Opus 2025-320: The Imperfect Hebrew Shepherd

As I was reading the 23rd psalm on the 23rd day of the month as a regular discipline, I paused a moment and asked myself, “What does the grammar show us?”  I know that’s a regular question that you ask yourself.  One of the clues that got my attention here is in the KJV the verbs at the beginning, at least, ended in “eth.  I’ve been told in the New Testament, which was originally in Greek, that ending means the present tense, which has the idea of continued action.  I’m finding in the Hebrew that ending is usually the imperfect tense, which has the same concept of continued action.

I quickly worked through the entire Psalm and I noticed this consistently.  Almost every verb in this Psalm is in the imperfect tense.  The one that stood out as not being in the imperfect tense was the anointing of the head with oil.  That seem to be a one time process, which would fit together with the idea of being anointed with the Holy Spirit.

What does that say about it a bit of scripture like this?  Does that underlying sense of the Hebrew grammar of continued action speak to us even when we are not aware of the Hebrew?  Is that one of the reasons why this is such a loved bit of scripture?

So much of the Christian walk is a process rather than a crisis.  In my circles, we talked about being saved as a crisis experience, it happens in the moment.  Many theological traditions talk about sanctification as being a process, growth, maturing.  This Psalm is about growing in the main part.  It is a continual lifetime experience.  It makes life into an adventure as we walk into the future by God side.

It’s quite a promise.  And I think as we’re looking at the grammar the promise becomes even more dramatic and more encouraging.

The Shepherd may be perfect, but the grammar is imperfect.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-319: Mommy, Kiss It

One of my recurrent areas of contemplation and meditation is based on the principle that I Corinthians 13 gives us an idea of what it means that God is love.  Today I was thinking about, what we call forgiveness and my mind went to that last phrase in verse five.

1 Corinthians 13:5 (KJV) Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

1 Corinthians 13:5 (NASB95) does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

1 Corinthians 13:5 (NLT) It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.

Notice the different understanding that the modern translation and paraphrase give that last phrase.  If my theory is correct, then that last statement tells us that God does not keep a record of our sins.  Now when we think about forgiveness we have no trouble with that but I’m thinking that it also reflects that God does not keep a record of our outstanding sins.

It isn’t a matter of ignoring them, or forgetting them.  It’s a matter of not needing to keep a list.  God knows that we are born in original sin and He knows that we have all sinned as Paul says,

Romans 3:23 (KJV) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

For God to keep a tally of our sins would be like us going down to the ocean and continually checking to see how wet it was.

This is where the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross comes in.  We are forgiven by the free choice of God, call it grace or mercy, we are not forgiven because we have gotten enough merit to deserve it.  He makes that decision based on our believing that the sacrifice of Jesus was enough to pay for our sins.  It’s hard for us to comprehend this because we want to believe that bigger sinners are harder to forgive, and that we are just a little sinners so we are more deserving.  Not so.  We all fall short, and only God’s free, active forgiveness, enabled by the blood of Jesus, is enough for us to have salvation.

If the suffering Jesus went through and His passion were not so extreme we could almost think of it as something simple like how Mommy’s kiss heals our booboos.  He offers us the free gift of salvation and is waiting to heal us not because of how big the list is but because it’s the only chance we have.

That gives me a reason to rejoice this morning.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-318: What Grade Are You?

The Bible was written by human beings under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is called being inspired.  God has been working on it for at least 4000 years.

As you look at the Bible it is not a systematic theology. Think of it as an elementary school curriculum not a college text book.  The first few chapters are kindergarten.  They lay down the basics of God the creator and the type of world He wanted to see.  It introduces man, sin and disobedience.  With Noah and Abraham you go to second grade and the concepts of covenants.  By the time you get to the law you might be up in the third grade.  

The law was written for an ignorant people.  They lived in a culture where people married their sister and frogs were gods.  Keep in mind ignorance is based on a lack of knowledge.  It is not the same as stupid or even stubborn.   In their ignorance they were evil but they don’t know it.  At least they don’t know it by the letter of the law.  Romans tells us that they knew in our hearts.

As you continue to read you are exposed to more and are expected to integrate it into existing kowledge.  Remember the arithmetic you learned in elementary school.  You did not start with long division or multiplication.  You can’t do long division if you don’t know how to subtract and you can’t multiply if you don’t know how to add.  We forget how learning was a process.  I would not expect a second grader to know algebra no matter how smart he was.

We are introduced to the concepts of grace and forgiveness long before Paul expands our understanding in his letters.  We are taught about parenting, credit, hard work and sloth as we go along.  It is a long journey of discovery.  I’m not sure if Revelation is graduate level or back to kindergarten.

What grade are you at?  I would guess, if you are like the rest of us, that you might still be wanting to go to recess or participate in show and tell.  Only you know.  I encourage you to get on with learning.  It is okay to ask questions.  It is even better to learn how to find the answers youself, and you can do it.  I like to think of the process as preparing for eternity.  A small difference now can make a big difference over thousands of years.

Does eternity have make up classes?

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-317: A Question of Power

My grandson came roaring into the room wearing a mask and a cape while he waved a sword around.  I can’t remember if he was Bible Man or Zorro but he was some kind of super hero.  I was impressed with his imagination and enthusiasm but not so much with his wisdom.  He came in thinking he would win.  I let him think that for awhile but eventually the truth came out.

Grandpa powers trump super-powers.

That is hard for a child to understand.  In a way it is hard for adults to understand.  It still remains true.

We won’t discuss grandma powers.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-316: Applied Attribute

When thinking about how Proverbs 8 seems to imply that wisdom was at creation and involved in creation, I came to the conclusion that wisdom was an attribute of God.  As I said, looking at the oak trees in my yard, each one original and unique, each one similar enough to be identified, each one having genetic similarities, and yet each one is different.  I used to just think of the creativity involved in this.  I’m thinking about oak leaves developing now and I thought about the continued creativity of God.  Somehow wisdom plays into that.  When I think of creativity, I think of coming up with new ideas.  When I think of wisdom, I have the thought that there is a reason for everything and that all fits together.

That tells me that creation is not arbitrary, that everything has a real reason, and how it relates to everything else.  In quantum physics they talk about the butterfly effect.  In case you missed it, they speculate that a butterfly wings flapping in Brazil could affect a tornado in Texas.  It seems impossible, but when you get down to it, not so much.  Everything God does affects everything else.

Take that principle and apply it to things like the law.  The law is proclaimed good in Psalms and Proverbs.  Some philosophers, with time on their hands got together with some theologians who needed to do some serious study.  They came up with a question, “Is something good because God declares it so or does God declare it so because it is good?”  An interesting speculation, but it doesn’t change anything.  I would like to speculate on how wisdom applies the law that was given by God, in ways that affects everything in our lives in our culture.  There are laws that we don’t understand.  There are laws that seem to be nonsense.  That itself is nonsense, because God does not waste His time on nonsense.  Nonsense is not an attribute of God.  Wisdom is.  So all of creation and all of our Truth is based on the wisdom of God.

There are so many things that I don’t understand.  That gives me a bit of comfort and realizing that maybe someday I will and if not, I know it’s still for the best.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-315: The Curse of the Blessed

One of the paradoxes that seems to come out in the Bible is the contrast between the blessing that God has given to Israel and the rejection of God that seems to permeate Israel.

God promised to Abraham that He would bless the world through his people.

(Gen 12:2 KJV)  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be 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.

This could be interpreted many ways.  God can present His standards for civilization through the law.  I think the ultimate blessing of course is the Messiah to come from the house of David.  That is certainly a blessing for the world.  I think there’s also the blessing that the Jewish people have given the world and the gifts of their genius, creativity, and productivity.  So many blessings.

But I notice, while Abraham will be blessed, there is no statement that his descendants will be blessed.  We assume that.  Maybe we should but it makes me wonder.

While they were blessing the world, they seem to be committed to a priority of defying God and going the opposite direction that He has commanded them to go.  Much of the Old Testament documents this rebellious attitude.  And Jeremiah is told to search Jerusalem to try and find one righteous person, and he cannot do it.  It is incredible.

In this there is a lesson.

Those who come loaded with gifts tend to be overcome by hubris.  That is a great word that says so much.  It speaks of being filled with your own importance.  It speaks of being aware of how gifted you are, and how other people should be grateful for your presence.  It makes you so obnoxious that no one is grateful for your presence even though you bring great benefits through your skills and contributions.  I’m talking here of our “scholars”.  I’m talking about the great scientist who have made major breakthroughs.  I’m talking about political leaders who seem to be able to get things done.  There are many people who are incredibly gifted and they know it.

