Opus 2026-177: Empty Phrases

There are certain terms that we hear, embrace and might eventually realize are not accurate.  In a free society we can take things we don’t agree on and throw them back and forth.  In the process we can distill them to useful tools of understanding.

The thought that got me going was the phrase “God of history”.  I have heard it used to explain that God is involved in the every day events of today and the entire reach of the physical earth.  This is the idea of immanence.  God is not nature but He created and controls nature.  So when we look at where we are today as a nation and as individuals we need to realize that we come from a long chain of events.  Our values did not just appear one day.  They were molded over centuries.

Then we have people reminding us that “God is love”.  Yes, He is.  The Bible tells us that.  The problem with the use of the phrase is that many people using it have one of two problems.  First, they don’t know what Biblical love is.  One of the quotes that keeps surfacing in my mind comes from a brief moment in the presence of a soap opera.  In it the heart throbs getting married promised to stay together “as long as we both shall love.”  This is Hollywood stuff.  It is the concept of love based on physical lust and eye candy.  It means they could break up the next day if they wanted to, or even that evening.  People who use this phrase need a long study of I Corinthians 13.

Second, they think they are gods.  This goes back to Eve in the Garden. I t is alive and well today.  We see it in new born babies who think the world revolves around them.  Many people never move beyond that.  It is the reasoning of the current accusations of racism and white privilege.  It is identity politics.  It is the idea that the individual doing the speaking is above everyone else.

How about the call to redistribute wealth?  It sounds good if you are someone who has never saved a dime and have a college major in communications of something followed by the word “studies”.  It is reasonably certain that you never took a class in economics from someone who could balance a checkbook.  As I am sure I have said before, if you took the wealth of the world and divided it up evenly between all the people in the world, within a short time it would all be back where it started because most people who have no wealth don’t know how to make wise decisions about wealth.

A second problem with redistributing wealth would be that civilization would cease.  Since no one would see the need to go to work, production would stop.  Why work if the lazy will simply take your rewards away from you.  The well stocked shelves at your local store would become empty in a few hours, and since no one was working to restock them, would remain empty even if the storerooms were full.  It would not take long for the entire supply chain to fall apart and Conan would emerge to created the power of the sword.  Of course the food worth stealing would soon be eaten also.  Think about how much wealth it takes to totally stock a hardware store.  We wont even have anyone willing to work to unload the boatload of nails from China.

Have you ever heard someone claim that the main stream media is not biased?  I think we have come to the place where they don’t claim it any more but it was amusing when it was parroted.  The absurdity of the claim is the denial that everyone is biased but most of us are aware of it.  I know my grandchildren are the best in the world.  I also know the reason they are at that pinnacle is, in addition to being true, because they are mine.  I have no violent feelings emerging from my heart when you make the same claim.  I am sympathetic to your ignorance.  When we talk about the news we need to also remember there is a big difference between being biased and lying through your teeth.

I am sure I could come up with more but I will save that for another day.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-176: What a Difference…

I remember a song that went,

What a difference a day makes,
Twenty four little hours.

Think of the difference between the disciples on Saturday and how they should have felt on Sunday.  It took them a bit of time to really accept the resurrection and it did not take hold until Pentecost, but what a difference it made.

We are in the midst of that Saturday.  Good Friday was the crucifixion.  Sunday was the Resurrection.  We are remembering that never-never land of gloom and doom. But we have the benefit of hindsight.

What a difference two thousand years makes.  We know about the resurrection.  We know about the victory over death that represents.  Now all we have to worry about are taxes.  We are no longer in the upper room.  But too often we act like we are still there.

We may be forced back to that if we don’t wake up and trim the roses.  We are allowing our culture to push us out of the public square.  We are submitting to the silencing of the Marxists.  We forget that the victory is already ours.

So spend some time thinking about what it cost God to provide deliverance.  Think about the price Jesus paid.  He did not die for us to put our light under a bushel.  As we move toward a reminder of the empty grave be looking for a chance to share the hope that is in you.  If you don’t have that hope then ask yourself, “Why not?”

Homo unius libri 

Opus 2026-175: Symbolism over Reality

As I was listening to the mix of music I have on my MP3 player, it came across a song that was based on the idea of a land of unclouded days.  I’ve noticed this idea before.  I wonder what the concept is.  The first time it really hit me was when we were singing a song about how glorious it would be as Jesus returned, and there would be no clouds in the sky and all that, but it didn’t quite jive with the scripture I just been reading. 

On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise,
And the glory of His resurrection share;

The scripture says that Jesus will return on the clouds are in the clouds. 

(1Th 4:17 KJV)  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

(Mat 24:30 KJV)  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

It doesn’t mention clear skies. Where do we get this picture?  I don’t know but I am willing to sing the song under the category of poetic license.  

I wonder how many other symbolic images are in our mind that have nothing to do with the scripture or in fact are contra scripture.  We often hear about the images of Christmas and the horse that Paul fell off of on the way to Damascus.  Did you ever wonder if the early church used pews or individual seats?  How about folding chairs?

There is nothing wrong with warm hearted ideas but make sure that you don’t confuse them with reality.  Our heretical pseudo-brethren get it the opposite.  They take clear statements of reality such as the physical resurrection of Christ and warp it into some kind of symbolic response to a bad pizza.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-174: On the Street: Reflections of Driving Style

I wonder how a person’s personality is revealed in their driving style.

