Better Than The Statue of Liberty

Here's a quote. See if you can place it. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." Sure you can. Most of us know that's written on a plaque on the Statue of Liberty. Many today wonder, not in a positive sense, if it should be removed because we don't seem to be quite so willing anymore to embrace all "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses." Is it false advertising? But ... just who are these tired and poor and huddled masses? On the statue, it's those tired, poor, huddled masses from around the world. And, no, we aren't willing or even able to take them all.

At the opening of Jesus's public ministry, He walked into a synagogue in Nazareth one Sabbath, opened a scroll from Isaiah, and read.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19)

He went on to say, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21). The Social Justice Warrior types want us to believe that the Gospel (He did say He proclaimed the "good news") is just that. Jesus had come to proclaim liberty to captives, sight to the blind, freedom for the oppressed, and relief for the marginalized. (They add that last one because Jesus didn't know what it meant back then.) And the Synoptic Gospels bear out that Jesus helped some (and so should we) poor and some blind and gave some relief to some oppressed (I don't recall Him freeing any captives), but quite clearly He did not finish that task. Instead, He told His followers, "You always have the poor with you, but you will not always have Me" (Matt 26:11). Apparently it was not His plan to end poverty, blindness, captivity, or oppression. If it was, He failed. So what was Jesus talking about? Jesus was talking about the actually marginalized rather than socially marginalized -- those removed from a relationship with God, those who were under God's wrath (Rom 1:18). In the Beatitudes Jesus refers to "the poor" and "those who hunger and thirst" and "the meek" and so on (Matt 5:3-12), but He clearly isn't talking about those lacking funds or food or the like. He's talking about the poor in spirit and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. While we tend to focus on the very real, but very temporal versions of "poor" and "captive" and such, Jesus was looking at the much deeper problem of spiritual poverty, spiritual starvation, and spiritual captivity (Matt 20:28). These kinds of things are bigger problems because 1) they have eternal consequences and 2) we aren't even aware of them, so we can't find a remedy for them.

Jesus said "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" because the solution to the spiritual darkness -- the spiritual marginalization that all humans suffer -- had arrived. Three years later, He died and declared "It is finished" because at that moment He made "peace by the blood of His cross" (Col 1:20) and canceled our certificate of debt for sin by nailing it to the cross (Col 2:14). Jesus spent His ministry distributing kindness and help to the needy -- physical and spiritual -- to illustrate that He was there to do so and capable of doing it. In fact, look at the account of the paralytic in Capernaum. You remember. His friends tried to get him in to see Jesus to be healed, but they couldn't (The KJV says "They could not come nigh unto Him for the press" (Mark 4:2) -- apparently the media was everywhere.), so they opened up the roof and dropped him in. Jesus did not tend first to his very obvious ailment. Instead, He said, "Son, your sins are forgiven" (Mark 2:5). This, of course, upset the religious leaders there, so Jesus went on to say, "Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the paralytic -- "I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home" (Mark 2:9-11). The primary concern was freedom for the captives to Satan, liberty for the spiritually oppressed, resources for the poor in spirit, sight for the spiritually blind. In that sense, then, Jesus was vastly better than the Statue of Liberty because the solutions He brought to the "tired," "poor," "huddled masses" was a permanent solution, restoring a relationship with His Father and given freely because His resources are infinite. Now that is really good news.

Ananias and Sapphira

In Acts 5 we have the strange story of Ananias and Sapphira. Chapter 4 ends with how Barnabas sold a tract of land and gave the money to the church. So chapter 5 starts with, "But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife's full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles' feet" (Acts 5:1-2). The opening word, "but," signifies a difference, a contrast with Barnabas (and the others) in the previous chapter. What was different? It was not that they sold property. It was not that they gave money to the church. The difference was ... they lied about it. Ananias went to Peter and laid the money at his feet and said, "This is the whole price." He could have said nothing. Or he could have said, "This is some of it." We know that would have been just fine because Peter told him, "While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God" (Acts 5:4). The problem wasn't that he kept some back. "After it was sold, was it not under your control?" That was just fine. No, it was the lie. For that lie, "Ananias fell down and breathed his last" (Acts 5:5), and when his wife, Sapphira, came in and confirmed, "Yes, that was the price," she, too, died on the spot (Acts 5:8-10).

Some suggest this is a story about how socialism reigned in the early church. But Peter's assurance that they had every right to keep it or to sell it and give whatever they wanted kind of deflates that idea. No, their error wasn't in keeping some back. It was in the claim that they didn't. Their error was, in Peter's words, "You have not lied to men but to God." Lying to God is a bad thing. In their case, fatal. But it occurs to me that we're often in the same mode. Maybe it's in our interaction with fellow believers. "Oh, that's sad. I'll be sure to pray for you." But we never do. Or maybe it's in our church gatherings where, maybe, we're asked to pray and we make it the best show we know how. I think we all have things that we just don't talk about to others. Problems, troubles, concerns, failures ... things that we're pretty sure no one else is experiencing and certainly things that no one else would accept as something they need to uphold and encourage you in. No, you're pretty sure if they found out "that" about you, they'd likely throw you out. So we make ourselves hypocrites by trying to look like a good Christian when we know we aren't. We hide our failings and needs because we want everyone to think well of us ... like Ananias and Sapphira.

I get it. Really. We Christians, as a group, can be way too judgmental. The world has its "unpardonable sins," but we who believe in divine forgiveness have our own, don't we? "Divorced? Oh ..." "You have a problem with what??!" Our doctrine holds that we -- all Christians -- are forgiven from all sin by faith in Christ, but we can be unforgiving of others ourselves. We are called to restore one another, but we can be judgmental much quicker than we're willing to bear one anothers burdens. I get it. But that doesn't make it right. And Jesus had a real problem with hypocrisy. Well, so does God, thinking about Ananias and Sapphira. So maybe that's not our best option.

Stolen Symbols

Justice Alito is in trouble lately because his wife flew an upside-down American flag. Now, the upside-down flag has ... or had ... a specific meaning. It was a symbol of distress or danger per the Flag Code. Some from the "Stop the Steal" movement opted to fly the flag that way on January 6, which obviously meant, "The election was fraudently stolen" and not an indication of distress or danger. Or ... was it? We'll never know. Now Dems want to silence Supreme Court Justice Alito because his wife put one up because she felt distressed and in danger. And that will never do. So the Legislative Branch is seeking to silence "opposing voices" in the Judicial Branch. And we can no longer fly an upside-down American flag as a distress symbol because some movement stole it. Same thing with the Appeal to Heaven flag. A Revolutionary War flag, now it's been stolen by some far right group and anyone who has one had better be arrested or go into hiding.

Symbols are powerful tools ... or weapons. The swastika that we all connect with fascist Nazi Germany came from Hinduism as a symbol of prosperity and good luck. The rainbow was a symbol of peace and was coopted to symbolize LGBT stuff. So many symbols have been stolen, twisted, and fed back with a new meaning. Of course, the most common symbols stolen and twisted are words. Words are symbols of thoughts and ideas. Like when we used to refer to "marriage" as a lifelong union of a man and a woman for purposes of procreation and mutual support (that's a lot of meaning in a single symbol). Today it means, "I like you a lot ... for now." Biblically, "love" means self-sacrifice for the best interest of the other, but we've twisted it to "I feel warmly toward you ... want to have sex?" Not even close. There's one, too -- "sex." The act was intended by God to symbolize the union of two people (marriage) as an image of Christ's relationship to His Bride, the Church (Eph 5:31-32). Now it's mostly just a recreational pasttime. "Christian" once referred to "followers of Christ". It shifted to mean "the body of people who use the term" until today it simply means "whoever claims it." And as Christ Himself said, too often those who claim the word "Christian" often have nothing to do with it (Matt 7:21-23).

As illustrated in the Alito story, appropriated symbols make a mess of things. I see an upside-down American flag and think "distress" and others think "crazy conspiracy theorists." I hear the word, "love," and want to think it's about self-sacrifice and the greater good of others, but it's not anymore. We don't have a word for that anymore. It's like George Orwell's "newspeak" from the novel, 1984. The government was controlling minds by controlling speech so that they could no longer think the concepts that the changed words intended. Our world government, the god of this world, is doing that today. Symbols are coopted. Ideas are erased. Concepts can barely be expressed anymore. And we still think we're communicating just fine because, "Hey, we both used the same word!" Same word? Maybe, but not the same idea.

