I Sensed a Foul Spirit...Wickedness in Habitation

I was reading an old friend's blog today and she was talking about how empty houses seemed souless. I don't disagree with this generally, but I have been in empty houses that were anything but souless. I have sensed evil in empty houses - maybe even evil spirits. I have also sensed evil in houses I have lived in - mostly as a child.  My sense for that sort of thing was much sharper back then.

I have also been in one cemetery that seemed to have an evil spirit. I have been in many cemeteries in the day and in the night and sensed nothing out of place, but this one particular cemetery on the northwest side of Des Moines had something going on the night I was there. There was an evil presence that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck and I had quite a lot of hair in 1978. I was out walking with a different friend that night. We entered the cemetery in the course of the walk. It was small, gated and fenced with wrought iron. Not a lot of headstones, but many were ornate and the graves were very old - some to the mid 19th century. I felt a presence that seemed both evil and happy at the same time. It would stay behind me. I could almost hear it's foot steps. I looked at my walking companion and she seemed to be completely insensitive to it. I wanted to leave immediately, but she was distracted by the old stones. When we finally left and got passed the end of the wrought iron, the oppressive, mocking spirit departed. I felt the relief sweep over me like a storm had passed. It was a kind of 'scared' that I had not experienced since I was a child. I asked my friend if she felt anything in that cemetery and she laughed at me. She felt nothing.

Are you familiar with night terrors where you are asleep, maybe having a bad dream and you try to scream, but you can't and then suddenly you sit up in bed wide awake and maybe sweaty or breathing heavily? It's that kind of scared.

Anyhow, I commented on the blog post that I thought some empty houses were anything but souless and I also mentioned that I thought there were evil trees. I cannot explain it, but there are some trees, particularly in the oak family, that seem to have some vile spiritual component. I do not know how to explain it. Perhaps it comes from their appearance, but there are some trees that just seem evil to me. There is an oak across the road from where I currently live that kind of creeps me out. I do not have a picture of it, but I do have a couple of examples of what I mean below.

This tree is vile. It is monstrous and if it were in my yard, it would strike fear in my heart. It is a genuinely creepy tree. It is a sick and twisted oak tree. Can you see how nothing grows around it? It's sucking the life right out of it's environment.

Yes, I know it's very old and probably rare because of it, but I would bet money that it's rotten inside and probably even gives off an odor. I am reminded of the tree in the Old Forest outside the border of the Shire where Tom Bombadil lived with Goldberry. Do you remember the tree that captured Merry and Pippin and was gradually enclosing them in its trunk? That was Old Man Willow. Tom had to talk the tree into giving them up.

Trees can be scary things as well as beautiful...

Evil resides in weird places. Old trees. Empty houses. Cemeterys. Even certain people. You can say this is all in my head if you like, but I'm telling you I can sense these things. It ain't just my imagination.

Just let me say one more thing. I do not think this evil is ghost activity. I believe it to be demonic. There is a reason the old Druids worshiped trees...the really old ones have evil spirits in them.

All right, I will stop now. I'm sure this will be used some day to commit me to a nursing home or something. I think I'm about ready.

Profitable Genocide

If you knew your doctor or the personnel at your clinic or hospital were more interested in selling your organs and body parts than they were in making you well, how would you respond? If you knew that they were actively in the business of selling human body parts and organs for research and profit, what would you think? Finally, what if you learned that they were actively and covertly encouraging death choices over life choices simply to make money?

Well, that day is here. Apparently it's been going on for awhile, but now proof is available. Every one is familiar with Planned Parenthood right? It seems that these purveyors of death are actively engaging in the sales of aborted human fetuses and their various parts for medical research and consumer medical products. Turns out they are in agreements with a company called Stem Express. According to Breitbart

"The undercover journalist who videotaped a Planned Parenthood senior medical officer talking about how to buy and sell fetal body parts derived from aborted babies says Planned Parenthood is lying in their response to his video.

Planned Parenthood said Tuesday that it does not make money from selling fetal body parts to companies like StemExpress, and any revenues received are related strictly to expenses.
David Daleiden of the Center for Medical Progress said the abortion provider is lying: “Planned Parenthood makes two key admissions in their statement today; first, that aborted fetal parts are harvested at their clinics, and second, that money is exchanged in connection with this.”
He also says Planned Parenthood is lying by insisting it gets “proper consent” from its patients,” and “Planned Parenthood does not make money off the body parts.”
In response, Daleiden produced an online ad from StemExpress, Planned Parenthood’s partner in the body-parts business, that “advertises 4 different times the financial benefit that Planned Parenthood clinics can receive from supplying fetal tissue with the words, ‘Financially profitable,’ ‘Financial Profits,’ ‘financial benefit to your clinic,’ and ‘fiscal growth of your own clinic.'” The ad has the endorsement of Planned Parenthood Medical Director Dr. Dorothy Furgerson."

This is monstrous. This is is the kind of behavior that the Nazis engaged in, but with a difference....we volunteer for this behavior. Expectant women deliberately choose to destroy their unborn and then allow a quasi governmental entity like Planned Parenthood to profit from their heinous decision. I would imagine that the next step in this 'for profit' scheme will be the inclusion of the expectant mother in the profit scheme. It will be just like donating plasma. Go to the clinic, give up your fetus, get a check. PP and Stem Express will probably invest in fetus farming so they can harvest the cells they need for research and product.

Is this what we have been reduced to? Are we really this hard hearted? Apparently we are. Can the age of Soylent Green be that far off?

Fishing Porn

My friend Steve is back from Canada (I think). He is pictured below with a 10 lb+ Muskie. The length is still in debate...mostly because I am extremely jealous. Way to go Steve. You made me sin. :^))) There is another picture of him standing in the middle of the mess he made while in Canada. I think he is looking for breakfast. His gull friend seems unphased by his presence. Nice fish Steve! I do mean that. I hope it bit you. This is not to say that I am not extremely happy for you. I just want you to have some pain to go with the joy....I'm like that you know!

Obesity Has a Sexual Preference

 
To  date, it has cost the US taxpayer 3.5 million dollars, but, by golly, they are making progress. According to MRC TV :

"A U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) study to understand why lesbians are fat has now cost taxpayers over $3.5 million to-date.
The study, “Sexual Orientation and Obesity: A Test of a Gendered Biopsychosocial Model,” seeks to determine why there is a disparity in the obesity rates between straight women and lesbian women and straight men and gay men.
According to the study, “It is now well-established that women of minority sexual orientation are disproportionately affected by the obesity epidemic, with nearly three-quarters of adult lesbians overweight or obese, compared to half of heterosexual women. In stark contrast, among men, heterosexual males have nearly double the risk of obesity compared to gay males.”"

