Opus 2025-239: Ungarbling

This morning it occurred to me that one of the attributes of God might be ungarbling.  I know that’s not a biblical word.  I’ve never heard of it in a theological discussion, but it comes to me that if God was not able to write down what I say and reassemble it in a rational way I would never be able to communicate with Him.

For instance, I was thinking about Micah 6:8 which talks about doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with my God.  I was focused on that last part walking humbly.  And I said something to the effect that I hope that I could walk proudly in humility with God.  Now you might have misunderstood me.  I might not have totally understood myself.  God knew exactly what I was trying to say.

I’m OK with that.

So add this to your list of attributes.  God is the ultimate translator.  He has the final straightener.  He will take the mush of our life and separate the cornmeal from the salt, milk, and possible sugar.  Or maybe He will adjust the ratios to make it what it should be.  I’m willing to leave that up to Him as I seek mastery of oatmeal.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-238: Made in the Image…

I am meditating or contemplating on the concept presented in Genesis that human beings are made in the image of God.

Genesis 1:26 (KJV) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

As always, when I meditate, my mind goes into free-range chicken mode, which means that I find it almost impossible to follow a prearranged trail.  I think that is one of the aspects of what it means to be created in the image of God.

I just finished watching some of the Star Trek movies that were made about 10 years ago.  There were good times and bad times.  I generally enjoyed but I noticed a certain tendency among the villains.  They were certainly nasty.  They were certainly brutal.  They were incredibly powerful.  But in spite of the aura of superiority that was given to them, none of them were particularly creative or intelligent.

That made my mind segue to the concept of computer games. I’m not a big computer game person when it comes to all this advanced graphic stuff the young people seem to like.  I don’t have the physical reactions to make things happen and I don’t have a commitment to figuring out how to make things happen.  What frustrates me the most is how the computer cheats.  Computers cheat.  They are programed to do that.  The only thing the computer has going for it is that it can change the ratios.

In most of the games I play when you come up against a superior enemy they’re only superior because the computer gives them, say a three to one advantage instead of a two to one advantage.  You as a human being can work out strategies to deal with the two to one advantage, but it doesn’t work with the three to one advantage and now you have to figure out a way around that.  When you are successful in the computer changes, the ratio to four to one.

Which brings us back to the image of God.  Someone once pointed out that in the past million years robins have not developed a new way of building a nest.  In the same way so-called intelligent dolphins have not come up with any way of making life better for themselves.  In that timeframe, assuming that you go with the Earth being older than 4000 years BC, human beings have a come up with continual innovations and new ideas.

Enjoy your image.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-237: Out of Control

At one end you have the French statement que sera sera, which means “whatever will be will be”.

At the other end, you have the Arabic statement inshallah.  It basically means that God will do what God wants to do and it’s all in His hands.

And between you have a more biblical statement.  It involves both of those to some degree.  It involves both free will and God’s sovereignty.  It could be many different verses, but I decided to focus on, “Seek ye , first, the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added onto you.”

The philosophy you pick makes a radical difference in how you live life.  The West is living in the French world at this point.  People have no sense of responsibility to much of anything except their own goals in life.  It means that right is what advances my agenda and truth is totally flexible depending on my needs.  It is a recipe for the end of liberty and prosperity.

Islam, like the behaviorists in psychology and some extreme Calvinists, blams everything on a force they cannot control.  The phrase I liked to quote, “I am a helpless pawn in the hands of fate” is their mantra.  God will do what He wants or the physics of cause and effect will work its inexorable will.  Either way it demands no responsibility from you and excuses just about any behavior.  It is a recipe for the end of liberty and prosperity.

The picture in the Bible is a mixture of total power and free will.  God has the power.  He could fit into the total control picture but has given human beings the power to make moral choices.  When the two line up you have both liberty and prosperity.  When they work at odds you have the same results as the other philosophies.

The choice of believing is in your court.  The responsibility for your actions is only in one line of thinking.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-236: Bread Theory

I’m sorry I can’t go with the Paleo diet.  I have no problem with you doing it if that’s what you want to do.  The Bible gives us permission to eat meat.  At the same time there is a balance that is expected.  One of the reasons why I can’t write off the things that are grown by the farmers are verses like this,

Psalms 104:14 (KJV) He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;

The most common food out of the Earth in those days was probably a grain.  I doubt that it was wheat because I think wheat is a little more temperamental grain.  It might’ve been barley or oats.  It certainly wasn’t the results of being a hunter gatherer.  It wasn’t the fruit of the vine.  It wasn’t an apple from the tree.  It was that food brought forth out of the Earth by farmers.

Again, if you want to be a vegetarian, enjoy.  If you want to be a carnivore, enjoy.  If it works for you and you stay healthy, then it works for you and you are healthy.

All I can say is the Bible teaches such things as moderation and balance.  God gave the good things of the Earth for us to enjoy and keep us healthy.  Bon appétit.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-235: The Blessing

Abraham was given a promise by God.  One aspect of that was his descendants being a blessing.

(Gen 12:3 KJV)  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Notice this is not just a blessing for his decedents but to all the earth.

How does that work?  How has it worked?  I can think of at least three levels that this was applied.  I will look at them in chronological order.

The Children of Israel were given the Law.  It was the blessing of the moral foundation for society. The law took values that we assume today and began to force them onto a totally pagan culture that knew nothing of the living God.

Don’t get confused by the way in which we always hear that Paul attacked the law.  Paul did not mean what you usually hear being laid on him.  Yes, he had a lot to say about the law.  Most of it was negative.  The problem is that most people interpret what he says in order to reinforce their own traditions rather than read and think for themselves.

Let’s look at Galatians and focus on chapter 5.  Paul mentions the law before this but this will show the contrast I am talking about.  Paul starts off this passage with a statement I am sure you have heard before,

(Gal 5:18 KJV)  But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

We read this, hear it quoted, listen to sermons on it and never keep reading with our brains plugged in.  Notice what comes after this,(Gal 5:19 KJV)  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

(Gal 5:20 KJV)  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
(Gal 5:21 KJV)  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

I want you to take a moment and ask yourself, “How many of these behaviors that Paul says will keep us out of the Kingdom of God are found mentioned somewhere in what is called “the Law”?  I hope you see a lot of similarities.  Now think.  Paul is condemning the law and then turning around and saying that the things forbidden by the law are also forbidden by him.  This is not the only place you will find this kind of thing.  

What is Paul talking about then?  One way to find out is to read what he says and make a list of the “laws” that he is condemning.  I won’t claim to have the complete list but the only ones I have found so far are circumcision and special days such as the Sabbath and new moons.

On the other hand, what parts of the law does Paul tell you are expected?  Read over the verses above.  Consider also the words of Jesus.  When Jesus teaches behavior that is expected it involves the Ten Commandments and certain parts of the law that we would consider moral or ethical.

The problem with the law it that it becomes a mechanical formula that makes us think we can deserve salvation because we dot all the “i’s” and cross all the “t’s”.  It makes us look to our own righteousness instead of realizing that salvation is ultimately an act of God extended to us because of our faith.

Overall the law was a big step forward for culture and civilization.

The second is the blessing of an incredibly gifted group of people.  Think of Jewish contributions to culture.  Think how much shorter the list of accomplishments would be in science, music and the arts if the Jews had not made their contribution.  They are an extremely gifted group of people.  

Then there is the blessing of the Messiah, Jesus Himself.

Which of the three was God referring to in his promise? Again the answer is, “yes.

As to which one is the most important, that would have to be the Messiah.  All of the rest of it work towards that moment in time, when Jesus allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross and fulfilled the requirement of a just God in paying for the sins of the world.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-234: Click Bait: Missing Link

A bit of Clickbait caught me.  It had to do with the factors which increase intelligence or, can increase intelligence.  After a long, drawn out introduction, and an advertisement, the guy finally got to the point.  What is it that consistently increases your intelligence, your success, your income, and so forth?  Reading.

