Opus 2013-378: 12/7 and 911, Lessons

It almost slipped by me.  This is the “Day that shall live in infamy.”  But it doesn’t seem to be living in our memories.

For those who didn’t pay attention, this is Pearl Harbor Day.  On December 7, 1941 a swarm of Japanese planes appeared over Honolulu and proceeded to pound the warships of the United States into hazards to shipping.  The issue was not that we were attacked.  The issue was that we were not at war.  At that precise moment Japanese diplomats were meeting with the American government to discuss relations and peace. 

It should have not come as a surprise.  People who are into conspiracy believe that Roosevelt knew the attack was coming and did nothing.  Some say he was deliberately prodding the Japanese hoping to bring about such a response so he could have an excuse to go to war.  I have not tried to dig into either but in hindsight I think it was necessary that we get involved and the American people were asleep about their place in the world.  I can understand Japan’s anger over being held down by the imperialists of Europe.  I can understand German anger over the way they were treated after World War I.  The problem is that each allowed itself to be subverted by leaders who were evil in methods and goals. 

Are the Japanese evil as a people?  No.  Are the German people any worse than the rest of the world?  No.  But in both cases they became accomplices in extreme actions of murder, torture and destruction. 

Much of the same can be said about September 11, 2001 and its results.  Conspiracy theories abound.  Anger is understandable.  A few led and continue to lead the masses into atrocities.  The American people were asleep. 

We have gone back to sleep.  The war of terror by evil people continues.  At present the leadership in that war is held by Muslims of Arab extraction.  They are not alone.  We need to wake up.  We need to do the homework to separate the evil from the submissive.  We need to separate the sheep from the goats.  We need to remove those who allow evil to run their lives.

Will we wake up?  I don’t see it happening.  It sometimes takes great pain to drive people to actions.  I pray that you and yours are not at the wrong place and the wrong time when the wake up call is issued.  I pray we wake up as a nation in time to survive.

Ignoring evil does not make it go away.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-377: Batman, Stainless Steel, Righteousness

As I continue to work through the book of Proverbs I come across illustrations about purifying metals and smelting and removing impurities.  The clear teaching is that we are called to live moral and upright lives.  It also seems clear to me that such a life is possible.

The Calvinist, or as they prefer to be called, Reformed, branch of the Christian family likes to harp on no one being righteous.  They love to quote Isaiah

(Isaiah 64:6 KJV)  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

They ignore other passages in Isaiah such as,

(Isaiah 3:10 KJV)  Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

They ignore how we are constantly called on to be righteous and we are called righteous.  This creates a cognitive dissonance in me.  When I do a simple word search on “righteous” and “righteousness” in the Bible I find clear teaching that it is not only possible, it is required.

Think of the process of producing stainless steel.  It starts as red or orange dirt or rock.  The valuable iron is separated from the dirt and dross.  Then the refining really begins.  When you refine iron into steel and make it into stainless steel it becomes an alloy that really resists rust.  That is our condition when we have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit.  Stainless steel is mainly the element iron, but it has added elements to transform it and change its response to water.  In the same way our inner core has been transformed.  We now have a natural resistance to rust, or in spiritual terms, sin.  Does that mean that stainless steel will not rust?  No.  It can still happen if you abuse it enough but it means that it will resist rust.  Does that mean that the righteous cannot sin?  Same answer.

Don’t settle for less than resistant to corruption.  Don’t worry if you are not perfect in all ways.  God works with real, live people in real, live situations.  He has the patience and love to melt, mold or wait depending on what is needed.

This might be a good place to remind you about the verses of the Christmas carols that are often skipped.  Here is the third verse of “Joy to the World.”

No more let sin and sorrow grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground.
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.

As Robin might say to Batman, “Holy Righteousness!”

Merry Christmas.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-376: CCC: A Goal That Is Not a Goal

The Common Core Curriculum (CCC) continues to work its way into the nation’s schools.  Just as Barak Obama was very clear in his goals if you were listening, the CCC also says things that go over our heads.

The website makes this impressive, yet deceptive, statement:

“Building on the excellent foundation of standards states have laid, the Common Core State Standards are the first step in providing our young people with a high-quality education. It should be clear to every student, parent, and teacher what the standards of success are in every school.”

This does not represent reality or intent.  For years California has had the “excellent foundation of standards” that this speaks about.  I am most familiar with the history standards.  Since I am a human being, I would make minor changes to include and exclude, but on the whole the content standards I have been given to cover are a job well done.  They needed no changes except tweaking for personal preference. 

Notice I said “needed.”  In our faculty meeting this week we were told that we would not be testing on those standards any more and that at the end of the year they would be gone.  In other words, the “excellent foundation” is being thrown away.  It is being replaced by, drum roll please,...nothing.  That’s right, nothing. 

If you take the time to go to the site you will find that they only have English Language Arts and Mathematics standards.  When asked, we have been told that science and history will be somehow folded into the other standards.  This is the bold step forward we are facing.

It does not sound like progress to me, but then I am not a Progressive. 

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-375: Ode to Old: “It’s Too Late, Baby!”

I am running out of time.

What got me going on this was a comment by my son as we were driving to church.  We touched on some plan or dream that he had expressed somewhere in the past and his response was, “I’ve got to get around to that.” 

