in helping someone from church with a meal or a place to stay, that's entirely different and well within the realm of the second greatest command. And so is taking them out to eat and putting them up in a hotel, if you are not up to house guests.
After a hard day at work, I want to be alone. I want to relax and unwind. I do not want to entertain Christians that for whatever the reason cannot not stand to be alone. If you need my help in some tangible way, I will try to help within the scope of my financial ability and my skill set, but just because we are all part of the same Body, it does not mean you can invite yourself over or pressure me into inviting you. If I want you to come over, I will ask. And for the record...it's OK to say 'no' when I do. It doesn't mean I don't love you. It does mean I want you to respect the boundaries I have in place...and I will respect yours...I am treating you as I would want you to treat me. Please love me enough to do the same.
When Jesus said what He said in Matthew, was He changing the intent of the command from Leviticus or was He merely expanding it and in the broader context of the Christian faith and the Church, what does it really mean?
It's obvious to me that the Leviticus passage is intended to apply to the Hebrew people of Israel and how they related to each other on a daily basis. The intention is that instead of trying to avenge every wrong committed against you; you should leave room for a bit of forgiveness and grace. You see to your neighbor's needs as they arise and you treat them in the same way you would like to be treated in all of life's situations.
Does this mean that you actually have to like your neighbor or spend time with them beyond what is needed to achieve love's purpose? I don't really think so. As a matter of fact, it might mean just the opposite. It might mean giving them their space or leaving them alone or simply making yourself available if there is a need. The best neighbors are considerate of all needs. They are not always up in your bidniss as the expression goes.
I do not think that it was Jesus' intention to change this meaning. I do believe He intended to expand it beyond just the Jewish people however, because he knew the age of the gentile church was coming.
So how does this second greatest commandment apply in the church age. The book of Acts tells us a lot about how the Church lived and existed early on. What we see there almost communal living. Acts 2:42-47 indicates that the new church members held everything in common, they shared everything, they ate together and they sold their possessions as needed to give the proceeds to those in need.
The question is, were they applying the principles of the second greatest commandment or was their behavior merely an act of survival? I am voting for survival here. The early church was persecuted and it was mostly poor Jewish and Greek Jewish people. There were many widows that were uncared for. They were seeing to each others needs in very simple and unique ways. They did these things because they had to, otherwise the whole of it would have fallen apart. To be sure, they were loving their neighbors through these actions and it was needed in that environment, but their survival also depended on it.
And that brings me to today. Should the Church be living in the same fashion today as the early church did? Do we need to be living communally and sharing everything? Is that degree of togetherness really necessary here in North America?
As the Church, we have many responsibilities to each other and we should be helping each other as needed, treating each other as we would like to be treated, but I reject the idea that we need to be in each others houses all the time, eating together and being together. As a wise Chinese philosopher once said, "company, like fish, begins to stink after three days." Even the early church evolved to the point that they were meeting once a week.
There is a strain of thought in the church today that suggests, if your church is not the church of Acts 2, then it's not New Testament. I reject this categorically. Nothing could be further from the truth (in my opinion). If members of your church are calling you in the middle of the week and wanting to come over to your house to "pray" and you are not up to house guests because you have worked all day, you should not have to concede to their self invitation. If, on the other hand, they are calling you because they want you to participate in helping someone from church with a meal or a place to stay, that's entirely different and well within the realm of the second greatest command. And so is taking them out to eat and putting them up in a hotel, if you are not up to house guests.
After a hard day at work, I want to be alone. I want to relax and unwind. I do not want to entertain Christians that for whatever the reason cannot not stand to be alone. If you need my help in some tangible way, I will try to help within the scope of my financial ability and my skill set, but just because we are all part of the same Body, it does not mean you can invite yourself over or pressure me into inviting you. If I want you to come over, I will ask. And for the record...it's OK to say 'no' when I do. It doesn't mean I don't love you. It does mean I want you to respect the boundaries I have in place...and I will respect yours...I am treating you as I would want you to treat me. Please love me enough to do the same.
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Personal Notes
I'm sure you are just about fed up with my personal issues. I know that I am. Even so, I feel the need to talk about them. If this is too much of a burden, you can turn back now. It is not too late to seek a place of safety.
Yesterday, I think I was as tired as I have ever been at any one time in my life. I reached full zombification around 1930. At that point, I was on full automatic, not being really sure what I was doing or if I was doing it right. I was at work from 0600 until about 2140. There were a few breaks in there that amounted to about an hour for the day, but it was tiring nevertheless.
I was customer service. I was sales. I was the manager and I was the data entry clerk. I did it all. It is amazing what I know how to do at work and how long that I can stand to be there. I keep telling myself how much I hate it, but would I really spend that much time there if I hated it? I wonder if maybe I am finding reasons to stay at work because I no longer want to go home? This is a possibility that probably requires some analysis. I also use work and my Dad to avoid spending time with people from church and other places. There are many activities at church that I could be involved in, but I am not, mostly because I detest all the interaction with people.
This is not to say that there is anything wrong with the folks from church. They are fine Christians and fine people. I like them, but I do not seem to want to get to know them in any significant way. I think it all goes back to my views on friendship and what it means to be someone's friend.
I detest the shallowness of most relationships in this day and age. The facebook friend mentality is a menace. People that barely know each other call themselves friends. For me, friendship takes time. It develops. You become invested in the person that you are friends with and you feel a sense of responsibility to them.
And that is where I always want to get off the boat. I don't want the responsibility that I believe comes with the relationship.
It's at that point that I begin to feel trapped. I do not want to deal with my friend's issues, mostly because I cannot deal with my own, and I just want to run away to a safe place to be alone. I really do not want to burden potential friends with my baggage either which is considerable. I am kind of a burden and a liability as a friend myself.
I see this contradiction in my life between my principles and my behavior here and it does not seem to bother me all that much. If it did, I guess I might try to fix it. My point here is that I think work has become my hiding place. If I could not go to work, what would I do? The answer to that question is probably too scary to contemplate. If I quit my job, what would I do? It might be worth trying. What's the worse thing that could happen? It might kill me. Some people lose their sense of purpose when they quit work. Somehow, I do not think that would happen to me. I have always been able to entertain myself, with or without others. In the past, some of that entertainment has been destructive, but I do not think that would be the case now. It might be worth a try. I just have to find a way to make it work.
On my way to and from the grocery store today, I saw a lot of open, ice free water. Local ponds in subdivisions and on farms are open and waiting. I mention that because it prompted an ancient longing that used to hit me every spring. It is the need to go fishing. I have not been fishing in four years. Life has been getting in the way. I think this is the year I will break the drought. I need to go fishing. I miss the solitude of my lone fishing expeditions. I wish I could go to the Wapsipinicon River and fish below the dams at Central City and Anamosa. I miss those times. I also miss the fishing below the 3 in 1 dam on the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids. There was some fine smallmouth bass and walleye fishing in all three of those places.
And before you ask, let me advise you not to. I am sure you would be fine company, but I do not really want to go fishing with you whoever you may be. Fishing is a solitary thing for me. This is not to say that I always go alone. I have been fishing with many people including one very special former friend, but right now I need space. Granted, I require much more personal space than most, but it does not mean that I don't really need it. Thanks for thinking about asking though. It really is the thought that counts for me.
So, if I wasn't working, I could go fishing a lot. I could garden. I could do church stuff when I wanted to be with people and maybe if I wasn't at work all the time, I would want to be with people more than I do now. Who knows?
Then again, God might decide to recall me because I ceased to be useful. These unknowns make me hesitate, but what's the downside of going home to God? I suppose there are a lot of people there and that might be annoying, but my attitude might be different in Paradise. Who knows? I surely do not.
Well, it's time to get ready for Sunday. I have an adult class to teach at church at 0800 in the morning. It's time to put the finishing touches on an unstudied lesson. This is the thing I enjoy most in my life right now. I love to teach my teach my class and, despite earlier comments, I enjoy the people, many of whom I have known all my life. We are a wide variety of white folks from different backgrounds, but we enjoy our study together and we enjoy worshiping together. I find myself wondering if they would really like me all that much if they really knew me, but that is a bridge better left uncrossed. They do not need to be burdened with my junk. I wish I wasn't. (:^))
I'm quite funny, don't you think?
I stepped away for a bit to put a load of clothes in the dryer and that gave me just enough time to reconsider this post. There is a 'theme' here I think. I am sick of being responsible. The last time that happened (age 20 to 24), I spent 4 years living like the Devil's best friend. Let's hope it goes better this time around. If I ever live like that again, it will probably kill me. Strangely, I have never really felt the need to repent of that time in my life. Lord, I hope that does not bother you. I had more fun then, than a man ought to be allowed. I truly enjoyed it. I have very few regrets about it Lord other than the fact that I ignored you the whole time. Thanks for being patient through that time. I hope you are still patient. I may need it :^)
Like I said, I am just hilarious.
Yesterday, I think I was as tired as I have ever been at any one time in my life. I reached full zombification around 1930. At that point, I was on full automatic, not being really sure what I was doing or if I was doing it right. I was at work from 0600 until about 2140. There were a few breaks in there that amounted to about an hour for the day, but it was tiring nevertheless.