He then went into the reasons why people don’t read.  The number one reason was they were so involved in social media.  That is no surprise.  I kept waiting for him to bring up one of the key reasons why people aren’t reading anymore.  It wasn’t mentioned.

To me the big reasons why many people who used to read don’t read anymore is because that reading has become woke.  There is a playbook put out by editors and publishers that requires authors to include certain elements in everything they write.  I know that this is true because authors tell me so.  I know the results because I have stopped reading books many times, simply because the authors are forcing the politically correct nonsense of our PC culture into the story and destroying storyline in the process.  

Another reason is that the writing has become boring.  It bores people because it is so unrealistic.  I don’t mean unrealistic in that the author gets carried away with his imagination.  I mean unrealistic in the sense that it seems the writer has never met another human being outside of his I Hate America Studies program.  It also bores young boys because they are more into cavalry charges than the feelings of the handicapped kid next door.  It bores because women are taking over genres that used to be male dominated and they try to transform it to their gender studies ideal.

You all have seen this. You may not recognize it for what it is.  If you read any kind of a novel recently, you will find that there is a requirement to balance out the characters with all kinds of under-represented categories.  You’ll find that the main character will be a woman who is a great martial arts champion, has incredible physical strength and skills, is incredibly beautiful, and often times is very loose morally.  Is such a combination possible?  Maybe.  Probably not.  It is possible that Tarzan taught himself to read and write too.  Are there women who could take down the chosen man?  Of course.  Most young adult women that I know could certainly take me out of action, especially if I’m not looking.  Does that mean it’s normal?  No way.  Does it mean that healthy young man will enjoy reading such a book?  Not unless there’s a lot of very explicit sexual material.

In addition there is the nonsense that is presented as scientific, logical, and right.  Most people in their heart of hearts know this stuff is nonsense, and will start turning it off.  I know that when I’m reading theology, if the author is so steeped in their own personal prejudices and traditions I come to a point where I don’t bother going on.  The same is true history.  In fact, almost any area of life that you’re reading you will stop reading not because the author has an agenda, but because they are pushing ham-handedly.

So the fact that reading influences intelligence was interesting, but the Podcaster overlooked one of the most obvious reasons why people are reading less.

Now you know even if he didn’t.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-233: Headlines: Gag Reflex

My computer did its “I am in charge” reboot and I was forced to get things going again.  As a result the opening page of my browser showed up without being invited.  One of the things that it likes to do it try to get me to click on its choices of important spots.  The first one got my attention.  It said that Pope Francis had died at 88.

My reaction?  “At last.”

The AP slant was that he was a “...pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and...”  Even for the AP that shows an ability to lie that is exceptional.  I don’t know a lot of Catholics but I never met one who felt he had a “humble style”.  Most thought him to be an arrogant socialist who was committed to destroying the traditional Catholic church.  I guess the Muslims liked him because he kissed up to them but the faithful in the church could not wait for him to depart the scene.

As an outsider I will find the replacement rituals interesting.  He was working hard to make sure that there were enough socialist cardinals that when he was gone a boiler plate replacement would be installed.  I am one of those born again types who have repeatedly said that Roman Catholics were Christians.  I do not mark the Romans church as the anti-Christ.  I hope that they will recover from this setback.  I am not sure that they can survive another Francis.  I can only hope and pray that there is another John Paul in the wings.

Pray for the Catholics.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-232: Hope Day

Most people are familiar with the term “Hump Day” referring Wednesday.  Hump Day indicates we are halfway through the week and heading for the weekend.  In a sense it reflects people’s hopes about having some relief and some fun.

Today as we celebrate what some people call Easter, we need to realize that it is the ultimate relief.  We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.  At one end of the life of Jesus on Earth we have Christmas where are we celebrate the incarnation.  At the other end we have Easter where we celebrate His victory over death.  Notice that life did not end in the grave.  It did not end with a diagnosis of cancer.  It did not even end when we were teenagers and the girl rejected us.

Hope has been offered to all of us.  Those who trust in Jesus have the assurance the grave is not the end, the hospital bed is not the end, that no tragedy we confront is the end.  We have the hope of the resurrection and eternal life.

Like you, I am surrounded by seeming tragedies.  In truth they are serious roadblocks in peoples lives.  We must be careful not to be cavalier.  I know of couples were both the husband and wife are facing life-threatening situations.  I know of people who are dealing with cancer and going through chemo.  My brother is in a nursing home and we don’t know what direction that’s going to go.  We are surrounded by the potential for despair and tragedy.  Generally, people can be divided into two camps.  Some have no hope.  Life ends at the grave.  Their future is in the hands of medical professionals and family.  Others facing situations just as serious know that their lives are in the hands of God.  Guess which group are more inclined to know joy, peace, and hope.

Enjoy your Easter egg hunts.  Celebrate with your families.  Worship and lift your eyes to the heavens.  At all times keep in mind what our hope is focused on.

Blessings on you and yours.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-231: Dark Thoughts: The Voice of God

I was sitting out in the morning darkness when my isolation was repealed by thunder and lightning.   As I celebrate the day and, since it’s Easter morning, the resurrection, a phrase from Psalms came to mind,

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.

As I listened to the thunder and saw my vista being lit up by lightning, I can understand how the pagans used to think of their gods expressing their anger and dissatisfaction.  As a Bible reader, on the other hand, I think about how Jesus said that people if didn’t praise him the rocks would cry out.

(Luk 19:40 KJV)  And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

And I think that this is just the world that God has created becoming personified and expressive.

At this point my idealistic pondering, was interrupted by a crash of thunder, so close that I decided maybe it was time to take my praise inside.

What is the difference between an every day occurrence and a miracle?  I think you can get an indication by comparing a sunny afternoon with a thunderstorm in the dark.  It is the same laws of physics. It is the same hill that I sit on.  All of the physical world is the same in both situations but in someway that can be explained by science, God stirs up the elements and puts on a display.  Whether this lightning storm was planned from the creation of the world, or was just a momentary display of God’s glory doesn’t make any difference.  It’s still an example of how the laws of physics can be used to produce miraculous situations.

What a glorious world we live in.

 homo unius libri

Opus 2025-230: Wants, Needs, Haves

As I sat contemplating the blessings that God has bestowed on me I wondered how I would explain that to someone.  What is it that I attribute all these blessings to?  One of the points that came to mind was that I certainly can’t credit my glorious self discipline, hard work and great intelligence.

Yet I am truly blessed.

I can’t think of anything that I really want that I can’t have if I set my mind to it.  All of my needs are abundantly met, and I have a hard time seeing how those basics would be dissolved or disappeared, except for extreme action by the government working overtime to destroying the economy or incredibly stupid decisions by my wife or myself.  I rejoice in the haves that God has given me.

Since I was in the mood, I ask myself what would my life be like if I got what I deserved?  First of all, I would be a physical basket case.  I deserve to be confined to a wheelchair, but not being able to afford a wheelchair.  I deserve to be locked away in the cheapest nursing home in the country.  Based on my personal discipline I deserve to be blinded, missing limbs, and in constant pain because of my diabetes and lack of care for it.  I deserve to be toothless and hardly able to stand up and walk straight because of my lack of discipline.  I deserve to be alone in the world because I don’t know the basics about friendship.

Yes, I am blessed.  Why?  Only by the grace of God and by his providential care can I claim any of this.  So, I do so.  God’s grace is how, and the power of providential care are the source of the blessings that we can’t explain but we can be grateful for.

I also think that attitude can make us more aware of the blessings we have.  There have been times in my attitude really stinks.  I trust I’m over that.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-229: Re-Calibrate

For years, we’ve been talking about Republicans and Democrats; liberals, conservatives, and moderates; right and left.  It’s time to re-calibrate.  When you have a day where people don’t change their position, but are suddenly branded with different adjectives, you need to redefine the adjectives being used.

I am suggest that instead of right and left we use the designations of right and wrong.  On most issues there is something which is basically right.  Then you have Republicans and the Democrats.  How they align is not the issue.  The question is not are you on the right or the left?  The question is how close are you to what is the correct position for the benefit of the country.