So gay women and straight men tend toward lardassery. This is important I suppose, especially to the actuaries and rate setters in the health insurance industry. I mean, how can we keep "Affordable Health Care ", i.e, "Obama Care", affordable if lesbians and white male couch potatoes are not cooperating?

In light of this problem, I am going to suggest a lesbian tax to fight this issue. Every lesbian that is two or more points over their appropriate BMI should pay an extra 15% income tax to compensate for their abuse of the health care system.

I am going to suggest further that white male heterosexuals be given a 15% reduction in their taxes to compensate for how they have been robbed blind for the last 50 years. My thought is, if they have money, they will get up off the couch and do something besides watch TV. They can take their straight fat wives to the mall and do a little shopping. All that walking is bound to help their weight issue.

Some will say this is not fair.

So...?

A Puzzling Situation

Does the fact that something is illegal make it more appealing or desirable? Do rules against certain human behaviors make us more curious about the activity and entice us to try them?

I think this is true much of the time with us. Why is it that if something is forbidden, we almost automatically set out to learn more about it and consider doing whatever it is ourselves?

Now I know some of you are saying to yourself, "what is he talking about? If something is forbidden then I do not do that. There are reasons why it's forbidden. I would not even consider it."

To that I would say, "well good for you. maybe you can come over and walk across my swimming pool."

I do not have a swimming pool. I lied. Do not come over even to try.

Seriously though, you know what I'm saying. Maybe we would not try murder, but we might smoke a doobie or drive too fast on the interstate (preferably not at the same time). I have done both in the distant past. One deed was never punished, but I had to move to another state to get a new driver's license because of the other. And, by the way, people have been surveyed about the murder question. It seems that if they were guaranteed to get away with it, they would consider murdering someone. What is up with that? Human beings are really screwed up.

Rules invite scrutiny. Scrutiny can lead to questions about the legitimacy of the rules themselves. If we do not see the sense in the rules, sometimes we disobey...simply because we want to, or it suits a need or it serves a purpose. We weigh the potential outcomes and we decide we will deal with it when it actually transpires...or maybe we just throw caution to the wind and do what we want because we want to do it.

When you were a kid and you did something that was against the rules and suffered the consequences, did you ever say to yourself, "it was soooooo worth it!"

It's a fact. Laws and rules invite disobedience. It's why we have jails and courts and prisons. Rules and laws have penalties.

And that brings me to yesterday's sermon on Romans 7. Thanks Dave for that.

Even the likes of the apostle, Paul of Tarsus, understood the nature of law and how it can incite disobedience in the human mind. Even Paul struggled with the principles of life that God has set before us. Paul does not let us off the responsibility hook for our failures, but he does tell us that when we fail in our walk with God, it is God we must turn to in repentance. At the high point of our rebellion for whatever it is, we need to turn ourselves in and throw ourselves on the mercy of the court. It seems that someone else has already taken up our sentence for whatever it is and we can rely on Him for that mercy. That person is none other than His Son, Jesus Christ. Paul describes the situation thus:

Romans 7:15-25  


¹⁵ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁶ And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸ For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.^[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
²¹ So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature^[d] a slave to the law of sin.

And Romans 8:1-12
 

8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you^[a] free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,^[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.^[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

⁵ Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
⁹ You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life^[d] because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of^[e] his Spirit who lives in you.
¹² Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

So, if you are a Christian and you are thinking that some rules just don't apply to you, think again. Then do your best to live by the Spirit and not by the flesh. If you fail, turn yourself into the Judge. Make a deal. The civil authorities may lock you up, but the Eternal Judge of us all has mercy for those that seek Him..and if you are truly seeking Him, you probably would not be in trouble anyway right? He loves you. Just obey Him. It's easier that way. Really - it is. Take it from someone that knows.    
   

Jesus and The Law - Matthew 5:17-20

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

This section of the Sermon on the Mount could be called "Jesus and The Law". Before He could go further in His sermon, Jesus needed to clarify where He stood with regard to the Law of Moses.  Many eyes were watching Him - powerful eyes - the scribes and teachers of the law, the Sadducees and Pharisees, the High Priests - they were all suspicious of Jesus and His teachings. 

The religious authorities thought that Jesus' attitude toward the Law might reveal His intentions. Did He want to set aside the law? Did He want to add to the law? Where did He stand?

Jesus clarified these questions for them immediately. His purpose was not to abolish the Law and the Prophets or add to to them. He came to fulfill them. Indeed, as long as heaven and earth exist, God's word - the Law - would continue to exist and never pass away.

Jesus then reinforced His point by pronouncing the fate of those seeking to change or disobey the law.  He said that those who break the least points of the law or teach others to do so would be counted the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. 

This is ironic because this is exactly what the religious leadership of the time did. While they would make great public shows of their own righteousness, they ignored what they considered to be the least of the commandments and they taught others to do the same.

Jesus then closes this section with a call to extreme righteousness. He raises the bar for entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven by demanding a righteousness greater than that of the Pharisees. This must have seemed amazing to the crowds as well as impossible, but eventually He would show them the way to it.

Questions:

So what did Jesus mean when He said He came to fulfill the Law?

-He meant that He would not only keep the law perfectly Himself, but that He would bring out the real meaning of it - what God had intended -  that the religious authorities were conveniently ignoring. The Law was  and is not just about what you do or do not do. It is about what is in your heart. Intention and faith. The Law was supposed to teach the people about the character of their God and His intentions for them in regard to faith and attitude and how that should translate to behavior. The religious leadership in Judea at that time were completely missing the point and they were not sharing the real intent of the Law with the people that needed it most. 

So how can we exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees? How is that possible given the fact that human nature is at best bent toward sin and at worst, totally broken?

-There is only one way to do this. We must have faith in Christ. Our faith will be counted by God as righteousness and then we can move forward in the sanctification process to higher levels of obedience. This obedience does not save. It is our faith that saves us by His grace. See the entire book of Romans and Ephesians 2:8,9.

Jesus would go on from here in less than 3 years time to offer Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the rebellion of mankind against God. He would die and then walk away from the grave in victory over sin and death, having defeated them both. He would then offer the same kind of victory for all of us if we only believe. Through these acts, Jesus truly fulfilled the Law and set aside its condemnation and penalty for those of us that believe in His power. It can be ours if we just quit struggling and believe.          