Education tends to confuse people in their self-worth.  They think that had knowledge makes them better than people who have not had their opportunities or who do not have their abilities.  Well, great coordination may make you a better athlete, it does not make you a better human being.  Great ability tends to drag people down.  We see this everywhere.

There’s not much we can do for people who think too highly of themselves.  All we can really do is examine our own hearts and minds.  All we can do is submit to the authority of Almighty God, who certainly is smarter and more gifted than we are.  I guess part of the problem is that some people whether through education, or just a natural ability to inflate their egos, think of themselves as superior to God.  That is the tendency that Satan played upon when dealing with Eve in the garden.  It’s something which we have to deal with every day as he tries to get us to think we are more blessed than others.  Along with that is the thought that we deserve it.

Be a blessing.  Make sure that as you are a blessing to the world and not a curse to yourself.   As the song and scripture say,

(Jas 4:10 KJV)  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-314: Read with Your Eyes Open

I had two experiences this week separated by a couple of days.  The first took place on a zoom call.  We’re a bunch of us old guys were talking about whatever came into our heads.  Israel and its current crisis came up, and of course, that brings out the eschatology geeks who tend to think that they have it all figured out.  I didn’t bother putting my two cents worth in.  There are certain questions which can stop the discussion in its tracks, and they were having so much fun, expressing their views that I didn’t want to ask them in light of Romans,

Romans 11:26 (KJV) And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

Just who is Israel?  Who is a part of Israel?  Another way of saying it is, “Who is a Jew?”

Then this morning I was reading in Jeremiah and I came across one of those passages which the eschatology nuts just love to ignore and act like they don’t exist.

Jeremiah 44:27-28 (KJV) 27 Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them. 28 Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs.

If you take the time to read this, you’ll notice, there are two statements which cannot both be true.  The first one says that all the men of Judah will die.  The second statement is it a small number will escape.  Now either Jeremiah had an editor who was drunk that day and didn’t see the discrepancy or we’re talking about hyperbole and other types of literary devices.  You see logic says that if everyone is killed there is no one left to escape and conversely, if there’s someone left to escape everyone is not killed.

This is just one of many places where we see this kind of thing in scripture.  We need to start off with an awareness that the people who wrote this knew what they were writing and, not being stupid, they were aware of the discrepancy.  They also were aware that if they saw an angry father chasing his child across the yard, yelling, “I’m going to kill you”, he didn’t mean it.  He knew he didn’t mean it.  The kid knew he didn’t mean it.  All the bystanders knew he didn’t mean it.  They didn’t have to write an explanation. They just knew what was obvious.

So when you get involved in these kinds of discussions, have a good time.  Stick a broom handle in the spokes.  Be the odd man out.  Who knows, maybe you’ll get them to think a little bit.  Who knows, maybe you’ll learn something.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-313: The Falls of Summer

At church there was another prayer request for someone who had fallen.  Cracked bones, possible bleeding in the cranium,  bruises and an abused body.  It sounds like in this case she will be able to soldier on, but I’m thinking of others recently.  Sometimes the falls are because people my age are climbing ladders that they shouldn’t be climbing.  Sometimes it’s because they’re not paying attention.  I wonder how often it’s because we’re doing stupid things.  I know my most recent fall was when I was taking the trash down the driveway and trying to shortcut the process.  I ended up sprawled by the side of the driveway on the grass.  This is when I get thankful for my guardian angels.

This last fall could’ve caused major damage.  I could’ve caught my leg between things and broken a bone.  I could’ve fallen on the concrete and who knows what the results would be.  I could’ve landed on top of one of the rocks imbedded in my yard.  I was even close to a piece of rebar which could’ve punctured me.  Instead, I had a soft landing on the grass.  I felt it for a couple weeks, but life goes on with no major hiccups.

I think of the last few times I’ve gone down.  For me it’s usually that I’m just not paying attention or I’m doing something stupid.  The time before this was when I was walking quickly through the house with no lights on in the middle of the night.  Somebody moved a piece of furniture.  I’m not pointing any fingers, but can you spell grandchildren?  Anyway, I should not have been cruising in the dark.  I should’ve been carefully feeling my way or turning on the light.  I rank this one to stupidity.

What I’m always grateful for are those guardian angels that seem to keep a hand on me.  I try to make it a regular practice to thank them for being there even though I don’t know how many there are.  I’m still thinking of putting out milk and cookies for them but I don’t know if guardian angels like milk and cookies.  I will find out in eternity.

Walk carefully.  Don’t daydream, at least while on the move.  Don’t walk quickly in the dark house.  Make two trips with the trash rather than one.  Above all ask God to make sure that your guardian angels are sharp and on the task.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-312: Interchangeable Parts

We often look at society-changing ideas and attributed them to the genius of the inventor.  No problem.  Give credit where credit is due.  Often, though what we consider genius is simply a matter of observing the patterns and principles that God is laid down and applying them.  It is original for us.  It is truly created for us.  An example would be heavier than air flight.  The principle was demonstrated by birds as long as their were birds but it took humans ages to discover the Bernoulli principle.  Or think of Eli Whitney coming up with the concept of interchangeable parts.  Revolutionary.  It changed the whole process of making things and advanced the industrial revolution.  It brought greater comfort and prosperity to people around the world.  And yet it’s just an application of ideas that God has already been using for millennia.

I’m thinking of God’s patterns.  Recently I read a discussion of spirals that have been observed in nature.  The technical terms are Phyllotaxis spirals and the Fibonacci sequence.  Fibonacci was a mathematician in the 13th century who came up with an observation that there is a universal principle of spirals.  He came up with the fancy name for it.  If you are a mathematician or a physics major, you may know it by heart.  But he noticed that the way in which a conch shell spiraled was duplicated precisely throughout nature.  I believe one of the illustrations had to do with the inside of a sunflower, and how the different seeds were organized.  It was applied to a hurricane.  The curves, the angle, the math was the same in all of them.

When God find something that works and is very useful as a building block, He tends to reuse it. I’ll transfer your thinking over to one of the arguments of evolutionists.  They compare the similarities in DNA between human beings and chimpanzees.  The estimates I could find ranged from 95 to 99.5% similarities.  Take any number.  It sounds really impressive but means little.

It proves nothing about evolution.  And evolution since it’s arbitrary, and if you were a chance, you would have to have all kinds of things changing to make a major difference.  You wouldn’t design all of your parts to fit together in multiple ways.  Enter God.  When God finds something that works he continues to use it.  Sometimes small differences can make significant changes when you plan ahead.  Sometimes small parts make a device totally useless or useful depending on how they’re assembled.

As an example, I remember once when my friend convinced me that he knew how to rebuild the engine on my Volkswagen bus.  We took it apart.  We put it back together.  We installed it.  It ran just fine until I got out on the freeway and suddenly the engine froze up.  What was our mistake?  We put in one of the bearings on the driveshaft backwards.  It was a small piece of metal.  It looked the same as the others.  It was a fraction of a percentage of the weight and mass of the engine.  All we did was simply turn it around 180 degrees.  It fit fine.  We brought the engine to a screeching halt.

Evolution tends to go to a screeching halt with minor variations.  I don’t know what the differences are between a donkey and a horse.  It seems to me that their DNA should be compatible, but my understanding is that when you breed a donkey and a horse, you come up with a mule which may be bigger than a donkey, and possibly stronger than a horse, but is incapable of reproducing.  It’s called a dead end.

God doesn’t design dead ends.  He designs bearings to go in a certain way and you must insert them that way.  It’s not a matter of 50% chance of being good.  It’s a matter of requiring 100% chance.

I’m sure there are holes big enough in my logic to drive a mastodon through.  Fortunately, we believe that mastodons are extinct.  That itself doesn’t mean there isn’t one wandering around somewhere up in Canada or in the Rocky Mountains but for our purposes, the argument is sound.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-311: A Moment of Song

Stop what you’re doing.  Clear your throat.  Join me in a line of a song addressed toward the Lord God Almighty,

“How sweet it is to be loved by You.”

That’s all.  That will remind you and bless the heart of God.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-310: Is Quantum the God Level?

I started reading a book on quantum mechanics.  It is a heavy slog.  I have a pretty good math aptitude but not a lot of formal training.  At one point they state that if you are not comfortable with calculus then you will never understand the math involved in quantum mechanics.  I accept that about the same way that I accept the claim of a Muslim that I cannot understand Islam unless I read the Quran in Arabic.  Neither one is going to happen.  Both have to be taken on faith.  Faith is a choice.

A layman’s summary of some of the concepts of quantum mechanics involves statements that most of us are familiar with.  They claim that when you get down to the quantum level, you can know where a particle is, or you can know how fast is moving.  You cannot know both.  If you observe its location, that changes its speed.  If you measure speed, it changes its location.  They claim that just the process of observing something changes that something.  Then they will say that you can never know when or where this particle will emerge.  Or is the particle a wave?