We seem to be terrified of the moral pill.  We avoid it.  We allow the enemies of Biblical morality torewrite the dictionaries.  Moral issues such as abortion suddenly become social issues.  No, deciding whether to keep the city pool open on New Years day is a social issue.  Killing unborn children is evil and a moral issue.  Whether you get married in a church or the park is a social issue.  Same sex marriage is a moral issue.

Taking the moral pill is like a medication that has to be taken with food.  To take a stand for morality means you need to label some actions immoral.  It also comes with side effects.  Evil will not just pick up its marbles and go home.  It will fight you tooth and nail.  

Evil exits.  So does good.  Right and wrong are not that hard to identify just hard to endorse.  Make a decision what kind of world you want to live in.  Act accordingly.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-228: The Ghosts of Speculation Past

In many areas of thought and research we run into people who like to take a few details and build them into an empire of speculation which they call a theory.  There are times when this is helpful, or at least interesting, and there are times when it is useless and possibly destructive.

My major focus would be in the area of the Bible and theology.  I am thinking specifically this morning of people who claim that there is a large gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2.  The theory didn’t make much sense to me when I heard it.  I did a little more research and saw that it was not unique to the person stating it.  But I don’t remember all the details.  Basically, though it said that after God created the universe in Genesis 1:1 there was a war in heaven and Satan supported by his minions was able to destroy what God had created.  And then you have the creation account in the rest of the chapter, which goes through what must be a second building of the universe.

The facts that they’re dealing with involve the existence of Satan and his demons.  The speculation is about their origin.  The Bible is not clear on that and so people start speculating.  If they don’t build any major doctrine on it, then they are free to speculate until the cows come home and start up an ice cream stand.  If they try to build a whole house of cards, then they’ve got a problem.

We see the same thing happening in science.  Based on what little expertise I have, and the bit of reading I’ve done, it seems that the scientists who are doing research into human life, intelligence, and where it all came from are running out of facts.  Actually, they’re not running out of facts, what they’re doing is finding facts that they don’t like and so they proceed to collect a group of fantasies and start to build a theory.  The theory is pure speculation, and has no reason why anybody should pay attention.

Again, this is not a problem if they are just speculating to see what they can create.  Imagination can be a powerful tool.  The problem comes when they build a whole house of nonsense and try to influence public policy.  A good example would be the global warming scams.  The whole purpose seems to be to impose socialism and siphon money out of the economy of the world.  So far I’ve seen no evidence that there is actual global warming or cooling other than the normal cycles of creation.

Just speculate away as long as you don’t try to make it more important than it really is.  There’s a difference between plans and fantasy.  You know it.  I know it.  And in reality, I think you know that I know it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-227: Fire Alarm

If I had to sumarize most of the sermons we hear it would be something to the effect of “Turn or burn.”  Some people focus on the burning and wonder how God could allow hell.  I think the more inportant focus should be on turning.  Never underestimate the importance of repentance.  As I read this verse in the KJV I enjoyed the common language of the set up.  

Acts 17:30 (KJV) And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

God has had times when He “winked” at our ignorance.  There are times when the ignorance is genuine.  You may have been raised in a bubble.  You may not be old enough to read the adult content of this blog.  You may be a lot of things that God is willing to let slide.  That does not take away from the point of this verse.

Literal or figurative, that is not really the question.  The question is not what it says, but what it means.  Sometimes that’s literal.  Sometimes it’s figurative.  I’m thinking about this in relation to the several quotes about Abraham believing, and it being counted as righteousness.  It means what you say it does.  It means much more.

Believing is key.  There is no substitute.  It also does not cancel out the necessity of repentance.  The word means to turn.  It means to change direction.  If you are not willing to do that then your believing gets put into the same category as the demons.

(Jas 2:19 KJV)  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

Choose to not need to tremble.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-226: Dark Thoughts: The War in Front of Me

As I sit in the dark, contemplating eternity, and enjoying my speculation on what it would be like to live in the New Jerusalem and on the new earth that has been remade, I realize that as good as it is now this will seem like boredom city when I’m in the presence of God.

And as I looked out over the valley and how peaceful and quiet it was this early in the morning, I realize that as peaceful as it looks, there’s really a war going on in front of me.  You see the leaves are falling off the trees, settling to the ground and decomposing.  There’s that constant battle between the living and the dead.  There are insects, crawling all over this yard, eating each other, hunting each other in constant warfare.

Inside my body the war rages also.  I have invading viruses and bacteria that are doing everything they can to satisfy their need, which is going to kill me if it is allowed victory.  Meeting those enemies is an army of white blood cells and other things that God has put in place in my immune system.  So far the battle goes well.  So far I’m on the victory side.  There’s going to be a brief time somewhere when the viruses and bacteria have a moment of victory laps, but it won’t last long, because I will be resurrected.

Nations are rising against nations.  Out there in the world there are people looking through sniper scopes, planting explosives, ready to kill those they hate even if they don’t know them.  Crime is rampant.  There’s so much devastating reality just over the hill.

And while all the warfare is going on, I live in a bubble of Providence.  I live in a valley of peace.  And I trust the Lord to take me through the shadow of death.

Mornings are really wonderful times to contemplate what is in front on you and in side you.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-225: Get My Drift?

I think most people would agree that the country as a whole tends to be drifting into chaos.  Our moorings have been thrown overboard and we are far from shore.  Or if you want to look at the metaphor differently, we have slipped your anchor and we are heading for the rocky shore.  Anyway you want to dice it we are losing ground on being the City on a Hill.

Someone brought up how the standard used to be that everyone who went to college would learn Latin, Greek, and possibly Hebrew.  Some might specialize in French.  The point is we would learn languages that kept us in touch with the principles of our civilization.  As my mind chewed up on this and I began to look for a correlation it seemed to me that the drift began when our educators started doing away with classic education.

The basic literature that has laid the groundwork for Western civilization is rooted in such things as the Bible and possibly Greek philosophy.  In actuality the two have been in conflict, but it is a conflict that has sharpened our edges.  We have benefitted from it as long as the teachings of the Bible have been foundational.  If Moses and Jesus came out on top Plato and Socrates might have something to offer as long as the filter worked properly.  We are moving towards a society that rejects the teachings in the Bible, and instead is going full time witrh the philosophy of Greece, Rome, and the pagans of the enlightenment.

This does not make for a bright future.  Pagan philosophy in Greece was deeply racist in the real meaning of the word not the woke virtue signaling.  If you were from a different city state then you were a lower level of human.  Slavery was the place of some classes of people.  Human sacrifice was not unknown.  Homosexuality was common.

When the good ideas of Greece were modified with the morals of the Hebrews and later Christians it made a very strong alloy but the alloy is being cut with cheap substitutes.  There is a reason why Christians and the church are a number one target.

Pray that you would be one of those that God is looking for so He will have an excuse to preserve our country.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-224: Going Pentecostal

Do you have a spot where you can retreat from the world?  You might have a garden bench you seek out.  It could be in your car driving through rush-hour traffic.  You might have a mountain top available.  For me my front porch in the early morning fits the bill.  Possibly there’s a room in your house.  But it is such a joy to have a place to retreat and cut loose.

In public I am pretty much a Presbyterian.  I will sing.  I will worship.  I will fellowship.  But I won’t get carried away.

In private all bets are off.  I see that on the porch as I talk to God.  I might occasionally burst out a song.  I will wave my hands.  I will walk around.  In short, I worship with no inhibitions.  Part of that is just the fact that I am an introvert.  Another part is that I want to make sure that my worship is genuine and I’m not putting on a show for other people.  Another part is I don’t want to distract other people in their worship.

However you slice it, however you dice it, in private, I have my times of being a Pentecostal.

So sue me.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-223: The End of Why

I’m thinking on eternity, and as I’m doing so the question again comes to my mind of, “Why?”  It really doesn’t matter why what, the question is always there.  A five-year-old in the backseat playing games and asking why is meaningless.  Many times when people ask you to do certain things though it is important to know why.