It occurred to me that I don’t have much time left to get around to a lot of things.  When you get to a certain age you begin to look at the lead time in order to reach a goal.  There is a learning curve for everything and the time needed to develop the skills and contacts needed for success.  When you get to retirement age it is a little late to decide you are going to do something that takes twenty years to develop expertise. 

I have reached the age that I must admit that if I haven’t got around to it yet, I probably won’t.

That means to develop new goals.  Keep working on the strengths I have.  Plan with optimism but not foolishness. 

I have an eternity ahead but I have the feeling that the choices I will have then will dwarf my imagination on my best day. 

Something to regret.  Even more to anticipate.

Happy Eternity.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-274: Discernment Watch: Tradition Is Not Necessarily Fact

I am tired of hearing people tell me where the tradition of Santa Claus comes from.

This is not a “Bah!  Humbug!” moment.  I love the Advent season and Christmas.  I started playing the music after pie on Thanksgiving.  I already feel the joy.  My problem is the extreme lengths people go to trying to justify their traditions as if they are sacred doctrine.

Sunday I attended church with my son.  They were having a service that they called “The Hanging of the Greens.”  It was the churches answer to variety shows.  It was broken up into segments focusing on each of the traditional decorations of Christmas:  Wreaths, trees, poinsettias, nativity, etc.  Each segment had a reading that gave the background for the item.  Then they had some kind of musical presentation.  Interesting.  Not necessarily true.

I have been around long enough to hear multiplied versions of all the different traditions.  They are usually presented as the results of research and are the true reason we do ________.    I want people to accept these as entertainment and inspiration, not as the last word in truth.  No one really knows where the Santa Claus story comes from.  No one really knows who lit the first Christmas tree. 

On the other hand there are the facts.  In the fulness of time, God became man.  He was born of the virgin Mary and named Jesus.  He came to go to the cross and die for our sins.  He came to be resurrected and give us the assurance of eternal life.  He will come again.  Those are not cute theories or pleasant inspirational stories.  Those are truth.

Learn the difference and enjoy all of the season.  Remember it is not a sin to eat a veggie burger and be satisfied as long as you don’t claim it is the same as the real thing.

Merry Christmas.

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-373: Monday Pulpit: Creation vs Evolution

We are out of town and visiting a church we like.  It isn’t big but it is solid.  The pastor is working through the book of Exodus and was looking at the plagues.  He commented on how the magicians of Pharaoh started off matching the miracles of God but after a few successes realized they were out of there league.  They retired from the competition but that did not slow Pharaoh down. 

In passing he talked about how modern science has been trying to claim that life came forth from the primeval ooze spontaneously.  Although they cannot duplicate it in the lab, they believe it.  Although they cannot prove it, they believe it.  In the lack of all evidence ,they believe it.  They believe in the miracle of life as an accident.  Then the pastor used a phrase that caught my attention.  He said they believe in miracles without the Miracle Giver.

Think about it.  Science concedes that there is not enough time for evolution to have taken place, yet they still believe.  They cannot duplicate the process, yet they believe.  Ultimately they come back to faith in some basics.  Their faith is rooted in denying a creator. 

Christians believe that life came into being.  They can’t explain it in a laboratory either but they still can explain how it happened.  They propose that there was a Creator.  They have faith in the existence of something that cannot be proven in a lab. 

Both ultimately rely on faith.  Which one is more rational?

(Isaiah 1:18 KJV)  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

I submit that the problem non-believers have is not the lack of reason but an unwillingness to admit the second part of the verse.  They refuse to admit that they are sinners and need a savior.

Is the problem pride or probability?

homo unius libri

Opus 2013-372: On Preachers and Judges

What do preachers and judges have in common?

Alistair Begg got my juices going with some comments on preachers.  He observed that many pulpits today are filled with preachers who are up there to tell people what they want to tell rather than what God has to say.  It is very easy to fall into that trap.  When I was preaching weekly it was very easy to start off with something that was on my mind, some pet peeve, and look for verses that backed what I wanted to say.  I am glad to report that usually the Holy Spirit was on the job and got me back to the word as my source, but the temptation and tendency was always there. 

Another pressures is to say what you think people want to hear.  That was never my problem  but I know how often it happens.  The pressure to pipe down or speak in a “seeker friendly” way is real.  I still laugh about the guy who said that the pastor’s sermons made him feel like a sinner.  He was complaining when he should have been complementing. 

Both of these tendencies are paralleled by our judges today.  We have activist judges who want to ignore the words and meaning of the Constitution and substitute their own opinions and preferences.  They really don’t care what 2000 years of law and wisdom has said.  They know better.  We are seeing this in regard to marriage and the right to bear arms. 

In other cases we see where people who were thought to be solid in their opinions and values stab us in the back with strange decisions like chief justice Roberts has done.  They seem to want people to like them rather than respect the law. 

In both cases the people compromising have a low view of the documents.  The errant preachers ignore the Bible.  The ego-centric judges seem to forget that there is a Constitution.  In both cases our culture and society receive body blows that are doing untold damage.

Pray for revival.  Vote for change.  Speak up for survival.

homo unius libri