I know that usually what we are experiencing at the moment stands out to us as being unusual.  Having said that, it seems to me that quite frequently when people are very quick to pull out in front of me as I’m driving down the road they end up being afraid to drive the speed limit once they’re in place.  I know you’ve had the experience.  You’re driving along in a 55 mile an hour zone, the road is clear in front of you.  A car pulls up to the cross street.  Instead of waiting for you to go by even though there’s no one behind you, they will immediately pull out in front of you as if they’re in a hurry to get to the hospital.  You jam on your brakes.  You slow down.  You watch to see if they will accelerate so you can keep moving, but alas and lack, they don’t seem to realize it’s a 55 mile an hour zone.  So they cruise along at 45 maybe 50 if they’re in a good mood.

Now I wonder if there is a sense of arrogance and self-centeredness, which is at work here or it just that they are day dreaming.  They’re very willing to pull out in front of you because they seem to think they’re more important than you are.  Then they’re very willing to drive very slow because that’s the speed they want to drive that and they wouldn’t care less if there’s anybody behind them.  Does this reflect itself in their personal relationships?

I wonder if these are the people who take up two parking spaces so their car doesn’t get scratched.  I wonder if they’re the ones who idle blocking traffic in the parking lot waiting for someone to come out and get in their car and move it so that they don’t have to walk very far.  I wonder if they are the ones who pull up in front of the entrance to the grocery store and sit there idling until someone eventually comes out.  Or extend that to the airport where they stopped in the Loading Zone Only and wait for the person to get off the plane and come out.  They could be the one who takes a full shopping cart into the 10 items or less aisle at the grocery store.  There are many applications in this personality type.

They might be the nicest person you ever met, I have no way of knowing.  Or they could be one of the most self-centered people that you’ve ever experienced.  Maybe we need a scientific study for this.  Anybody want to write a grant? 

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-173: Click Bait: Three to One

The title of the unwatched video had to do with the fact that Arminius disagreed with Augustine, Calvin and Luther.  In further ground breaking news we learn that the Pacific Ocean is west of the United States.  A better response might be, “Well, duh.”

I am going to guess that the sponsor of the video was going to claim that anyone who disagreed with those three theological giants was obviously at best misinformed.  At worse such a person would be a servant of Satan.

What I would want people to take away from this announcement is that the principal Reformation theologians were in agreement with one of the founding saints of the Roman Catholic Church.  In my reading this year I have had that pointed out several times, usually by people with an Arminian slant.  It was not offered as a recommendation for their ideas.

If you are a five point Calvinist then it might surprise you that much of your theology comes from a Catholic theologian.  If you are any type of Christian it might be interesting to realize that Augustine was out of step with much of the teaching of the earlier church fathers.  One synopsis of Augustine and the Reformers was that the difference was not so much theological as political.

My journey is a voyage down the road of comparing all that I have been taught over the years with what the Bible actually says.  I have some solid foundations.  I also have some strong bastions of nonsense that need to be overcome.  We need to be careful of theological jargon that is not straight out of scripture.  Some is necessary, like the concept of the trinity.  Others are questionable such as the five Solas.

Keep in mind that when you stand before God your pastor or favorite author will not be there as your advocate. Jesus has that role.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-172: Quite an Accomplishment

I sometimes wonder if we can make God weary.  I understand that God is omnipotent, and that the thought of us wearing Him down is rather ridiculous, but at the same time, I wonder if there isn’t a bit of peevishness or frustration the creeps in at times.  What brought this to mind was some of the prayer request that we are constantly sending up to Him.  I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but most of the prayer requests that are brought up have to do with the illness of people who are not part of the congregation.  We hear about cousins and friends and distant relatives that are going through really difficult times . Our heart goes out to them.  We put them on our prayer list.  And we pray for them.

Which brings up that eternal question, “Don’t you think God already knows about this?”

On Wednesday nights we are working through Jeremiah.  We started months ago and that caused me to read through the book plus some of the other prophets.  One of the things that comes through repeatedly is the incredible patience that God has towards people who think they are in the inner circle.  He is continually calling on Israel to repent, and with some basic guidelines.  He offers to forgive.  He offers to restore.  He bends over backwards for a bunch of unworthy and ungrateful semi pagans.  

I’m not sure which would be more frustrating. Our prayer request or our disobedience.

When given a chance I will ask about the spiritual condition of the person.  Sometimes there is no knowledge.  It troubles me that it doesn’t seem to be the concern.  What is the gain if someone is cured of cancer and continues in disobedience?  I guess it gives them another chance to repent but the destination has not been changed by a healthy scan.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-171: Wildflower Watch: Or Not

Our first few years in Texas seemed to show that there was an established pattern to the appearance of different wildflowers.  It seemed to start with blue bonnets and much later you would have the indian paint brush.  That pattern is totally a fantasy this year.  We have both of them coming up at the same time but in very limited numbers.

The blue bonnets are looking pathetic.  They are few and have lots of breathing room.  They also are much shorter than in years past.  I imagine people would blame in on the drought conditions.

There are also milkweed blooming which I thought happened almost last.

There are also some generic yellow, white and purple patches but they tend to be background for the rest of the blooms.  They may be the main act this year.

homo unius libri