I was customer service. I was sales. I was the manager and I was the data entry clerk. I did it all. It is amazing what I know how to do at work and how long that I can stand to be there. I keep telling myself how much I hate it, but would I really spend that much time there if I hated it? I wonder if maybe I am finding reasons to stay at work because I no longer want to go home? This is a possibility that probably requires some analysis. I also use work and my Dad to avoid spending time with people from church and other places. There are many activities at church that I could be involved in, but I am not, mostly because I detest all the interaction with people.
This is not to say that there is anything wrong with the folks from church. They are fine Christians and fine people. I like them, but I do not seem to want to get to know them in any significant way. I think it all goes back to my views on friendship and what it means to be someone's friend.
I detest the shallowness of most relationships in this day and age. The facebook friend mentality is a menace. People that barely know each other call themselves friends. For me, friendship takes time. It develops. You become invested in the person that you are friends with and you feel a sense of responsibility to them.
And that is where I always want to get off the boat. I don't want the responsibility that I believe comes with the relationship.
It's at that point that I begin to feel trapped. I do not want to deal with my friend's issues, mostly because I cannot deal with my own, and I just want to run away to a safe place to be alone. I really do not want to burden potential friends with my baggage either which is considerable. I am kind of a burden and a liability as a friend myself.
I see this contradiction in my life between my principles and my behavior here and it does not seem to bother me all that much. If it did, I guess I might try to fix it. My point here is that I think work has become my hiding place. If I could not go to work, what would I do? The answer to that question is probably too scary to contemplate. If I quit my job, what would I do? It might be worth trying. What's the worse thing that could happen? It might kill me. Some people lose their sense of purpose when they quit work. Somehow, I do not think that would happen to me. I have always been able to entertain myself, with or without others. In the past, some of that entertainment has been destructive, but I do not think that would be the case now. It might be worth a try. I just have to find a way to make it work.
On my way to and from the grocery store today, I saw a lot of open, ice free water. Local ponds in subdivisions and on farms are open and waiting. I mention that because it prompted an ancient longing that used to hit me every spring. It is the need to go fishing. I have not been fishing in four years. Life has been getting in the way. I think this is the year I will break the drought. I need to go fishing. I miss the solitude of my lone fishing expeditions. I wish I could go to the Wapsipinicon River and fish below the dams at Central City and Anamosa. I miss those times. I also miss the fishing below the 3 in 1 dam on the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids. There was some fine smallmouth bass and walleye fishing in all three of those places.
And before you ask, let me advise you not to. I am sure you would be fine company, but I do not really want to go fishing with you whoever you may be. Fishing is a solitary thing for me. This is not to say that I always go alone. I have been fishing with many people including one very special former friend, but right now I need space. Granted, I require much more personal space than most, but it does not mean that I don't really need it. Thanks for thinking about asking though. It really is the thought that counts for me.
So, if I wasn't working, I could go fishing a lot. I could garden. I could do church stuff when I wanted to be with people and maybe if I wasn't at work all the time, I would want to be with people more than I do now. Who knows?
Then again, God might decide to recall me because I ceased to be useful. These unknowns make me hesitate, but what's the downside of going home to God? I suppose there are a lot of people there and that might be annoying, but my attitude might be different in Paradise. Who knows? I surely do not.
Well, it's time to get ready for Sunday. I have an adult class to teach at church at 0800 in the morning. It's time to put the finishing touches on an unstudied lesson. This is the thing I enjoy most in my life right now. I love to teach my teach my class and, despite earlier comments, I enjoy the people, many of whom I have known all my life. We are a wide variety of white folks from different backgrounds, but we enjoy our study together and we enjoy worshiping together. I find myself wondering if they would really like me all that much if they really knew me, but that is a bridge better left uncrossed. They do not need to be burdened with my junk. I wish I wasn't. (:^))
I'm quite funny, don't you think?
I stepped away for a bit to put a load of clothes in the dryer and that gave me just enough time to reconsider this post. There is a 'theme' here I think. I am sick of being responsible. The last time that happened (age 20 to 24), I spent 4 years living like the Devil's best friend. Let's hope it goes better this time around. If I ever live like that again, it will probably kill me. Strangely, I have never really felt the need to repent of that time in my life. Lord, I hope that does not bother you. I had more fun then, than a man ought to be allowed. I truly enjoyed it. I have very few regrets about it Lord other than the fact that I ignored you the whole time. Thanks for being patient through that time. I hope you are still patient. I may need it :^)
Like I said, I am just hilarious.
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Conclusion
Oh stop. If you think that means I'm going away now, well you can just forget it.
As the post title indicates, I have arrived at a conclusion. Going to work makes my head hurt. It never used to do that. I used to like going to work. But I do not like it anymore. There are reasons for that which I could go on and on about, but now is not the time.
Yesterday when I arrived I was fine. As I sat here dealing with the daily issues, I gradually felt this dull ache creeping up the back of my head from my neck. After that, it went straight to the frontal lobe and throbbed for the remainder of the day. After my exit last night, I noticed on the drive home that my symptoms were disappearing. Leaving the work place was making me feel better. The headache was going away.
Now I suppose it could be environmental. We do work in close quarters in kind of a mini cube farm. Or it could be some pollutant in the air that I am unaware of. We are at an airport after all. And it could even be an issue with my neck. I do have a narrowing between the neck vertebrae and some arthritis. It's probably something an ergonomically correct chair could fix.
But the fact is that I am also sick of it. I really hate it. This is unfortunate since retirement is still a few years away. I need the health insurance until the nurturing hand of our government takes it over for me. Work has just become a stress inducing activity that I really no longer care about. Maybe I should just get out now before it kills me. There has to be a way to do that, maintain my healthcare insurance and move to something that will engage me in more positive ways.
I guess I can look for another job, but no one ever seems to want to hire a 50 something guy that knows a lot, but will be gone in a few years.
I do not know what the answer is. If I get it figured out, I will let you know. Right now I need some aspirin. I feel a headache coming on.
As the post title indicates, I have arrived at a conclusion. Going to work makes my head hurt. It never used to do that. I used to like going to work. But I do not like it anymore. There are reasons for that which I could go on and on about, but now is not the time.
Yesterday when I arrived I was fine. As I sat here dealing with the daily issues, I gradually felt this dull ache creeping up the back of my head from my neck. After that, it went straight to the frontal lobe and throbbed for the remainder of the day. After my exit last night, I noticed on the drive home that my symptoms were disappearing. Leaving the work place was making me feel better. The headache was going away.
Now I suppose it could be environmental. We do work in close quarters in kind of a mini cube farm. Or it could be some pollutant in the air that I am unaware of. We are at an airport after all. And it could even be an issue with my neck. I do have a narrowing between the neck vertebrae and some arthritis. It's probably something an ergonomically correct chair could fix.
But the fact is that I am also sick of it. I really hate it. This is unfortunate since retirement is still a few years away. I need the health insurance until the nurturing hand of our government takes it over for me. Work has just become a stress inducing activity that I really no longer care about. Maybe I should just get out now before it kills me. There has to be a way to do that, maintain my healthcare insurance and move to something that will engage me in more positive ways.
I guess I can look for another job, but no one ever seems to want to hire a 50 something guy that knows a lot, but will be gone in a few years.
I do not know what the answer is. If I get it figured out, I will let you know. Right now I need some aspirin. I feel a headache coming on.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Intensity
I was emailing an old friend last night (very, very old) who was concerned about my current mental status. She thought that I might be depressed, because of the tone and topics of my blog. (And we are talking the clinical variety of depression here I think if I understand her correctly.) I will admit to having a tough time in November and December. Actually it was awful, but I think I'm pretty much over it. I probably should consider that I may have gotten used to it and that it has continued, but I don't think it's something you get used to really. I'm pretty good at knowing where my head is and I don't think it's there anymore.
What I do think is that I have become more intense since January. I am not sure why this is. I just cannot seem to quiet my mind. It's like there is a fire in my head. I need to write things down. I have been using this blog for that purpose. Surprisingly, I always feel much better after offloading my excess thoughts to the internet. I'm not sure anyone would want to hear or read my excess thoughts, but strangely, I do not care. If you don't like it, don't read it. It's basically therapy for me anyway. That's why I closed the comments section. I would put it back if I thought someone would use it, but there appears to be a lack of interest there. No one (except the usual suspect) will engage. I put it down to fear. Taking issue with me is a fairly useless endeavor for the most part. I guess that's why I can't even get a good troll. (:^0
If I really am mentally ill, I suppose you would call all this typing I do 'note taking behavior'. It could be a symptom of schizophrenia. Maybe I will look into lithium treatments or electro-convulsive therapy. That should drive every last thought right out of my head and then I can be "normal" like everyone else. Now that would be totally boring.
I am so funny...
What I do think is that I have become more intense since January. I am not sure why this is. I just cannot seem to quiet my mind. It's like there is a fire in my head. I need to write things down. I have been using this blog for that purpose. Surprisingly, I always feel much better after offloading my excess thoughts to the internet. I'm not sure anyone would want to hear or read my excess thoughts, but strangely, I do not care. If you don't like it, don't read it. It's basically therapy for me anyway. That's why I closed the comments section. I would put it back if I thought someone would use it, but there appears to be a lack of interest there. No one (except the usual suspect) will engage. I put it down to fear. Taking issue with me is a fairly useless endeavor for the most part. I guess that's why I can't even get a good troll. (:^0
If I really am mentally ill, I suppose you would call all this typing I do 'note taking behavior'. It could be a symptom of schizophrenia. Maybe I will look into lithium treatments or electro-convulsive therapy. That should drive every last thought right out of my head and then I can be "normal" like everyone else. Now that would be totally boring.