Competing Fundamentalisms II

Recently I pointed out that "fundamentalism" can be found just about anywhere. Even though the first two that spring to mind are Islam and Christianity, most people hold to some fundamental beliefs that shape their worldview ... while they complain about people who hold to some fundamental beliefs. This time, I do want to compare the two most obvious "fundamentalists" -- Islam and Christian. Are they basically the same thing?

First, "fundamentalism," for the sake of this discussion, simply means, "strict adherence to the basic principles of any subject or discipline." As such, it cannot be automatically classified as "immoral" because "basic principles" are unavoidable. Set aside, for a moment, your conditioned response of distaste for the word. In terms of Christianity and Islam, then, fundamentalism is specifically an adherence to the literal interpretation of scripture -- either the Bible or the Quran (or Qur'an or Koran if you prefer). In both cases, then, the Christian and the Muslim would be a fundamentalist if they seek to follow what's written in their Book. So, how do these stack up? Well, the Quran has unmistakable commands regarding infidels -- unbelievers. The holy book of the "religion of peace" has over 100 references to waging war on non-Muslims. While the Bible has a few Old Testament commands from God for specific groups in Israel's history to attack specific enemies, there are no "open-ended" commands to do so in the Bible, while the commands from the Quran have no "end date." Instead, the Christ of Christ-ianity says the primary command is love -- love God and love your neighbor. Jesus included instructions like "turn the other cheek" and other such things. The New Testament left all sorts of directions to trust in God for our salvation, not some form of coercion or violence. In fact, killing infidels makes zero sense in a biblical framework. It's just not in the Bible.

Now, as we know, there are Muslims who are not violent toward infidels and there are "Christians" who are violent. In terms of "fundamentalism," clearly the Muslim who refuses to war against unbelievers is in violation of his own scriptures while the Christian who chooses violence as a means to obtain God's ends is in violation of his own scriptures. In this sense (the sense that most upsets outside observers), then, the fundamentalist Muslim would need to be at war with unbelievers and the fundamentalist Christian would need to be at peace with everyone (Rom 12:18; Rom 14:19; 2 Cor 13:11; 1 Thess 5:13; Heb 12:14). Those who classify themselves as "Christian" but reject God's Word poorly represent Christ. The fundamentalist Muslim must aim to coerce by force. The fundamentalist Christian must aim to encourage in love. Not the same thing.

Memorial Day, 2024

Veterans Day is for recognizing all who served in any capacity in the military. Memorial Day is not. Memorial is specifically designed to commemorate those who gave their lives in military service to this country. "Commemorate" ... an interesting word. I'm sure you can see the connection to "memory," right? We use the word to celebrate or show respect, but the root meaning is to "call to remembrance." And that's really what Memorial Day is intended to do ... remind us, specifically of those who gave all.

Mary Walker, to date, is the only female Medal of Honor recipient. Dr. Walker served in the Union army as a field surgeon, providing medical aid to Union soldiers, civilians ... and Confederate soldiers alike. She would cross enemy lines to help Confederate surgeons, and she would do it alone since none of the brave men with her had the courage to do it. Eventually she was arrested as a spy by Confederate forces and spent 4 months in prison before being released. For her courage, she was awarded the Medal of Honor.

One of the recipients from World War I was Corporal Jake Allex. Engaged in a fierce battle in France, all of Allex's platoon officers became casualties after coming into range of a German machine gun nest. Lacking direction from leadership, Allex took rifle in hand and advanced alone toward the nest, firing until he ran out of ammunition. Then he charged and attacked the 20 enemy soldiers with his bayonet, killing 5, and subduing the rest with his rifle butt until they were captured.

In World War II at the Battle of the Bulge, Army Private James Hendrix (no relation to the guitar player) was part of a leading element attempting to break through German lines at Bastogne. At one point, in a hail of artillery and small arms fire, Hendrix dismounted from his half-track and walked alone toward two German 88 mm guns. Firing his rifle, he forced the gun crews to take cover and then surrender. Later that day, he left his vehicle again to assist two wounded soldiers caught in a crossfire. His counter-fire gave them sufficient time to get to safety. Later that same day, Hendrix voluntarily braved mines, guns, and snipers to reach a fellow soldier in a burning vehicle. Hendrix dragged him to safety and put out his flaming clothing before the vehicle exploded.

To date there are 3,520 Medal of Honor winners. Nineteen of them won two. They came from all services and all walks of life. Many received them posthumously. Of the 3,520 recipients, 61 are still alive. As the saying goes, all gave some, and some gave all. Today we honor those who gave their lives for something higher than themselves. We owe them a debt of gratitude.

What? A "Photography" Label? Huh.

I had forgotten that I had an entire category labeled "Photography." I mean, if I have the label, I might as well use it, right?

This is a roadrunner that was on our pool deck. He was hunting. We have bird feeders across the pool there and he was looking for a nice, juicy little sparrow. (Note: He caught one.) As a sidenote, roadrunners do not say, "Meep, meep!" Nor are they mild-mannered birds, but, rather, quite aggressive. A couple of lies in my youth I got from those "Coyote and Roadrunner" documentary cartoons.

This would be a popular food choice for the roadrunner if he could catch it. It's a verdin. They're smaller than a sparrow and enjoy drinking out of hummingbird feeders.

It's only fair, I suppose, that this bobcat would be just as willing to catch himself a fine, juicy roadrunner. (I know; it's not the best picture. The cat was sitting on the wall outside our window and I had to get the picture through the window without disturbing him. "Smile and say cheese" doesn't work with wild animals for some reason.)

This shot illustrates why I cannot quite fathom how it is that northern cardinals are native to the desert where we are. I mean, they're not well camouflaged. They are prey birds. You'd figure any halfway-attentive hawk could pick this guy off in a moment. But this particular one has lived here for more than 10 years. (Amazing, given their normal average lifespan is more like 3 years.)


I hope you've enjoyed the show. I may do more going forward. Let me know if that's a good idea.

News Weakly - 5/25/24

Anti-Christ Christians
More on that story of the Roman Catholic football player who gave a Roman Catholic speech at a private Roman Catholic college. Now a "Christian organization" has petitioned for him to apologize because, while his comments did not reflect their version of "Christian values," they certainly did reflect biblical values, and if there's anything we know, it's that modern "Christians" will not abide biblical values. I'm wondering if we can sign a petition to have those who reject biblical values removed from the term "Christian." To be clear, just because the story refers to it as a "Christian petition" does not make it actually Christian. They're defining "Christian" much the same as they define "marriage" -- not really anything, but they're going to use the term anyway.

Reverse Cancel Culture?
Secretary of State Blinken was chided by China for congratulating Taiwan's Lai Ching-te for being elected President. China demands "the U.S. immediately correct their mistakes." And former Congressman Mike Gallagher was sanctioned by China for visiting Taiwan. I don't know. Is that a bad thing? Because I'd tend to view it as an endorsement of Blinken and Gallagher. But, maybe that's just one of the reasons my blog is banned in China.

Side By Side
These stories came out on the same day. First, a new study reports that daily marijuana use is outpacing daily drinking in the U.S. Of course, we must question that since people are generally known to be careful drug users, whether it's alcohol or narcotics. Almost the very next story on my newsfeed reported that cannabis use causes the risk of psychosis to skyrocket among teens. Recreational use of marijuana is now legal in 24 states and for medical purposes in 38. I mean, seriously, what could go wrong?

Too Many Questions
In February, 2024, NBC reported that Mexican drug cartels had "flooded" Montana with fentanyl and meth, including "operations on Indian reservations." That's a red flag, but when South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem made a similar statement about South Dakota, she was banned from all Sioux tribal lands. Is that, "No, we have no Mexican drug cartels here" or is that, "No, we don't want anyone to know"? Or is it, "We won't allow people here who kill dangerous dogs"?

Now We Understand
For several years now people have been complaining about police departments. Perhaps we've discovered the underlying problem. Recent research has reported that ultra-processed foods can increase the risk of cognitive problems. Foods like packaged snacks, donuts, and carbonated drinks. Foods like police are known to consume. And college students! Processed foods and cannabis! Aha! Now we're getting somewhere!!

