Opus 2011-199, Immortal Quotes: “There but for the grace of God, go I.”

This is a quote that I have heard attributed to many different people.  A Google search seems to point toward John Bradford in the 16th century but it is a maybe, not a definite.

Either way, it is an important and humbling quote.  It reminds us that we are not creatures in control of our destiny.  An accident, another person, a moment of weakness, you name it, it can ruin your day and your life.  This reminds us that even with the best of planning, God is ultimately in control.

The idea of the grace of God reminds us of how we are often protected when we are not even aware of it.  God gives us second chances and blessings we do not deserve.  When we see someone suffering from cancer, losing a child, in a major car accident or any other tragedy we are to be moved with compassion not judgement.  It could just as easily have been us.  You aren’t an alcoholic?  You could have been.  You don’t have the diabetes gene?  It isn’t because of your brilliance.  You can’t walk and chew gum at the same time?  That isn’t your fault either.

Jesus reminded us that if we don’t forgive others, God will not forgive us.  We are to be motivated by the love and grace of God, not by our personal sense of worth.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-198, Are You Smart?

You have to love how naive seventh graders are.  They hear hoary old jokes and think they are new.  Last week they played the old one, “Are you smart?  Spell it.”  That’s the way they say it.  Of course what they mean is, “Spell ‘it’.”  It really breaks their hearts when I reply “I-T.”

Why do people keep falling for the same old political jokes?  Why do people keep falling for the same old lines about things like global warming?  Or is it global cooling this year?  Since the president admitted in a recorded interview that raising capital gains taxes would bring in less revenue, how is it fair?  How does creating a massive new entitlement program for health save money and balance the budget?  How does selling houses to people who can’t afford them make sound banks?  How many times is Lucy going to pull the football out from in front of your foot?

Unfortunately the world is full of Charlie Browns. 

People also keep falling for the old spiritual jokes.  We still want to be gods.  We want to deny the existence of sin and blame all our social and personal woes on training and education.  Has no one noticed how totally self centered a child is from birth to accountability?  Has no one noticed that the selfishness does not go away but is simply disguised after accountability? 

Charlie Brown would have made a great Rich Young Ruler.  Maybe his name was Charles.

Are you smart?  Spell “hope.”  The answer is J-E-S-U-S.  Or you can keep trusting Lucy.  Maybe this time it will be different.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-197, Door Prizes

Recently as I was driving I noticed a truck with advertising on the door.  That brought back memories from my childhood.  I remembered trying to get my dad to put his name on the doors of our dump truck.  I thought it would be cool.  My dad took a bigger view. 

He believed it attracted people looking for insurance money.  There are people out there who are looking for deep pockets to sue.  He figured if you looked rich, others might act on it.

He also didn’t really need it.  In spite of the fact he did not do that kind of advertising he always had work.  He had developed a reputation for quality.  He kept busy by word of mouth, repeat customers and referrals.  When the economy took a dip, and there was little work available, he was the one who got the call.  There were a few days when we were not sure where we would work next week but something always turned up.

People who did the advertising were often out of work because in the final analysis they did not produce the kind of fruit that brought people back for more.  Over time people know this.

The point here is, what kind of fruit does your life produce?  Over time people get to know what your values are and what kind of product you produce.  Times are hard right now.  Sometimes the old principle of “last hired, first fired” is how it works.  But sometimes it is the one who has been cutting corners, taking the long breaks and figuring no one would notice that gets the pink slip.

As Jesus said,

(Matthew 7:16 NASB)  "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?

What kind of fruit does your life produce?

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-196, Discernment Watch: Where Did All the Indians Go? Part II

Let’s make a few assumptions.  Both North American tribes and European tribes are made up of people.  People are people.  You have short and tall.  Some are smart, some dumb.  All the varieties of humanity apply to both.  Sure there might be some small differences but not enough to be significant.  What happened to all the people who should have been in North America?

You can’t blame it on disease.  Remember that they theoretically had no immunity to European disease so they must not have had to deal with the same bugs.  If they had different ones, why didn’t they send plagues to Europe.  Yes, I know about syphilis.  It did not wipe out Europe. 

It certainly can’t be wars and famine.  Europe is one long litany of war and famine.

Where did all the people go?

I have a theory based on culture.  Culture is not innate.  Culture is implanted.  Culture is more powerful than heredity.  Most cultures of North America were a type of warrior culture.  Not all but the vast majority.  You were not considered a real man until you had been to war and shown you had the proper skills.  This by it’s very nature would automatically start by cutting your population in half.  That is a minimum.  If each surviving male killed at least one other male, half would survive.  Since the men did the hunting there was a limit on how many wives and children they could support.  And in a warrior culture it would not stop at just one.  Status and rank would depend on how great a warrior you were.  One reason there were not more people is that they worked hard at killing each other off.