I am so funny...
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Intuitions
I am sometimes 'intuitive'. It is usually based on physical evidence of some sort and I am sometimes wrong in my intuitions, but for the most part my intuitions tend to be accurate. I have made some spectacular errors. I once completely misinterpreted someone's body language and manner of speech and ended up apologizing. I did it in email. Even though I knew I was wrong, I did not want to talk to him, so I sent an email apology. I do not know if he ever received it or forgave me because he never responded. It's entirely possible he did not really want to talk to me either, which is fine and it kind of makes me laugh now. Not sure why.
The most baffling of my intuitions though are the ones for which I have no physical evidence. For example, once during prayer and while praying for the health of my parents, I received an insight, almost a voice in my head, that it would become my job to take care of my Dad. This was 5 years before my Mom died. On another occasion, I was drifting between sleep and wakefulness and this intuition came more as a thought that I should already know. It was very sobering as the full brunt of it hit my frontal lobe. Suddenly I knew that in only a very short time after my Dad passes, I will die. As before, there was no indication of when those events would come to pass, but you can bet that I am doing my best to keep Dad healthy and motating! The process is getting more and more difficult though as time goes on. This is the way of all life.
If events do not unfold this way, I am, of course, good with that. But if they do, be sure to tell everyone I predicted it. I suppose I could check out first. This would create some problems for Dad I think. If the Lord does it that way, I hope he will have willing people on hand to take charge of the situation. What am I saying? I have control freaks on both sides of the family that would be more than willing to step in. What am I worried about? Heaven awaits either way for both of us. Good times are ahead.
The most baffling of my intuitions though are the ones for which I have no physical evidence. For example, once during prayer and while praying for the health of my parents, I received an insight, almost a voice in my head, that it would become my job to take care of my Dad. This was 5 years before my Mom died. On another occasion, I was drifting between sleep and wakefulness and this intuition came more as a thought that I should already know. It was very sobering as the full brunt of it hit my frontal lobe. Suddenly I knew that in only a very short time after my Dad passes, I will die. As before, there was no indication of when those events would come to pass, but you can bet that I am doing my best to keep Dad healthy and motating! The process is getting more and more difficult though as time goes on. This is the way of all life.
If events do not unfold this way, I am, of course, good with that. But if they do, be sure to tell everyone I predicted it. I suppose I could check out first. This would create some problems for Dad I think. If the Lord does it that way, I hope he will have willing people on hand to take charge of the situation. What am I saying? I have control freaks on both sides of the family that would be more than willing to step in. What am I worried about? Heaven awaits either way for both of us. Good times are ahead.
The Sun, The Moon and the Spring
On March 20th, Northern Europe will enjoy a three way celestial event that has not happened in 100,000 years, which to my mind means, it has never happened before. There will be a total eclipse, a super moon and the vernal equinox all on the same day. It should be a spectacular day astronomically speaking.
I'm sure that there will be crowds of would be Druids at Stonehenge and other pagan sites and in other places there will be dispensationalist and premillennial Christians hunkered down in anticipation of the parousia.
Me? I will be at work. I don't think anything other than a spectacular light show will be underway and since I am in North America, I won't get to see the eclipse, except on TV. Hope to sleep through the super moon too.
It's common thought among many Christians that these are signs in the heavens that portend God's coming judgement or some other major historical event. While I'm good with that if it's what you want to believe, there is nothing I can do about the cosmic activities of God except wait. Since waiting is unproductive, I think I'll work or sleep or eat or something. If He makes an appearance, I will be ready and if He does not, I will talk to Him the next morning.
The older I get, the more useless I think the study of eschatology is. It is very interesting, but so is the study of UFO's. My philosophy at present is that I am saved, I am ready, let 'er rip if you like. Otherwise, I think I'll go fishing. It's gonna be Spring ya know.
Lord, I hope what I just wrote does not offend you. I just like the element of surprise. Personally, I can't wait to see your smiling face, but it's going to be a terrible day for many people and I would just as soon you give them every chance possible to come to you in faith. I can wait. Death is not that far off for me. I can wait. Lord, it's good to be in Your family even when you're away. See you soon. Love you.
Ghog
Monday, March 16, 2015
Death...Are We Ready?
The brother in law of coworker past away last Friday. It was totally unexpected. It was thought that he had a heart attack even though he was believed to have been in good health. He was 3 years younger than me. They found him laying on his kitchen floor. I have noticed many people in my age range passing from unforeseen circumstances. I suppose we all must be in that special time of life.
I started watching the obit page back when my Mom died. It is strange how many young people die, but there seems to be an alarming curve upward in the death rate once people start hitting 50.
The average life expectancy in America is sitting at 71 years right now. My Mom hit that one on the nose. I have two grandparents that lived to 89 and 90 years each, one that lived to 83 and another that lived to 59. There just are no guarantees regarding how much time we all have left. We can be recalled at anytime for any reason.
I think about some of the people I knew in high school that have passed that I also considered friends of mine. There is a suicide, an AIDS victim, an alcoholic that passed out and fell down the stairs of his home and a cancer victim. These are just the ones I know about. There are probably others. I find myself wondering if they were prepared to pass into eternity.
Many people think that if they just live right, do good things and avoid violent crimes, etc they will be prepared to meet their maker. Others you must make the most of what you do here because there is nothing else. I wish for them that this was correct, but both my mind and my faith tell me otherwise. The truth is...
It is not so much what you do. It's who you know.
And there are many in this world who know who Jesus is. Many of them believed in Him at one time in their lives, but they walked away from Him for any number of reasons. The big reasons go something like this.
1) They do not like the company that Jesus keeps...meaning Christians of course; The Church. Now I would be the first to admit that we are a weird bunch, but we are really no weirder than you are, at least from our perspective. We are sinners too, but we acknowledge that. We are just saved by God's grace. We do have some standards that we believe come from God that are hard for many to accept and we have trouble consistently maintaining these standards ourselves, but we are trying I think. Some see us as self righteous and uncompassionate because of the way we hold up these standards and I think there is some room for discussion there, but the bottom line is that these standards are God's and not of our own manufacture.
2) There are others that have concluded that if God is the God of the Bible, they want nothing to do with Him. He is a bully. My answer would be that He is not a bully, but even if He were, He is God. Ultimately you will surrender control. There will be no choice. Why not change your mind about this now while there is a choice and avoid condemnation? God is willing if you are.
3) My favorite objection of the newly faithless is anger at God. This one has to be my favorite since I have been there and done that, and got the T-shirt. Anger at God, as I have learned, is a fruitless effort and a waste of energy from my experience. God essentially put me in a corner and told me to think about what I had done. As it turned out, I was not only angry, I was pretty stubborn. Between the ages of 23 and 37 God and I did not speak. The anger actually started at a much earlier age, but I gave up on Him and refused to accept what He was trying to tell me when I was 23. There are just some things one just does not want to deal with. Maybe some day I will talk about the actual issue. That ain't today. Suffice it to say, since that time, I have submitted myself to His will. It has been tough. I am still not perfect. I do not think I will be completely dead to sin until I am dead...which is the subject here. I do know this however. I am going to live forever with Him and that's all that matters to me really.
4) The scariest objectors to God are those that have no faith at all. Atheists are among the most self righteous, proud and arrogant people on earth. They outclass any hypocritical Christian any day of the week because when they say there is no God, they claim to know everything. The only way anyone can know there is no God is if they know everything. It does not get more arrogant than that. In the process, they become their own god and they create their own morality simply because they have no reason not to. After all, they know everything.
5) Another class of faithless people are agnostics. They admit they do not know everything and they are not sure if there is a God, but they are willing to listen. This is usually where it ends. If a proposed "God" is not created in their own image, it will get rejected. Agnostics are more malleable though, less proud and more willing to entertain the idea that one must submit to God to be successful in faith and life.
I could go on, but I won't, except to say this. If you are in one of these five groups, you need to reconsider your position. God is a God of love, grace and compassion, but He is also a God of justice. The time is now for the first three items. Justice will be delivered in the future. Get yourself within His grace now. Tomorrow you could be dead and the only thing that will lie ahead for you is His justice. It will be too late for anything else.
I started watching the obit page back when my Mom died. It is strange how many young people die, but there seems to be an alarming curve upward in the death rate once people start hitting 50.
The average life expectancy in America is sitting at 71 years right now. My Mom hit that one on the nose. I have two grandparents that lived to 89 and 90 years each, one that lived to 83 and another that lived to 59. There just are no guarantees regarding how much time we all have left. We can be recalled at anytime for any reason.
I think about some of the people I knew in high school that have passed that I also considered friends of mine. There is a suicide, an AIDS victim, an alcoholic that passed out and fell down the stairs of his home and a cancer victim. These are just the ones I know about. There are probably others. I find myself wondering if they were prepared to pass into eternity.
Many people think that if they just live right, do good things and avoid violent crimes, etc they will be prepared to meet their maker. Others you must make the most of what you do here because there is nothing else. I wish for them that this was correct, but both my mind and my faith tell me otherwise. The truth is...