My question is when we get to heaven will we still be asking why?  Will we be concerned with why?  Will we be so in tune with the presence of God that why is no longer an issue?

Somehow I think of being created in the image of God, being called as rational beings, being treated as personal beings by a personal God.  I think that the question of “why” will always be appropriate.  It may move to a different level.  There may be many things that we might ask about that we are content to wait and get the answers in time.  The fact of the matter though is there are many discussions with someone else where we need to delve a little bit deeper and “why” is one of the ways we do that.

So no, I don’t think the question of why I will ever go away.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-222: On the Street: Losing His Edge

The top dog is starting to lose his edge.  I walk by a yard that has three frisky and noisy dogs and one of them is obviously the top dog.  Think of an Alaskan husky.  He likes to bark and he makes sure that the other dogs stay away from his spot in the fence.  One dog which is obviously younger and has aspirations he keeps well down the hill.  The other which is older he will occasionally allow a spot to look through the grates.

I noticed that he’s starting to lose it though.  The younger dog is creeping up closer.  Younger dog is bigger.  The younger dog might be faster and stronger.  But the top dog is still the top dog.  He has a position because of attitude and confidence.

I guess that should be a lesson for us as we go through life.  It isn’t how big we are on the outside but the size of the character on the inside.  Attitude is key at any age.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-221: Divine Multitasking

Sitting on the porch, looking out toward the dawn in the east, I’m enjoying the parade of clouds across the sky.  Suddenly it occurred to me that those clouds out there on the horizon are moving with vigor.  The ones halfway to the horizon almost seem to be rushing to dinner.  The winds in those areas must really be dramatic.  At the same time where I sit, there’s nothing but a mild and very gentle breeze.

What a reminder of how God is able to work in different people’s lives in different ways at the same time.  One person may be in the midst of high winds while another is enjoying a balmy spring morning.  Which experiences which is totally up to God.  How He decides who gets the storm and who gets the breeze is a mystery.  I’m convinced that all of our troubles and all of our rewards are not based on our behavior, because God works in mysterious ways, and His grace is administered according to His plans and priorities, not ours.

Still, it is glorious to get insights into the flexibility and creativity of Almighty God.  Enjoy the glory that He gives us in the heavens above us as well as in our front yards.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-220: Interest

I was thinking about Texas football and how I can’t seem to generate a whole lot of enthusiasm to know the difference between the different college teams.  This kind of makes me an outsider at church.

I’m thinking about how years ago I quit watching sports on TV.  I was never much interested in professional basketball although during the John Wooden era I followed UCLA quite a bit and I played on our church team and really enjoyed it.  Just watching professional sports didn’t do much for me.  Gradually I lost interest in watching.  My wife feels betrayed because we used to watch the World Series and now I am not even sure who is playing.

That changed while my children started playing basketball when they were younger.  Our church had a gym and we had a number of league things going on there and I remember going and cheering and having a great time.  This was not because my children were great athletes.  To give you a feel my daughter got the sportsmanship award.  My son was allowed to sit on the bench.  Actually he got to play because that was required.  He was good at bouncing the basketball, once.  I could never teach him anything because he thought he already knew it all.

Texans love their football.  Our little church has an ex-professional football player and a retired baseball player.  I may need to brush up on my sports.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-219: One-Sided Covenants

Why are the covenants with God expressed as being one-sided?  It’s not that there’s nothing expected of the humans in the covenant but they are really not qualified to negotiate or to lay down any conditions.  When God chose Israel as His people, He had already established a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and I believe Jacob.  But it is when Moses comes along that the choice is finalized and Israel is locked in even though they never recited an oath nor signed on any dotted line.  It’s also part of the nature of a covenant between a single, omnipotent God and a nation of individuals.

Even more interesting in this line of thinking might be the covenant that God established with Noah.  If you look at that and the wording, it also is extended to all animals in the world.

Genesis 9:8-10 (KJV) 8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, 9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; 10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.

Notice this covenant was established right after God gave Noah permission to eat all of the animals.  It is an interesting way to look at a covenant.

Today, however, we live under the new covenant.  I would suggest that one aspect of the new covenant is that it is individual as opposed to national.  Although it remains one-sided, because only God has anything to offer, it still requires our individual buy in.  Based on repeated references in the Old Testament about how some people have a desire to live a righteous life, and others are totally wicked God has already given us the ability through the Holy Spirit to move towards Him and be open in faith to His salvation.  That gives us hope and something to look forward to.

homo unius libris

Opus 2025-218: Thinking about It

As I get older the question of dementia and losing contact becomes more of an issue.  One of the questions that occurred to me this morning was do people who tend to be skeptical have less deterioration in their mental ability than those who are optimistic.  I reiterate that there is a difference between cynic and skeptic.  

A cynic is not a deep thinker by nature.  He assumes that the worst will happen, that motives are evil and that results will damage.  A skeptic on the other hand knows that things could go wrong and seeks to find ways to correct that.  They are cautious of the motives of others and themselves.  It is not an easy road to walk but keeps you thinking because there are no easy answers.

I think there’s evidence that those who finds things to stimulate them go downhill slower and I just wonder if optimistic people are less inclined to think deeply because they do not have the same concerns.  

Of course that’s rather self-centered.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-217: Be Careful with Your Excuses

We were holding Wednesday night service, the pastor was out of town, and the guy who leads our singing was in charge of the teaching portion.  Early in what he had to say he presented this verse,

Genesis 2:17 (KJV) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

He then asked in passing, “Did Adam know what it meant to die?”  And then he went on.  I don’t know if he planned on the question or just threw it out.  It just started me down a rabbit trail.  I don’t know if this was a deep thought that he was still thinking about.  I don’t know if it was just the Holy Spirit putting some words in his mouth to make me sit up and pay attention.

It’s a good question.  Did Adam know what it meant to die?  There’s no indication that he asked for any clarification.  There was no sense of mystery or ignorance.  God made a statement.

Chapter 3 repeats the statement and the serpent denies that it’s true.  Again, there is no indication that they didn’t know what it meant.  Living in the garden, I would assume that leaves my fall off and decompose, but I could be wrong.  It could be that at that point there was no cycle going on of plants dying, decomposing, enriching the soil, coming back as new plants.  But at the same time, there is no indication that there was any doubt that this dying business was serious.

I can forward to this week in River City.  How often do we have people claim to not understand?  I always like that phrase that I first saw in pro-life advertisements, which goes, “Which part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?  The answer was rather obvious.  The guy putting pressure on the young lady understood exactly what “no” meant.  His purpose was not to understand, it was to be gratified.

I wonder how often I have played this game with God.  Nothing jumps to mind, but it seems unlikely that I have never tried to play the game.  I trust that as I go forward that if I don’t understand something I will look a little deeper.  That comes whether it’s a point the pastor is making, the logical position in a book, a passage of scripture or something having to do with our civil society.

God does not accept excuses.  Neither does the well gravity, or the second law of thermodynamics.  Take that into consideration next time you feel like making an excuse.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-216: Bending Ears and Truth

Recently, I heard the five Solas extolled.

Grace alone
Faith alone
Scripture alone
Christ alone
The glory of God alone.

I decided if someone would have set me down, stared me in the eye, have a club in their hand, and be ready to read me out of the church and had asked me, “Do you believe in these things?” that I would have to answer them, “To be honest yes, but I will have to be dishonest in your eyes and explaining what they mean.”

What I mean by that is I disagree with the typical rationale of theologians and denominational systems around the world.  It means that I would have to take each one of them and define it in my way, so that it doesn’t violate scripture or reason.

Start off with just reason and logic.  Salvation cannot be both by grace alone, and by faith alone.  It’s kind of like saying things are based on the flat part of the circle.  It just doesn’t work.  And the same way if our salvation is found in Scripture alone, then how can it be found in Christ alone at the same time?

There are ways to explain this, if you get away from your simplistic little chants.  Put together they don’t make any sense.  Explained thoughtfully theywake up a comprehensive view of salvation.