In a sense we are down to the level, where nothing makes sense.  We are beyond the ability of our finite human minds to understand what’s going on.  It must be measured in mathematics, which are largely full of meaningless symbols and involve formulas where you can stick in whatever value you want.  It’s like having a five year old be able to make up the rules for dinner.  You never know what it’s going to be but you know it’s going to be interesting.

I’m quite comfortable conceding that I don’t understand.  There are many things I don’t understand, but I have a level of feeling for.  When I think of what I can understand about quantum theory, I come up with paradoxes that are serious.  If we can’t know what is going to happen at the quantum level in the next moment then how can we know the laws of physics are reliable?  How can we know our math works?  The rules may change in the next moment.

One of my propositions against evolution by random selection is that if evolution is simply a matter of chance, then it would seem that the laws of physics are also a matter of chance.  That would seem to say that if I believe in evolution coming up with a new species then I also should be able to believe the physics will come up with a replacement for gravity.  I could write you a math formula to prove it as long as I used symbols you had never seen before, gave them fancy names, and allocated values that fit my mood.  How are you going to prove me wrong?

In spite of this, I’m not saying there’s nothing to the ideas of quantum theory.  It may very well be totally valid.  What they’re missing is that there will come a point where you can no longer simply say, “We can’t know where this particle will emerge.”  You either have to say there’s another level we go to to find the principles to control this, or there is a controller out there determining when things will pop out so that the universe doesn’t go splat.  What a horrible dilemma for a materialist.

Is all this nonsense?  Most likely.  Prove it.


homo unius libri

Opus 2025-309: Monday Pulpit: New to Me

Sometimes a phrase that I hear will stand out in my mind.  I try to record it for later reference.  Sometimes I get it right, sometimes I just can’t get what I heard.  Sunday the pastor threw in a phrase and just went on which is OK but I didn’t get a chance to ask him about it afterwards.  He was reflecting on our sinful nature, Adam and Eve and the need for forgiveness.

What he said, was something to the effect that our sinful nature is the absence of God in our heart.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard it expressed that way before.  It makes sense.  It goes along with some of the thinking I’ve been doing, which of course makes me more open to it.  It isn’t so much a presence as a lack.  It helps to explain why we can know people who seem to be nice and yet at the same time they are lost in sin.  They may be good in themselves, but the core of their being is focused on themselves instead of being focused on Almighty God.

It goes along with my thinking that the curse of God is more the absence of blessing than an active destructive force.  It is like decaffeinated coffee.  It may taste the same to those of us without discernment and look the same but it doesn’t have the same effect.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-308: New Terms: Bluicide

Is this  good time to talk about secession?  I am not talking about Alberta.  I am not talking about California.  I am thinking about the blue counties of California.  Maybe it is time to let them go their own way.

Much of California is as sane as real Americans.  They care about their neighbors but plan on staying out of their business.  They go to work, pay their taxes, go to church, pay their taxes, go bowling, pay their taxes...you get the idea.  As a reward the crazies in the blue areas look for loopholes to happiness that they have missed.  We don’t need to say goodby to Riverside County or Shasta but LA does not deserve to be a part of us.

Let them go.

We can built tunnels with guard towers so that they can visit the Utopias they came from but let them go.  We could have testing in schools outside the cities and anyone who passed could be allowed to relocate inside a city.  We could call it bluicide.

Of course we could also just make the voting system honest and deport people who have no right to be here.  We could develop the courage to label treason as treason.  That way we could visit the cultural assets that used to make a visit to the city worthwhile but I would be willing to give up the Rose Bowl for the cause of liberty.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-307: Die Heretic

“Die heretic” is the punch line of one of the great all-time jokes.  If you don’t know it, try to Google it and see what you can find.  It’s funny because it’s based on truth.  We are so quick to demonize others on small issues.  There was a time in history when being called a heretic carried the death penalty.

We are no longer in a time like that. Does that mean that we should be free to use the term again?  I think so.

Why was heresy considered such a serious problem and previous ages?  It’s because people actually believed that having the wrong theology could send you to eternal damnation.  It wasn’t just a laughing matter.  It wasn’t just a difference of opinion.  It was eternal.

And one of the reasons why you were serious about getting rid of people who taught false doctrine was that they had the potential of polluting your children and your descendants.  It wasn’t to defend you.  You recognized heresy when you saw it.  You could take care of yourself.  Your children, however, often go through those times when they are susceptible to false teachings, whether they be theological, political, economic, or history.  If you doubt that, take a look at the kids coming out of school today, who are taught to hate America and how terrible this country has been in history when that is the opposite of what they should be taught.  It’s not a laughing matter.

So I would be willing to start using the term heresy again.  I don’t know that I’m ready to start killing people over it.  Even in Bible times, the death penalty was not administered frequently.  But it would certainly lend credence to the seriousness of the issues.

There are other serious words that we need to get back into using.  Treason and traitor come to mind.  How about pervert?  How about liar?  How about lazy?  For that matter we even could start using the word riot again.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-306: No Thank You

Long before we learned to feel our modern sense of inadequacy, communities were gathering together for mutual protection.  People relied on each other.  It was us against them.  With specialization some eventually excelled in the use of rocks and clubs.  In the age of muscles they became the chiefs and tried to tell everyone else what to do.

As society developed you had city states and eventually feudalism.  In feudalism the local baron was resonsible to keep you safe.  In return you became a serf and worked the land.  Things progressed and eventually we got to relying on the government for protection with standing armies and police forces.  They were there to keep us safe.

Now we’re down to the point where we want the government to protect us from feeling any kind of discomfort in our daily walk.  We have trigger warnings, safe zones and micro-aggressions.  We feel that big brother must keep all snowflakes from melting.

It is all to keep us safe.  Our food comes with nutrition labels and our cars with air-bags.  When you go to the doctor you fill out enough paper to denude a forest.  Think about all the things the government does to keep us safe.  

Be grateful that someone is watching out for you.  Where would you be if you did not have a coffee cup that warns you the contents are hot.  It is frightening beyond the imagination but not as frightening as it is becoming for people who want to live their lives without government regulations.  They become enemies of society because they don’t want to be as safe as the government does.

Sad.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-305: From Desperate to Hopeful

As I was reading in Psalm 13, I came across a sense of desperation and desolation in David’s heart and mind.  Consider this verse,

Psalms 13:3 (KJV) Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

Sounds pretty desperate to me.

That made me think about how positive I am right now and how much I have to thank God for and how blessed I am and I ask myself have I ever felt this desperate?  When I think about it, the answer is, “Yes”.  I have known times of financial distress.  I’ve known times of emotional turmoil involving family and friends.  I’ve been in war zones.  I could make up a list if I wanted to, but unless I go digging for them, they remain buried in my past.  I know they’re there, but I don’t dwell on them.

From there I got to thinking about how often in different family relationships, and friendships we resort to forgiveness.  I got to thinking about how forgiveness is an expression of love, but then I ask myself, “Is forgiveness mentioned in the Love Chapter?”  My first answer was,  “No”.  But then I thought about it a little more.

The word forgiveness is not used, but there is a phrase that approaches it.

1 Corinthians 13:5 (NASB95) does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

I used a modern translation because the Authorized Version does not reach the depth of meaning here.  What it declares is that love does not keep accounts.  It does not have a profit and loss statement.  It doesn’t carefully document every output and input.  Love moves on.  You can think of this is a type of forgiveness but there is a subtle difference between classical forgiveness and love chapter forgiveness.

The difference I think is that in I Corinthians 13 forgiveness is not asked for, it is bestowed as a principal.  When you set things aside and move on, and don’t dwell on them and harbor them and respond based on how you have been wronged, it is a stronger form of forgiveness than just making a statement, “I forgive you.”

Classical forgiveness would involve a dialogue where two people get together and interact.  It might involve confession and asking for forgiveness.  It might involve admission of wrong and repentance.  I think of it, possibly as a conversation.

One of my thoughts on this chapter is that it needs to be considered in the context of the statement by John that “God is love.”

This chapter when it defines love defines attributes of God.  Think about how it starts about love being long-suffering.  What a perfect example of how God responds to us.  He is patience personified.  God putting up with us is the definition of long-suffering.  Think about how long he put up with the rebellion of Israel each time before He would lash out with punishment.  So God in a sense does not keep records.  We have verses that seemed indicate that God takes our sins and buries them someplace where He doesn’t refer to them anymore.  That is a good thing.  How well does it compare to the idea of forgiveness?