Matthew 5:1-12 The Beatitudes

5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes

He said:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

By now, Jesus' ministry was well underway. He had called His first disciples together. They had traveled throughout Galilee preaching, teaching and healing. His work and ministry was beginning to draw large crowds. People from as far south as Jerusalem came to hear Him as His notoriety grew.

And so it was at this time that Jesus chose to present His most important sermon; a sermon that would set the tone for His entire ministry and redefine God's law in the Spirit that was intended. It would lay aside the shallow, superficial and legalistic interpretations of the law promoted by the religious leaders of the day and replace them with an internal call to true obedience.

Jesus began simply enough. He sat down on the mountainside surrounded by the crowds in a sort of natural amphitheater setting and His opening words were at once poetic and baffling. In nine stanzas Jesus lists nine groups of people who, because of their spiritual state, their character or their condition in life, were to be blessed or rewarded. And these were not usually people we would think of as "blessed" or "happy". Some of them might even be considered weak and puny by the world's standards. Nevertheless Jesus called them blessed.

He began with the poor in spirit. Who are they anyway? They are the ones that have reached the bottom of their spiritual barrels. In their spiritual destitution they have no where else to turn. They are totally dependent on God. They have no one else and no other choices. They know they have no righteousness of their own, so they must turn to Him to supply it. And so they cling to Him in their need and desperation. And for this...the Kingdom of Heaven will be their reward.

Next are those that mourn. They are blessed because they too are dependent on God. Life can bring many sorrows. Financial loss, disease and death of loved ones - even regret over sin and its consequences. Those who mourn these things can be blessed by turning to God for comfort, both now and in the eternal sense.

Jesus also said that the meek would be blessed. Meekness is a characteristic of many of God's servants. The KJV refers to Moses as the meekest man on the face of the earth. What is meekness? It's a kind of humility under pressure; a way of tempering emotional swings in times of trouble. Meekness creates an equanimity of attitude. It controls anger and restrains excess joy. It is strength without pride. It's a personality trait that great leaders possess in abundance and this is probably why the meek will inherit the earth.

Next, Jesus blesses those that desire righteousness. They long for it in the same way some might want food or drink. For them, righteousness is an appetite that can only be filled by seeking God. These people long for spiritual justice and obedience to God's will. And though they may fail - with God's grace, they keep on trying.

The fifth group that Jesus blesses are those with the characteristic of mercy. This is also a characteristic of God. The merciful show compassion to those that are hurting and they show forgiveness to those that sin against them. The merciful are those that see themselves in others and treat them accordingly. And for this, they receive mercy from God.

Jesus also blesses the pure in heart. It's a difficult matter to be pure in heart because this characteristic deals with our personal motives and most secret desires. The pure in heart are honest and genuine people. They have no guile, no agenda, no secret motives or hidden desires. They do not use others for their own ends. They are as you see them and for these reasons, they will see God.

The seventh group that Jesus blesses are the peacemakers. These are not the people that negotiate self serving treaties between nations. Rather, they are the ones who bring peace with them through their actions towards others and with others. They do good things, they know when to keep their mouths shut and they know what to do when others will not keep their mouths shut. For this, they will be called sons of God.

Jesus also blesses those who are persecuted for their righteousness. Sometimes doing the right thing can carry with it a price. Depending on where you live, you might be mocked and laughed at for your faith and actions. You could be demoted or fired from your job. You could even be tortured and killed for doing the right thing - standing firm on the principles that God gave us to live by. this is why the Kingdom of Heaven is promised to those that are persecuted for being righteous. 

The ninth and last group that Jesus blesses are those that are persecuted specifically because they follow Him. If we suffer insults or persecution or accusations about our character due to following Christ, our reward in heaven will be great. All the greatest servants of the Lord were treated in the same way.


Questions:

So how do the Beatitudes stack up against the values of the world? What values are honored in the world and what values are honored in the Beatitudes?

-The values of the world are external, fleeting and tend to be coercive. Things like physical strength, beauty, natural talents, money, wealth, political power, youth, freedom to do as you please - all these things are highly valued in the world, but they are not permanent or lasting.

-The values honored in the Beatitudes tend to be internal and non coercive. They reflect where most of us are in life and how these things can bring us closer to God if we will let it happen. Things like poverty of spirit, mourning, meekness, pursuit of righteousness, mercy, purity, love of peace and spiritual strength to face personal persecution and persecution for our faith. These things can draw us closer to God and deeper into relationship Him if we handle them correctly in our lives. Most of these could be called spiritual disciplines that should be practiced by all believers.

Why would people that possess the characteristics of the Beatitudes be considered blessed? I mean, don't they seem like signs of weakness at first glance?

-These people know who they are in the great scheme of things. They have a strength and beauty of character that is lacking in many people.  They are not deluded by personal fame or fortune or power or beauty. They do not have these things and they know it. They know that they must be dependent on God and rely on his strength and His blessings. Reliance on God can yield enormous power in one's personal life, creating a permanent joy that can only come with the peace of knowing God. 

How do the values of the American Dream stack up against the values expressed in the Beatitudes?
Things like Life, Liberty and Property (Happiness).

-Someone once said "the American Dream is to reach a point in your life where you don't have to do anything that you don't want to do and you can do everything that you want to do." This does not seem to be in line with what we see expressed in the Beatitudes. Life, liberty and property seem to be geared to more material pursuits. Most people in the world cannot live in this modality. It is impossible. If you stop and think about it, it is also a drain on natural resources. Could the entire world live as Americans do today? What would happen? Would it be a good thing that everyone worked daily for stuff, for material pleasures? There is a lot to be said for working and paying your own way, but at whose expense does that come? We like to think we did these things ourselves, that we raised ourselves up by our own bootstraps, but more often than not, we will find that we did it on the backs of others. We need to be careful when we tell others to embrace the principles in the Beatitudes and then fail to embrace them ourselves.

Why does Jesus always seem to take the side of those who are struggling spiritually and materially?

-I think it's because, in God's Kingdom, there really should be no one struggling. If there are people struggling, it's because others among God's people have failed to help them with whatever issues they may be having. Material poverty is one thing, but spiritual poverty is another. People want the help of their God with these issues. Sometimes we have to be the hands of God; His instruments that bring blessing to those in need, both materially and spiritually. We need to be like God, giving a hand up to those that need it.    