Take the time to explain. Don’t fall into the trap, jargon and euphemisms.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-215: Knee-Jerk

Emilio Zapata is attributed with saying “It is better to die on your feet and live on your knees”.  At least that’s what the T-shirts say.  He might be surprised that he said it.  Politically speaking, I think that is an important truth.  There is a place where we must take our stand and refused to bow before oppression and tyranny.

In other areas of our life, I’m not sure that doesn’t present more of a problem than a solution.  Of course, being me, I’m thinking in terms of theology and spiritual truth, rather than in business or the arts.  One of the problems that we have as Americans is that we have forgotten how to bow and take a knee.  Never mind the concept of flattening ourself face down on the ground, which was common in ancient times.  These are ways of expressing submission.  Submission is clearly understanding our lack of power, and the authority of the person we are bowing down to.

As Americans we don’t believe in Kings.  We don’t believe that the president puts his pants on any different than the rest of us.  We have this sense of equality.  That does a disservice when it comes to our attitude toward God.  When it comes to God, we need to focus a bit more on bowing down.  We need to be willing to go to our knees with bent head.  There’s a reason why the concept of a stiff neck appears in scripture.

Being on your knees puts you in a position of vulnerability.  It makes it hard to dodge and weave.  You can’t attack or retreat.  You are at the mercy of superior power.  Politically I’m not sure taking a knee is a good idea.  I don’t know how you would survive in business if you always lived on your knees and submission.  Artists would certainly not come up with any new work if they lived in submission to other people’s ideas.

In our spiritual lives however, it is necessary.  We must live in submission to the wisdom and authority of Almighty God.  It’s not just because He has the power to destroy.  It is because the power is exercised in righteousness and holiness.  He knows what is best for Himself, and for us.  He is willing to sacrifice Himself for us as Jesus showed on the cross.

Maybe it’s time for us to learn the benefits of living on our knees.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-214: Keeping up Appearances

It’s really hard to be an insightful, brilliant intellectual when the grandchildren are over.  It’s hard to follow a complex train of thought when someone wants you to read book about Bob the Dinosaur or you are the only person who can find just the right Lego to complete the dream of your grandchild.

It’s not even a trade-off.  The great thoughts can wait.  Long ago I came to the understanding that I was not going to be God’s golden boy.  I understand that I am not going to reform American society based on my wisdom and clever writing.  I can, however, keep adding to the foundation that builds my grandchildren into godly adults.

Trade-offs are between things of close value.  Being a grandparent is a major investment in the future.  There is no comparison.  Being a parent is the same.  It is possible that being an uncle or God-parent also qualifies.  There is a lot of sacrifice involved, at least it seems like sacrifice at times.  In reality being proud of your children when they grow up is a much greater return I need on my investment than a great stock portfolio.

Take some time to examine your priorities.  Do you feel frustrated?  It could be because you are looking at things today with a long-term view in mind.  Of course, it’s easy for me to make those decisions for you.  I understand that.  I use most of my energy making those decisions for myself.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-213: Evil Influence

It seems this week I’ve heard a number of lives that have been touched by evil.  A young nephew of 35 was found dead.  At this point, we don’t know why.  A pastor conducting a funeral for a teenager who committed suicide.  An email from a father whose adult son committed suicide.  A man sitting down the pew from me sharing about the nerve damage he’s going through.  A prayer request by a man with a spinal cord issue whose brother has MS.

I could go on.  There are people suffering all around us.  Sometimes you know when they get a splinter under their toenail.  Other times they can hardly hold their head up, but they still do so, and live with dignity and joy.  I am marvel at one and would really prefer to avoid the other.
But the truth is, suffering goes on around us all the time.

What is the difference between the ways in which people respond?  It doesn’t seem to be the seriousness of the attack.  It’s not how long the suffering has gone on.  It seems to be a basic attitude of whether you are going to trust in God, or criticize the way He runs the universe, and in particular, you’re a part of the universe.

I have to really be careful.  I am not noted for my sensitivity.  I’m aware of that.  I also tend to have good health, in my opinion.  Of course when I start listing the different things that I deal with I’m not in perfect health, but none of them would I consider major issues like others are dealing with.  I consistently ask why I am doing so well and others are struggling.  I don’t have an answer.

If there is an answer, it focuses on our attitudes.  We have a choice.  That’s part of what being created in the image of God is all about.  Life is full of choices.  Choices result not only in rewards and Joy but also disappointments and failures.  Sometimes the major difference is nothing other than how we choose to respond to the situation.

Again, I want to walk carefully.  I know there are many places in the Bible, where it talks about. God rewarding people who live righteous lives.  There’s a part of me that would like to think. I am blessed because I’m so worthy.  I recoiled from that in disgust.  I see no correlation. The problem is is demonstrated by the experience of turning from writing to reading the book of Proverbs and the first verse I come across is this,

Proverbs 11:8 (KJV) The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead.

Part of me shakes his head in denial, because I am aware of how unworthy I am.  Another part of me simply nods its head in rejoicing and thanksgiving to God for His blessings.  Perhaps the only answer to this dilemma is to live in trust that God in His wisdom knows what He’s doing.  As long as he blesses me, I rejoice.  I trust that if He allows me to enter a time of trial, I will continue to trust and rejoice.  At the same time, I lift up those of you going through struggles.

This morning I specifically listed up that Pastor involved in that funeral and the families he is ministering to.  I would ask that you might pause and join me this morning if you are reading this and are a person of prayer.  We don’t need to know all the details.  We just need to call on God and his mercy.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-212: Lost and Found

I would venture to guess that many of you are aware that you need to lose weight.  It seems to be a common thing in America.  If you’re like me, you have tried many different avenues, many different approaches, many different diets.  Most of them work well on the short term.  The problem is the long-term discipline that is necessary to keep them in place.

When I accepted the fact that I was diabetic and decided that I really didn’t want to start having to use a needle, I got serious and found a way to take the weight off that worked well in the long term.  It had at its core a commitment to change my basic habits and understanding that it was a lifetime commitment.  That was at least 10 years ago and I have gained a little bit back but I’m still in the struggle.  I’m still fighting . I’m still doing the things that I did before.  It’s just not working as well as it did when I was going to school every day and on my feet walking around yelling and screaming at kids.  Retirement has a way of slowing you down.

One of the unseen problems that come up in trying to keep weight off is the sabotage that goes on by people who claim to love you.  I’m sure they do.  At the same time in their attempts to show that love, they undermine your efforts.  Recently, my wife shared with me that she had bought me a bear claw when she went to buy donuts for herself.  When I looked in the box, it was an apple fritter, not a bear claw.  Bear claws are OK but Apple fritters are super tempting.  Now I have a choice.  Do I eat the apple fritter and verify the fact that she bought this for me?  Do I wait until she’s looking the other way, act like I ate it, and dispose of it?  Do I do the impossible, and eat just small portions of it over several days?  Imagine my distress when I picked up the one apple fritter to eat, right now, in one setting, and found that there was a second apple fritter underneath.

We have the grandchildren over.  She announced that for breakfast we would be having sausage and eggs.  She expects me to cook them.  Sausage is very high in calories.  I never eat sausage if I have a choice.  It’s not a religious or spiritual decision.  It’s just pure rationality.  She knows this.  She still thawed out the sausage and announce to the kids that we were going to have it for breakfast.  Is this love or is this sabotage?

Keep in mind that the battle is not just one that you were fighting against your desire to eat, but it also involves people around you.  Sometimes they do things unconsciously.  Sometimes they do things deliberately.  Even when it’s unconscious there’s a very good chance that down inside they know what they’re doing.

I don’t have a solution for you.  I don’t have a solution for me.  All I can offer is an awareness of the conflict that is going on.  How we face it is an individual issue.  May you be blessed in your decisions and discipline.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-211: Rigid or Flexible

 
I enjoy a good discussion.  One element of a good discussion is to have enough difference of opinion to challenge your presuppositions.  Another is to have enough agreement that you actually can communicate.  I’ve noticed that sometimes it’s easier to communicate with people who are a little bit flexible than with people who are totally rigid.