I’m thinking, and it’s just my thinking, that God has two levels of responding to our failures in our sins.  On one level are the every day shortcomings that we can’t seem to avoid.  I think of those moments of losing our temper in traffic or glaring at the crack in the sidewalk we tripped over.  I think that possibly God just kind of doesn’t keep an account of those.

On the other hand, we have the major sins of our lives, the open rebellion.  We have those times where we look at the known will of God and we consciously go the other way.  I’m speaking here hypothetically.  I’m sure none of us would ever do that.  However, when it happens, God is willing to restore us, but it requires repentance and confession.  It is not automatic.

So just as my mind wanders on this idea of hard times and suffering and moves to forgiveness, I try to define how God deals with us.  I am quite comfortable talking to God in the morning knowing that my behavior is not perfect.  I know that He accepts me.  I also know that I have a heart that has been touched by the Holy Spirit, and does not have any rebellion resistant to the world of God.

I hope it remains that way.  I hope you can say the same.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-304: What Potato Chip?

There are things that we know in our inner core being as wrong, and yet often we go ahead with them anyway.  I think of how when I’m on one of my glutton pilgrimages, I will sneak food into the house, tuck it away in the corner where no one will look, and eat it when I think no one will notice.  I can’t find anything in the Bible that says eating potato chips in the closet of my bedroom is a sin.  In an objective sense it’s not, but in a subjective sense I know that I’m doing something I’m not supposed to.

In the same way many of our bigger actions which are sins are covered up because we know what we are doing is wrong.  God seems to want us to tithe.  That is one of the reasons why we insist on secret giving and swearing the counters to silence.  It’s not because we don’t want people knowing how generous we are with God.  It’s usually because we’re being cheap and we don’t want them to know.  We forget that God knows exactly how much we made, and how much we gave.

Of course, you can come to some of the ultimate violations.  This could easily be having an affair with your neighbors wife.  It could be getting an abortion.  It could be cheating a customer on the contract that you had with him.  Sin comes in many forms.  In your heart you know they’re wrong.  That does not stop you.

Often it starts small and grows.  I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced a lab experiment using petri dishes.  You put the growth material in the bottom and just put it in one little speck of pollution and before you know it the dish is full.  In our moral lives we start small, but it grows very quickly.  I think that’s what Jeremiah is referring to here,

Jeremiah 19:5 (KJV) They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:

I don’t think that the Jews started off thinking that they were going to take their children and throw them into the furnace, at least not at the beginning.  At first, it was simply a matter of being invited to a party in the next village.  It went from there to flirting with a cute little girl, who had a pagan father.  It might progressed to involve temple prostitutes or wild and crazy sexual exploits that were perfectly normal in that pagan culture.  And the slope gets deeper and more slippery with every step.

With the first step these Jews of ancient Israel knew that what they were doing had been forbidden, but it seem like such a small thing.  It’s just a party.  But they knew that party was forbidden and went anyway.  Somehow they thought they were smarter than God, and they began suppressing that inner voice that said this is wrong.

Sometimes that going ahead traps us into proclaiming that what we are doing is good when we know it isn’t.  We have the blatant parading of our second or third wife in fancy restaurants.  I speak not from experience, just observation.

I think this is where the modern church is.  For the most part they are teaching things that they know are not true and living lives that they know are rejecting God’s standards.  They may be able to suppress it.  They may surround himself with people who sing the same chorus and dance to the same tune.  If they were honest with themselves, they would remember that first step where they said, “I know more than God.  Don’t be a spoilsport.”

In the final analysis, we are only responsible for our own choices.  You cannot reform an entire country, a wayward denomination, or a local church that has sunk into pagan worship.  Often you will find no one willing to listen.  Make sure that you are willing.  Make sure that the one you were listening to is the Holy Spirit.  Make sure that the literature that your mind is absorbing is God’s word.

Remember that commercial talking about potato chips, which said, “I bet you can’t eat just one.”  You never thought of it as a theological statement.  Think again.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-303: Celebrity Quest

I just listened to a discussion between Michael Shellenberger and Zuby.  One of the topics that they discussed is one that I’m seeing more and more in the world of celebrities and scholars.  It is the show called Quest for Spirituality.  It’s never phrased as a return to the God of the Bible, or embracing Jesus, or becoming what God wants us to be.  It’s always phrased in general terms of “spirituality”.

Sometimes they will talk about how vital the cultural foundations of Christianity are to civilization.  Sounds serious.  What they leave out is the fact that Jesus is central to Christianity.  We’re watching a another case of redefining vocabulary.  For a long time we have talked about the materialistic world as opposed to the spiritual world of Christians.  Now the materialistic world is reaching out and embracing, or stealing, our concept of being spiritual and of the spiritual world.

Be aware.  Nothing is really changed.  What used to be called the materialistic world of the enlightenment was really a rejection of the things of God while embracing of the standards and values of Satan.  Satan is quite willing to disguise himself as an angel of light.  He is quite willing to co-opt a lot of the good things about our faith as long as he keeps people from embracing Jesus.

It’s still the same old story.  Anything but Jesus.  Anything but submission to the God of the universe.  Anything but removing us from being the center of our world and from thinking of ourselves as gods.  As long as we are at the center, Satan is happy.  He realizes that there are only two real choices.  We can introduce artificial ingredients, preservatives, GMO grains and all kinds of other things, but we never can get to the real thing because that would remove us from the center.  The Enlightenment was not about thinking, or being willing to consider facts.  The early scientists, who took us into the scientific revolution, were believers for the most part.  It was only when the culture of scholars rejected the centrality of God that the full enlightenment came on and started destroying western civilization.

Satan and his minions rejoice.  The answer to our problems is not celebrity spiritualization.  The answer is the same it has it is always been, submission to God and accepting Jesus as our savior.  It seems simplistic, but so is knowing which way to turn the faucet when you want the water to come out.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-302: Who not How

Days are not the issue.

As I was sitting and meditating on chapter 1 in Genesis the issue of creation versus evolution has a way of always creeping in.  In this case, my thoughts went to the real issue.

Young earth creationists get all hot under the collar when someone challenges the idea that God created the world in six 24 hour days.  In doing so they miss the whole point of the controversy.  The key difference between evolutionist and creationists is not the time involved but the cause.

I submit that if in someway the entire six days of creation were removed from the Bible, and we just went from verse two down to man being created in God’s image, we would lose nothing of significance as far as Christian theology goes, and the big gap between us and the evolutionist would still be there.

The difference is not the steps, the methods, the theories, the order of creation or anything else in those verses.  The controversy is in verse one where we claim God did it and they say there is no God.

I would suggest that you stop wasting your time arguing about whether it’s six days or 16 billion years.  The difference is not between six and however many days that would be.  The difference is between one or none.  The Gap between those is bigger than any gap that could be established within the realms of time and space.

Relax.  God created the universe.  God inspired the Bible.  Good science and good theology will always go together.  If there are bumps then buckle your seat belt and keep going.  You have nothing to fear.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-301: I Am Not Alone

Recently at a family dinner. I was talking with my son-in-law, and he shared his recent experience with lawnmowers.  I opened the discussion by asking if he was using the riding mower that he had picked up second hand.  That got him off on a new mower he had, given to him by a neighbor, which was working.  That seemed a little strange.

He shared with me how his old push mower was being mulish.  He had worked on the carburetor, made adjustments, made changes that I would have nightmares about and it still wouldn’t work.  This struck a resonance in me because I am totally hopeless when it comes to maintenance on the machines.

Why was this a big deal?  He is one of those guys who seems to be able to fix or build anything.  I would go to him for advice on how to get my lawnmower working.  All of his expertise did him no good.  It was very encouraging for me to know that, in his old lawnmower, he had met his match.  I’m not gloating.  I am not rejoicing about his difficulty.  I’m just rejoicing in the fact that I am not alone in submission to the world of mechanics.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-300: The Pacemaker Plot

In recent discussion about the invasive nature of technology into our lives, we talked about how the government is able to invade our computers, phones, TVs and other technology and listen to us when we don’t think they have a right to butt in.

There was discussion about what we can do about it.  How can we keep this from happening?  How can we turn off my phone?  Is it enough to turn it off or must we remove the battery?  And ultimately we came down to the special sleeves that theoretically block the radio waves and such.  All of the discussion is lost on me.

I’m afraid I have to laugh and point to my chest and simply say, “Pacemaker”.  My pacemaker radiates a connection to a unit in my home so that it is constantly being monitored when I am in range.  Anyone with a brain would realize that means no matter where I go the government can trace me.  I am a walking GPS for them.  I don’t know if it has a microphone but I would not be surprised.