  

A Local Sky Deity

Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews and the Christians, has been described as a local sky deity invented by Abraham, built into a religion by Moses and transformed by Jesus Christ into Christianity.

Yahweh is anything but a local sky deity. Someone yesterday suggested that beings from other places in the galaxy and even the universe might have a different perspective on who God is or even if there is a God. My thought is that Yahweh is the creator of the entire universe. He is the God of everything. If sentient life exists elsewhere, then He created it and He would have found a way into their culture and life.

It's true that our Bible is earth centric, but that's because we are earth centric. It's words were intended for us. The day may come when we take the Bible to other worlds, but that time is not now. I am sure that the Lord God will have provided His other peoples elsewhere (if they exist) with their own book that is localized to their needs. The Lord loves variety. Who knows what He did or what He had to do on these other worlds. Was a plan of salvation necessary? Who knows any of these things? I do not.

God does as He pleases. The universe is His.

On another subject, it was asked yesterday if the existence of God is the only thing science can't prove. My thought was that it's God's non-existence that science can't prove.

There are many things that science cannot prove through the scientific method. The scientific method is the much abused process through which scientists, in their various fields of endeavor, attempt to prove or advance our understanding of the processes of the universe, life and our physical existence. I say it's abused because private organizations and governments use it to prove the creation and necessity of their agendas. Never mind the facts. Find a way to show scientifically that this or that needs to be done. Call it advocacy science if you like. Global climate change is one such pseudo scientific cause. Commercial entities need it to sell products and governments need it to tax us for prevention. It's all based on lies and computer models created from falsified data, but never mind the truth. We need the tax money and we need to be able to force you to buy our products. We want your money and we do not have the balls just to steal it.

There are other examples of the abuse of the scientific method, but whenever you see a hypothesis backed by "scientific testing" designed to prove the hypothesis, then you know the game is fixed.

Beyond that, even though history is replete with scientists that also believed in and worshiped God, modern science wants nothing to do with Him. Things that are spiritual cannot be measured or quantified or studied under a microscope or through a telescope and so, they must not exist.

When modern science, as a community, final realizes that there are things that cannot be studied with the present scientific method, then they will be on the right track. If they are honest, the intelligent design of the universe should reveal the designer to them. But they are blind to it...for now. Someday they will know.

Governments of the world, and especially our own, have come close to discovery of the spiritual world. The intelligence agencies of the US have looked into paranormal human capabilities as a means spying on other countries from afar. If you saw the film, "Men Who Stare At Goats", this is a humorous look at such studies. Remote viewing, ESP and astral travel are all, to my mind, spiritual in nature. I believe such things are real and that many humans can do these things. They are, most likely, God given gifts that get abused by the lower spiritual powers, but they are God given.

The government's interest was to use such paranormal capabilities to their advantage for national security. It was not their thought to discover an entire spiritual world let alone seek out God, but it is a step in the right direction if you are looking. In the Bible such practices are referred to as sorcery and are sinful. We are to leave the future in the hands of God because such gifts, if they exist, are clouded now by the "bentness" of all creation.

The point I am trying to make here is that there is a spiritual world. There is a God. If Modern Science, as a community would simply pull their heads out of their collective asses and re-evaluate their methods, they might be able to find God and what is spiritual in their investigations. They miss so much of what is reality when they deny the existence of the spiritual.

Come on guys. Get your act together.          

Shades of Belief

In our time, people are all over the board with regard to a belief in a God or gods. There are the firm religious adherents in Christianity, Islam and Judaism that believe in only one God. The Buddhists don't really believe in a god or many gods, but they do have a life philosophy. The Hindus have many gods they revere. If I'm totally honest, I have no idea what the Sikhs believe and there are many other faiths and philosophies that I have never fully investigated;Wicca, Druidism, Shamanism and animism to name a few.

Then there are those that subscribe to no organized religions. They are certain there is no God or gods and so they do not bother. Of all the faiths, theirs has to be the strongest. I am talking about the atheists here. Since they cannot quantify or measure in any empirical way what is spiritual, they choose to deny the existence of the spiritual world altogether. To them, everything is material. There is nothing beyond it and there is nothing to transcend to.

Atheists have a second cousin in agnosticism. Agnostics are not sure there is a god, but they are not sure there is not a god either. They have no faith and no god, but they lack the certainty of their atheist cousins and they wonder about the faith of their  believing friends. I'm thinking they just don't want to commit to anything, but an investigation of that is beyond the scope of this blog post.

As I Christian, I can tell you this. My scriptures say this:      

Psalm 14 1-3

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
    They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,
    there is none who does good.

² The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
    to see if there are any who understand,^[a]
    who seek after God.

³ They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
    there is none who does good,
    not even one.

Romans 1:18-22

 

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ¹⁹ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,^[g] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

I do not offer these as an apologetic to those that do not believe. I offer them because I believe they are true. Those that refuse faith in God are fools. Everything in the universe gives credence to the notion of an intelligent designer. Creation is waaaaay too complex to have simply happened. There at least had to be some kind of beginning and a spark that lit that fire. Who had the matches? Where did all matter originate from? There has to be a cause to realize the effect.

I think the reason so many refuse to believe in something higher and grander than themselves is that they believe they are the highest and the grandest. They worship at the altar of self and they believe that, if anything will save them, it will be their own works. Humanism is the new religion. 

Many of the faithful buy into humanism. Let me tell you, when you do that, you practice syncretism. You cannot worship yourself and your own needs and deeds while adoring the one true God of creation. Yahweh does not like to share His worship.  

I do not know what to tell people that do not believe in God. I can make them aware of what I believe. I can tell them all about Jesus and the Bible. I can serve them personally until the cows come home. What I cannot do is make them believe. I am powerless to make them see the spiritual side of life. Only the Spirit of the Living God working through His Word can do that.

So I leave you with this.

God wants you to be in His family. He loved you so much that He sent a part of Himself, His only Son, to save you from yourself and the evil spiritual powers of this world. Grab a Bible. Sit down and read the gospel of John. Read through the book of the Acts of the Apostles. See for yourself the fire of the early church and read the words of those that witnessed the life of Jesus Christ while He was here. Learn what you have to do to become part of His family. Find a believing, God loving and fearing church and obey Jesus. It will be the best thing you ever did for yourself and for your family.

Seed planted. It's all I can do for you. If you seek Him, you will find Him. It can happen. Just step away from your doubts and believe.

Take care. I love you. If you want to talk....groundhog001@gmail.com

I will try to help. 