Tyranny of the Minority
Eight Alaskans, ages 11 to 22, are suing Alaska for planning a natural gas project. They claim the project infringes on their constitutional protections because the greenhouse gases will harm their health and livelihood. If this suit succeeds, I see two obvious ramifications. First (and this is already true), it will only take an extremely small number to do this. Here it's eight -- eight young Alaskans that will decide for Alaska and the downstream recipients whether or not they'll get the natural gas. Second, the logic requires that simple lawsuits from very small (and apparently terrorized) numbers should be able to successfully stop all fossil fuels in America because, hey, it infringes on their constitutional protections. Welcome to anarchy. Oh, and a verifiable threat to democracy.

The Right Spin
The news tells us that new unemployment claims are down ("That's good!") while the U.S. Treasure Secretary voices concerns that the cost of living is getting too high ("That's bad!"). The government wants to eliminate fossil fuel vehicles in favor of electric vehicles ("That's good!"), but EV sales are slowing and EV manufacturer, Lucid, is cutting their workforce by 6% ("That's bad!"). So where are the spin doctors who will take the 3 hostages found dead in Gaza and turn it to "Hamas continues to return hostages as a show of good faith"?

Bee Satirical or Bee Quiet
Just too true this time, Bee. The story is about how a Trump/Biden debate again is a clear sign of God's judgment on America. Can't argue with that. In another story, after the death of Iran's president, Israel accidently let it slip that they had developed a terraforming machine that could, for instance, quickly build a mountain in front of, say, a flying helicopter. Not connected to any current events, I'm sure. And, not the Bee, but the Genesius Times is carrying the story of how the January 6 protesters have all been released because they claimed they were just protesting for Palestine. I can see that.

Must be true; I read it on the Internet.

Competing Fundamentalisms

Psychology Today published a "helpful" article back in 2018 about "How Religious Fundamentalism Hijacks the Brain." The only two versions of this fundamentalism, apparently, were Islam and Christianity, with heavier emphasis on Christian fundamentalism. The author compared it to a "parasitic manipulation" that commands individuals to act and think a certain way -- "a rigid way that is intolerant to competing ideas." Now, I find that interesting, because it seems to me that there are all sorts of versions of this "parasitic manipulation" that "inserts itself into brains," rejecting competing ideas. In fact, don't (almost?) all ideologies do just that?

I was reading about "Scientific Fundamentalism," the belief that all knowledge gained through, and all conclusions drawn from, the scientific method are true. Interestingly, the willingness of some to question the veracity of "all conclusions" is regarded by most as "radical," because Science today is sacrosanct (which, being interpreted, means "treated as if holy; immune from criticism or violation"). At this point, it is impossible to think of Science as anything but right, a feat accomplished by rejecting all evidence to the contrary (which is not a small amount of evidence). Science.org, for instance, reported that "fake scientific papers are alarmingly common" and reported numbers like "34% of neuroscience papers" (as opposed to the 2% reported in 2022 ... which would appear to be a false report). Scientific Fundamentalism is a thing, and a large part of our culture has bought it, rejecting and intolerant of competing ideas.

Here's the difficulty. The nature of Truth is that there is that which is true and that which is not true. When "true" is rightly determined, it requires that every other competing idea be rejected as false. It is intolerant of competing truth claims. According to Psychology Today, that's a problem. And they didn't even seem to notice that they were practicing it in the article -- rejecting competing ideas. If, however, we are to cling to truth as a valid data set to hold and reject what is known to be non-truth (read "lies"), we know a good source for truth, don't we? (John 17:17)

If You Love Me

The Apostle, John, spends more time in his Gospel than any other in the upper room with Jesus that last night before He was crucified. John covers that evening from chapter 13 through 17. Nestled there in a lot of "Jesus speaking" is an interesting claim ... from the lips of Christ.

"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." (John 14:15)

That is an interesting statement. Some translations phrase it to place the cause of the second clause on the basis of the first: "If you love Me, obey My commandments." Others (like the NASB or the ESV) reverse that. In the end, it doesn't really matter which way you say it; it ends up the same.

In this text Jesus ties "love Me" to "obey Me." Looking at it in the negative, if you negate one, you negate the other: "If you do not love Me, you will not obey Me." Looking at it from a cause-and-effect perspective, we find something very striking. Jesus is putting "love" as the deciding factor for "obey." It's helpful, if a bit disturbing, to see what's really going on. Our obedience is not conditioned on our fortitude, our wills, our strength, or our humility. It is conditioned on ... our love for Christ. Or, to put that in the negative, our failure to obey isn't a failure of effort, but a failure to love Christ as we should. John picked this up in that upper room and repeated it elsewhere.

By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. (1 John 2:3-6)

Every genuine Christian fails to obey at times. It's a given (1 John 1:8-10). What do we do with that? Well, confess, of course (1 John 1:9), and repent, but the direction we repent toward isn't "Work harder." It is "Love Christ better." It is "lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us" (Heb 12:1) by "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith" (Heb 12:2). Pursuing obedience is elusive, but pursuing a love for the Savior is a singular direction, especially when we realize that obedience is contingent on that love.

The New Inclusivity

While it is true that our current culture is starting to become disenamored with the whole diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) concept, there are still loud voices calling for it. In fact, the fact that companies and universities and such are starting to drop DEI departments is actually a problem on the face of it. The concept is that we need to promote fair treatment and full participation of all people, and, seriously, why would we want to disagree with that? So what's the problem?

Our society has taken a patently good concept, wrenched it from its actual meaning, and substituted ... something else. The earlier "inclusivity" meant that we included those we knew, those we were comfortable with, those who agreed with us. And some rightly said, "That's not inclusivity." So they set out to right that wrong. When the owner of Chick-Fil-A was caught giving some of his money to organizations that did not support the current public perspective on marriage, the DEI community went wild. "That's not inclusive!" So we heard people like the mayor of Chicago say things like, "We will not allow a Chick-Fil-A to be built in our town because they aren't inclusive and we are an inclusive city." Which is, being translated, "We will exclude those who are not inclusive." When a private Roman Catholic college invited a Roman Catholic football player to give a commencement speech and he spoke from Roman Catholic values ... that ran counter to society's values, the outrage was quick and vicious. Silence him. Have him fired. Make him apologize. Because in our new "inclusive" world we will not include those who disagree with our own perspective. So this new "inclusivity" was that we would include those who we knew, who we were comfortable with, who agreed with us. Only now it was with the force of law and/or policy. The old, "I may not agree with what you are saying, but I will defend your right to say it" is right out the window, and we call that "inclusivity."

Consider for a moment. How is, "We will not allow those who hold opinions different than our own to have a voice" any different than, "We will not allow those we deem communists to have a voice"? How have we moved on from McCarthyism, for instance? We are not more tolerant today. We still turn on those who say what we don't want them to say. We still seek to silence those who speak what we don't want others to hear. We may have shifted our inclusivity to a different group, but it is still "those we support" and definitely not "those who disagree with what we have approved." The Declaration of Independence claimed that we are all created equally with equal rights and the Bill of Rights was written to uphold that principle. As always, we humans may have good intentions, but we also have evil ways, and, as always, some are more equal than others. What has changed is "our own group" and not the hearts of men.

You Shall Know the Truth

Years ago I started a new job in an electronics company. One of the techs I'd be working with greeted me with, "I hope you're not one of those born-again Christians." Interesting way to break the ice, right? But he was smiling when he said it, so I smiled and asked, "Oh, why is that?" "Well," he told me, "those Christians started all those wars." That's his concern?

I gave him my "pep talk." "You're married, right? You and your wife get along? Good. Imagine I came to work tomorrow, pulled a gun, and said, 'I'm going to kill you now.' You ask, 'Wait! Why?' I tell you, 'Your wife told me to.' What would you tell me?" He almost looked as shook up as if the event was real when he answered me. "I'd tell you that couldn't be. I know her better than that. She's not like that." "Good answer," I said. "So why is it when someone comes up to you and says, 'Those Christians have started all those wars in the name of Christ,' we're not allowed to say, 'Nope, couldn't be. We know Him better than that. He's not like that'? Just because you've been told that people started wars in the name of Christ doesn't mean -- can't mean -- that Christ approved."

When we talk with people we're often ready to cede ground we shouldn't. We allow their worldview to dictate what is and isn't so and we feel we need to respond to their biases when there is no basis for them. We need to start with the truth or we'll be spending a lot of time explaining why we believe lies ... which aren't. But I suppose this would require that we have a firm grasp on the truth, wouldn't it? Oh, yeah, we have a book about that (John 17:17).