Now do conspiracy theories.  It seems like just about everybody you run into now has a pacemaker or some kind of built-in technology.  It could be an obvious broadcasting unit or it could be something else like an artificial knee.  Do people really need all these things or are they being pushed in such away that more people fall under the observation that the government.

It’s too late for me to do anything about it.  You might want to think about you.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-299: Trump or Follow Suit

You should be familiar with a statement of Jesus found in the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 6:33 (KJV) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

This is one of the key commands of Jesus.  How does that compare or contrast with one of Paul’s key statements,

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

Is Paul trumping Jesus?  I don’t know if you play cards, but in many card games, there is either one card that will take anything or one suit which will overpower all others.  Under certain circumstances, if hearts was played first, if you don’t have hearts, you can play a spade, which if it’s trump will defeat a higher card of hearts.  Is this what Paul does?  Or is he just taking the lead of Jesus and explaining it in greater detail?

One thing that we need to understand about this is that Jesus was speaking to a Jewish audience.  He was assuming that they were a part of the nation of Israel.  And that since they did not need to enter into the covenant, they should’ve already been there.  Leave aside the individual aspect of salvation that we emphasize and just look at this command.

This is a statement of obedience and action.  It is a statement of priorities.  It is a statement made to explain the responsibilities of being a part of the kingdom of God.  Paul’s statement on the other hand was about how you were to enter the kingdom.  Neither one rules the other out.  Both are scripture.  They give the two sides of the salvation coin which would be counterfeit if it only had one.

So believe and seek.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-298: Pest Control

The weather is warming up and that tends to mean the bugs get to be more of a nuisance.  In the dark of the morning when it gets above 75 or so mosquitoes tend to come out.  This afternoon I was sitting on the front porch.  It was around 90, and the flies were starting to make my acquaintance.  There must be something we can do about this.  There must be something besides chemicals and pesticides.

One thought I had was drawn from the world of nature.  I think we’ve all seen pictures of alligators with birds picking their teeth and other animals, which would normally feed on these birds, sitting there calmly, while the birds rid them of pests.  Why could we not train birds to sit beside us and nail the mosquitoes as they came around?  It seems doable.  If you can train a dog to bring in the paper, why can’t you train a bird to eat what it normally eats only doing so at your convenience.

Or perhaps there might be some useful application of AI.  What about having tiny little drones or robots, armed with low wattage lasers that would circle around us and zap anything that came close?  It certainly seems possible, and if AI is a smart as they say it is, it could do the job.  Of course that highlights the problem we would run into if the AI drones went rogue and decided that we were a pest to be eliminated.  I understand it already happened when a group tried to turn off a robot and it didn’t want to be turned off.  The Clickbait has it attacked the people trying to turn it off.  I’m sure there’s more to it than that but it makes for a good story.  If you add to that the fact that the green movement feels that human beings are a disease that infests the world and needs to be removed then perhaps the Sierra Club and whoever’s ahead in the AI race could get together and start dealing with the superfluous population under the guise of pest control.  They might recruit Gaia also.

If you believe in evolution, then you might also believe that the mosquitoes would find a way to attack the robots. Maybe that’s a fantasy too far.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-297: AI Dawn

This morning God blessed us with what I’m calling an AI Dawn.  It’s presented in pastel water colors.  The way in which the Grays slide into the pink and are highlighted by the surprise of blue is not natural.  At least it doesn’t look natural to my untrained eye and that is the mark of AI.

One way in which you know a production is AI is because there’s just something that doesn’t make sense.  There is a clash in our sensibilities.  I think this is probably one of the ways in which the programmers of AI have fallen into the trap of trying to be like God.  If you look deep enough, God’s creation makes sense, after all, it’s rooted in wisdom.  At the same time that sense is not obvious.

With God it makes sense because it is fulfilling.  It brings a satisfaction that we weren’t expecting.  With AI it brings a clash and a dissonance that is unsettling.  I’ll settle for God’s version.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-296: Michael and Zuby

I just finished listening to a podcast from about a year ago, where a man named Zuby interviewed Michael Shellenberger.  It was interesting and full of surprises.  It also contains some clarification.

I’ve never listened to one of the Zuby’s podcasts before.  I was very impressed with him.  He asked intelligent questions, questions that were not easy to answer, and had the potential of embarrassing his guest.  He still asked them.

With Shellenberger I have very mixed emotions.  I have listened to him before.  I think I read one of his books.  At times he seems to be just a left wing clone.  At other times he seemed to actually have his brain turned on.  It was interesting that Zuby noticed this, and at one point when Shellenberger had listed a bunch of positions that had drawn him to the left, Zuby pointed out they were actually positions of the right.  Shallenberger gave a somewhat embarrassed laughed and acknowledged the point.  All I could do a scratch my head.  Knowing he was being deceptive did not keep him from being deceptive.  For instance, he said that one of the things that drew him up to the left was their encouragement of free speech and rejection of censorship.  I know, I hear you screaming.  When it was pointed out that that is a position of the conservatives today he gave some mumbo-jumbo about how that used to be different.  Now I am older than he is and I don’t remember a time when it was different.  Since I was not raised in a liberal family maybe I was not paying attention.

It became clear that he lived in a mysterious La La Land that time had forgotten.  I came to the conclusion that Shellenberger was a liberal at heart but a conservative in the thinking part of his brain.  It left me, wondering whether reading his books would be worthwhile.  If he is so confused, how can I accept his logic or his principles.

It’s a good thing the world doesn’t depend on me and my ideas of right and wrong.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-295: Who Knows?

Did Abraham know that faith was counted as righteousness for himself?  I’m not sure that he ever was concerned about the theology involved in his conversations and obedience with God.  Unlike Moses and Jeremiah we do not see him arguing with God.  We see him packing up and going.

Faith in action or you might say faith was action.

I would suggest as a train of thought to investigate if perhaps faith is not really a conscious choice as much as it is a simple application of obedience.  When Peter stepped out of the boat we see no indication that he spent a lot of time debating the move.  He went.  He walked on water.  He only ran into trouble when he began to analyze what he was doing.  Did Paul realize his letters would be preserved as holy scripture or was he simply obeying the Spirit?  Have you ever wondered it Moses got wet when he struck that first rock?  Imagine the amount of water that would need to come out to supply a million people and their animals.  Did Moses swing from the side or stand right in front of the rock and go overhand?  God put him right in front.  Simple obedience.  No debate.

Did Moses discuss the nature of God with Yahweh?  I think he was too overcome with wonder and awe to even contemplate such a thing.  It’s possible that if we are in the presence of God, with the details of his character we get lost in the glory.

And yet we want to investigate every point of theology.  We don’t want to disconnect our reason and seeking truth but it might be a good habit to start out allowing our spiritual reflexes to get us started on a moment by moment basis.  Who knows, maybe someday something you do our say will be quoted as a great expression of truth.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-294: Truth and Mirrors

I am noticing something in the thinking of people in the secular world.  The thought process applies whether it is in science, business, government, theology, anything.

It first jumped out at me when I was watching Joe Rogan interview Elon Musk, #2281.  It was a good interview but Rogan would not accept statements of Musk and kept pushing for a sudden breakthrough that would fit with his world view.  Instead of following the evidence he kept bringing up the “what if” of doubt.  He would say, “But I want to believe”, and so he just kept pushing.

I noticed it again watching Peter Robinson interview three men on Uncommon Knowledge about the progress science was making in looking for answers in the universe.

It was an interesting discussion.  Early on you realized that Robinson had assembled a panel that did not agree on things.  That often can lead to a more interesting exchange.

What struck me was the perspective of the odd-man-out.  At first I thought it was simply because he was a bit skeptical of the implications of the fine tuning of the universe.  It implies that there is a fine tuner.  He would not even approach that.  Eventually it became clear that he was a practicing Jew of the non-believing type.  He was a cultural Jew who was too sophisticated to actually believe the religious stuff.  Because of that I include him in the “secular” group I mentioned above.

His thinking followed the same pattern of Joe Rogan.  He kept asking, “What if?”  That is a good question to ask in science and needs to be followed up by the next steps of the scientific method:  Develop an hypothesis and test it.  Unfortunately he did not go there.  One reason he did not go there was because his “what if” was based on a refusal to recognize facts.  It was similar to the “Why?” of you five year old in the back seat of the car.

We are facing a culture that has its mind made up.  Science, sociology, psychology and even theology are not longer looking for truth.  They are looking for affirmation.  They want the approval of the universe.  If they can’t get that then they are quite content to achieve the approval of the mirror.