To Live In Interesting Times - A Curse

Economic problems in Greece are rapidly being overshadowed by - of all places - China. The Chinese stock market has lost more than 30% of its value since mid June. Around 3.2 trillion USD has just disappeared from their economy. This may be nothing more than a correction, since Chinese markets have been crazy high since the first of the year, but when China coughs, everyone else seems to get the flu. Keep an eye on it. They are the largest economy in the world. This could be trouble.

Sorry Lord...

Lord, I'm sorry I got pushy this morning. I know you have been helping Dad and I from the beginning. I just get frustrated. I also know you have stepped up and taken responsibility. You saved us after all. I had a cushy life before April of 2011. I had many good years and good times. I will not complain any more, though I will probably continue to ask for Your help. Thanks for the things you do for us daily...in Your name I pray...Amen

He Couldn't Find Her

It seemed like she was there just yesterday, but this morning he couldn't find her. He came to my bedroom where I was still half asleep. He knocked and said, "are you in there?". I responded that I was.

He said, "I think I will go home now".

I replied, " You are at home."

He laughed and said, "ya, I know."

Since I was already awake, I decided to get up. I had been sleeping in since I've been working nights. I've been going in around 1130 AM and working until between 9 and 11 PM.

This morning was weird though. As I was coming out of the bedroom, I heard his SUV start in the garage and he left. I decided to start getting ready for work. I needed to iron a couple of shirts. I needed to shower and shave. Even red heads have shave a couple of times a week.

I thought maybe he had gone to the barber. He will do that in the morning. The dog was still in the house and that was a good indicator that he was on a mission of some sort. So, I proceeded with the shirt ironing, showering and shaving. While I was in the bathroom, I heard him come back. This was about an hour later. And then he left again. This time the dog was gone too.

As I finished getting my things together to go, I heard him pull into the garage again. I was on my way out to the garage to dump some garbage. I met him as he exited his vehicle. I said, "where did you go?"

He told me he could not remember where Laurie (Mom) went. He said he drove all over the east side looking for her....and then he remembered. She went home to be with Jesus.  "I depended on her for so much", he said.

I was crushed by his statement. I hugged him. I was crying, but while he hugged back, I got the impression that he was totally unphased by his morning adventure. There was very little emotion on his face.

He let the dog out of the SUV. Apparently, when he came back the first time, he returned to take the dog to the dog groomer. It was not the day for that either. The groomer appointment is on Thursday at 9 AM. 

So when he woke this morning, he must have been totally confused. I had been up at 4 AM to get him his pill container. It has three compartments with medicine that he takes throughout the day. He had already taken them all before he left to look for Mom.

Mom has been gone for over 4 years. I miss her every day for some very obvious reasons. Now Dad is finally admitting it. He's also forgetting that she is gone. I thought maybe something like this would happen one day. I had worried about what it would be like to explain it. This time he figured it out for himself. That's probably not going to happen the next time.

Alzheimer's is a dreadful disease. I cannot imagine what it must be like to lose what was once firm knowledge or to forget who has passed and who has not or not even to know what day it is. But when you don't remember that your partner of 52 years is gone, I would think that would devastate when you suddenly remembered it. As I said, he was unphased. My thought is that memory is not the only thing that fails when Alzheimer's afflicts the brain. It effects emotions, appetite, bathroom habits and motor control. Alzheimer's is brain rot, short and simple.

We who help to care for Alzheimer's victims tend not to think about one other thing. Because the disease progresses so slowly, we do not think about it for what it is. It's a killer. Alzheimer's is always fatal. You don't get better. No one with Alzheimer's gets better. Even the meds designed to treat it stop working.  It is a slow, but progressive journey to the grave. I cannot think of a more insidious way to die.

It is things like this that make me question God.

Lord, please take care of him today. Please join me and take some measure of responsibility for this. We both need you right now. Thanks.      

A Joke I Heard In Sunday School

It goes something like this....

A little girl, dressed in her Sunday best, was running as fast as she could, trying not to be late for her Sunday school class.. As she ran, she prayed, 'Dear Lord, please don't let me be late, please don't let me be late'. While she was running and praying, she tripped on a curb and fell, getting her clothes dirty and tearing her dress. She got up, brushed herself off, and started running again. As she ran, she once again began to pray, 'Dear lord, please don't let me be late...But please don't shove me either!"

I thought the joke was hilarious. My adult class enjoyed it, but I got to thinking about the joke. The Lord should save me from my own thinking, but I believe there is actually a sermon in this joke.

Has God ever shoved you?

Has he ever pushed you harder in a direction you were already headed?

I think He does these things. He has pushed me toward doing things in my life and at church that I would never have done on my own. Teaching Sunday School is one of them. He also seems to put people in my way. Just let me say, He has to do that otherwise I don't see them. It's the hazard that comes with living too much in my head and trying to be invisible. I tend to look through people like they are not even there. It's extremely selfish if I'm honest about it, but still, I do this all the time. But sometimes....just occasionally, He will put someone in my way to push me in person. Sometimes they are very pushy themselves. This is extremely irritating, but He usually gets my attention that way. There have been several such people in my life, all of whom I have been glad to know and been very thankful for when all was said and done.

I have also managed to ignore some of the people He has put in my way despite His intentions. The result has not been good. I just have to pay more attention. There is a reason for everything He does. If he has to push me or shove me or put people in my way to get my attention, then maybe I am not listening. And why am I not listening? Why am I so wrapped up in what is going on in my world, that I forget about everyone else's? God does not work on my schedule. He has things He needs to get done. When he chooses me to help Him or he wants to help me, I need to be there, whatever else is going on.   

I need to listen...even if I'm late for Sunday school. Thanks for the shove Lord!

Human Depravity and Bad Spiritual Genetics

I am not a Calvinist and I'm not sure I am Armenian either. In my theology though, I do recognize the spiritual and physical brokenness of humanity and, indeed, all creation. Since the days of the first humans, there has been a desire in us to be like our Creator. We want to be in control of our environments, our own lives and our own destinies. We want to create, unhindered by external rules and regulations. We want to know. We want to enrich ourselves. We want to satisfy ourselves, our desires. While those thoughts were not initially our own, this suggestion that came from a negative spiritual source, was taken up by our ancestors in rebellion against their Creator.

The question arises, why would God create us with the ability to make choices that were not in line with His desires for His creation?