Coming Soon To A State Near You

Meet Jessica Tapia. Jessica was a teacher in California -- a Christian teacher in the public schools. At some point some students found her on Instagram, discovered her religious beliefs, and reported her to the school district. The news reports say she was fired for refusing to use preferred pronouns or keep their gender preferences secret from parents. The fact is none of that ever occurred. They fired her because they could not accomodate her religious beliefs -- beliefs she never expressed in class. All the accusations were based on hypotheticals -- "What would you do if ...?" They're paying her $360,000 for her troubles, but when a person can be fired for being a Christian with ... you know ... Christian values, you can see where this is headed, right?

Back in 2016, Time put out a story of how regular Christians are no longer welcome in American culture. The story included a list of people -- a teacher, a coach, a fire chief, a U.S. Marine -- who were fired not for being outrageous, but for having beliefs that run contrary to our modern society. Jesus said, "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you" (John 15:18). The Bible has lots of promises for believers, including the promise that Christians won't be well regarded. But, if you've read much of my stuff here, you'll know that I'm not calling for a movement. I'm not recommending a political party or urging a rising up or even trying to scare you. Jesus didn't move against the government -- Roman or Jewish -- that sought to kill Him. Paul didn't work up an uprising to overthrow those who wanted to kill Christians. When Jesus warned His disciples that the world would hate them, He didn't recommend that "Christians, unite!" He told His disciples, "Bear witness because you have been with Me from the beginning" (John 15:27).

It's coming. There's no question. Some really bad; some just unpleasant. But it's coming. We, however, are told to not put our trust in princes (Psa 146:3). Instead, "It is better to take refuge in YHWH than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in YHWH than to trust in princes" (Psa 118:8-9). I'm not calling for a political action committee. I'm asking you what you're going to do? When the world says, "Thou shalt not believe," what will you do? When the culture says, "Thou shalt not obey the Lord your God," what will you do? What can man do to you that outweighs trust in your Savior? Are you prepared for that eventuality? I'm not calling for action in our world; I'm calling for action in your heart.

God Is Good

The old prayer was "God is great; God is good. Now we thank Him for our food." Of course, "good" and "food" don't rhyme, but ... what about the rest? I've sometimes heard the person in front of the congregation declare, "God is good" to which the congregation is expected to reply, "All the time." But ... is that true? Sometimes, in conversations with Christians, I've stated, "We know that God causes all things to work together for good" (Rom 8:28) -- a shortened version -- to which they've objected. "No, no," they'll say, "only to those who love God and are called." Really? Is God good? Is God good all the time?

When someone referred to Jesus as "good teacher," Jesus questioned Him. "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone" (Luke 18:19). So, from the lips of Jesus, only God is good. Comparing that with Paul and the Psalms, conversely, "No one does good, not even one" (Psa 14:3; Psa 53:3; Rom 3:12). So only God is good and no one else is. The Bible often refers to God as good (e.g., Psa 34:8; Psa 100:5; Nah 1:7). Additionally, James is not vague when he states, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" (James 1:17). Now that last one is interesting. First, and quite clearly, if there is anything good in your life, it comes from God. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above." Every one. But the second point is important, too. Everything good comes from God who doesn't change. He doesn't produce good sometimes and sometimes not.

Scripture is abundantly clear that God is the only good and anything good comes from Him. Is He good all the time? Well, if "good" is part of the definition of "God" -- of who He is -- and if God does not change, He would have to be good all the time, not because of what He does, but because of who He is. Sure, God is good to those who hope in Him (Lam 3:25), but David declares, "YHWH is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made" (Psa 145:9). So there is no question that God is good, and that God is good all the time, because God is good by virtue of His own nature. The question that remains, then, is will you trust Him for what He is, or will you trust your own feelings when things don't "feel good"?

News Weakly - 5/18/24

The Myth of Higher Learning
Jerry Seinfeld received an honorary degree from Duke University and gave a speech ... which caused a walkout because he believed Israel had the right to defend herself. The news item called it "the latest manifestation of protests that have roiled U.S. campuses" because, although it's called "higher learning," these students appear to no longer be able to think clearly or even discuss rationally, justifying the genocide of a nation (Israel) with false accusations of ... genocide of Gaza. (False accusations as illustrated by the Bee story about Israel warning civilians to leave Rafah "in the most incompetent gencide ever.") Don't call it "higher learning." It is brain washing, not higher learning.

The Headline Says It All
The AP headline read, "Small, well-built Chinese EV called the Seagull poses a big threat to the US auto industry." Get it? The U.S. auto industry is threatened by a small, well-built, reasonably-priced electric car ... because we do not make such a product. Well, maybe we can make "small," but not so much the rest. I think that's very telling. Maybe the threat isn't the existence of such a car, but the failure/refusal/inability of the U.S. industry to do so.

What Could Go Wrong?
Two years ago California passed a law under pressure from the White House that helps farmworkers unionize, and at least one agricultural company is suing the state over it. I mean, unionizing farmworkers ... which always increases pay ... which always increases prices ... what could go wrong, right? A 2024 study on living wage says that for a single adult to live comfortably in Massachusetts (the highest state) they would have to make $116,000 a year and in West Virginia (the lowest listed) it would be about $79,000. (Funny thing ... I'm not making that much.) At some point, the imaginary "living wage" will be a moving target moving so fast that it will be out of reach for most Americans, it seems.

Surrendering Rights
It was confirmed last year that the Chinese company that owns TikTok uses it to gather user data on a broad scale for political purposes. So, reasonably, the government would like to stop that leak. They passed a law that would either turn off TikTok for the safety of all or have it sold off. Of course, TikTok users are suing the government because they say it takes away their free speech. Does it threaten the security of users? Yes. Does it threaten the security of the U.S.? Yes. But they don't care; they just want to be heard. And TikTok is "the only way." (Which, of course, is not true.) It's just another example of "I want what I want and I will not make any sacrifices for anyone but myself."

Wait ... What??
Apparently the UN has cut the estimates from Hamas's Ministry of Health of the deaths of women and children in Gaza in half. Wait ... are you suggesting that Hamas has been less than honest? You mean they lied?? Are you suggesting those who have stated their intent to eliminate Israel might have exaggerated for propaganda purposes ... and the loudest voices around the world were gullible enough to believe them? No, that can't be!

Tolerance and Inclusion It's Not
A Kansas City Chiefs kicker, Roman Catholic by religion, gave a commencement speech at a Roman Catholic college from the perspective of Roman Catholic values (LGBT as sin, traditional family values, etc.), but because it didn't align with anti-Roman-Catholic values , a change.org petition has been filed calling for him to be fired from the Chiefs. That's only because America believes in free speech and robust discussion everywhere, but especially on college campuses. Or not. "If you aren't going to knuckle under to our values and perspectives, you should not be employed or have any means to survive." Nice.

Child Unsafety Mandate
As Maryland competes with California for having the most advanced liberal policies, they've now cut parents out of the loop in their education. Parents cannot opt their children out of LGBTQ-inclusive material. Your kids must be told that this stuff is good stuff and you will not be allowed your religious freedoms in preventing it. Why more Christians aren't opting for homeschooling for the sake of their children is beyond me. Public schools these days are not safe spaces anymore.

Internet Funnies
Not the Bee, but I saw a political cartoon the other day that showed a (fictitious) newspaper headline that read, "Iran to halt arms supply to Hamas; Cites humanitarian concerns." The caption was, "A headline you will never see." Too true, too true. Again, not the Bee, but the Genesius Times story was about pro-Hamas college feminists excited to become second class citizens under Sharia law. Seriously, I've never understood the pro-palestine support from folks like LGBT or feminists who wouldn't be tolerated in Palestine. And then, the unfortunate one from the Bee is the story about how the latest polls suggest Biden will need twice as many fake ballots to win the election this year. I mean, I get it, but we all know all that election fraud is fake news ... right? I mean, the media and the government told us so, right?

Must be true; I read it on the Internet.

No Man Can

There are a lot of fun stories in the book of Daniel. You know, stuff like the classic Daniel in the lion's den, or the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego who went into the fire for God even if God wasn't going to stand for them. (He did.) Some really remarkable prophetic portions and some really remarkable stories.

