Opus 2024-185: The Real Man

I watched President Trump‘s speech last night.  It was the same man in many ways that we are used to.  He is not what I would consider a gifted public speaker in the crafting of what he has to say.  He talks too long.  He repeats himself, repeatedly.  He uses. superlatives almost without end.  Everything is the greatest, the biggest, the best, and so forth.  That’s Donald Trump.

But that’s not what attracts people to Donald Trump.  There is a basic personality that if you look, you can see.  It often expresses itself in love for America.  But it goes deeper than that.  It brings to mind a verse that one of my favorites in the Bible,

Micah 6:8 (NASB95) He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

When you break this down the first part of “ Do justice?”, describes Donald Trump to a T.  You might say he is one of the greatest of the legalists.  He follows the law.  That means that he takes advantage of the nonsense that is in the laws and the conflicting laws and use them to his own advantage.  But at all times, he follows the law.  That is why all these witch hunts have been able to do nothing to him with legitimate lawsuits.  He has a tendency to do what is right or “just” as this verse talks about.

He definitely “loves kindness”.  Many people don’t see this or know about it because the media is on a vendetta against him, and would not say anything if they saw him walking on water, or raising the dead, things which he has never claimed to do.  But if you follow the little bits and pieces here and there you see constant instances where he is reaching out to those less fortunate than himself, and trying to help them.  In his speech, he mentioned several times that he talked to family members of people who’ve gone through trials.  He mentioned the man who was killed behind him on the podium.  He mentioned talking to families of people murdered by illegal aliens.  This is not just for show, this is Donald Trump when no one is looking. There are endless stories of him quietly, with no publicity, doing benevolent things for other people.  He truly does love kindness.

If there’s any area that Donald Trump has had trouble with is in the idea of walking with humility.  Part of that is just who he is.  And if there’s anything that this recent attempt on his life may help him with it is this idea that he is to be humbled before Almighty God.  I think he finally gets it.  He brought it up several times in the speech last night.  Of course we are used to politicians talking about God and getting religious during campaigns.  Those politicians have not come within a quarter of an inch of dying.  There are so many factors that were miraculous in his survival.  I think he sees that.

I support Donald Trump. Big surprise, right?  It’s not because of his great speaking ability.  It’s not because he is flawless in his execution of things.  He is still a big spender. He will make many mistakes.  But the basic man is decent, caring, and patriotic.  Now if we could just be sure that he was saved.

Opus 2016-160: Discernment Watch: Social Justice

I have a lot of old thoughts to get to and write about.  This one hit me as I was listening to an Alistair Begg sermon back in 2011.  Begg used the term “social injustice”.  I am used to the term “social justice” but had not heard it turned around this way.  In case you are not paying attention you might think that “social justice” is something that Christians should be all in favor of.  After all, are we not called to justice?

(Micah 6:8 KJV)  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Yes we are, but we are not called to “social” justice. 

The whole meaning changes when you add the adjective.  Social justice is a term coined by a group of manipulators who want to carve out special privilege for certain groups of people at the expense of others.  Social justice means that you take the blindfold off the statue of justice so that she can she who is on trial and adjust the results to compensate for supposed inequality.  In the last few years we have had a judge decide that a handicapped person who wants to be a professional golfer could be allowed to ride in a golf cart.  This is in spite of the rule that says all golfers must walk the course.  It is the source of the blue outlined parking spaces outside of gyms and athletic fields. 

The Biblical idea of justice is based on truth.  If you buy a dozen eggs then when you get home you should find twelve eggs in the carton.  You should not have eleven eggs.  You should not have two rocks, three marbles and seven eggs.  Justice demands twelve eggs.  If you get home and find that you only have ten eggs because the grocer knew you had high cholesterol and didn’t need the eggs and gave the two extra eggs to someone with five children, that is social justice.  If, in the process, he made you pay more for the eggs because you made more money, that is social justice.  If it just so happens that the person who is getting the benefit of this social justice is a relative or someone who’s vote you want to buy, that is also social justice.

Why do we need the adjective.  Adjectives modify nouns.  If God has given us a noun why do we feel a need to modify it?  We act like we are clarifying but often we are just watering down.  I am on a diet.  I am sure you are impressed but keep in mind, everyone is on a diet.  You modify the type and meaning of the diet by the adjectives you use.  Remember the See Food Diet.  You see food and you eat it. 

Justice does not play favorites.  Justice is.  Or it is not.  I am afraid that social justice isn’t.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-97: On the Street: One of Those Days

Do you ever have those days when you need a word from the Lord?

Mine come with frequency.  It happens, usually in the evening when I can simply say I am tired.  The solution can be a good night’s sleep.  Today, as I wrote, was one of those days.  I was totally deflated.  I was not depressed, just void of joy.

The problem was, it was morning. 

So I left off the radio and did not connect the I-pod.  This was not a day for a sermon.  It was a day to worship as I drove.  It is hard to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit when you have a lot of distractions.

Certain songs came to mind.

   "My Desire, to be like Jesus..."

   "My Life Is in You, Lord..."

Certain scripture came to mind.

(Micah 6:8 NAS77)  He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

(Romans 5:8 NAS77)  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

We had a good conversation on the way to work.  I can honestly say that the traffic did not bother me.  I figured that every clown that cut in front of me just gave me more time to worship.

So I am ready to go again.  I am not feeling old and tired.  I am feeling experienced and prepared.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-70: Book Review: When Bad Things Happen to Good People, part 4 of 7

This started as a book review but I am going to go into more detail because I see a lot of important distortions going on in a book that has been quoted frequently on both sides of the divide between Christians and Xians.

He makes a very bold statement early in the book. 

“There is only one question which really matters:  why do bad things happen to good people?  All other theological conversation is intellectually diverting; somewhat like doing the crossword puzzle in the Sunday paper and feeling very satisfied when you have made the words fit; but ultimately without the capacity to reach people where they really care.” page 6

So his question, spurred by his personal suffering negates all of the minor questions like, “What is the meaning of life?” and “What happens after I die?”  This doesn’t even make allowance for the big questions from the Hebrew portion of scripture, like,

(Micah 6:8 KJV)  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Or New Testament question like,

(Luke 10:25 KJV)  And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

It would seem to me that these are not just”intellectually diverting” “theological conversation.”  It would seem to me that they are the reasons people are drawn to religion.

But then, I am not a famous author.

To be continued...

Kushner, Harold S.  When Bad Things Happen to Good People.  New York:  Schocken Books, 1981.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-15, Key Scriptures: Micah 6:8

Certain verses in the Bible tend to be picked out by readers without anyone to set up flags marking them as important.  Micah 6:8 is one of those verses.

(Micah 6:8 NASB)  He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

This is one of those verses that seems to “say it all.”  I have those days when I feel totally defeated and feel like a total loss and the Lord will bring this to mind.  Just “what does the LORD require” anyway?  The answer may not be easy to do but it is easy to understand.

I don’t need a long list of do’s and don’t’s.  There are three general areas to focus on:  Justice, kindness and humility.  I don’t need to be a Bible scholar or a college graduate to have a feel for what those words mean. 

Read it over a few times.  Spend some time in Christian meditation on it.  Let God speak to you about how to “do justice” in your daily dealing with people.  Think of areas you could show more kindness.  In realizing how much better you can do, you move toward humility.  The joy is that you get to walk with your God while you are working on these things.

Happy walking.