Don’t fall for it.  Don’t be afraid of the big questions.  Don’t be afraid of the big answers.  Remember that the science is never settled and in a sense we can also develop deeper understanding of the fundamental truths found in the Bible.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-293: Names I Missed

I have already reviewed the names given to the three persons of the trinity.  Yahweh (Jehovah) which means “I am”, Jesus (Yeshua) meaning savior and Immanuel announcing that God is with us, and the Paraclete which is translated various ways such as Helper or Comforter.  I recently came across a list of additional names that I should have remembered.

Isaiah 9:6 (KJV) For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

With the perspective of the New Testament these are terms referring to Jesus, the Son.  I am used to reading them and hearing them but I found a few interesting things about the list as I broke it down.

Take the two terms “Wonderful” and “Counselor”.  They are put together different ways but when I looked at them with the Blue Letter Bible software I was surprised to find that “wonderful” (6382) was a noun, not an adjective, and “counselor” (3289) was a verb being used as an active participle.  It made me think of an English part of speech called a gerund which is a verb with “ing” added, turning it into a noun.  It would seem that the two terms either stand alone or “wonderful” becomes “wonder” or “wonderful one”.

You run into the same type of thing further down with “everlasting” (5703) “Father” (1).  “Everlasting” is a noun.  It is the same grammatical structure as “Prince of Peace”.  I might suggest “Father of Eternity”.

Hebrew is still a mystery to me even with all the crutches available.  The mysteries are deep and wonderful.  Still, the names are significant because they tell us who Jesus is.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-292: Opposite of Replacement

A friend likes to accuse me of being a believer in “replacement theology”.  At first I was like a little boy who didn’t know what the insult was about, and said “No, I’m not.”   The more I study the more I tend to say, “Maybe I am.”  Like me you may wonder what Replacement Theology is.  It seems to involve the idea that the church has replaced Israel as God’s Chosen People.  At its extreme it can evidently become quite anti-Semitic and be more focused on discrediting the Jews than lifting up the church.  

Most of us are familiar with the concept that God chose the children of Abraham to be a blessing to the world.  They were given the law.  The Messiah, Jesus, was to come from the decendents of David.  Is all that unconditional or are their some “if’s” involved?

Consider the following and realize that it is one of many places we see this.  The setting is the final dedication of the Temple and God is addressing Solomon.

2 Chronicles 7:16-20 (KJV) 16 For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. 17 And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments; 18 Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel. 19 But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; 20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.

Here you have double sets of if/then.  The first was a conditional promise to Solomon for the same covenant that had been offered to David.  The second is the clear statement about what would happen if Solomon turned away from God.  It promised that they would be plucked out by the roots from God’s land if Solomon turned away.  That sounds pretty clear.  If they disobeyed God and turned other gods, they will be removed from the land.  Generally when you pluck something out it dies.  It does not come back at a later date.  What you need to add to the equation is something that most Christians don’t know:  At the end of his life, Solomon did all of the things that God forbid him from doing.

So which time was God speaking literally and which figuratively?  Is God done with Israel?  I am still in process on this.  I am sure there will be more to come.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-291: Always Question

In church Sunday a man shared something that was going on in politics, and offered us a ray of hope.  He maintained that our state legislature had taken a bold step forward.  It sounded even better when he quoted the Constitution in support of what they’ve done.  I was impressed.  We were all impressed.

As I got home and reflected on what he shared it just didn’t seem like it was seamless.  I wasn’t familiar with the part of the Constitution that he had quoted so I went to the trouble of looking it up.  So far, so good.  This is what we should do.  Check our sources.  Check our facts.  Check our friends as well as our enemies.  Just because people are friends and are on our side doesn’t mean that they always get things right.

In this case I remembered where he said it was in the Constitution, so I was able to locate it and read it.  I read with anticipation.  Suddenly a wall of water washed away my enthusiasm.  What I read was almost the exact opposite of what had been quoted to me.  I read it and reread it.  I guess if I wanted to, I could warp it enough to justify the enthusiasm he was sharing, but no one who is objective would buy it.

I hope to see him and ask him about it in the future.  Maybe I heard him wrong.  Maybe I had my reference wrong.  Maybe the Google AI has rewritten the constitution in my computer.  And of course, maybe he was wrong.  Those are all good things to check as long as they are done with courtesy and respect, but the most important thing for us to do is to check.  Just because we like what we hear, doesn’t mean that it is correct or true.  That is a hard lesson but a very important one.

Keep in mind that we are on the side of the angels and the angels don’t confuse their sources.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-290: Remember Fort Sumter

We’ve had a lot of talk over the past couple years about the potential for another Civil War.  The left has been pushing with all their might trying to get people on the right to their flash point.  They believed their own propaganda about red necks and Bible believers.

I wonder if the left is tired of waiting and we are beginning to see them move towards the violence they have tried to generate.  I wonder if they are collectively ready to cross the line of  defiance that triggers the federal government.  Is Los Angeles the new Fort Sumter?  These riots could be the first step.  President Trump has mobilized the National Guard.  He’s brought out the Marines.  Instead of calming down it seems like the left is doubling down.  They are threatening to go on tour.  I was told they were advertising for paid positions as protestors in a city my friends live in.  Reports are that San Francisco is on the verge.  They have plans to start riots all over the country.

What do you do if someone starts a war and nobody comes?  That is one of the silly questions of the 60's.  Actually, we’re kind of seeing that kind of thing in England where people are not even allowed to defend themselves.  What happens when the forces of tyranny and chaos come into your neighborhood to your front door?  What happens when the large numbers of young men who were brought into the country to start an insurrection actually start the insurrection?

We may see the federal government pushing back against the forces of destruction.  They were expecting to get conservative citizens to rise up.  Instead the liberals have exploded and are asking to be slapped down.  How far will this go?  As long as I live in the hill country of Texas and don’t go into the blue cities I think I will be untouched.  If they decide to bring it to us then I hope there are enough American citizens ready to protect their families.  

Pray for peace but not at any price.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-289: Location, Location, Location

As I sit enjoying the peace and quiet of my Texas Hill country morning I wave at the young man across the street as he pulls his car out of the driveway and heads off to some productive activity.  I have no idea what it is, but the pattern is either a job or serious educational pursuits.  However, you want to look at it he is making his contribution or preparing to make his contribution to our society.

Why would I share this with you?  Why would you care?

I’m watching this in the context of being aware of the rioting going on in Los Angeles and possibly many other cities by this time.  I have not checked the news today.  The rioting is going on because certain illegals have come into the country and don’t want the rule of law to be carried out.  It did not start out as a massive round up of everyone with a Latino background.  It had nothing to do with racial issues.  It was simply a matter of serving warrants, specifically naming individuals who are known to be breaking the law.  As a result, we have people claiming the justification of racism, tyranny, and who knows what else out destroying Southern California.

I fled Southern California years ago.  I’m not sure that it doesn’t deserve to be destroyed.  But there are a lot of innocent people getting destroyed in the process.

Where this comes home to me is that the family living across the street is Latino.  The young man had generous black hair and skin that was noticeably darker than mine.  It should not matter.  We don’t spend a lot of time talking to our neighbors but we have talked to the head of the family a couple times.  He is a disabled veteran.  He has served his country.  He seems to be a normal guy and and his family have fit into this neighborhood seamlessly.  If you are looking for stereotypes, you can find them.  There are many cars in the driveway.  He has his married children living with him.  He mows his grass on a regular basis.  There is no trash in the yard.  They live quietly without blaring music.  Oh, wait, I’ve drifted over into White stereotypes.

The point is, America is not a racist country.  People of any ethnic group can move into a neighborhood and be accepted.  They can live the life.  They can dream the dream.  What makes them accepted?  They’re here legally.  They are doing things according to the rule of law.  They accept our cultural values.  What goes on inside the four walls, I have no idea.  In a very real sense, I don’t care because I don’t see anything that would make me think they are secret activities that are anathema to American culture.

The riots in Los Angeles or not because of America being a cesspool of racism. They are caused because America haters are on a rampage doing everything they can to destroy the center of exceptionalism.  I realize that the response can get out of hand.  I guess that’s part of the risk you take when you start attacking people issuing warrants.

The question remains, is it coming to a city near you?  Keep your eyes open and think before you leave home.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-288: Free for All

I finished reading a book by Roger Forster and Paul Marston, and one of the things that struck me at the end was how they talked about Augustine and his influence down through the ages.  He changed the direction of the early church on several key doctrines.  One belief he had in common with the Reformation was that the dominant religious forces all advocated a lack of human free will.  Another was the application of political and physical pressure to enforce the will of the dominant religion be it Roman Catholic or Lutheran.

Islam also has that belief and attitude.  Do it their way or die.  A sense of a fatalism is also part of their principle beliefs.

They all share this with the socialists whether it be from Marx or Hitler.  The state must dominate and individuals must submit.  So you have the state as God and they cut out the middleman.