It is not so much what you do. It's who you know.
And there are many in this world who know who Jesus is. Many of them believed in Him at one time in their lives, but they walked away from Him for any number of reasons. The big reasons go something like this.
1) They do not like the company that Jesus keeps...meaning Christians of course; The Church. Now I would be the first to admit that we are a weird bunch, but we are really no weirder than you are, at least from our perspective. We are sinners too, but we acknowledge that. We are just saved by God's grace. We do have some standards that we believe come from God that are hard for many to accept and we have trouble consistently maintaining these standards ourselves, but we are trying I think. Some see us as self righteous and uncompassionate because of the way we hold up these standards and I think there is some room for discussion there, but the bottom line is that these standards are God's and not of our own manufacture.
2) There are others that have concluded that if God is the God of the Bible, they want nothing to do with Him. He is a bully. My answer would be that He is not a bully, but even if He were, He is God. Ultimately you will surrender control. There will be no choice. Why not change your mind about this now while there is a choice and avoid condemnation? God is willing if you are.
3) My favorite objection of the newly faithless is anger at God. This one has to be my favorite since I have been there and done that, and got the T-shirt. Anger at God, as I have learned, is a fruitless effort and a waste of energy from my experience. God essentially put me in a corner and told me to think about what I had done. As it turned out, I was not only angry, I was pretty stubborn. Between the ages of 23 and 37 God and I did not speak. The anger actually started at a much earlier age, but I gave up on Him and refused to accept what He was trying to tell me when I was 23. There are just some things one just does not want to deal with. Maybe some day I will talk about the actual issue. That ain't today. Suffice it to say, since that time, I have submitted myself to His will. It has been tough. I am still not perfect. I do not think I will be completely dead to sin until I am dead...which is the subject here. I do know this however. I am going to live forever with Him and that's all that matters to me really.
4) The scariest objectors to God are those that have no faith at all. Atheists are among the most self righteous, proud and arrogant people on earth. They outclass any hypocritical Christian any day of the week because when they say there is no God, they claim to know everything. The only way anyone can know there is no God is if they know everything. It does not get more arrogant than that. In the process, they become their own god and they create their own morality simply because they have no reason not to. After all, they know everything.
5) Another class of faithless people are agnostics. They admit they do not know everything and they are not sure if there is a God, but they are willing to listen. This is usually where it ends. If a proposed "God" is not created in their own image, it will get rejected. Agnostics are more malleable though, less proud and more willing to entertain the idea that one must submit to God to be successful in faith and life.
I could go on, but I won't, except to say this. If you are in one of these five groups, you need to reconsider your position. God is a God of love, grace and compassion, but He is also a God of justice. The time is now for the first three items. Justice will be delivered in the future. Get yourself within His grace now. Tomorrow you could be dead and the only thing that will lie ahead for you is His justice. It will be too late for anything else.
Changing Human Behavior or Changing the Human Heart
I have struggled for years in understanding the nature of regeneration in the conversion process of Christianity. I think maybe I look too much to personal experience and not enough at the facts sometimes, nevertheless, I struggle with understanding. So here is what I have come up with. My thoughts on this issue are evolving, so there will be some tweaking and refining, but this is basically it.
When we become Christians, a sort of mini miracle happens. We are baptized in water and we are raised up as new creations in Christ. But what all happens in that water? Is there some mystical effect from it? Does it wash away sins?
My answer is that it does not. The baptism in water is symbolic of the actual process. All in one moment and as we go down into the water, we receive at the same time the baptism of the Holy Spirit and forgiveness of sin. Holy Spirit releases our spirits and enables us to resist what we could not resist before and in that way, we are changed. A new will power is enabled within us by Holy Spirit and we are enabled to stand. This power increases as we walk with Christ and learn from His word. It requires our cooperation, but it works every time it is tried.
So what exactly is being changed? Is it the desire to sin? Is it just behavior? What is it?
We know from Jesus that the things that make a man unclean do not come from outside the body or the human spirit. The things that make one unclean come from the heart. We also know that even the contemplation of sin....hating your neighbor....lusting after your neighbor and so on can be just as sinful as the actual behaviors of murder and sexual immorality if contemplated for any length of time.
The process, however, has to stop somewhere and so I am thinking that we begin with behavior modification, through use of the will power that is supplied by the Holy Spirit and abstain from the sins we are tempted with. The modification ultimately starves the desire to the point that it dies in the heart and is no longer a issue.
Wonderful theory huh? But does it work in practice? As a somewhat lighthearted example of this, consider the self destructive habit of smoking? Many who finally manage to quit become virulent "anti smoking Zealots". They have been changed, first by the death of the habit and then by the death of the desire. They are free and they want to set others free.
Why can it not work that way with sin? I would suggest that it does. It is a process that takes time and the desire to sin does not always die right away after the cessation of the practice. It continues in the human heart as a longing. There is in some ways a morning process that goes on. The sin is missed like an old friend. It is withdrawal from addiction in the truest sense. Only the stubbornness of our reborn spirits empowered by the Holy Spirit will get us through that and it may take some time. Sorrow for sin and a desire to obey Christ are at the heart of it. If these things are not in place, no change of heart will occur and the desire to sin will torture the Christian. Paul says in II Corinthians 7:10
10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death
So here is my advice to you. Pray with God through His Holy Spirit for the will power to change what ever sinful behavior it is that needs to change. Stop the behavior. Starve the unclean desire of the heart and so die to your sins and live for Christ.
Titus 3:3-7
3 For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. 4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs [a]according to the hope of eternal life.
When we become Christians, a sort of mini miracle happens. We are baptized in water and we are raised up as new creations in Christ. But what all happens in that water? Is there some mystical effect from it? Does it wash away sins?
My answer is that it does not. The baptism in water is symbolic of the actual process. All in one moment and as we go down into the water, we receive at the same time the baptism of the Holy Spirit and forgiveness of sin. Holy Spirit releases our spirits and enables us to resist what we could not resist before and in that way, we are changed. A new will power is enabled within us by Holy Spirit and we are enabled to stand. This power increases as we walk with Christ and learn from His word. It requires our cooperation, but it works every time it is tried.
So what exactly is being changed? Is it the desire to sin? Is it just behavior? What is it?
We know from Jesus that the things that make a man unclean do not come from outside the body or the human spirit. The things that make one unclean come from the heart. We also know that even the contemplation of sin....hating your neighbor....lusting after your neighbor and so on can be just as sinful as the actual behaviors of murder and sexual immorality if contemplated for any length of time.
The process, however, has to stop somewhere and so I am thinking that we begin with behavior modification, through use of the will power that is supplied by the Holy Spirit and abstain from the sins we are tempted with. The modification ultimately starves the desire to the point that it dies in the heart and is no longer a issue.
Wonderful theory huh? But does it work in practice? As a somewhat lighthearted example of this, consider the self destructive habit of smoking? Many who finally manage to quit become virulent "anti smoking Zealots". They have been changed, first by the death of the habit and then by the death of the desire. They are free and they want to set others free.
Why can it not work that way with sin? I would suggest that it does. It is a process that takes time and the desire to sin does not always die right away after the cessation of the practice. It continues in the human heart as a longing. There is in some ways a morning process that goes on. The sin is missed like an old friend. It is withdrawal from addiction in the truest sense. Only the stubbornness of our reborn spirits empowered by the Holy Spirit will get us through that and it may take some time. Sorrow for sin and a desire to obey Christ are at the heart of it. If these things are not in place, no change of heart will occur and the desire to sin will torture the Christian. Paul says in II Corinthians 7:10
10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death
So here is my advice to you. Pray with God through His Holy Spirit for the will power to change what ever sinful behavior it is that needs to change. Stop the behavior. Starve the unclean desire of the heart and so die to your sins and live for Christ.
Titus 3:3-7
3 For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. 4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs [a]according to the hope of eternal life.
Vlad Is Back...Apparently
He may be on a short leash or maybe he was even victorious in whatever struggle he has been involved in, but Putin is back according to Reuters. It may be nothing. Maybe nothing happened. It all just seems to weird that he would be out of the limelight for 10 days. We should continue to watch events there.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Vlad Is Still Missing
The Ides of March are upon us and the President of the Russian Federation is still missing. As of tomorrow, there will have been no credible public appearance of Putin for 10 days. Very odd behavior for a man that seems to enjoy being in the public eye. The rumors are crazy. Things like...
There has been a coup. He is under house arrest. He has had a stroke. He has the flu. He is with his gymnast girlfriend awaiting the delivery of their bastard offspring. He is planning a conventional military attack on the Ukraine and Europe while in a "secured location". Check out The Daily Mail; It goes on and on.
We should know something tomorrow and by the 18th at the latest. Tomorrow he has a high level meeting scheduled with the president of Kazakhstan and on the 18th there is supposed to be a very public celebration of the annexation of the Crimea in Moscow. If he doesn't show for that one, I think we can right him off as a past leader of the Russian Federation.
And this may be unrelated, but there was a major fire in Moscow today at the Novodevichy monastery which is just 4 kilometers from the Kremlin. Interesting times eh?
Friday, March 13, 2015
Where In The World Is Vladimir Putin?