One of the memorable ones takes place at the beginning of the book. Nebuchadnezzar has some of the young Jewish prisoners around to train them to be good Babylonians -- part of his advisor corps. One night he had a dream that made him crazy, so he called in his top advisors and asked them to tell him the meaning of the dream. "Sure thing," they told him, "as soon as you tell us the dream." "Oh, no," the king responded, "you will tell me both the dream and its meaning." "No one has ever asked for that," they responded, "because no one can do it." So, in all fairness, Nebuchadnezzar commanded that all his advisors and all their families be killed. Well, the four young Jews -- Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego -- didn't panic; they prayed. And God told Daniel the dream and its interpretation. So Daniel went in to tell the king. "Oh, king," Daniel said, "I can tell you the interpretation, but no one can tell you the dream." He went on to say, "However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed ..." (Dan 2:28). The dream was the famous statue with golden head, silver chest, bronze midsection, iron legs, and and feet of clay. And Daniel laid it all out -- dream and interpretation -- for the king.

It's a fun story -- Daniel getting both interpretation and dream -- but the most amazing part of that story to me is Daniel's response to the king who asked, "Can you make known to me the dream ...?" "Don't be silly," he essentially replied. "No man can do that. God did." Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). Some take that to mean, "Without Me you can't produce fruit," but I think it's much broader than that. We are, for instance, commanded to "work out your salvation" because "it is God who is at work in you both to will and to do His good pleasure" (Php 2:12-13). So, we work, but only because God is at work. We get up in the morning only because He enables it. We feed and dress and house ourselves only because He is empowering us to do so. Brushing your teeth is an act of God's kindness to you. Scripture says, "From Him and through Him and to Him are all things" (Rom 11:36). All things. Daniel understood that he couldn't do what the king asked, but God did it, and God got the credit (Dan 2:47; cp Matt 5:16) while Daniel got rewarded (Dan 2:46, 48). That's a pretty good model for our lives as well. God should always get the credit. God always gives generously.

Prayer Impediments

More than a few have compained that prayer is difficult. Oh, not simply doing it, so much as accomplishing it. I mean, too often it feels like our prayers are bouncing off the ceiling, so to speak. It feels like we don't get a lot of answered prayers. Now, there are likely more than a few answers to that dilemma, but, according to Peter, if a husband refuses to live with his wife in an understanding way or honor her as a fellow heir of the grace of life, it will hinder his prayers (1 Peter 3:7). If something we do can hinder our prayers, wouldn't be a good idea to at least eliminate that problem?

So we have that situation with husbands and their wives. What else is there? Well, one obvious one is faith. James wrote that we could ask God for wisdom, but we need to ask in faith (James 1:5-6). If we don't, he says, "That man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord" (James 1:7). Asking God for things you don't believe He'll give is crazy -- James calls it "double-minded" (James 1:8). What else? The psalmist wrote, "If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear" (Psa 66:18). How are you doing with that? Now couple that with, "Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions" (Mark 11:25-26). In this case, you are praying while refusing to forgive, which, apparently, is in the category of regarding wickedness in your heart. I don't suppose we should expect a good outcome in that case, either. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering" (Matt 5:23-24). This isn't the same as failing to forgive. This is when you know someone else has something against you. Make it right ... posthaste.

We do tend to wrestle with what appears to be unanswered prayers sometimes, but I have to wonder how many times the lack of hoped-for answers is in our own hands. Fellow believers, do you believe God can and will supply what you ask? Check your faith. Husbands, are you rightly relating to your wives? That's on you. Sin is a violation of relationships, either with God or with our fellow human beings. Are you correcting that? Are you forgiving those who have wronged you while making amends with those you have wronged? These things are yours to manage, not shortcomings with God. Odd, isn't it, how much we simply ignore these kinds of things and complain about God's lack of answers.

The Secret of Happiness

Let's face it. Something all humans have in common is just to be happy. All of us. Now, mind you, exactly what makes an individual happy may vary widely, but happiness is a universal drive. And it's not like happiness is wrong. It's not. But the drive for happiness can be abused. And it can be elusive. And why is that? It's because happiness is the feeling of well-being and contentment. Lacking one or both of those disrupts happiness. And then there's joy. Now, in English the two are synonymous, but biblically there is a difference. Happiness is an emotional response to circumstances, but joy, biblically, is a command (Php 3:1; Php 4:4; 1 Thess 5:16; 1 Peter 4:13). Now, we know that you cannot command emotional responses, so there is something about joy that can be a choice rather than an emotional response. In English terms, joy is objective -- based on facts -- while happiness is subjective -- based on personal feelings. Objective is based on thinking and subjective is based on feeling. We are never commanded to feel happy, but we are commanded to have joy.

So what's the secret? Is there a way to enjoy the emotion we call "happiness" more in our lives? Or are we doomed to wander through life hoping for more pleasant circumstances that cause us to respond with more pleasant feelings? I think there is hope for happiness. Consider. If happiness is an emotional response to the perception of positive circumstances -- if we were to perceive that we were content and in pleasant conditions -- we would respond emotionally with ... happiness, wouldn't we? So how can that happen? If there is a way to convince ourselves that life's turns and trials are positive, wouldn't that result in joy? And if we had that belief that circumstances were good, wouldn't we respond emotionally with happiness?

It's easy, actually, and not ... at all. The answer is simple; the doing is not. Here's the idea. If joy is the belief that my circumstances are good, I can always be joyful because "We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Rom 8:28). Note, first, the source: God. Completely reliable; never fails. Second, the scope: all things. Not some. Not maybe. All things. If we know that God causes all things to work together for good, then we know that all circumstances are for our best. If we know that we are more than conquerors in every circumstance (Rom 8:31-39), we can be joyful in every circumstance. And if we are viewing our circumstances as good because God is good, then our emotional response should be happiness. Or, let's try this another way. If we believe that God exists and that "He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Heb 11:6), then we can rejoice in all circumstances and, having joy in all circumstances, we can experience happiness. Easy, right? No, of course not. But the difficulty is only a matter of faith ... of what you really believe.

Sexual Immorality

It seems a little odd that one particular sin is listed in almost every list of sins in the Bible. Just about anywhere you find a variety of sins laid out in a text, sexual immorality is there and, usually, near the top of the list. Why is that? Why is that specific sin so commonly listed ... so prevalent? Let us consider. First, an explanation. The term "sexual immorality" (sometimes translated simply as "immorality") includes all sexual sin. Scripture delineates a few kinds of such sin. There is "fornication" which is sex outside of marriage and there is "adultery" which is sex inside of marriage but not with your spouse. The Bible lists specifics like homosexual sin (e.g., 1 Cor 6:9) and incest (e.g., Lev 18:6-18) and prostitution (e.g., 1 Cor 6:15-16), and all of these fall nicely under the umbrella of "sexual immorality."

I think there are two fundamental reasons sexual immmorality is so often warned against in the pages of Scripture. First, the origin of sexual sin is explained in the first chapter of Romans. After explaining that God's wrath is against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of those who suppress the truth (Rom 1:18), Paul explains that the truth that is suppressed is the truth of who God is (Rom 1:19), a truth that God made clear (Rom 1:20). Paul goes on to say,

For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. (Rom 1:21-24)

We see here the origin of sexual sin. It isn't lust; it is the suppression of the truth about who God is that is displayed in failing to honor and thank God. The first result of this lie that humans tell themselves is "foolishness" in which God "gave them over" to ... lust. That is, the origin of sexual immorality is our refusal to recognize or appreciate God. Other sins ensue (Rom 1:25-32), but sexual sin is listed first. So the first reason sexual sin is so prevalent in Scripture is that it is fundamentally a basic rejection of God; it is an exchange of the truth of God for a lie (Rom 1:25). That's much larger than a minor infraction. The second reason is the effect. Paul gives a generalization of the effect in the text above ("so that their bodies would be dishonored"), but a clearer explanation occurs over in 1 Corinthians.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, "The two will become one flesh." But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. (1 Cor 6:15-17).

We live in a "mechanical" worldview where people are just meat and everything is just physical, but Scripture is clear that there is more to this world than the merely physical. From the beginning God designed human sexual relations to produce a fusion -- "The two will become one flesh." In fact, Paul explains that this "two become one" fusion is part of God's design to demonstrate the relationship of Christ to the Church (Eph 5:31-32). In the 1 Corinthians 6 text, Paul explains that we are supposed to be fused with Christ, so if we violate that design by sexual sin, we are disrupting everything that God had in mind for His people. Not a minor issue.