Are you seeing where the people had gone?

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-195, Green Pieces: Environmentally Friendly Indians?

The Indians were no more concerned about the environment than you are.  That is one of the lies of the centuries.  Indians used a burn and slash farming method.  They would burn off the trees in an area or girdle them if it wasn’t safe to burn.  They would farm the land until it was worn out and then move on.  Again and again.  I don’t know if it is true but one book I read claimed that the great prairies of America were created by the Indians so that the buffalo would have more range.  They destroyed the trees so grass would grow.  True?  My doubts are not based on their willingness, but on their long range planning and cooperation skills.

How about fishing?  One method of fishing was to put a poison in the stream that would paralyze the fish.  When they couldn’t swim, they could not breathe.  They would die and float to the surface to be harvested.  Not very environmentally friendly but certainly efficient.

So relax.  God made the world to be used and managed.  We might be able to do a better job of it but the answer is not to worship the creation.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-194, Worm Theology

Are you old enough to remember the pre-politically correct verse of “At the Cross”?  One of its lines said,

Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?

You younguns, if you ever sang a hymn, might know the words slightly different.

Would He devote that sacred head
For sinners such as I?

We are witnessing an attack of the Self Esteem Police in this hymn.  The old version is mocked as “Worm Theology” and is being eradicated.  We are people, not worms.  Calling ourselves worms is belittling and demeaning.  God wants us to feel good about ourselves.

“Worm Theology” is Biblical and should be acceptable.  We only reject it because of our modern philosophy.

Today our culture has rejected “worm” for “sinner.”  The church has gone along with the change.  Already the attack is starting on “sinner.”  The whole concept of sin is rejected in the heretical part of the emergent church.  If we back off from one Biblical standard, rest assured that the forces of apostasy will push on to the next high point.

Another example I have come across is the song, “So Send I You.”  Here are the original words of the first verse that I grew up on:

So send I you to labor unrewarded,
To serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown
To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing–
So send I you to toil for Me alone.

The words you will find now are a little bit different.  Again I give you the first verse:

So send I you-by grace made strong to triumph
O'er hosts of hell, o'er darkness, death, and sin,
My name to bear, and in that name to conquer-
So send I you, my victory to win.

You can find both sets of lyrics on line.  The point of view is totally different.  The first is the original.  In this case the second was also written and revised by the original author. 

We also need to be aware of the Gender Police.  Sunday I lead the singing using my guitar.  My daughter said that the words I sang were different from what the hymnal had in one place.  I thought I had them straight out of the hymnal, but such was not to be.  In the second verse of “O How He Loves You and Me” the old words I had were “His love for mankind to show.”  Guess what the problem is.  Right.  Mankind is not politically correct today so they had changed it to “sinners.”  Theologically correct but not the way it was originally written.

Obviously some change is good.  Some is required, but too much of the change we see is in response to philosophies that are not based on Bible truth.  They are based on old pagan lies.  I came across an interesting verse in my study of Proverbs.

(Proverbs 24:21 NASB)  My son, fear the LORD and the king; Do not associate with those who are given to change,

The problem is not “change” but being “given to change.”  Don’t believe the label that says “new and improved.”  Some things cannot be improved on.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-193, Discernment Watch: Where Did All the Indians Go? Part I

When the Europeans began to move into North America they found a land that was sparsely populated.  Some people claim that European diseases killed of the locals.  We know that happened when Cortez was fighting the Aztecs.  We know there were times that it effected tribes in what is now the United States.  That does not explain why there were so few Indians to kill off.  Where did they go? 

Think about it.

The scholars believe that the first men came to North America across a land or ice bridge connecting Siberia with Alaska.  Let’s accept that as a working hypothesis.  Go with me on this. They came across, what, 30,000 years ago?  My seventh grade text book says from 15,000 to 40,000 years ago.  Pick a number.  Within a historically short period of time they spread all the way down to the tip of South America. 

We tend to think in isolated bits and pieces.  What was the condition of Europe at the same time?  My guess is that there were also no men in Europe.  The movement from Asia and Africa came much later.  So we start with two continents empty of men.  Jump forward to 1492.  Europe has masses of people.  Europe has large cities.  Europe has Universities and factories.  Europe is expanding in the world.  Keep in mind that we are talking about the same range in time.  Europe with population pressure.  North America almost empty.  Europe with steel, gunpowder and ships that can cross an ocean.  North America with flints, bows and canoes. 

Where Did All the Indians Go?

To be continued...

homo unius libri