It doesn’t really matter the topic.  You can be talking religion or politics.  You can get off on how to cook a steak.  It can be about naming your children.  We all run into these extremes and often end up totally frustrated or with bloodied heads.

Both the rigid and the flexible can know what they believe.

The rigid person is very solid in what they believe and think.  They can explain why they believe it.  They tend to be set in the channel and unable to change.  New facts are either ignored or explained away.  Sometimes they are re-defined so that they lose all meeting.  The rigid person knows what they know and don’t try to confuse them because it won’t work.  There are times when being rigid is a real benefit.  One of those times is when there are many people around you who have no basis for belief and just keep making things up as they go along.  Once you know what you like or what works for you it’s really a waste of time experimenting.  I think of a restaurant we used frequent.  I always got the same thing.  Why?  Because I had already explored the menu and knew what I liked.  I was considered rigid.

Being flexible can also be either beneficial or a disaster.  Sometimes a little bit of flexibility will help you adjust the situation without losing your basic principles.  Sometimes too much flexibility, waters down everything you believe him and makes it pointless to keep discussing or talking.

If you are reading a book and it becomes ridiculous, you can close it.  If you were smart enough to get it from the library you can return it.  You can’t take your friends back to the library.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-210: Package Deal

I recently watched about the first 15 or 20 minutes of an interview of Stephen Fry on a podcast called Trigonometry, or something like that.  To be honest, I knew nothing about Stephen Fry as I began responding.  At the beginning of the interview I was going to look into who he was because he seem to be saying some rational things.  As the interview went on, he started to morph into just another garden variety woke person from the left.

The breakdown began innocently enough.  He projected an interview he done years ago in which he was asked what he would say to God if he saw Him.  Fry claims to be an atheist.  I have no reason to doubt that.  His answer clarified it.  After a few vulgar obscenities addressed towards God, he asked him, “Who do you think you are?”  He went on to talk about children dying of bone cancer and so forth and asked how God could allow such things to happen.  OK . I see his point.  If he stopped there, I might’ve continued listening.  But he didn’t stop there.

Through ensuing moments he walked down a scripted list of issues under the guise of being in favor of freedom of speech.  It wasn’t really about free speech.  It was about rejecting all the moral standards of Western civilization.  He started listing exceptions to free speech that he thought should be in place.  He started of course with making disparaging jokes about people of other races.  I guess he’s never heard a good Polak joke.  Too bad.  From there he went to people of other religions.  OK, the flag goes up.  Obviously he doesn’t want anybody criticizing the Muslims and their violence and mayhem.  Next he jumped to how language that was negative towards trans people should be banned.  And he continued on from there.  Be assured this was not someone with old fashion liberal views about freedom who have been exiled from his party.  It was simply another closet left winger following the party line.

I can accept rational differences.  I too have struggled with the problem of evil.  Bone cancer in children would be on the list, except for the fact that it is part of life in the world as we know it.  The problem of evil has been struggled with for years.  Part of the answer to that is the issue of free will, and the honest realization that you cannot have free will unless there are real choices that can be made.  Real choices end up in consequences.  There are billions of people in the world today making free choices.  There’s no way that a real choice could end up with no one suffering.

The statement by Fry about suffering children got my attention.  It focused my thinking.  It made me once again consider how the God of the Bible is far beyond my understanding.  What I can understand I wrestle with, and move forward.  It forces me to look into depths that I would prefer to ignore.  Ultimately, I come to the understanding that evil is not sickness in children, that is a by-product of evil.  Evil is much more an attitude that justifies all kinds of destructive behavior, such as mutilating children to change their sex.

I thank Stephen Fry for his input.  I’m not sure how much effort I’m going to invest trying to understanding who he is or what he said in the past.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-209: Dark Thoughts: God Is Not a Robot

This morning. I am sitting inside instead of on the porch.  I have an electrical fire going in the fireplace, and I am waiting to see when my grandchildren wake up in the other room.  But my mind still reaches out to the Lord and He kicks me down different rabbit trails.

This morning I was reflecting on the two terms “grace” and “faith”, and how they relate to salvation.  Whenever I think about these things, one of the concepts that comes to my mind, is the concept of “free will”. Technically, it is not a biblical term, but the concept it’s all through scripture.

What got me this morning was not the applying free will to my faith, but it occurred to me that part of being created in the image of God, and believing that gives me free will, should also cause me to extend free will to God himself.  That seems silly, possibly, but think about the Calvinistic concept of grace.  Just like faith, the reformed tradition seems to lock God into a mechanical, robotic, no choice, response, or extension of the gift of grace for salvation.  They want to deny that God has any clear reasons for why He extends that grace.

I tend to think that God is not capricious and automatic.  I believe He has reasons for what He does.  When you consider the fact that in reality we are incapable of being perfect, and that we have all sinned, and that we cannot save ourselves, then, obviously God hast to do something.  It is up to God to decide when to do something and for Him to do that something.  I have no problem with that.  God is God.  He sees things that we aren’t even aware of, let alone understanding.  That does not mean that He does not consider who we are, what we are or what is in our hearts and minds.  I think it’s clear to us that He does, that’s why we have repeated statements that we will be rewarded for what we do.

It is impossible to separate totally our actions from our heart desires.  God can read our hearts.  God can see what’s in our minds and evaluate our actions in light of that.  That is His choice as God.  He can extend His grace or withhold it.

In essence, God has free will, just as He has given us that quality.  Don’t try to make Him a vending machine who responds when we push the right button or a slave master who forces us to push that button.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-208: Free Corn

The church I attend has a lot of old-timers who have put meat on the table by hunting.  They know how to deal with deer.  They know how to hunt them.  One guy talked about how when he bought his new house he set it up in such a way that he could look out through the window and see the feeder for deer that he had in his yard.  He kept it supplied with corn.  The deer came and ate there.  It was free.  It was plentiful.

It could also be deadly.  I guess he never really got into harvesting deer but he shot at least one.  It worked well for him.  It worked well for the deer that didn’t get shot. I  asked didn’t they avoid the place after one of them was killed?  The answer was no they kept coming back.  I guess there aren’t the brightest of animals.

The same can be said for those who keep returning to the trough of Socialism.  Free stuff.

And deadly.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-207: Two Words

Tradition has its place.  I think it’s almost the unforgivable sin to begin playing Christmas music before the Thanksgiving meal.  That is a tradition in our home.  It is a tradition because I declared it myself.  I declared it so because my family had already decided that was the way it would be.  Still it is a tradition.

Life is full of traditions.  Some are silly, some deeply meaningful.  We need to always keep in mind, though, that traditions are the result of past habits, not necessarily based upon divine decree.

Which brings me to my “deep thoughts”.  I am thinking of salvation, and two keywords involved in that.  Both of them are found in this passage,

Ephesians 2:8 (KJV) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

The two words are “Grace” and “faith”.  You may be familiar with the Greek here.  Grace comes from charis and faith comes from pistis.  The problem comes when we accept blindly traditional interpretations of how these words relate to each other, and to the other word, which is  “gift”.  The problem for me is that tradition says that grace is extended in a way that has nothing to do with our desire and is totally irresistible.  That same tradition says that faith is nothing dependent upon our choice, but is given to us by God.

Both of these traditions are grounded in a commendable emphasis on the sovereignty of God.  God is God.  He will not be manipulated by us.  We cannot “earn” His love or blessings.  The problem is interpreting that to mean that He becomes a robotic force that makes random choices.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The biblical concept of God is that He is a person and that He responds to us as persons.  He wants to forgive.  He wants to save.  It is His will that everyone to be saved.  If He is sovereign, and that it is His will, you would think that everyone would be saved, but such is not the case.  Your understanding of grace and God must make allowance for the fact that He has a living being response to us as living beings.