The president of the Russian Federation has not been seen in public since March 5. He has disappeared. There is no reliable source that can provide his whereabouts and it has sparked rumors of coup de tat.
There is also another lesser story under way from Twitter regarding evacuation of Russian embassy personnel in London. Apparently they have all returned to the homeland over the last few day.
I really hate to see Vlad's reign come to an end. He has been the only world leader willing to stand up to the 'Evil Empire' over the last few years. The Zionist/US/British cabal that currently runs world affairs needs someone like Putin to keep them in check. If he is erased, who will take a stand against the malevolent western powers?
We need him.
There is also another lesser story under way from Twitter regarding evacuation of Russian embassy personnel in London. Apparently they have all returned to the homeland over the last few day.
I really hate to see Vlad's reign come to an end. He has been the only world leader willing to stand up to the 'Evil Empire' over the last few years. The Zionist/US/British cabal that currently runs world affairs needs someone like Putin to keep them in check. If he is erased, who will take a stand against the malevolent western powers?
We need him.
Power From On High
There are many Christians for whom the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Though He indwells our bodies, we really do not notice His presence in our physical and sensual state. We know He is within us, because he was promised in God's Word. It is, as I like to say, a knowing rather than a feeling.
So what does the Spirit do in our lives? Who is He? A real personage? Genuine divinity? How does he work?
In researching this subject, I have taken a number of ques from Dr Jack Cottrell. He seems to have things nailed down as it were. I like things nailed down. I would recommend his book on this subject, "Power From On High". It is an extensive study to say the least and it must be absorbed slowly. Give yourself time to read and re-read so that you understand. He gives you the scriptures and he does not take things out of context. There is a continuity and a flow that is in harmony with the New Testament. This is important. It is not a touchy feely exposition. It is logical and intellectual, and to my mind, this does not translate to boring. Get yourself a copy. I am still trying to wrap my mind around his work, but I think it is beginning to soak in. It is different, in many respects, from what I was taught early on in church, but I do believe it's right and I say that from both a experiential and critical point of view. This is not to say that I have a right to judge the work. I am no scholar and Dr Jack is a scholar. The man makes me think. That's all.
So what I have learned is this in a nutshell.
We receive the Holy Spirit during water baptism. When we go down into the water we also receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and regeneration of our spirits occur simultaneously. It is really an answer to one of the great mysteries of the faith, but this is the way the Bible indicates our conversion happens. It is to mind a miracle and we barely notice it from a sensory perspective.
Titus 3:3-7 (NASB)
3 For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. 4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs [a]according to the hope of eternal life.
So what does the Holy Spirit do for us? His main purpose is to help us stand against the infernal dark powers of the evil one...The Holy Spirit gives us will power that we did not have in our previous life as unsaved sinners. He works through the Word and prompts our minds to recall what is needed to withstand temptation. We can walk away if we are willing to cooperate with His power in our lives. Ignoring this power that we are given to do right instead of wrong can be disastrous for the Christian. It is possible to become insensitive to this power and we can find are selves back where we were when we started. This is a grievous place to be. Spiritual death is a terrible thing and some do not even realize it is happening.
I have not finished the book, so I will probably share more later. I will leave you with this warning.
Hebrews 6:4-6 NASB
4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, [d]since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
So what does the Spirit do in our lives? Who is He? A real personage? Genuine divinity? How does he work?
In researching this subject, I have taken a number of ques from Dr Jack Cottrell. He seems to have things nailed down as it were. I like things nailed down. I would recommend his book on this subject, "Power From On High". It is an extensive study to say the least and it must be absorbed slowly. Give yourself time to read and re-read so that you understand. He gives you the scriptures and he does not take things out of context. There is a continuity and a flow that is in harmony with the New Testament. This is important. It is not a touchy feely exposition. It is logical and intellectual, and to my mind, this does not translate to boring. Get yourself a copy. I am still trying to wrap my mind around his work, but I think it is beginning to soak in. It is different, in many respects, from what I was taught early on in church, but I do believe it's right and I say that from both a experiential and critical point of view. This is not to say that I have a right to judge the work. I am no scholar and Dr Jack is a scholar. The man makes me think. That's all.
So what I have learned is this in a nutshell.
We receive the Holy Spirit during water baptism. When we go down into the water we also receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and regeneration of our spirits occur simultaneously. It is really an answer to one of the great mysteries of the faith, but this is the way the Bible indicates our conversion happens. It is to mind a miracle and we barely notice it from a sensory perspective.
Titus 3:3-7 (NASB)
3 For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. 4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs [a]according to the hope of eternal life.
So what does the Holy Spirit do for us? His main purpose is to help us stand against the infernal dark powers of the evil one...The Holy Spirit gives us will power that we did not have in our previous life as unsaved sinners. He works through the Word and prompts our minds to recall what is needed to withstand temptation. We can walk away if we are willing to cooperate with His power in our lives. Ignoring this power that we are given to do right instead of wrong can be disastrous for the Christian. It is possible to become insensitive to this power and we can find are selves back where we were when we started. This is a grievous place to be. Spiritual death is a terrible thing and some do not even realize it is happening.
I have not finished the book, so I will probably share more later. I will leave you with this warning.
Hebrews 6:4-6 NASB
4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, [d]since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
God Gave Them Over...
I have been asked if there ever comes a time when God gives up on redeeming people that He allegedly loves. My answer is yes. There comes a point where rebellion against God becomes self destructive activity. The pursuit of pleasure, gratification of the physical senses and unbridled desire for wealth and possessions can all become replacements for God in our lives. When we begin to worship created things or even ourselves, this does not sit well with God.
And that is what Romans 1:18-32 is all about. In ancient times, people knew...they were aware of...they had knowledge of the One True God. They knew that He is a Holy God, intolerant of sin. They knew what He expects in this regard. Even so, the flesh was willing, but the human spirit was weak (as it is today). People of that time wanted what they wanted (as they do today). If God would not bend to their wills, they would replace Him. And this is exactly what happened. The ancient peoples of the earth replaced their Creator God with gods of their own making, created in their own images. These were gods that they could control coupled with religions they could control, independent of any actual divine interference. They successfully decoupled morality from faith in their invented gods so they could do as they pleased. And since they abandoned the One True God, He abandoned them...He gave them over to their own desires and a depraved mind to sin until the sins destroyed them....their physical bodies. One of the features of this 'giving over' was sexual perversion. And it is a fact that in the worship of these ancient, invented gods, prostitution was practiced. There were both male and female temple prostitutes and they would practice their trade with worshipers of the same sex and the opposite sex. This even happened in the temple in Jerusalem and it did not sit well with Yahweh. So, as Romans 1:24, 26 and 28, Paul says that God gave them over to their desires.
Does this mean that God has any particular hatred of sexual sin over other sins? Well, yes and no. All sin is sin because it is against the will of God. However, sins committed with the body are particularly odious to Him, especially if the offender is a believer. But since we are not talking about believers here, the answer is no. Paul is just saying that this is many times the way the road to Perdition starts. People abandon God to pursue their our own self interests, whatever those might be. As they set themselves up more and more as their own God, they begin to create their own reality and morality and so do as they please. This process leads to every kind of sin and sexual sin is a major part of that equation as well as selfishness, greed and the list goes on. The result is usually destruction of the body and desensitizing of the human spirit. The spirit becomes less and less able to respond to the divine call and then finally it is too late.
Believers, both then and now, look at these depraved people in the world and we tend to condemn them out of hand; we judge them. Paul warned us about that too. In chapter 2 of Romans, Paul says,
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”[a] 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.
Yes, we who call ourselves Christians, sin too. Even in our saved state, we will always stand in the need of God's grace, love and forgiveness, so we should not judge others too harshly. The same process of replacing God with our own desires can happen to those of us that believe. We modify our Christian faith to fit our own mold of what we think is moral and right, and to our eternal condemnation, we become like the unbelievers.
God gave us believers His Spirit to dwell within us. We need to listen to His Spirit's encouragement to do the right things and stand firm. And we also need to help rather than condemn those that are stumbling in their walk with Jesus without inviting sin into our own lives.
This is what we were called to. God has given us over to His Righteousness. We must NOT exchange that for the cultural lies of our time.
And that is what Romans 1:18-32 is all about. In ancient times, people knew...they were aware of...they had knowledge of the One True God. They knew that He is a Holy God, intolerant of sin. They knew what He expects in this regard. Even so, the flesh was willing, but the human spirit was weak (as it is today). People of that time wanted what they wanted (as they do today). If God would not bend to their wills, they would replace Him. And this is exactly what happened. The ancient peoples of the earth replaced their Creator God with gods of their own making, created in their own images. These were gods that they could control coupled with religions they could control, independent of any actual divine interference. They successfully decoupled morality from faith in their invented gods so they could do as they pleased. And since they abandoned the One True God, He abandoned them...He gave them over to their own desires and a depraved mind to sin until the sins destroyed them....their physical bodies. One of the features of this 'giving over' was sexual perversion. And it is a fact that in the worship of these ancient, invented gods, prostitution was practiced. There were both male and female temple prostitutes and they would practice their trade with worshipers of the same sex and the opposite sex. This even happened in the temple in Jerusalem and it did not sit well with Yahweh. So, as Romans 1:24, 26 and 28, Paul says that God gave them over to their desires.