It is a question for the ages. The answer to it does not matter. The fact is that He did do that and we did decide against His will. We took up the mantle of self interest and carried it into a human history that was not intended. We were intended to serve Him. We chose to serve ourselves. The blood soaked pages of our history proves that we take everything that we have and corrupt it. We corrupt what we received from God and we corrupt the things we make ourselves. It is why even the most holy among us have issues in our lives and the most depraved find new ways to continually to increase human misery, even if it's our own.

The original humans that took this step against their Creator passed on this tendency toward spiritual rebellion to all future generations. It was at once both a physical and spiritual inheritance. Both our bodies and souls are afflicted with it. Even creation itself has been afflicted with it. The entire universe is out of it's natural harmonious rhythm because we choose to act apart from the Creator's will.

Did He know what would happen?

Again, it does not matter. What matters is the path back to Him. He used the course of our history to make peace with Him possible again. It cost Him a part of Himself to make this happen, but He did create a road home for us. Yes, I'm talking about Jesus. You all know the story of Jesus. Non-believers know His story. Muslims know His story. Hindus know His story. So do the Buddhists, Shintoists, Confuscists, and animists. It is the greatest story ever told. It is the road back to God paid for and built by His own sweat and blood and tears. We can go home. We can all go home. We just have to believe in the reality of the Man with the Plan.

So who gets in under those conditions?

Anyone that meets them.

Simple eh?

No matter how bent, broken, corrupt of perfect you are, if you believe in the Man with the Plan, you are in brother.

"Well", you might say, "Ghog, how is that fair? I've been good all my life while others have been murderers, adulterers and thieves. Why should their terms be the same as mine?"

To which I say, is it fair that the Creator of the universe should have to come here and take up a human body to save our sorry backsides from our own self destruction?

Fair is as fair does. Human fairness and divine fairness are two different concepts. Because we lack understanding, because we cannot not know as God knows, our childish perception sees unfairness where there is none.

Beyond that, God is God. Our fate does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. We can sit around and debate why God made us one way or another, but it does not matter. What matters is God and His mercy. We can say, "well God made me this way". Did He? It was not the original plan. That propensity toward sin (oops, I said it) that we embrace is as old as the choices of our original ancestors, and even with them, God exercised mercy and restraint.

So instead of sitting around and arguing with God or ignoring Him because He doesn't see what ever it is in our way, why don't we try embracing Him in faith and see what happens. He might surprise you. It's bend the knee now or bend it later. Doing it now will produce far better results.

We can choose to go home, even with a bad gene pool. You might as well come with us. It's gonna be a good time and it will last forever. He's waiting again for our decision. I'm going.

Thank God for His Mercy and Grace. It trumps a bad gene pool every time.
    

Speaking of July 4th...

I came across an article today at lewrockwell.com that was written by David Hathaway. He "is a  former supervisory DEA Agent. He is a cowboy and aficionado of Latin America where he has lived and traveled extensively. He is a homeschooling father of nine children and maintains the website charityendureth.com."

His post entitled "American Freedom" lists 7 things that are required to be a patriotic, freedom loving American in our age. The entire post is a bit tongue in cheek and sarcastic, but he has some very good points. Two of them directly concern his perception of American Christianity, particularly the evangelical variety. I reproduce them here and encourage you to follow the link to read the entire article.

"I continually hear the words freedom and liberty chanted around me and prominently displayed on American homes and vehicles and in social media, so I know this must be something important.  I’ve also noticed that individuals, groups, and political candidates that oppose government intrusion into our lives are treated as social pariahs, so we have to dig a bit deeper to see what this American Freedom actually is.
It is a package deal that has primarily been assembled by neocons.  Mix together the various ingredients for the recipe and then add some red, white, and blue stuff that says “freedom” on it and you should be well on your way to American freedom.  It involves the following:

1. Brand yourself as a Christian. But beware; the precepts of Christianity may get in the way.  So, the branding should not be accompanied by a practice of the faith.  Confusing?  Well, it’s not actually that hard if you apply yourself to a diligent study under an apt tutor.  To accomplish this, it is beneficial to seek out a subset of “Christianity” that concludes – through theological somersaults – that the actual practice of the tenets of Christianity when dealing with your fellow man is inappropriate manifesting “legalism” or “salvation through works.”  This really is the key which allows you to subdue the objections of your conscience and to strive for a relaxed mindset while carrying a Book around that says to not steal, to love your enemies, and to live peaceably with others.  Actual practice of the teachings of the New Testament must be portrayed as trying to “earn your way into heaven.”

So, to be clear on this point, call yourself a Christian, but to avoid the practice of the faith and to have a relaxed mindset with your hypocrisy, adopt a convoluted intellectual argument  – surrounding New Testament verses negating Old Testament rituals – that concludes that those verses require you to avoid New Testament teachings as well.   I know that last sentence is complicated, but you will need to grasp this complex doctrine in order to put your mind at ease to fully implement your unique American Freedom.  It’s hard to do if you have an un-seared conscience, but work on it.  You can probably get there if you make fervent efforts to beat down the feelings of hypocrisy.  There are plenty of paid ministers of the fallen one to help you arrive at the uniquely American sweet spot on this bundle of spiritual issues.
And, since we are talking about freedom and liberty, call this new libertine aspect of your faith “Christian liberty” or “Christian freedom.”   There are no requirements to subdue bloodlust or covetous tendencies since we, after all, must sin all day every day.  To work in another direction would be evil.  Advocating goodness and the Golden Rule would be gross heresy.  Go down the wide easy path and preach continually – lest you forget – that true faith means that we must all sin continually, and that this realization is what makes us true Christians.  Easy peasy.  Behave horribly and wretchedly because this, in essence, is your new “Christianity.”  See how easy that was?  Good is evil.  Evil is good.  If it gets confusing, drop some more money in the plate and get a refresher.   In short, call yourself a Christian, but don’t act like one and you will have this one covered with plenty of lucre-generating theological literature and preaching to back you up.

2. Give vocal and ballot box support to the police state and military industrial complex. Now that we have Christianity out of the way and we have numbed our conscience into accepting perpetual evil in the name of our faith, it should be easy to ignore verses saying things like, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”  We can’t do right anyway, so we might as well get all our basal urges to shed blood and enrich ourselves blessed by the state by claiming  that the American state, unlike us, is capable of taking the moral path.  Distorting Romans 13 to make the state into a god is key here.