In the same way, we cannot come to faith in the absence of divine strength.  The natural man has no interest in the things of God.  The blessing is that God has extended, through his Holy Spirit, the ability to respond to Him.  It is not an overwhelming force, such as the kind of gift of faith that makes us believe, but it is the gentle reinforcement that makes it possible for us to believe if we choose to.  This choice is key to God extending His grace towards us.

On both sides, we have real personalities.  They respond to each other, or not, if that is the choice of the human individual.  That is the essence of free will, we have been created in the image of God.  He has given us the ability to respond.  After that, it’s up to us to follow the inclination of our heart.

Don’t let the logical tradition hold you back from the offering of God.  At the same time don’t feel that you were totally powerless to respond if that is your choice.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-206: Definitions

The purpose of language is changing.  In a dim past language was a means to communication.  It was a way to express yourself to other people.  This was hard enough in the real world.  People tend to be locked into their own minds and often have different definitions for words that are thought to be shared.  People worked to communicate.

Not so today.  Today language is made to separate and manipulate.  

It separates because groups make up their own words.  I started watching a Babylon Bee piece about Generation A.  I had never heard of generation A but I assumed it would be consistent with my grandchildren’s generation.  They were working through a bunch of nonsense sounds that are evidently considered words in that culture.  I had seen the roots of this with the rap culture and what was euphemistically called ebonics.  Professionals of all walks like to dazzle you with their knowledge of confusing terms.  On occasion it is because it is the best term.  Often it is just to make you feel stupid.  

There is a school of philosophy called deconstructionism.  I know I have mentioned it before.  It means what it says more than you know.  The whole purpose is to deconstruct our culture by removing all meanings that are necessary for people working in harmony.  Words mean what you want them to mean.  Values are totally fluid.  If you don’t agree you are a right-wing neanderthal.  
Learn to laugh at them.  Don’t be afraid to ask, “What does that mean?”  Often you will find that they don’t know either.  Assume they are victims of arrogance and pride.  

And get a dictionary, preferably an old one.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-205: Word Games

A familiar statement is, “In a world of the blind, the one eyed man is king.”  Another saying along those lines is, “I cried because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet.”  The lesson of these sayings is gratitude for the blessings we do have.  I am sure you know people like that.  They could open lemonade stands.  

I don’t think that translates very well into, “In the world of dementia the man with a memory is king.”  I think about this issue more all the time because I see others getting more forgetful.  The key to all this is attitude.  I know that the click bait tells us they have a cure for dementia but I have not forgotten enough to believe it.  

We have a zoom group made up of old goats.  It is somewhat amusing the way we keep helping others find the right word or name.  It tends to go both ways and we accept it as part of life.  May your attitude always be one step ahead of your ability.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-204: Revival of Catechism

When I was pastoring, I made sure that I did not get cavalier and casual about taking people into church membership.  You couldn’t just show up one Sunday, have an overwhelming emotional experience and be taken into membership.  I would have classes that extended for a number of weeks as we went through the basic beliefs of Christians and the peculiar aspects of our denomination.  I tried to make it clear what was basic in following Jesus, and what was expected to join our fellowship.  I don’t remember hearing any big complaints because people tended to be interested in learning what they needed to know.

I am somewhat shocked at how easy it is for people to join some churches.  I think a basic course in theology should really be required to join.  Notice I said to join, not to fellowship.  Fellowship can be extended just on the basis of, “Hi, my name is….”

In light of that, I think it would be good if part of our secret knowledge, so to speak, included a few words in the original languages of the Bible.  If we could learn those words, it would clear up a lot of confusion.

One of those words is that which is translated “LORD”, in all capitals in the KJV and NASB.  The Hebrew word is Yahweh.  There’s no great virtue in being able to say that word, but there is great value and understanding that it is as a statement of God that His name means, “I am.”

It might also be helpful to learn to pronounce the Jewish name for Jesus, and understand that that means savior.

I also think that the words dealing with being saved are important.  I think that people should learn to say the Greek word charis, rather than just grace.  I think learning a Greek word for faith, pistis, would help clear up some confusion.  It would force people to look a little deeper and think twice as they read the scriptures and talk with other believers.

I realize that this could get carried away.  I know there is always the danger of becoming an exclusive club with “secret knowledge”.  I don’t think we need that, but we do need to somehow get people to think more seriously, and more deeply about their faith.

Maybe we could even start translating our Bibles using certain keywords in the original language.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-203: Congregation of the Do

God was out and about in my front yard this morning.  Well, He may have been up above the trees, but He was there.  He met with me in His unique way.  One of my thoughts was just focusing on the awesome reality of this flawed, limited, physical human being, being able to have fellowship with the Creator of the universe.  I can’t understand.  I can’t comprehend.  I can, however know.

In searching for ways to express this, my focus centered on being a grandfather.  I remembered the day my first grandchild was born, and I was able to sit down in that maternity ward and they brought her and put her in my arms.  Did she have any comprehension who I was, or what I was feeling, or how much I loved her?  Definitely not.  Was she aware that she was warm and secure and it all was well in the world?  Definitely not. She didn’t even know she had fingers and toes.  Did anyone else in the hospital even have a glimmer of the radiating joy from that chair?  I doubt it.  My daughter and my son-in-law had a glimmer,  but they’re only parents.  they’re not grandparents yet.

None of that takes away from the bonding that was taking place of those moments.  None of that takes away from the fact that she was secure, and that she was loved.  She didn’t have to understand it.  It was still real.

So when God meets me out on the front porch, I have no illusions about Him needing me as much as Him showing His love towards me.  Some of you will understand.  Some of you don’t.  May you join the congregation of the do.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-202: Patterns

I’m thinking about how useful patterns are.  You can call them rituals, habits, even ruts.  This came to mind as I was going into the house from sitting on the porch in the early morning.  One of the first things I do when I go through the door it’s turn around and lock it.  It started as a conscious choice, now it is a pattern.

When I wake up, I say, “Good morning, Lord.”
When I sit down with my coffee, I look at the sky and remind myself of the Creator.
When I go out the door, I reflexively pat my left pocket to see if there are keys there.
If I use the restroom, I reflexively put down the lid.
After using the restroom, I reflexively wash my hands.
Breakfast is a routine so I don’t forget my medication

Think about patterns that are instilled in you as a child.  Your parents kept hammering away until certain things were driven out of your system.

Stop picking your nose.
Get your elbows off the table.
What is the magic word?

Some patterns are almost universal, or should be. Others may be unique to me.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-201: Wake-Up Call

Over the weekend I had a little bit of a calm down.  I was spouting off with my usual assurance and intellectual “insight”.  It turns out that I was wrong.  I was so sure of myself, but I was wrong.

That got me to thinking about how often God uses situations to slow us down and make us think.  As usual, I try to think of some kind of a biblical example, where the Godhead put somebody on the short stick.  The one that came to mind was when Moses was bringing water out of the rock and instead of speaking to it, as God told him, he took his rod and struck it like he had the last time.  As a result, Moses was not allowed to cross over into the promised land 40 years later.

I always thought that was a bit of an overreaction.  After all, it was just one strike, one time, and his whole life‘s purpose is upset.  This makes me stop and think of my opinion of God and my evaluation of His personality and realizing that my analysis just doesn’t fit.  I don’t see God as a petty, small time operator who has to throw his weight around to get any respect.  I came to the conclusion there must be more to the story, maybe much more to the story.

As I have written other places, I think there is a lot that God did not cause to be recorded in His salvation history.  We know John said that Jesus spoke books full of information that had not been written down.  If it was true of Jesus, why not Moses?  And I think this is a pattern.  Think about, for instance, the prophets.  Think of Jeremiah.  Jeremiah wrote his book over the years.  I don’t know how many different prophecies Jeremiah made in that book but since it only has around 60 chapters and some of his prophecies go on for several chapters, I would just guess, or estimated, maybe 20.  You can read over everything he had to say in the book in a short period of time.  Didn’t he say anything else the rest of the time?