I am rereading the books and hope to respond to them more.

Forster, Roger and Marston, Paul.  God’s Strategy in Human History, Volume II, Reconsidering Key Biblical Ideas.  England:  PUSH Publishing, 2013.

homo unius libris

Opus 2025-287: On the Street: Victimhood Pays

I saw a billboard advertising a local lawyer.  He was bragging about having reached $1 billion in payment and settlements.  I have unconsciously watched the number climb over the last few years.  My cynical nature wonders how much of that billion actually made its way into the lives of the clients.

I can’t help but think of the problems we have as a country.  One of them is represented by that billboard:  Lawyers who make themselves wealthy on the backs of victims.  I don’t know if it was this lawyer but one billboard says, “free consultation.”  The reason it is free is that they only want to take on cases which are slam dunks.  It isn’t a matter of merit as much as knowing how to apply the law for victory.

In one way I can’t blame them.  I am sure that if they did not deliver they would be selling shoes or flipping hamburgers.  They have someone do the homework while they pose for billboard pictures.  In one way it is no different than athletes getting multi-million dollar contracts for playing a children’s game.  I guess the difference is that no one forces me to pay for the tickets to a ball game but insurance awards are born by everyone.

Stay safe.  May you never need a settlement.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-286: Two Forms of Prayer

“Pray for me.”  How often have you heard those words?  I would imagine fairly frequently if you were in a church that claims to believe in prayer and the power of prayer.  I’ve even heard it from people who don’t particularly believe anything but have a superstitious conviction that Christians have a hotline to the supernatural.  One of the lessons I learned from a teacher years ago was that often people look at us as surrogates to God.  Rather than belive and trust Him, they come to us and ask us to pray for them.  While I might respond that I will pray for them, I don’t think they understand that my prayers will not necessarily be what they are asking for.  I might mention healing in association with their name, but more so I would ask for their salvation and God‘s hand upon the spiritual walk.

I think of prayer in my own life is having two different formats.  The first one is the standard, evangelical, prayer list.  This is what you usually get in the pastoral prayer on Sunday morning or after a time of sharing prayer requests.  It’s like a shopping list style of prayer.  Personally, I don’t see any evidence for that in the scripture.  If you look at the Lords Prayer that Jesus gave us as an example, there is very little of the kind of requests that we get at a prayer meeting.  I will still do it.  I have a prayer map that I try to go through every day.  I have it organized in such a way that I hope I don’t forget anything that I have committed to praying for.  At the same time it’s kind of hard to know what the real needs are and what God wants to see happen.  Well, I will pray for healing, or a job, or a family situation but on those I will generally tack on the words of Jesus, “Not my will, but they will be done.”  About the only thing that I can pray for with a conviction that God is speaking through me is salvation.

The second form of prayer is more along the lines of what I think Jesus did, when He would sneak off in the morning to be by Himself and pray.  There was probably some supplication.  He probably lifted up each one of His disciples.  But I think the main focus of His prayer was listening to His father, and just sensing His presence.  That’s what I tend to do in the mornings and when I’m out on the porch.  I will start with a few well worn scriptures and meditating on them such as Genesis 1:1.  Or, I will think about the conversation God had with Moses when He told him that His name was Yahweh.  My thoughts already passed from that point, but they are always trying to listen to what God might be saying to me at that time.  I think there are a lot of similarities between what I consider prayer in which some people would consider Christian meditation.

If God could get tired, I think He would get tired of the endless lists we give Him.  It’s like every day is Christmas and we want to give him a reminder of all the things that we want for life to be good.  As I said, I do it as one of those things I do in submission to the leaders of the church and people who walk with Jesus.  That doesn’t mean that I considered it the most accurate form of prayer but I’m willing to give it a shot.

When I pray my prayer map and come to the end, I feel I have checked the box.  When I finally leave the porch and heading to begin next portion of my day, I feel like I have made a foundation and absorbed the attitude of God and being in the presence of the Almighty.  I think that’s more in keeping with what God wants in our prayer time but that could be just me.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-285: Providential Healthcare

When I was young, I pretty much took my health for granted.  I got sick, sure, we all did.  Colds were a part of life.  There might be physical intrusion, such a splitters, sprains or even broken bones.  You just took it and went with it.

Somewhere, as you grew up, you became aware of such things as personal hygiene, sanitation, not jumping off of high buildings, knowing that motorcycles sometimes fell over with you on them, you know, a general awareness that at least you were mortal.  Eventually, you grew up. Then you were old.

As I look at the lack of trust that has been generally defined by the Covid crisis, I find that my trust for medicine, and the medical profession is at an all time low.  This happens at the time of life when you begin to think you need the doctors more.  We were having a discussion recently on the revelation that President Biden had cancer.  What type of cancer he had is one that every man pretty much has to be aware of and is concerned about.  It is also something that doesn’t just suddenly appear, but slowly grows and develops.  Anyone who has regular physical check ups knows that men are supposed to get a test to see whether they are having problems with their prostate.  You would think it’s a no-brainer, but we are talking about Joe Biden.  With him everything is a no-brainer.

Then someone brought up the fact that doctors are telling men they don’t need to take the test anymore because it’s a slow growing cancer and not something to really worry about when you get to a certain age.  I personally experienced that, not the cancer but the advice.  When I switched from my private insurance to Medicare, I was told that I didn’t need to have the test anymore because it was such a slow, growing cancer.  It would not get me before old aged did.  My question was, “Just how do you know how long I’m going to live?”  I understand it takes about seven years for this to develop.  I was told seven years ago that I didn’t need the test anymore.  Does that mean that they only thought I would live till now and that I should just give up, roll over and play dead?

What most people, who trust their medical professional, don’t understand is that you can still request or demand that they do the test.  If you demand it, they will do it.  If they won’t, find a new doctor.  As you get older, you have to become more and more an advocate of your own health.

Also, as I get older, I realize more frequently that my health is in the hands of God.  It is providential.  I accept the fact that I will not die one day earlier than God allows, nor will I live one day longer than He plans.  No problem.  I’m ready to go.  I’m ready to stay.  Kind of like the apostle Paul,

(Php 1:25-6 KJV)  And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.

I will continue to make use of what is available.  The focus will be on that slice of ailments that a doctor’s advice might give wisdom or which might actually cure something.  I don’t expect to get a lot of instant gratification.  I already have the Greatest Physician.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-284: Bumpers and Plates: Pick

I don’t remember seeing this before.  On the back of a large 18 wheeler truck were two signs.  The one on the left said “Passing side”;  the one on the right, “suicide”.

Humor is where you find it.  Keep your eyes open.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-283: How Inspired Is Inspired?

I believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God.  There are a lot of questions on how to define that or apply it, but at its core, it means that the Bible we have was planned, edited, produced and overseen by God.  That is all in the past tense.  Also, in the past tense is the molding and the gathering of the books, establishment of the Cannon, and the breaking down into chapters and verses.  All of that would be more current in the matter of inspiration, but I still believe that God had a hand through the work of the Holy Spirit and molding this book.

I could go a lot of directions with this, but I thought I was having this morning started with realizing how appropriate the first verse of the Bible is.  Actually, it started with thinking about how much of the Bible is written in figurative language, with hyperbole and metaphor and such.  From there I went to Genesis 1:1.  I thought it an appropriate way to start a book that is describing to us who God is, and how we can come to live in His presence for eternity.

Genesis 1:1 (KJV) In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

At first, I told myself, this is an incredibly literal statement, but then I took another look.  It’s possible when you consider the magnitude of God and the awesomeness of creation that the phrase “heaven and earth” is meant in a figurative sense.  It is not figurative in the sense that it was some mysterious ether that He created, but the fact that there are no words in any human language that can describe the grandeur of His creation.

So yes, this verse is an awesome way to start out the salvation history that God wants to communicate to us with.

How about at the other end?

Revelation 22:21 (KJV) The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Since the focus of God’s salvation history was the incarceration, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, this is a powerful way to finish.

Could I have picked better verses out of the entire text of the Bible to start and finish with?  I doubt it.  I will just trust the God who is in charge even to the point of ordering the books that we have today.

I remember a saying that people used to crowing when they were playing cards as they laid down their winning hand, “Read them and weep”.  It’s a bit different for us as God lays down his winning hand, includes us in the pot, and moves on to return in victory.  We would say, “Read them, and rejoice.”

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-282: Headlines: The Great Divide

All the rush today is about the split between Musk and Trump.  They have had a falling out.  Verbal attacks have been exchanged.  The end is near.

Balderdash.