Does this mean that God has any particular hatred of sexual sin over other sins? Well, yes and no. All sin is sin because it is against the will of God. However, sins committed with the body are particularly odious to Him, especially if the offender is a believer. But since we are not talking about believers here, the answer is no. Paul is just saying that this is many times the way the road to Perdition starts. People abandon God to pursue their our own self interests, whatever those might be. As they set themselves up more and more as their own God, they begin to create their own reality and morality and so do as they please. This process leads to every kind of sin and sexual sin is a major part of that equation as well as selfishness, greed and the list goes on. The result is usually destruction of the body and desensitizing of the human spirit. The spirit becomes less and less able to respond to the divine call and then finally it is too late.
Believers, both then and now, look at these depraved people in the world and we tend to condemn them out of hand; we judge them. Paul warned us about that too. In chapter 2 of Romans, Paul says,
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”[a] 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.
Yes, we who call ourselves Christians, sin too. Even in our saved state, we will always stand in the need of God's grace, love and forgiveness, so we should not judge others too harshly. The same process of replacing God with our own desires can happen to those of us that believe. We modify our Christian faith to fit our own mold of what we think is moral and right, and to our eternal condemnation, we become like the unbelievers.
God gave us believers His Spirit to dwell within us. We need to listen to His Spirit's encouragement to do the right things and stand firm. And we also need to help rather than condemn those that are stumbling in their walk with Jesus without inviting sin into our own lives.
This is what we were called to. God has given us over to His Righteousness. We must NOT exchange that for the cultural lies of our time.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
The Stuttering Waitress
I was reminded of the stuttering waitress incident this morning when I walked into HyVee to order my breakfast. At the front of the line was this large 6'5" bearded man attempting to order breakfast. The cashier was extremely patient as he tried to describe what it was that he wanted to eat. He had no volume control for his voice, so while he stuttered through his order, he was also very loud. He would go through this rapid fire machine gun type noise (ah ah ah ah ah) before he could get his words out and he changed his mind several times through the course of his order, so the process took a while. At this time, I can still hear him across the restaurant as he eats and attempts to communicate to the people he came with. I'm hoping they do not ask him a lot of questions. They are obviously kind and compassionate people.
I realize it's politically incorrect to laugh at such things because the man could obviously not help himself, so even though I was laughing on the inside, I tried to display the appropriate amount of empathy on my face. I have had to learn empathy (as well as sympathy and compassion) since I have no natural well of my own from which to draw these emotions. Being a bit Asperger-like in my own demeanor, these things just do not come naturally to me.
And that brings me to the story about the stuttering waitress. It seems like it was another lifetime at this point, but I was having dinner with my best friend. Yes, I had a best friend. Hard to believe now, but I did. I will call her Denise and not use her real name here, but she was the very best friend I have ever had in my life. We knew everything about each other and in some very basic ways, we were like each other. We were both INTJ's. We would laugh at the same things as they occurred naturally in our environments - like stuttering waitresses. This is hard to explain so I won't. Suffice it to say, we did laugh together a lot. We were both easily distracted by the little things in life, but in different ways. And we were political and religious opposites even though we grew up in similar environments. We argued a lot. We were the same and very different in multiple ways at the same time and that's what made our relationship interesting. We had some long breaks in our friendship and I think it has finally ended for both of us now with this last break. I was the one to end it this time. It has not been a bad thing for me. The only thing that irritates now with regard to Denise is that there is someone still out there that is alive and knows everything about me. I hope that she remains circumspect. That's all.
Anyway, we walked into this restaurant and we were about the only people in there. It was in this small town here in Iowa and the whole experience was surreal. The waitress looked perfectly normal as she approached the table with the menus and some water. But then she began to speak. We immediately looked at our menus and tried very hard not to burst out laughing. Denise was kicking me under the table as she suppressed a deep need to release the hilarity of the moment. We managed to get through the ordering process and that took some time. If we had any questions for the waitress, it would take forever to get answers in their complete form. We learned not to question.
The meal was good as I recall and the service was good, but the communication was difficult. I suppose it would be like having a waitress that did not speak much English. That would be equally funny and fun. Those were some interesting times.
So let me close with a question or three. Why would someone that is challenged by their ability to communicate work in an occupation where communication is important and required for success? Can you imagine a stuttering radio personality or 911 operator? What would working in a call center be like if you stuttered?
I will leave you with this. If you encounter a stuttering waitress in your life adventures, do not laugh, but have some fun with it. It was hilarious.
I realize it's politically incorrect to laugh at such things because the man could obviously not help himself, so even though I was laughing on the inside, I tried to display the appropriate amount of empathy on my face. I have had to learn empathy (as well as sympathy and compassion) since I have no natural well of my own from which to draw these emotions. Being a bit Asperger-like in my own demeanor, these things just do not come naturally to me.
And that brings me to the story about the stuttering waitress. It seems like it was another lifetime at this point, but I was having dinner with my best friend. Yes, I had a best friend. Hard to believe now, but I did. I will call her Denise and not use her real name here, but she was the very best friend I have ever had in my life. We knew everything about each other and in some very basic ways, we were like each other. We were both INTJ's. We would laugh at the same things as they occurred naturally in our environments - like stuttering waitresses. This is hard to explain so I won't. Suffice it to say, we did laugh together a lot. We were both easily distracted by the little things in life, but in different ways. And we were political and religious opposites even though we grew up in similar environments. We argued a lot. We were the same and very different in multiple ways at the same time and that's what made our relationship interesting. We had some long breaks in our friendship and I think it has finally ended for both of us now with this last break. I was the one to end it this time. It has not been a bad thing for me. The only thing that irritates now with regard to Denise is that there is someone still out there that is alive and knows everything about me. I hope that she remains circumspect. That's all.
Anyway, we walked into this restaurant and we were about the only people in there. It was in this small town here in Iowa and the whole experience was surreal. The waitress looked perfectly normal as she approached the table with the menus and some water. But then she began to speak. We immediately looked at our menus and tried very hard not to burst out laughing. Denise was kicking me under the table as she suppressed a deep need to release the hilarity of the moment. We managed to get through the ordering process and that took some time. If we had any questions for the waitress, it would take forever to get answers in their complete form. We learned not to question.
The meal was good as I recall and the service was good, but the communication was difficult. I suppose it would be like having a waitress that did not speak much English. That would be equally funny and fun. Those were some interesting times.
So let me close with a question or three. Why would someone that is challenged by their ability to communicate work in an occupation where communication is important and required for success? Can you imagine a stuttering radio personality or 911 operator? What would working in a call center be like if you stuttered?
I will leave you with this. If you encounter a stuttering waitress in your life adventures, do not laugh, but have some fun with it. It was hilarious.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
There Are Some Things You Can Get Away With...
There are some things you can get away with. What I am talking about is Christian morality. It is probably the culture that has infected the church, but there are some things we tolerate within the church because 'it is what it is' as they say. I like to call them socially acceptable Christian sins. I'm not talking about anything messy like pornography, murder, robbery, rape or gay marriage. I am talking about those nice tidy 'everyone has that issue' sins that we never talk about at church because everybody knows somebody that is afflicted by them.
We stand in our pulpits or sit in our classroom chairs and we talk about the awful state of the world and how happy we are that we do not live that way, what ever 'that way' may be, but quietly and under our noses, there is one thing that does not pass the Christian smell test.
Some will say I am not qualified to talk about this because I am not married, but I tell you I am, if only because Jesus was not married and Paul was not married and they both talked about this sin.
That sin is divorce. I am sorry, but there should not be divorce in a Christian family and yet the rate of divorce within the church is nearly equal with that of the world in general. It is a crime against God's plan for His people and yet it happens. And please note, I am not talking about those that were divorced prior to conversion here. I am talking about families that were formed within the church that become broken while serving Christ. Here is what Jesus said about divorce.
Matthew 19:1-12
When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
10 The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”
11 Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”
There you have it. In God's eyes, a man and a woman that are married to each other become one unit. When divorce happens and then remarriage to others, these men and women commit adultery.
There are so many rationalizations for this behavior. We tell ourselves that since it's ok to remarry after the death of a marriage partner, then since I consider my ex dead to me, I can remarry and live the way I want to. Another popular rationalization is that marriage was different in Jesus' day. Men could divorce their wives for burning the toast; this is not true today, so the concept of divorce and remarriage is different.
No it is not. It is still adultery. There are other rationalizations for remarriage after divorce, but I will not go into them now.
My point here is that the American evangelical church tolerates this less than optimal situation and so there are divorced, remarried adulterous people that are active members in the church. Sin is present in the body and no one does anything about it. We preach it time and time again, that marriage is between a man and a woman and is forever in God's eyes, but we tolerate divorce and a remarried adulterous state among the membership. We are no different than the pharisees that Jesus was talking to.
We are basically saying that adultery is OK. We expect better, but we can live with it. We won't stand for fornicators, perverts and molesters, but if it's just adultery, well, everything will be all right.
That is a bit simplistic isn't it? Nevertheless, Christ's standard is what is written above. Christian divorce (oxymoron) and remarriage raises so many questions. Is the remarried state of divorced people recognized by God? To be moral, must they leave their new partner and go back to their old partner? What about the blended families? Can we split them up? Is that a problem?