Our society has put the pedal to the metal on this particular sin. They changed a common moral code -- sex only in marriage -- to "whenever with whomever you want." Our entertainment and media took the "free love" movement out of its time location and fed it back into historical events to convince us all that it has always been this way. (It hasn't.) We complain that they've been normalizing homosexual behavior, but they've been normalizing sexual immorality in all its forms for decades. They've done their job so well that Christians who can read Scripture just fine don't even notice that they are involved in sexual sin. But Scripture is clear. Don't resist it; flee (1 Cor 6:18; 2 Tim 2:22)! It is the equivalent of idolatry. "What You have given me, Lord, is inadequate and I will satisfy my desires my own way." And the consequences are much bigger than God's disapproval. Sexual sin joins us to "not God," something that should be abhorrent to every follower of Christ. Sexual sin takes the "temple" of God and joins it to a person not approved by God. "You are not your own," Paul says, "for you were bought with a price, so glorify God in your body" (1 Cor 6:18-19).

Truth Decay

According to multiple scientific studies, a variety of "xenobiotics" -- chemical substances found in an organism that are not natural to the organism -- likely cause or, at least, affect autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Seventy-four percent of these studies concluded that mercury in particular was a risk factor for ASD. Mercury (specifically ethylmercury) is used in a variety of vaccines. Of course, Big Pharma has studied this and found them to be perfectly safe. Mind you, the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 puts pharmaceutical companies outside the reach of the law even if their drugs are found to have serious, even fatal side effects. So that ought to make you trust our Big Pharma Big Brother. Truth is their only concern (wink, wink).

I am pro-life -- I favor saving human life over terminating it at any stage -- but in the public parlance that makes me "anti-abortion." That's simply not true, but no one cares about the accuracy of such a term. I think that homosexual behavior is a sin and that people who believe they are the opposite sex they were born into are mentally troubled, so that makes me a "hater," "anti-gay," "anti-trans," "homophobic," "transphobic" ... let's see ... have I missed any of the dismissive and false epithets? None of those terms are true, but it doesn't matter because no one cares about the accuracy of such terms. Robert Kennedy Jr. is making the news running for president because he waged a campaign to get mercury out of vaccines (which science says can be a real problem) and has been labeled "anti-vax" and "a conspiracy theorist." The labels (and associated libel) will stick because no one cares about the accuracy of such terms.

We've decided that it is not possible to discuss ideas that are different than our own without becoming hostile, pejorative, and insulting. We've decided that the news media (whose job was once to inform but has switched to influencing) tells the truth if we hear it often enough and (much worse) social media is never wrong. Oh, and the squishy god of Science ... let's not forget them. Having actually worked in the field and seen the willingness to falsify data and reporting, I have to qualify that god as a puny god. We're not headed in the right direction. Which is why I am so grateful to have a book of truth (John 17:17) breathed out by God (2 Tim 3:16) on which to stand. Don't expect a world, hostile to God (Rom 8:7), to agree with you about that truth. Fortunately their agreement is not required to make it true.

Mother's Day, 2024

A few weeks ago at church, someone asked a group of us, "Who would you say was the biggest influence on your life?" Different people told different stories, but the first person, after Jesus Christ, that came to my mind was my mother. I don't think that's any sort of exaggeration.

Starting from the beginning -- and I mean the actual beginning -- my mother made me what I am. She birthed me. She trained me. She educated me. She exhorted and encouraged me. She guided me. Sure, there were a lot of people who did much of that, but none so intensely nor so consistently as she did. Our culture dislikes the "stay-at-home-mom" concept, but she liked it and did it well. She was there when we left for school and there when we came home. My parents made sure we were in church every Sunday (even if we were on vacation) ... and a good church at that. When the one we were in seemed to no longer meet the needs of us kids, they changed to one that did. Even moved to another city to be closer to it. My mother never said, "Wait 'til your father gets home." She was my primary discipline. And she did it on biblical principles to bring us up with biblical perspectives. She encouraged me to talk to her and I did ... about all sorts of things. I never felt like I wasn't allowed. And she counseled me in small and large issues. She still does. She taught us the importance of family, to do our work, to keep our space clean, to obey authority, to read the Bible ... a list of everything we would need to be responsible, adult followers of Christ.

Mom never came across as perfect. She spent a year becoming a more grateful person because she understood we were to give thanks in everything and she was not. So she set aside daily prayer time for giving thanks and communicated to people all around her things for which she was grateful. To this day, if you ask her, "How are you?" she'll answer, "Grateful" and mean it. She taught me godliness and humility, faith and courage, perseverance and repentance, and always ... always a deep and abiding love for God and His Word. So I say, "Thanks, Mom. Thanks for the work you've done. Thanks for being a useful tool in the hands of a loving Savior. Thanks for the example you've laid and the love you've given." Happy Mother's Day, Mom.

News Weakly - 5/11/24

Inclusion That Excludes
In the interest of inclusion, the Boy Scouts will no longer be boy scouts. Next year they will be "Scouting America." Which only makes sense in this crazy mixed up world that cannot define "boy" or "girl" and will certainly be offended if you try ... especially with science. Sarcasm aside, it's sad when there can no longer be special gatherings for males apart from females and females apart from males. Oh, wait ... I guess there is still "Girl Scouts," so it's only males who can't have male gatherings. (I liked the Bee's version of the story, where the Boy Scouts, in the name of inclusivity, eliminated every word in their name except "of".)

The American Injustice System
One of Trump's current court trials is over the accusation not that he had a sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels nor that he paid her to keep quiet -- neither of which are criminal acts -- but that he falsified business records to cover up the payment. So why is Stormy Daniels giving lurid details of the encounter in his trial? Trump's lawyers suggest it's because they're trying to "inflame" the jury and called for a mistrial (which the "unbiased" judge denied). No one, apparently, is concerned with Daniel's breach of contract by sharing the account for money and no one, it seems, is concerned about the actual charges -- cooking the books -- since Daniel's testimony had no bearing on those charges. I'm no Trump fan, but it looks to me like a marvelous injustice system at work. What's next? "And he looks orange!! You have to find him guilty!!"

Playing the "Innocent Card"
District Attorney Fani Willis refused to testify before a Georgia state Senate panel investigating her. Her reasoning? "I don't think they have the authority, and I didn't do anything illegal." Marvelous! I think everyone should try that. "I didn't do anything illegal. I won't answer any questions." Should work fine. (I didn't think the person being investigated had the right to determine their own guilt or innocence for the authorities.)

Who Are You Going to Believe?
Hamas accepted a ceasefire proposal ... and then attacked Israel ... again. The Bee's story says, "Hamas celebrates proposed ceasefire with rocket barrage."

Better Laws Make Better People
Pennsylvania made the news this week for passing a law that prohibits drivers from using cell phones while driving. Of course, I'm in favor of such a ban, but currently something like 25 states already do that, so I'm not sure how newsworthy it is. And, as a person who lives in such a state and sees how many accidents occur from cell phone use despite the ban, I'm not sure how effective it will be. You know, like gun restrictions where people willing to violate the law against murder are expected to follow the law against gun possession. Good laws don't make better people.

Truth Genocide
According to UNICEF, 14,000 children have been killed in the Israel/Hamas conflict since October. I am not quite clear on where that number comes from. The Hamas-run Ministry of Health (MOH) is providing the numbers, but there is no reason to think those numbers can be trusted. The stories are already out of how unreliable MOH and the media can be, since neither are in the business of informing, but in manipulating public opinion. And Hamas is already using the "women and children as shields" strategy, so who is actually causing these deaths? I wrote this entry after seeing a billboard in my area that claimed, "Your tax dollars have killed 18,000 children in Gaza." Well, there you have it ... a truth claim without any substantiation, so you'd better act and act now. Because Americans are not so much concerned with truth anymore, are they?

One From Side Bee
And finally, just for fun, the Bee put up a story about the moment that Joseph and Mary figured out Jesus was actually divine. It was when He completed a carpentry project without going back to Home Depot one single time. I get it.

Love and Fear

The bumper sticker said, "I love my country, but I fear my government." It has been around for a long time, I hear. One person said they saw it in the Clinton era. But, apparently, time is not healing that wound. I can't speak for liberals, but conservatives have seemed to share that sentiment for a long time. Of course, nowadays "I love my country" is on the decline, as shown when a gathering of American citizens shout, "Death to America." Revisionists want to alter history as if belittling the country will make it better. The common talk is not about how good it is to be an American, but how bad America is ... and always has been ... while they enjoy the good things we have in this country.