I think this just goes to demonstrate how God is patient and waits for people to, shall we say, dig their own grave.  He gives them plenty of opportunities to get it right.  Israel had hundreds of years of disobedience and defiance before God finally dealt with him.  I think in the same pattern,  Moses probably made a lot of mistakes, after all he was human, before God put the hammer down.  Perhaps Moses wouldn’t listen until forced into a corner.

I think that’s true in our own lives too.  God is incredibly patient.  If He wasn’t, we would have all kinds of holes in our roof because of the lightning strikes.  As it is, He gives us plenty of chances to respond and to repent.  We should be glad about that.  We should also take those times when we run into a wall as a moment to stop and think and ask ourselves, “Is this just one of those things where is God trying to tell me something?”

It could be either one. And we need to be open to either one.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-200: The Mystery of Hope

A number of books that I’m reading have made reference to the sufferings of Job.  He really went through it.  I hope that I never even come close to what he experienced.  Perhaps you feel you’re close.

Keep in mind the Job was totally innocent of any attitude or action.  He could have been facing discipline from God.   That is not what we see.  We start off with God giving a glorious testimony about the faithfulness of Job.  So if you’re going through hard times, don’t assume that it’s because you did something wrong.

Another thing that comes through when you read the book, Job never caved in to the criticisms and wisdom of his friends.  He didn’t accept their analysis.  He did not accept their traditional theology.  Keep in mind that part of their traditional theology was that he was suffering because of sin in his life.  He rejected that and made what we would call an arrogant claim today.  He claimed that he was not guilty.  He claimed that he was innocent of any wrongdoing.  He claimed that he stood tall before God and defied them to show where he had failed.

We are surrounded by theological traditionalists.  Their beliefs are based more on what they were told that on what they’ve actually found in the scripture themselves.  There is a real danger of arrogance on our part, but we must be responsible to read for ourselves.

Also keep in mind that the suffering of Job came to an end.  It had a limit.  He hung in there.  He got through.  I’m not sure that the children who died when the building fell were too blessed by that, or the cattle that were stolen were rejoicing in their new masters.  I’m not sure I would want to start all over again at that age.  But the testimony is that he was again blessed and found to be a good and faithful servant.

Hang in there.  Keep trusting.  And rejoice in the Lord.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-199: Prayer Requests

At least twice a week we have a time for sharing prayer requests at church.  There’s nothing unusual about this.  Most of you have been through a similar experience.  At first it seems like just a long list of aches, pains, cancers, and other really serious situations.  When I’m in the wrong mood it seems almost dangerous to go to church because there is so many problems I don’t want to catch.

Attitude and perspective can change many things.  As I get to know the people over the years and as I watch and listen to their attitudes and perspectives, I find myself being encouraged.  I’ve lived a pretty sheltered life in many ways.  I wonder how I will respond when I go through the deep waters.  Watching these people, and the joy of the Lord that radiates from them in the midst of their cancer is encouraging.  Being made aware of intense pain they may be going through and still have a smile on their face is uplifting.

What I’m saying is that while the prayer requests are actually given so that we pray, it may be that one of the reasons we share is because that experience lifts us all up.  A group of the seniors get together on Fridays at a local restaurant.  We had a couple that came for the first time in a long time this week.  She had been through multiple serious struggles.  He’s been our prayer list for quite a while because of intensive pain, and how the treatment given by the doctor had made it even worse.  It was a joy to see them out and moving.  I could look down the table and be aware of some of the struggles that different ones we’re going through.  It’s not that everyone was in the depths of despair or falling apart, but there were enough issues in the group to make me rejoice in their presence.  They took the time and made the struggle to come out and be a part of our fellowship.  It is an honor to be a part of them.

So when someone asked you to pray for them.  Do it.  Don’t forget the spiritual aspects of their need.  People often overlook that.  But also remind yourself that this is evidence of God’s hand at work, not only in their lives but in yours.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-198: Enduring Promises

The Bible is full of promises that God made to Israel, and by extension, for his people today, which would be the church.  One of the promises that people love the quote is,

2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV) If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

What is amazing about this is that every time I’ve heard this used in a sermon or a teaching session the context of the passage is totally ignored.  This promise of renewal and revival was given to Solomon right after he dedicated the temple.  In other words, this promise of renewal was given at the high point of Israel’s history.  This was not a call to repentance declared in the midst of apostasy and degeneration.  This was a statement made when God’s house had finally been finished and sanctified for worship.

God gives promises.  His promises are not limited to the time in which they are offered.  His promises are looking down through history, based on knowing what people are like, and how we live our lives.  In the previous verses, God points out His awareness of what will probably come.  In the verse just before this, He lays out the possibility that He might be forced to put Israel in time out.  He might be forced to send pestilence and disease and weakness.  And the promise is that when that happens God is waiting for our repentance and is ready to restore.

I think of other promises given that extend over millennium.  I think of Genesis 3:15 where God promises to send the seed of Adam to crush the head of Satan.  I think of the promises in the prophets of a new covenant and a new heart.

Some promises are more quickly fulfilled, but also have an extended lifespan.  I think of the promise of the Holy Spirit, and how He was to come at Pentecost.  Although that was the birth of the church and a new age in spiritual life, the promise of the filling of the spirit is still extend it to us today.  So you have the promise then that is still alive today.

Then you have promises that are just almost perpetual motion machine.  I think of I John 1:9 and how we are promised forgiveness for confessing our sins.

Promises abound.  Check out the expectations for application and rejoice.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-197: Family Feud

I was watching an interview with Neil Ferguson and Konstantin Kisin where the statement was made that generation Z is not able to match up and have families because of the cost of housing.  It sounds good.  It sounded good when my children bought homes and provided grandchildren.  It sounded good when I was young and the first born arrived.  I think it sounded good when my parents were young.

By sounding good I don’t mean it is true.  It means it is a good excuse.

Investigate this a little bit.  Houses are expensive but I don’t think the problem is the cost of housing.  Children are a lot of work but they are also a lot of reward.  I don’t think it is an economic problem.  It is a moral and cultural problem where a narcissistic group wants everything and wants it perfect so they’re not willing to risk mortgages, relationships and the pregnancies.  They are not willing to make the sacrifices.  They are not willing to lower their sights on the number of bedrooms and the logos on their cars.

Fifty years ago I heard how a family could not survive on one salary.  I have heard it on a regular basis ever since.  Somehow, in spite of that common wisdom we did it.  How?  Can you spell “used cars”, “yard sales”, “thrift stores”, “hand me downs” and “stifled pride”?  Today it is working for my children.

I am humble enough to admit it might not work out for everyone.  I am discerning enough to know that most people won’t try.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-196: The Choir of Pentecost

I was sitting beginning to contemplate eternity.  A bunch of us old folks were sitting around speculating on how glorious heaven would be and we had a lot of interesting suggestions.  We talked about whom we would see and would we recognize them?  How would you find family members?

Being an introvert, I said I wouldn’t really worry about being able to find my loved ones out of the millions of individuals in heaven.  I said I would probably just find a nice quiet corner and read a book.  They were aghast.  I don’t think they understand how glorious the library of heaven will be.

This morning I got to thinking along another rabbit trail and comparing Pentecost to the heavenly host serenading God.  Lots of people have the wrong idea about Pentecost.  They think of it as a miracle of speaking in tongues, which is not really the case.  It’s more a matter of hearing in tongues.  Consider,

Acts 2:6 (KJV) Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

Do you have a picture of people from all over the Roman empire and each of them thinking in a different home language.  And they all heard the sermon by Peter in their own language.  Fast forward to eternity.  Can you picture of the celestial choir?  We hear about how we’re going to be singing “Holy, holy, holy”.  I’m wondering if when it gets right down to it, each of us will be hearing a different song, depending on what our favorite type of music is.  Or perhaps it will be a whole new type of music, different for each one of us.  God’s ability to do things, to multitask, is incredible.

Just some more nonsense speculation.  In reality eternity is going to be so glorious that it would blow our socks off if we still had socks.

homo unius libri