You see this is what divorce does. It makes a mess. It makes a mess every bit as big as any other sin and many times divorce happens because of other sin problems within the marriage.
Now I do not want to be like the pharisees here. I am not a legalist (anymore). I have sinned and I will probably do so again. And yet I am in the Church. The other Christians at church tolerate me despite my sin and as long as they don't have to hear about it :^)))
So here is what I propose. Let all the sinners in. All of them. Let's quit squawking about specific sins. Let's uphold the whole standard and try to help each other to heaven at the same time. We are all broken. Let's help each other with the cleanup in aisle two.
We stand in our pulpits or sit in our classroom chairs and we talk about the awful state of the world and how happy we are that we do not live that way, what ever 'that way' may be, but quietly and under our noses, there is one thing that does not pass the Christian smell test.
Some will say I am not qualified to talk about this because I am not married, but I tell you I am, if only because Jesus was not married and Paul was not married and they both talked about this sin.
That sin is divorce. I am sorry, but there should not be divorce in a Christian family and yet the rate of divorce within the church is nearly equal with that of the world in general. It is a crime against God's plan for His people and yet it happens. And please note, I am not talking about those that were divorced prior to conversion here. I am talking about families that were formed within the church that become broken while serving Christ. Here is what Jesus said about divorce.
Matthew 19:1-12
When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
10 The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”
11 Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”
There you have it. In God's eyes, a man and a woman that are married to each other become one unit. When divorce happens and then remarriage to others, these men and women commit adultery.
There are so many rationalizations for this behavior. We tell ourselves that since it's ok to remarry after the death of a marriage partner, then since I consider my ex dead to me, I can remarry and live the way I want to. Another popular rationalization is that marriage was different in Jesus' day. Men could divorce their wives for burning the toast; this is not true today, so the concept of divorce and remarriage is different.
No it is not. It is still adultery. There are other rationalizations for remarriage after divorce, but I will not go into them now.
My point here is that the American evangelical church tolerates this less than optimal situation and so there are divorced, remarried adulterous people that are active members in the church. Sin is present in the body and no one does anything about it. We preach it time and time again, that marriage is between a man and a woman and is forever in God's eyes, but we tolerate divorce and a remarried adulterous state among the membership. We are no different than the pharisees that Jesus was talking to.
We are basically saying that adultery is OK. We expect better, but we can live with it. We won't stand for fornicators, perverts and molesters, but if it's just adultery, well, everything will be all right.
That is a bit simplistic isn't it? Nevertheless, Christ's standard is what is written above. Christian divorce (oxymoron) and remarriage raises so many questions. Is the remarried state of divorced people recognized by God? To be moral, must they leave their new partner and go back to their old partner? What about the blended families? Can we split them up? Is that a problem?
You see this is what divorce does. It makes a mess. It makes a mess every bit as big as any other sin and many times divorce happens because of other sin problems within the marriage.
Now I do not want to be like the pharisees here. I am not a legalist (anymore). I have sinned and I will probably do so again. And yet I am in the Church. The other Christians at church tolerate me despite my sin and as long as they don't have to hear about it :^)))
So here is what I propose. Let all the sinners in. All of them. Let's quit squawking about specific sins. Let's uphold the whole standard and try to help each other to heaven at the same time. We are all broken. Let's help each other with the cleanup in aisle two.
Monday, March 9, 2015
God and Sin
As I sit here at the HyVee restaurant waiting for breakfast, I am really not sure where this is going to go. It is not going to be doctoral material, but there is the possibility that it will be correct, so please bear with me.
Maybe we should start with a definition here first. What is sin? From my study, it is anything contrary to the will of God. Please take note here that I am talking about the one true God. You might identify Him as the Christian or the Hebrew God. He is certainly not the demon that is worshiped in Islam. He is the Lord God and he hates sin.
There are many things that are contrary to His will - things that constitute sin; things that humanity has regularly participated in since it first started making its own moral choices. We are a sinful race. We are able to choose to do or not do things that are within God's will. This is the way He created us. He wanted us to be able to see the choices before us and choose to do His will and refrain from all things sinful. I am sure that, as our Creator, He knew that this would be a battle for us, but that ultimately some of us would make the right choices if we had the correct information. He supplied us with the Law as handed down to Moses so that we would know what sin was; so that we would be without excuse. He sent His Son to refine our understanding of what sin is and how to live without it. Most importantly though, He gave His son a mission to redeem us from our bad choices and empower us to make the right choices. Once His Son's work was finished, God sent those of us who believe, His Holy Spirit. He was and is God's permanent presence in the lives of those of us that believe. He indwells us and strengthens our will power to withstand temptation and the urges of our decaying bodies to sin. I have left some very important things out of this equation for the sake of brevity, but the bottom line is that God knows we will sin. He knows we are weak. And this is why He has provided us a way out and and a way back to Him. He had to do this. If He did not, judgement and eternal condemnation would have been required. He did not want that for us.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, wrote a letter to the Roman Church explaining these things much better than I am doing now. In the first few chapters of the letter, Paul outlines how humanity ended up in their present sinful condition. He leaves no wiggle room for anyone. We have all sinned. Chapters one and two are and indictment of the human race and Paul makes no distinction between unbelievers and believers in his condemnation of sin.
ROMANS 1:18 - 2:11
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
The world is an evil place. We all live in a fallen state. Our physical bodies have been corrupted by the works of sin. We have become weak and cannot save ourselves from God's wrath that is overdue because of sin.
The answer is Jesus. He is the only way out of the condemnation of God and He is the only way into a right relationship with God. Paul discusses this in depth in his letter to the Romans and maybe we can discus that tomorrow or in the near future. Tomorrow however I believe we will look at Romans 2:1. This is a scripture which gets regularly ignored by believers when the study of chapter one commences. It must not be glossed over. It points a finger directly at the self righteousness of believers. It is a warning shot. Christians, know this; no one is righteous.
Maybe we should start with a definition here first. What is sin? From my study, it is anything contrary to the will of God. Please take note here that I am talking about the one true God. You might identify Him as the Christian or the Hebrew God. He is certainly not the demon that is worshiped in Islam. He is the Lord God and he hates sin.
There are many things that are contrary to His will - things that constitute sin; things that humanity has regularly participated in since it first started making its own moral choices. We are a sinful race. We are able to choose to do or not do things that are within God's will. This is the way He created us. He wanted us to be able to see the choices before us and choose to do His will and refrain from all things sinful. I am sure that, as our Creator, He knew that this would be a battle for us, but that ultimately some of us would make the right choices if we had the correct information. He supplied us with the Law as handed down to Moses so that we would know what sin was; so that we would be without excuse. He sent His Son to refine our understanding of what sin is and how to live without it. Most importantly though, He gave His son a mission to redeem us from our bad choices and empower us to make the right choices. Once His Son's work was finished, God sent those of us who believe, His Holy Spirit. He was and is God's permanent presence in the lives of those of us that believe. He indwells us and strengthens our will power to withstand temptation and the urges of our decaying bodies to sin. I have left some very important things out of this equation for the sake of brevity, but the bottom line is that God knows we will sin. He knows we are weak. And this is why He has provided us a way out and and a way back to Him. He had to do this. If He did not, judgement and eternal condemnation would have been required. He did not want that for us.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, wrote a letter to the Roman Church explaining these things much better than I am doing now. In the first few chapters of the letter, Paul outlines how humanity ended up in their present sinful condition. He leaves no wiggle room for anyone. We have all sinned. Chapters one and two are and indictment of the human race and Paul makes no distinction between unbelievers and believers in his condemnation of sin.
ROMANS 1:18 - 2:11
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
2 You, therefore, have no excuse,
you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge
another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do
the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
5 But
because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are
storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”[g] 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.The world is an evil place. We all live in a fallen state. Our physical bodies have been corrupted by the works of sin. We have become weak and cannot save ourselves from God's wrath that is overdue because of sin.
The answer is Jesus. He is the only way out of the condemnation of God and He is the only way into a right relationship with God. Paul discusses this in depth in his letter to the Romans and maybe we can discus that tomorrow or in the near future. Tomorrow however I believe we will look at Romans 2:1. This is a scripture which gets regularly ignored by believers when the study of chapter one commences. It must not be glossed over. It points a finger directly at the self righteousness of believers. It is a warning shot. Christians, know this; no one is righteous.
Friday, March 6, 2015
Generation Jones
Wikipedia says,
Generation Jones is a term coined by the author Jonathan Pontell to describe the cohort of people born from approximately 1954 to 1965.[1][2][3] Pontell defined Generation Jones as referring to the last years of the post–World War II baby boom.[4] The term also includes first-wave Generation X.
The name "Generation Jones" has several connotations, including a large anonymous generation, a "keeping up with the Joneses" competitiveness and the slang word "jones" or "jonesing", meaning a yearning or craving.[5][6][7][8] It is said[by whom?] that Jonesers were given huge expectations as children in the 1960s, and then confronted with a different reality as they came of age during a long period of mass unemployment and when de-industrialization arrived full force in the 1970s and 1980s, leaving them with a certain unrequited "jonesing" quality for the more prosperous days in the past. The generation is noted for coming of age after a huge swath of the population had come immediately preceding them; thus, many Generation Jones members complain that there was a paucity of resources and privileges available to them that were seemingly abundant to Baby Boomers born earlier. Therefore, there is a certain level of bitterness about and a "jonesing" for the level of freedom and affluence granted to older boomers but denied to their generation.[9]
Ya, I'm Jonesin'.