I don't think the idea is silly. I think there are lots of things to fear from our government. Excessive taxation, excessive spending, excessive laws, excessive money given to unreliable politicians ... on and on it goes. Common sense is no more. Boys will be girls and girls will be boys and too many nod and say, "That's right." A scant minority make majority demands and get them -- the tail wagging the dog -- not because they're reasonable, but because we can't think straight anymore. Take, for instance, gun control. We have a problem with people using guns to commit murder. So they want to make more laws to regulate them ... because the existing laws like "It's illegal to shoot someone" are so effective, right? I mean, if they're breaking existing laws, why are additional laws more effective? Just one example. Californians are fleeing California because they don't like the liberal bastion it has become ... and they're taking their voting that made it that way with them to their new homes. Another example. Government power, government oversight, government intrusion, government incompetence ... there is a list of things to worry about from our government, and it doesn't seem to matter if it's Democrat or Republican. Worse, it seems to reflect the people, since we voted in the government.

But I don't want you to think I'm without hope. I don't actually concur with the sentiment. I don't love my country so much that it is over all other considerations, and I don't fear my government so much that it alters my life. Why is that? I know the One who is actually in control. I know that no one can stop God from accomplishing what He intends (Psa 115:3; Dan 4:35) and always for good (Rom 8:28). Ultimately, if God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom 8:31) As for the rest -- conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats, straight and queer, cisgender and non-binary ... whatever group you want to include -- I fear for them since all they have is what's here and that's a scary proposition.

Mutual Submission

In what appears to be one of the most offensive things Paul ever wrote, he calls on wives to "be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord ... in everything" (Eph 5:22-24). A real sticking point. Many -- even believing women -- have a real problem with that. What is often missed, of course, is the previous verse that starts the whole ball rolling: "Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ" (Eph 5:21). Clearly Paul is not only saying, "Wives submit to your husbands," but obviously that husbands need to submit to their wives -- "be subject to one another." So in what way are husbands supposed to submit to their wives?

This topic -- "be subject to one another" -- actually goes from Eph 5:21-6:9 in which Paul gives examples of how husbands and wives, fathers and children, and slaves and masters all need to submit to one another. It is a sweeping concept. So in what way are husbands supposed to submit to their wives? The text spreads itself out for us to follow. "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her" (Eph 5:25). Husbands are supposed to submit themselves to their wives by loving them. Okay, we get it. That's not bad. We are not supposed to love ourselves over our wives. But that's not what it says. That's how it begins. "Love your wives as Christ loved the church." Okay, now, that's a bit more. How did Christ love the church? He died for her. He gave up His life for her. See? That's a bit more. Not merely to prefer her, but to be willing to die for her. And, note, that isn't always easy. Sure, to lay down your life for a loving wife might be one thing, but, even as Paul points out (Rom 5:6), how many are willing to do so for an antagonistic wife? That is a step beyond simply loving her. But wait! There's more. And it's not opinion; it's explicit. "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her." Okay, now, in what way did Jesus "give Himself up" for her? Paul outlines that in his letter to the church at Philippi. He told them, "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others" (Php 2:3-4). That's "You're not #1 anymore. Regard others as more important than yourself." He goes on to say, "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus" (Php 2:5-8) where he details just how far Christ went to "empty Himself" (Php 2:7) to die for the church. "Gave Himself up for her" is not merely "giving your life." It is "giving self up."

In the end, the "be subject to one another" command is massive. Wives, submit as to the Lord." Husbands, give self up." It runs counter to human nature every time. And it is the clear and unequivocal command for spouses, for children and fathers, for servants and masters, for all believers. Surrender. You are not the issue. You are not the priority. Surrender ... self. Which seems impossible on the surface and is only remotely reasonable when you factor in the promises that Christ will never leave us (Heb 13:5), that God works all things together for good (Rom 8:28-29), that God supplies our needs (Php 4:19), that, because of Christ, we are more than conquerors in every circumstance (Rom 8:31-39). The commands seem overbearing at first look, but simplistic when we consider the vast promises we have for God's constant care for us. Imagine, then, life and relationships predicated on mutual submission where our primary concern in each situation is for their best interest and not our own because God is taking care of our own best interest. That has to be a little taste of heaven.

As Sure As The Sun Rises

Job is famous for, after receiving news that he lost his children and his wealth, declaring, "YHWH gave and YWHW has taken away. Blessed be the name of YHWH" (Job 1:21). That is, Job assigned the losses to God and was okay with it. We are told to "Count it all joy when we encounter various trials" (James 1:2) because they are for our best. We are promised that God will supply all our needs (Php 4:19) and that, even in the worst of all circumstances, we "overwhelmingly conquer" (Rom 8:32-37). And we are told that God's promises are certain because God's purpose never changes and it is impossible for God to lie (Heb 6:17-18). So, given all this, why is it that you and I worry so much?

We have a saying -- "As sure as the sun will rise tomorrow." That's a certainty. That cannot change. We may be fairly sure of a whole lot of things, but the sun is coming up tomorrow, and that serves as a standard by which we can know some things. Yet, too often, we're not as sure of God's promises as we are of the sun rising. And that's odd ... very odd. It's odd because the certainty that the sun will rise tomorrow is totally dependent on God. Did you know that? We know that "in Him all things hold together" (Col 1:17). That is, if He didn't hold it together, it would not be. We know that "from Him and through Him and to Him are all things" (Rom 11:36), which includes ... sunrise. The reliability of the sun rising tomorrow is predicated on the faithfulness of God since all existence is predicated on the faithfulness of God. Our failure to remember that fact is just our latent deism, the notion that God just spun everything up and it runs on its own now. It doesn't. We sing, "He's got the whole world in His hands," but fairly often we just don't believe it.

If you are confident that the sun will rise tomorrow, you should be equally confident that "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Rom 8:28). If you are not afraid that the stars will fall from the sky, you should be equally sure that we can "exult in tribulation" (Rom 5:3). If it is true that the sun rises, we can have peace in trial and hope in hardship because sunrise is just another evidence that God is in control ... and always for the best.

Healing Faith

We are all quite clear that we are healed by faith. I'm not primarily talking about physical healing here; I'm talking about spiritual healing. We are saved by faith. Without faith, we cannot be saved. Oh, yes, faith is also essential in other kinds of healing as well. When the man came to Jesus asking Him to rid his son of a demon, Jesus said, "All things are possible to him who believes," to which the father responded desperately, "I do believe; help my unbelief" (Mark 9:23-24). And it was enough. For all kinds of healing, faith is required. So, where do we get it?

There's a famous story in Acts 3 when Peter and John were going to the Temple. They encountered a man born lame asking for money. I'm sure you remember Peter's famous words: "Silver and gold have I none, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene — walk!" (Acts 3:6). And he did. Now, we know that faith is required for such events, so where did it come from? In the sermon that followed, Peter made it clear. "On the basis of faith in [Jesus's] name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all" (Acts 3:16). Peter was telling the crowd, "We didn't do it; Jesus did." But beyond that, Peter ascribes the origin of the required faith ... to Christ. The man was healed by "the faith which comes through Him." Indeed, it's not a one-off, a singular idea for this text. Paul wrote, "God has allotted to each a measure of faith" (Rom 12:3). (That "each" is written to believers in Rome, so the "each" to which God has allotted a measure of faith would be anyone who does believe, as opposed to all humans.) Paul told the Philippians, "To you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake" (Php 1:29). "Granted for Christ's sake ... to believe in Him." On multiple occasions Scripture makes it clear that faith is a gift given to those who then exercise that faith for healing -- salvation and otherwise.

We like to think that our faith is our contribution to the mix, our part in our salvation. Some have said, "God does 99.9% and we supply the rest in our faith." Not really. Even that faith is a gift. We are required to trust Christ for salvation, and then supplied with the saving trust required. We exercise that trust and are given grace that saves. It's a marvelous arrangement given to sinners hostile to God. We owe Him everything.

Cheap Glory

Scripture is abundantly clear that a key issue, a fundamental concern of God, is His glory. Moses longed to see it (Exo 33:18). God said, "I am YHWH, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images" (Isa 42:8). We are commanded, "Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31). God's glory is serious, essential, the primary thing. But ... what is God's glory?