If “we the people” vote for politicians that want to kill a lot of people and lock everybody else up, then this is a theologically endorsed expression of “Christian” freedom – which is actually a need to perpetually commit evil – if you were paying attention to item 1 in this list.   Get it?
So, to wrap up this point, “we the people” rule the government.  We vote for war-mongering politicians.  Violence and vengeance is not bad because the orders come from the state as per our ballot-expressed desires to kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out.   It takes some refreshing to remember how all the doctrinal pieces fit together into a cauldron of death and thievery.  If you accidentally stumble onto the Sermon on the Mount and read the Prince of Peace saying “love your enemies” and you need to get your evil spirit rekindled and re-justified, there are plenty of paid servants of hell who will re-shape your simple-minded reading of a doctrine of love, and get you back on the road to obligatory personal destruction – as a theological precept.    You know, so you can be “saved” from your confused thoughts that Christianity somehow relates to goodness."

He seems to understand the inherent, nationalistic contradictions within American conservative Christianity. Go read the whole thing. If it pisses you off, then stop and consider that he might be on to something and while I am here, let me add this...Most of the founding members of the neoconservative movement are Zionists or Jews or both. They are the Pharisees of our day. Should we as Christians really be following their lead? Our future is not with Israel. Our Kingdom is in Heaven. Just sayin'.  

One Tin Soldier (1971) - Joni Mitchell

Listen children to a story that was written long ago

'bout a kingdom on a mountain and the valley folk below

on the mountain was a treasure buried deep beneath a stone

and the valley people swore they'd have it for their very own



CHORUS: go ahead and hate your neighbor

go ahead and cheat a friend

do it in the name of heaven

justify it in the end

There won't be any trumpets blowing

come the judgment day

on the bloody morning after

One tin soldier rides away



So the people of the valley sent a message up the hill,

asking for the buried treasure, tons of gold for which they'd kill.

Came an answer from the kingdom "with our brothers we will share.

All the secrets of our mountain, all the riches buried there."



Now the valley cried with anger,"mount your horses, draw your swords"

And they killed the mountain people, so they won their just reward.

Now they stood beside the treasure, on the mountain dark and red.

Turned the stone and looked beneath it; PEACE ON EARTH was all it said.



CHORUS: go ahead and hate your neighbor

go ahead and cheat a friend

do it in the name of heaven

justify it in the end

There won't be any trumpets blowing

come the judgment day

on the bloody morning after

One tin soldier rides away

So Who Needs a Haircut? Apparently the Greeks.

From the Financial Times:

"Greek banks are preparing contingency plans for a possible “bail-in” of depositors amid fears the country is heading for financial collapse, bankers and businesspeople with knowledge of the measures said on Friday.
The plans, which call for a “haircut” of at least 30 per cent on deposits above €8,000, sketch out an increasingly likely scenario for at least one bank, the sources said.

A Greek bail-in could resemble the rescue plan agreed by Cyprus in 2013, when customers’ funds were seized to shore up the banks, with a haircut imposed on uninsured deposits over €100,000.
It would be implemented as part of a recapitalisation of Greek banks that would be agreed with the country’s creditors — the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank.
“It [the haircut] would take place in the context of an overall restructuring of the bank sector once Greece is back in a bailout programme,” said one person following the issue. “This is not something that is going to happen immediately.”"

It happened in Cyprus and now they are talking about it in Greece. When your economy teeters on the edge of bankruptcy and the nation can no longer pay its creditors, the bankers simply help themselves to your bank deposits. This is legal in almost every country of the world now in case you were wondering - yes, even here in the good old US of A. In Cyprus, they only hit deposits of 100,000 EUR or more. For Greece, they are talking about taking it down to 8,000 EUR.

I think the Greeks need to consider taking the route that Iceland chose. Simply default. Reboot the economy, prosecute the criminal banker and political class and go back to a metal based currency. And what ever else...they need to get out of the EU. This is where their troubles started.

So do you think this cannot happen here? Do not get overly optimistic about our financial future. The debt of the US government is deep and heavy. Should the right dominoes fall on a given day, both the bond and stock markets could collapse. Cash would be King for a bit, followed by wholesale dollar printing, followed by staggering inflation. The bankers will endeavor to recover their largess by giving you a haircut long before that last bit happens. There will be nothing you can do about it. They will simply help themselves to what is yours because they view your deposits as unsecured loans to them. Actually, I believe they think it's their money that they let us use.

Anyway, as this nightmare scenario proceeds, a barter economy is inevitable unless the people will be willing to take control, by force if necessary, of the reigns of government and finance. There are states in the current US union that are making preparation for this possibility. Texas come to mind. I believe that North Dakota is also prepared economic dooms day.

Some will say that their money is invested at brokerage houses or investment firms and is therefore safe. Let me tell you, when the feces hit the oscillating wind device, those with power will take what they want to save their sorry hides no matter where it is stashed. I look for them to pass the Mattress Seizure Act to be sure to get everything. There will be no place that is economically safe.

Gold and silver will not save you in the long term either. In the great and terrible day, I think we will be swapping bottled water and cans of Campbell's cream of tomato soup. People need to eat. You can't eat gold. Just my thought. It would be nice if I was wrong.

So what should you take from all this? Greece and Cyprus are rehearsals for the real deal. The bankers and politicians want to see what works and what does not work. They failed in Iceland.

We need to tell them now, that if it happens here, a giant Iceland will be their fate. They need to back off or they will have more trouble then they ever bargained for.

Jade Helm 15 is practice for the government handling of such a crisis. It is taking place in late summer and early fall in many states of the southwest. Some say it's merely a military drill. 9/11 happened during a military drill. Oklahoma City happened during a military drill. The subway bombings in London happened during a military drill. It could well be that there is a plan in place to artificially collapse the economy during this period to avoid a natural catastrophic melt down. Jade Helm 15 may be the way they intend to take control of an unruly populace. If this is the plan, look for it by September 23.

Here is to hoping none of that happens and that the Greek thing is localized and does not spread. That would be preferable to other scenarios. But just in case...lay in some bottled water and Campbell's tomato soup. I kind of like the chicken noodle too.             

Polygamy

It's been going on for centuries. It recent times in the west it has not had the legal stamp of the state, but there are still men in various places that keep more than one partner at home. Men with multiple wives have been part of every culture from the dawn of creation.

Much of the last 2000 years has been dominated by Christian doctrine and morality in regard to marriage. Orthodox Christianity - the mainline groups - will tell you that God had a plan and polygamy was not it. I agree with this, but history tells us another story. The reality is that even though God intended one man one woman marriages, people, even His own people Israel, did not abide by His wishes.