Keep in mind a few things.  The first is Fake News and the technique of editing.  Have Musk and Trump had words?  Probably.  Is it as big a deal as the media wants it to be?  Probably not.  My wife made me sit and watch a bit of Fox on the topic.  What struck me was that most of the quotes were carefully edited and most of the interviews were with Democrats who hate Trump.  They also hate Musk almost as much.  Take the reporting with a grain of salt.  The goal is ratings and ad revenue, not truth.

Second, keep in mind that you are dealing with two men who are quite open about speaking their mind.  Neither one got where they are by being diplomatic.  I seriously doubt this is the first time they have knocked heads.  It is just the first time we have heard about it.  Both are used to getting back on the horse and having the end goal in mind.

Third, they are both right.  Musk seems to be upset because congress is doing nothing about all the cuts he has clearly earmarked.  He is right.  They are playing politics and trying to work with a congress controlled by Rinos.  Trump has things that are necessary to get done and the only way he can get them is to try to work with a congress controlled by Rinos.  If you are a praying person pray that they both get what they want.

Fourth, and probably most important, both men love American and really want to see it great again.  That is a quality that makes it possible to overlook a lot of faults.

In the end it will come down to MAGA.  Buckle up and don’t make any bets.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-281: Death Watch

I just lost my younger brother.  I myself am pushing 80.  At church I’m surrounded by a growing number of people experiencing what could very well be their last turn of the wheel.  Death is very real.  And yet it is a time of joy and celebration.  As Christians, we are kind of odd balls in the game of life because we march to a tune the pagan world cannot wrap its arms around.

To us death is a door.  It is a door that stands before all of us, but unlike the pagan world we know what’s on the other side and we know that as much as we enjoy life here and now, the other side of that door is going to be much better. That’s why I the questions from a certain passage of scripture highlight our awareness,

1 Corinthians 15:55 (KJV) O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Through the door for us is the resurrection.  It will be a resurrection into new bodies new minds, new spirits, and a resurrection into life eternal.

So death comes to mind frequently in my days now.  I’m not trying to hurry it along.  I have grandchildren to contribute to and the church family to support.  I have the daily joy of the Lord.  At the same time it’s coming.

When I think of the sting of death, I think it is more in the sting of a tetanus shot as opposed to the sting of a wasp.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-280: Children of Eternity

What are the patterns I see in the spiritual walk of the people of God is that you often have generational decay.  The parents have a strong encounter with the living God.  They often pass that on to their children, but it is still not the same as that first initial experience.  By the time you get a few generations down the road, it becomes ritual, habit, going through the motions and the living contact has died out.

This makes me wonder about eternity.  We already know what Jesus had to say about marriage,

(Mat 22:30 KJV)  For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

I would assume that if there is no marriage, there would be no children.  That seems a bit sad but I’m sure we will make up for it in other ways.

In eternity it is possible that the only chance people have a knowing what it is to have children will be to interact with those young lives that were destroyed by abortion.  They may need to wait in line after the real parents show up.

One of my questions is about whether sin will be possible in eternity.  It would seem not, but the only way that you could get a culture or a community with no-one slipping into sin is to have filtered in such a way that the desire to sin has been pushed out of the picture.  That would seem to imply no new children, because each of us who makes it to heaven has gone through the gauntlet of living on earth.  New children would not quaify.

Picture a Utopia established here on earth.  One of the characteristics of that Utopia would be that no one likes liver and onions.  It was off of the menu and out of our minds.  If we continue to have children, the odds are that somewhere in that process a defective gene would reemerge and a child would be born that thought liver and onions are the cats meow.  Thus sin would be reestablished.

In reality, it will be more like being suspended in that brief moment between our last child moving out to their apartment, and realizing their room is now available for an office and the moment when empty nest syndrome sets in.  Or that time as grandparents between when we finally waved goodbye to our grandchildren after a long day, take a deep breath and then start wondering how long until we see them again.  These intervals may not be long, but in eternity they can be extended.

And I trust that eternity will be so glorious that we won’t have to worry about little things.  Until we know more we need to concentrate on making sure that the children we have here will be with us up there.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-279: On the Street: Do They Wave Back?

I’ve gotten into the habit of trying to at least appear to be friendly.  When I’m out walking, I will greet people with a “Good morning” .  As cars drive by I will wave to the drivers and since I’m on the road and they’re coming straight at me, I can see that they respond with a vague wave of their own.

It’s a bit more uncertain when viewed from my porch.  Every time a car goes by as the poor working classes drive to their jobs I greet them with a jaunty wave.  I sometimes wonder if they wave back.  I wonder if they even see me if it’s dark enough.  Add to that the fact that I’m looking through the side window, which is usually tinted in someway so I can’t see them.  I don’t know if I’m wasting my efforts at friendliness or not.

In reality it doesn’t matter.  I am doing what I need to do.  So much of life is like that. If we want our culture and our society to go on being a decent place to live then each of us need to step forward and be accountable for her own actions.  We need to stop blaming our failures on the fact that no one else succeeded.  We need to toe the line of the kind of behavior that we know is appropriate.

So just because everyone else throws the trash out the window that doesn’t mean I can.  Just because everybody else parks taking up two spaces at the grocery store doesn’t mean that I can.  Just because everybody else is checking their emails and their Facebook postings in the middle of the sermon doesn’t mean that I can.

Even more important when we stand before God, it will not be what other people did, or how other people responded, but how we trusted in Jesus.

Here’s waving at you.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-278: Still Asking

I’m sure that somewhere in the past 10 years I have asked the question of why am I blogging.  I can’t remember what answer I came up with before but I think it might be something to the effect that I have things to say and no one wants to listen so I’m going to write them out and put them on the Internet.  That still doesn’t mean that anyone is listening or reading but it makes me feel like I’m doing something.  It’s an inner compulsion.

You would think by this time I would understand that I am never going to go viral, as they say these days.  I’m good with that.  But this morning another thought came to me about why it’s important for me to keep doing this.  I noticed that as I was going through my morning that the fog that settles over my mind, sometimes lifted after writing a few items.  It occurred to me that one of the ways in which we can avoid declining mental health is to keep thinking and keep processing life around us.

I’m sure I’ve read stuff like this before.  It’s just interesting to see it taking place right before my eyes, or should I say right behind my eyes.

And of course, that brings up the question of am I really thinking more clearly or am I just thinking more into self delusion?  To me it doesn’t really matter because I’m the one who is inside the box.  I guess as long as I’m happy and I’m not hurting anyone else, all is copacetic.

Now to send this before I forget.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-277: Stories

When I hear the word “stories” I have a number of ideas that pop into my head.  As a kid telling stories was a euphemism for telling a lie, probably because the facts were invented.  I generally think of a story as a work of fiction, usually shorter than a novel.  That may have some unrecognized connection to the term “news story”.  That has become the foundation for Fake News.

While driving through the Choctaw nation I saw it used in a ad campaign plastered along the highway.  The complete phrase was,

Our stories make us more

It didn’t grab me.  I kept seeing it and it kept not grabbing me.  It was cute but little more than a clever way of saying “We are not doing much with out lives.”  I would like to ask, “More what?”  Can it be measured?  “More” means compared to something.  If everyone has a story and every story makes us more than we are still standing in line waiting for life to reward us in a way that can’t be defined.

I accept the point that we are all created in the image of God and because of that have unique worth.  We have rights, clearly stated in the Bill of Rights and a government that is supposed to guarantee that we have them.  Beyond that it is what we build with what we have.

No, our stories don’t make us more.  We make our stories which make us more.  There is a difference that demands hard work as opposed to a welfare check.

I hope that people will get beyond empty headed promises and find real purpose.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-276: Hidden Moments

At the end of the book of Deuteronomy Moses dies after getting a glimpse of the Promised Land.  God does not relent on the declaration that He would not enter.  He was even buried outside.  The reason is given that it was because Moses had struck the second rock for water instead of just speaking to it as God had directed.  It has always seemed like a bit of overkill.

Then I got to thinking about the character of God.  He is much maligned by unbelievers and His patience is overlooked.  Look at how long He holds back His punishment in other occasions.  I decided that God is consistent so there must be something I was missing.  I think that is always a good way to look at things.

It came to mind that Moses may have had anger issues all his life, that God had admonished him frequently and he had not responded.  We know from the words of John in his gospel that all the things Jesus said and did were not included.  I would imagine the same applies to Moses.

First I looked for what I called Moses’ Anger Points.  In addition to the rock I found at least two other points where Moses flew off the handle.  The first was when he killed the Egyptian.  The second was when he broke the tablets God had prepared.  This could be an indication.  You may find others.

God is incredibly patient but even He has His limits.  I think that is demonstrated in the Biblical account.  I think it would be good for me to understand that it applies to me also.

A good lesson for today.

homo unius libri