The glory of God is all God's attributes combined. It is God on display. It is seen in Creation (Psa 19:1) The word from Hebrew translated "glory" refers to His weightiness -- His immense importance -- and the respect that commands. In the Old Testament God's presence was referred to as "the glory of YHWH" (Exo 40:34). Scripture refers to it as His radiance (Luke 2:9; Heb 1:3). The glory of God is massive, critical, huge. So when Paul says that sin is falling short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23), it makes perfect sense that "the wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23). Death for an infraction? No, death for violating the immense glory of God. Death for besmirching the name of the Only God. To the "civilized" mind, "without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Heb 9:22) might seem barbaric, but if God's glory is truly His magnificence and sin violates God's glory, it is not merely reasonable; it is perfectly just.

It is, then, a thing of horror when we humans choose to minimize sin. "It's not that bad." "God can just forgive ... don't worry about it." We minimize God's magnificence by minimizing His glory by sin and then minimizing its significance. "He's a big God. He won't bear a grudge." Justice, on the other hand, demands a response, and the seriousness of the violation demands a large penalty. That's why Jesus came to ransom sinners (Mark 10:45). That's why we required redemption (Rom 3:24; Gal 3:13). That's why Jesus is our propitiation -- the One who appeases God's righteous wrath (Rom 3:25-26; Heb 2:17). And the question is very relevant: "How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" (Heb 2:3). That's why Jesus shed His blood (Matt 26:28). God's glory is not cheap, and violating His glory is not trivial. The clearer that becomes to us, the more we will embrace His salvation.

Shema

"Hear, O Israel! YHWH is our God, YHWH is one! You shall love YHWH your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deut 6:4-9)

From the book of Deuteronomy, that is the beginning of the Jewish Shema (or Sh'ma, depending on who you ask). Now, we note right away that it's Old Testament and we see immediately that it is a command to ... Israel. Our tendency, then, is to dismiss it, to relegate it to the "Old Testament" pile and "not for us today." And maybe, as a flat commandment, it is not. I know of no non-Jewish Christians, for instance, that will "write them on the doorposts" or "bind them as a sign on your hand" or what have you. So maybe it's not a command for today. But surely you can see how it would be a very good idea for today.

The Middle East back then and even today was a more oral society, whereas we are a more written society. Parents taught children verbally and frequently and they got pretty good at doing word-for-word stuff, unlike our modern "telephone game" where we can't repeat what was said in a few minutes around a small circle. So imagine if we "civilized folks" took up this practice of teaching our children diligently that the primary command for life is to love God. Imagine if it was a repeated topic "when you sit in your house" and "when you walk by the way." Imagine if, every night and every morning, we were reminded -- children and adults -- that our job was to love God with all we are. Imagine if we put up reminders for ourselves all around so that all day long this fundamental truth -- what Jesus called "the great and foremost commandment" (Matt 22:37-38) -- would be on our minds. What would it be like if we were reminded of this one, simple command more often than anything else you can think of. What would it be like?

Well, fortunately we're not going to find out. Who needs that kind of extremism? That kind of repetition? That kind of "every day, over and over, in casual conversation with friends and family, everywhere you go" kind of reminder? We do, that's who. Often. Repeatedly. Without end. To our own embarrassment. Because anyone with any awareness would have to honestly admit that we don't even begin to love God that way. And we should.

News Weakly - 5/4/24

Failure to Educate
Students at Brown University have decided they want to be antisemitic as a matter of policy, so the university is voting on divesting from Israel as their student masters have demanded. I don't know ... there is just something wrong here. I can't ... quite ... put my finger on it. Oh, I know ...

Filed Under "What Could Go Wrong?"
Eight U.S. newspapers are suing Microsoft and their ChatGPT OpenAI for copyright infringement. It appears as if neither the developers of OpenAI nor OpenAI itself have any real sort of ethics. I can't imagine what could go wrong with an AI overlord without any moral code ...

(Note: that "moral code" crack was a play on the software term, "coding," referring to the programming of anything. Just in case you missed it.)

Clarification
After the violence at UCLA between antisemitic and pro-Israel forces, the Bee reports on their replacement of student IDs with new identifying armbands ... inspired by Hitler. Tell me it doesn't make sense in today's increasingly , radically anti-Israel world.

Not the Best Response
Actor and comedian Russell Brand says he had an "incredible and profound experience" after being recently baptized after he "surrendered in Christ." Now, I know a lot of us are skeptical about folks like Brand who claim to turn their lives over to Christ only to see the process end ... like the soil in Jesus's parable of the sower, but I would recommend a different response. Let's try praying for the man. Like it says in Hebrews (Heb 10:23-25). No joke.

Not Like It's a Surprise
Less than a month after making the news that Arizona was really close to being an actual pro-life state, the Arizona Senate repealed the protection for the most vulnerable. Whew! Dodged that bullet. Nope, Arizona will happily kill them in the womb like the rest. Not really a surprise in this current society of ours.

More on That
In Texas a school superintendent resigned after a transgender student was removed from a school production of Oklahoma that caused a "nationwide outcry." I think we are sadly lacking in clear instructions. Everyone knows that actors play parts that are not real, not "them." Still, if we get a heterosexual to play a homosexual's role, that's not okay. If we get a white person to play the role of a ... not-white person, that's not okay. The world is upset if an actor doesn't match the role they are playing ... except, of course, if they are in the protected groups (race, orientation, etc.) ... even though actors generally are not the people they are playing. It's all very unclear, and removing a "transgender" because they don't match the role they're playing seems reasonable ... until it's not. Makes no sense at all.

Bee Minor
Just a couple of items from the Bee for amusement. One story has missionaries traveling from Africa to the U.S. to bring the gospel to the United Methodist Church. Ouch! Another story suggests that King Solomon died of old age while waiting for his 700 wives to decide on a restaurant. Sad.

Must be true; I read it on the Internet.

Joy

Craig commented recently that joy should be a factor in our obedience and in our lives. Scripture says that Jesus was able to endure the cross because of joy (Heb 12:2). The Bible says that joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). Jesus said He said the things He said "so that they may have My joy made full in themselves" (John 17:13). And, of course, Paul commanded us to "rejoice always" (1 Thess 5:16). I'm sensing a common thread here.

How is that working ... for you? How is your "joy level"? Jesus came to give us the abundant life (John 10:10). Did you receive yours? Sometimes I think that we Christians aren't the best examples of joyful people. Sometimes I think we are, in fact, pretty poor specimens of joyful Christians. Why is that? Do we conclude that Jesus failed? No, of course not. Do we assume it's not for us? That would be ridiculous. So, what? What's the hold up here? I would guess that you know already. It's us.

The Beatitudes (Matt 5:2-12) are a series of blessings for people in hard circumstances. "Rejoice and be glad," Jesus said, "for your reward in heaven is great" (Matt 5:12). I suspect that's our problem. We're not in favor of delayed gratification. We're not looking to "a better possession and a lasting one" (Heb 10:34). We don't desire "a better country, that is, a heavenly one" (Heb 11:16). In short, we don't, in purely practical terms, believe that God is the rewarder of those who seek Him (Heb 11:6). To our shame. We have been supplied with all we need with a promise of even more. Let's not be a Peter looking at the storms around us rather than looking at the joy set before us. It's not a good look.

How Did Jesus Do It?

We know that Christ arrived on this planet with the explicit aim of ransoming sinners (Mark 10:45). We know that on the night before He was crucified, it scared Him so much He asked the Father that if there was any way possible this cup would pass (Matt 26:39). Ultimately, we know that Jesus went to the cross willingly. How? How did He do that?

Hebrews 12 has a little insight that might just surprise us. Jesus, it says, endured the cross and counted the shame as of no loss by doing one thing -- He looked at the joy set before Him (Heb 12:2). Wait ... what?? That's what it says. Looking at the joy set before Him, He endured the cross and despised the shame. Jesus willingly went to the cross because of joy. Okay, now, just what joy is that? Because of the cross, He "has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb 12:2). For the honor of being eternally with the Father He endured the cross, and He did it with joy.

So what? The author of Hebrews urges us to do the same. The author urges us to fix our eyes on Jesus as we run the race set before us (Heb 12:1-2). He goes on to say, "For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart" (Heb 12:3). We all, Scripture promises, will endure hardship of all sorts. Jesus's example on the cross is our best method of not growing weary and losing heart. That is? Look at the joy set before us. Look at the promises of an eternity with Him. Look at the certainty of our victory. Understand that all we endure here is for our best and count it all joy. Imagine that -- a strategy to endure hardships by indulging in joy! It worked for Jesus; how about us?