Many of God's intentions for humanity fell by the wayside when humanity chose their own will over God's will. Then when the curse was applied to humanity. Everything changed. Women were subordinated to men and men began treating them like property - a cow that can do laundry and have sex. In the Torah, we see women who could not bear children or did not bear sons offering their hand maids as surrogates. Other men just took more than one wife. One has to ask, would their have ever been an Israel if Jacob had been allowed only Rachel. She was not exactly a "fertile Myrtle" if you know what I mean. Even in the days of the Law, men took multiple wives. Moses himself had two...yes he did ...look again.

And then there is the whole leverite marriage thing in Deuteronomy. I think it's chapter 25:5-10. If your brother died without producing a son, you were supposed to marry his widow and produce an heir for his widow's future care and for the continuation of your brother's family. You could refuse this duty, but it was always at considerable embarrassment to your own family. If you refused, your widowed sister in law could take you before the judges. If, after that, you still refused, she would remove a sandal and throw it at you, spit in your face and call you and yours the family of the unsandaled because of your refusal. Public humiliation was a big deal in ancient times. Of course, if you had a hot sister in law, I suppose it would not have been so bad. The point here though is that even under God's law, there was in place a mechanism for polygamy.

When Jesus came, all this changed. Jesus demanded again what God had set forth in the beginning. One man one woman marriage - no divorce except in the case of adultery and maybe not then if the offending party can be forgiven. This has, since that time, been the Christian standard for marriage. There have been Christian sects like the Mormons in the US that have at one time or another embraced polygamy, but even the main line cult gave it up after much persecution by the orthodox Christian majority. 

But there is, and always has been, men that balked at the notion of monogamy. They would keep both wives and girlfriends in the same house. Today and in light of the recent SCOTUS decision, there are some that are coming forward to try to gain legitimacy for their girl friend(s) along with their current wife. There is such a case right now in Montana.

"A married Montana man has taken his wife and his girlfriend to the Yellowstone County Courthouse and told the clerk: Marry us – if the Supreme Court OK’d “gay” unions, then we should be allowed to join together in holy polygamy. “It’s about marriage equality,” said Nathan Collier, who filed for a marriage application to two women, Victoria and Christine, CBS News reported. “You can’t have this without polygamy.”
Victoria is currently his legal wife. Christine is his girlfriend.

County officials at first denied the application, but then backtracked and said they’d have to consult with attorneys."

So the future and the past are coming together in a most unusual way. One has to wonder where this will stop or if it will ever stop. Should you be able to marry a door knob? What about all the other knobs you handle every day? Won't that be a problem? A door knob harem might be the answer. In this age of egalitarianism anything can happen.

Lord, any time now. Please come back and stop this foolishness. We are bad decision makers. Guess you knew that though.

51

I had exactly 51 page views at exactly 0700 today. How does that happen? Only information gathering software can do that. What info are they it is looking for? They could save a lot of time by just calling me I think. What's their motive? You have to wonder.

This and That

I kind of doubt I will wax philosophical this morning. I have a neck ache, a headache and a back ache. I do not know what brought it all on, but normally these are precursors to a weather change (ground hogs can predict that stuff year round). Whatever it is, I just need it to go away. I have to go in to work here in a few minutes and listen to cranky customers on the phone. I do not need to be cranking back at them. I need to go back to burrowing for a living. That's what a ground hog is supposed to do anyway. A few root vegetables wouldn't hurt either. I'm putting on a few pounds. I was up to 222 lb last night on the scale in nothing but basketball shorts. Are you all picturing a ground hog in basketball shorts? Ya, funny ha ha. Ground hogs are not noted for being svelt anyway. You will never see one with a six pack. Maybe a pony keg, but not a six pack. But I digress....

There are times when you realize how blessed you are. I had a day like that yesterday. Friends far and near reached out to me in different ways with love and support and God's grace and it made the rest of the day much better. I thank all of you for that. I need to warn all of you though, I'm like a stray dog. If you're nice to me, you will be stuck with me for the rest of my life. People move far away and they still can't get shed of me. I will hunt you down (;^)))

Here's a random thought from a friend that's sort of in line with yesterday's post about knowledge. I have known Christians that believe they should be fruit inspectors. They actually advocate this practice and are proud to be called fruit inspectors. Whenever that term comes up in Sunday school or church, I get incensed. This notion comes from some very bad reading of the New Testament in my view. The idea is that we would know people by the spiritual fruit they bear. Jesus talks about this and so does Paul. And it's true. You can tell much about someone by the way they behave and how they interact with other people and what they believe and how those beliefs guide their lives.

What drives me bonkers is when this gets used by self righteous people to inflict judgement on others. These folks want to go through your spiritual fruit basket and determine what should be there and what should not be there. Never mind the rotting apple at the bottom of their own bowl, your grapes are going over and not in a good way. Clean it up. This is what I'm talking about when I say fruit inspector. To my mind, this was the behavior of the pharisees in Christ's time. "Woe to you scribes and pharisees. You go 1000 miles to make a single convert and then make him twice the son of hell that you are"...."woe to you scribes and pharisees. you place great weights on the people and then do nothing to help them carry it". Those are paraphrases of what Christ said, but it is how I view these self appointed fruit inspectors. I KNOW YOU BY YOUR FRUIT.

How about this instead. How about we all confess our spiritual and fleshly brokeness or bentness or whatever you want to call it? How about we all love each other and trust each other enough and serve each other's spiritual and physical needs? Maybe if we did that, there would be less rotten fruit in all our bowls.

And this brings me to the thought of my friend that he shared yesterday. Why is it that the church has rotten fruit in the bowl that it overlooks, that it keeps, that it even cherishes, but other rotten fruit gets thrown out without so much as a Grace period?

The church tends to keep its gossips, it's gluttons, it's divorced, it's whatever you want to name; but there are others who, because their brokeness is so strange, we want them out of the basket? It's as if God's grace does not extend to them because even the liars and gossips cannot stand them. Why is this? Is there some unwritten code that says "it's ok if you've gossiped or your tend to eat too much or if you tend to believe your own lies, but really, if you've done any of these other things, we don't want you. Nothing personal. There are places for people like you to go to. We just can't have you here. God loves you. I love you. But could you just go away and not talk about it? I'm uncomfortable already".

Does God love like that? Did Jesus love like that? Is that what we're all about in our white middle class evangelical churches? I hope not.

You say, "but Ghog, have you ever acted this way?"

I am sorry to say that I have. I am also happy to say it's time to knock it off. Jesus loves us. Let Him be our fruit inspector while we concentrate on producing the fruit.