Us Generation Jones types are the butt end of the Boomer generation and man does it feel like it. Our Boomer brethren took all the money, shipped out our opportunities to China and burdened us and the generations after with an unpayable debt. We have been made debt slaves, born to pay for the retirement plans of the most selfish generation of humans in history.
I'm telling you now that I will not participate. We need to get our act together along with the generations that followed us and refuse to pay the Boomer's bills. Repudiate the debt of these blood suckers and let them die. They are pustules on the body politic that must be lanced. There will be scars, but so be it. The time is now.
Boomers you are on notice. We will not carry your load. It is not our job. You are leeches that steal from your fellow citizens and you produce nothing but pain for others. It's time for you to go.
Generation Jones is a term coined by the author Jonathan Pontell to describe the cohort of people born from approximately 1954 to 1965.[1][2][3] Pontell defined Generation Jones as referring to the last years of the post–World War II baby boom.[4] The term also includes first-wave Generation X.
The name "Generation Jones" has several connotations, including a large anonymous generation, a "keeping up with the Joneses" competitiveness and the slang word "jones" or "jonesing", meaning a yearning or craving.[5][6][7][8] It is said[by whom?] that Jonesers were given huge expectations as children in the 1960s, and then confronted with a different reality as they came of age during a long period of mass unemployment and when de-industrialization arrived full force in the 1970s and 1980s, leaving them with a certain unrequited "jonesing" quality for the more prosperous days in the past. The generation is noted for coming of age after a huge swath of the population had come immediately preceding them; thus, many Generation Jones members complain that there was a paucity of resources and privileges available to them that were seemingly abundant to Baby Boomers born earlier. Therefore, there is a certain level of bitterness about and a "jonesing" for the level of freedom and affluence granted to older boomers but denied to their generation.[9]
Ya, I'm Jonesin'.
Us Generation Jones types are the butt end of the Boomer generation and man does it feel like it. Our Boomer brethren took all the money, shipped out our opportunities to China and burdened us and the generations after with an unpayable debt. We have been made debt slaves, born to pay for the retirement plans of the most selfish generation of humans in history.
I'm telling you now that I will not participate. We need to get our act together along with the generations that followed us and refuse to pay the Boomer's bills. Repudiate the debt of these blood suckers and let them die. They are pustules on the body politic that must be lanced. There will be scars, but so be it. The time is now.
Boomers you are on notice. We will not carry your load. It is not our job. You are leeches that steal from your fellow citizens and you produce nothing but pain for others. It's time for you to go.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Gingers Have No Souls
That is just one of the epithets I have had to endure in my lifetime thanks to those wonderful creators of South Park. I can assure you that this redhead does have a soul and it's much more sensitive than you might think given my INTJ status on the Meyers-Briggs personality inventory.
There are other forms of hate speech used to denigrate those of us that belong to the master race. I have heard "carrot top" which is really stupid if you consider that carrot tops are green. There is "red headed step child". This one is particularly nasty since I am not a step child and what if I was? There a millions of step children in the world. Why does the color of their hair matter? Another name I heard, particularly in high school was "red on the head like a @#$% on a dog". I assure you that the color of my glorious high school locks did not match that of male dog genitalia. And while the sight of orange pubic hair can be scary when seen for the first time by others in a high school locker room, I assure you that "Fire Crotch" is not a complimentary designation. There is also another myth, and here I speak for myself alone I think; the rumor is that we are really hot sex partners. The fact is that this red head is celibate. My sex drive is probably abnormally low and I really don't care. It's just one less burden from my point of view. Now there may be other red heads that have unquenchable desire in this area, but me....it's all crickets and cobwebs.
There is much hate and, I think even jealousy in regard those of us that enjoy the privilege of ginger status. It's like a mark has been placed on us by God as a warning to them. There is no doubt that we are individual, mostly because of the "hairist" environment that we have to live in, but that makes us even more special.
We are a rare item in the world among the human race. Wikipedia says,
Red hair occurs naturally in 1–2% of the human population. It occurs more frequently (2–6%) in people of northern or western European ancestry, and less frequently in other populations. Red hair appears most commonly in people with two copies of a recessive gene on chromosome 16 which causes a mutation in the MC1R protein.[1]
Red hair varies from a deep burgundy through burnt orange to bright copper. It is characterized by high levels of the reddish pigment pheomelanin and relatively low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The term redhead has been in use since at least 1510.[2] It is associated with fair skin color, lighter eye colors (gray, blue, green, and hazel), freckles, and sensitivity to ultraviolet light.[3]
Cultural reactions have varied from ridicule to admiration; many common stereotypes exist regarding redheads and they are often portrayed as fiery-tempered.
The fiery temper thing...really? I am so sick of that one. It makes me want to throw my tablet across the HyVee dining room and scream at all the bigots. How could anyone say such a thing? Miserable jerks. It's just not true!!!
Then there is this,
Today, red hair is most commonly found at the northern and western fringes of Europe;[1][9] it is associated particularly with the people located in the British Isles (although Victorian era.[citation needed] Ethnographers consider the Udmurt people of the Volga to be "the most red-headed men in the world").[10] Redheads are common among Celtic[1][9] and Germanic[citation needed] peoples.
Scotland has the highest proportion of redheads; 13% of the population has red hair and approximately 40% carries the recessive redhead gene.[11] Ireland has the second highest percentage; as many as 10% of the Irish population has red, auburn, or strawberry blond hair.[12] It is thought that up to 46% of the Irish population carries the recessive redhead gene.[1] A 1956 study of hair color amongst British army recruits also found high levels of red hair in Wales and the English Border counties.
So be careful with us. Be gentle. Be nice. Imagine we are white tigers or some other exotic creature of which there are few. We are special. I know everyone believes that about themselves, but we really are special. Among all of God's human beings, He blessed us with this glorious mark. My soul is uplifted because He loved me so much that He made me a ginger. I am His, chosen from before time and creation to be a red head. Praise the Lord for Gingerosity.
There are other forms of hate speech used to denigrate those of us that belong to the master race. I have heard "carrot top" which is really stupid if you consider that carrot tops are green. There is "red headed step child". This one is particularly nasty since I am not a step child and what if I was? There a millions of step children in the world. Why does the color of their hair matter? Another name I heard, particularly in high school was "red on the head like a @#$% on a dog". I assure you that the color of my glorious high school locks did not match that of male dog genitalia. And while the sight of orange pubic hair can be scary when seen for the first time by others in a high school locker room, I assure you that "Fire Crotch" is not a complimentary designation. There is also another myth, and here I speak for myself alone I think; the rumor is that we are really hot sex partners. The fact is that this red head is celibate. My sex drive is probably abnormally low and I really don't care. It's just one less burden from my point of view. Now there may be other red heads that have unquenchable desire in this area, but me....it's all crickets and cobwebs.
There is much hate and, I think even jealousy in regard those of us that enjoy the privilege of ginger status. It's like a mark has been placed on us by God as a warning to them. There is no doubt that we are individual, mostly because of the "hairist" environment that we have to live in, but that makes us even more special.
We are a rare item in the world among the human race. Wikipedia says,
Red hair occurs naturally in 1–2% of the human population. It occurs more frequently (2–6%) in people of northern or western European ancestry, and less frequently in other populations. Red hair appears most commonly in people with two copies of a recessive gene on chromosome 16 which causes a mutation in the MC1R protein.[1]
Red hair varies from a deep burgundy through burnt orange to bright copper. It is characterized by high levels of the reddish pigment pheomelanin and relatively low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The term redhead has been in use since at least 1510.[2] It is associated with fair skin color, lighter eye colors (gray, blue, green, and hazel), freckles, and sensitivity to ultraviolet light.[3]
Cultural reactions have varied from ridicule to admiration; many common stereotypes exist regarding redheads and they are often portrayed as fiery-tempered.
The fiery temper thing...really? I am so sick of that one. It makes me want to throw my tablet across the HyVee dining room and scream at all the bigots. How could anyone say such a thing? Miserable jerks. It's just not true!!!
Then there is this,
Today, red hair is most commonly found at the northern and western fringes of Europe;[1][9] it is associated particularly with the people located in the British Isles (although Victorian era.[citation needed] Ethnographers consider the Udmurt people of the Volga to be "the most red-headed men in the world").[10] Redheads are common among Celtic[1][9] and Germanic[citation needed] peoples.
Scotland has the highest proportion of redheads; 13% of the population has red hair and approximately 40% carries the recessive redhead gene.[11] Ireland has the second highest percentage; as many as 10% of the Irish population has red, auburn, or strawberry blond hair.[12] It is thought that up to 46% of the Irish population carries the recessive redhead gene.[1] A 1956 study of hair color amongst British army recruits also found high levels of red hair in Wales and the English Border counties.
So be careful with us. Be gentle. Be nice. Imagine we are white tigers or some other exotic creature of which there are few. We are special. I know everyone believes that about themselves, but we really are special. Among all of God's human beings, He blessed us with this glorious mark. My soul is uplifted because He loved me so much that He made me a ginger. I am His, chosen from before time and creation to be a red head. Praise the Lord for Gingerosity.
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