I understand better now

I don’t think I mentioned about a month ago I finished reading the Bible. I had planned to read it within a year but was about 8 months late. As the months passed I was happy to adopt a leisurely pace. I am reading a little less of the Bible now, as I breeze through a few other books. A friend loaned me “Thr3e” by Ted Dekker, a psycho-thriller which ends with this quotation by Paul:

“I do not understand what I do...It is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me...For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing...I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me...I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin. I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” Romans 7:15-25

I am not about to say I understand this paradox, which is like so many other unsolvable mysteries. However I am convinced we are, as Bruce Cockburn sang, “habit and skin,” and what follows is surely commonplace to contemplatives. We thoughtfully decide to do very few things per day compared to the vast number of habitual actions: putting on our pants, one leg at a time. Consider further that a significant percentage of those habits are neither neutral nor “good.” So we have taken into ourselves habitual sinful activity: over-eating, being prone to anger, tuning out one’s family...But here’s the rub: we are no longer slaves to that sinful nature. One cannot serve two masters: “one must either serve the one and hate the other, or love the other and despise the first.”

God can free us as readily as we have taken these sinful habits into our daily routine. It is not rocket science, my reader. However it does require a small step of faith. Stop doing it, one time. Pray every day. Allow yourself to be convinced it is actually sinful, and that your life will be better without it. Don’t do it the next day, either. Be thankful for and celebrate the good habits: daily prayer, being circumspect, listening to others and feeling compassion. When asked what God requires of us, I have often said, “To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” The Westminster Catechism is perhaps less specific however delightfully instructive: “Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” So many Christians in my life were never taught, nor did they consider the enjoyment part. Please do! “Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world!”

A Man and A Class

We will continue to search and apply means of grace in these United States, but I certainly have been spending more time in contemplation than documentation. The early life of John Paul II as told in the movie "Karol: the man who became pope" was truly eye-opening. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karol:_A_Man_Who_Became_Pope

While his friends chose armed rebellion against the Nazis, he became a priest and prayed for freedom. The prayer option certainly appears to take longer, however God's ways are not our ways.

This essay hit me like a ton of bricks. Excellent synthesis of why so many Americans are resembling who Nixon called "The Silent Majority." Well, with the Tea Party movement, they're becoming less silent.

http://spectator.org/archives/2010/07/16/americas-ruling-class-and-the/print

Hmmm, Nixon...JFK...who is doing a better job of re-enacting Camelot, Clinton or Obama?

Tipping Point

Postnote: a friend wrote me to say thankfully the Harvard crowd are never in doubt but usually wrong...nice!

America, please stop this slide into economic Europeanism...the whole world will suffer for it.

http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/141349

"...the tipping point is often when the cost of servicing an empire’s debt is larger than the cost of its defense budget.

“That has not been the case I think at any point in U.S. history,” Ferguson said. “It will be the case in the next five years.”...

“Having grown up in a declining empire, I do not recommend it,” Ferguson said. “It’s not a lot of fun, actually, decline. To be more serious, a world in which the United States is no longer predominate is not likely to be a better world, actually.”

"In what he called his “light moment,” Ferguson said, “I think there is a way out for the United States. I don’t think its over. But it all hinges on whether you can re-energize the real mainsprings of American power. And those two things are technological innovation and entrepreneurship."

Listen here: http://www.aspenpublicradio.org/pod_listen.php?row=1362

The hour is fast approaching

"[T]he hour is fast approaching, on which the Honor and Success of this army, and the safety of our bleeding Country depend. Remember officers and Soldiers, that you are Freemen, fighting for the blessings of Liberty -- that slavery will be your portion, and that of your posterity, if you do not acquit yourselves like men." --George Washington, General Orders, 1776

hattip to Founder's Quote Daily

³²"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

³⁵"Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. ³⁶If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. ³⁷What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!' " --Gospel of Mark, Ch 13

What Rights Do You Have

At the heart of this blog is whether humans enjoy "natural rights" at all. As a human construct John Locke's exceptional philosophy underpins the American experiment and, as such, I give it what honor is due to the finest human accomplishment. I cringe at modern social movements which attack its defense of private property and freedom worldwide. And further, the most observant Christians of the founding fathers (and more specifically, the framers) would be unlikely to have issue with this, however...

As Christians we are slaves to Christ. As one concerned commenter wrote, isn't God the ultimate sovereign from which we must flee to attain liberty? The answer is yes, and no. God is sovereign, and that relationship makes the free and rich Western person have more difficulty fathoming that relationship. Here is a recent example of the dilemma, if there be one:

I love the practical consequences of the First Amendment as much as the next person, but I worry that it is built on a faulty foundation, that it derives from ideas about the human person and human dignity that do not cut the anthropological mustard, and like everything built on a faulty foundation, it may not be as sturdy as it seems. We can keep the issues fuzzy, but at the end of the day, the fact of the Incarnation calls into question the very idea of autonomy. I submit this is the central issue in our Western culture today and the point at which the Church remains the most counter-cultural influence in the West: How do we rescue human freedom and all the manifest good that flows from a politics in which human freedom is valued, from the nasty Enlightenment influences that require the privatization of religion?

The author responds:

It is possible (indeed, it is common) to think about, interpret, and apply the First Amendment as if it were a philosophical statement about the nature of truth (e.g., "it can only be found through the operation of an unregulated marketplace of ideas") or human flourishing (e.g., "no one is any position to judge whether or which ideas and statements are damaging or harmful"). But, it can also be understood, in a more pedestrian way: "Generally speaking, the government is an unreliable, or even untrustworthy, regulator of the search for, and debates about, truth. So, we disable the government from regulating speech not because there is no truth, or because ideas never cause harm, but only because the government-speech-regulation cure will too often be worse than the disease."

http://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2010/05/christianity-and-libertarianism.html

There is great value in keeping our eyes on the true prize, what Paul called "winning the race." We do this through self-discipline, so let's not get so caught up in political parrying that we forget the Source of our blessings, Who loves us and is active in the world today.

Land of the Free

I'll bet most people who spend a any portion of their lives contemplating the Bible not only inform their lives with its principles, but also analogize some of its passages in a completely different context. Here's one:

The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians is a powerful, short letter in which he fleshes out to what extent Christians are "under the Law" and how that compares with faith in Christ. It struck me that this argument bears much similarity to the current state of politics in the USA. Why would we want to return to a state of tyranny, whether under the guise of socialism or otherwise? This is the land to which other people flee...and we wish to model ourselves on those rejected models? Isn't this very issue why our country was founded in the first place?

"For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

I challenge you to take 15 minutes to read this book of the Bible and consider this analogy. If you can only spare 10 minutes, read 2:11-5:23.

Now I certainly don't mean to diminish the Word of God by making an analogy to human politics. However, I'll bet the founding fathers wouldn't see anything wrong with it, and might even chime in: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." 2 Timothy 3:16

Arizona struggles on life support

ETA: it passed. I truly hope it does everything as promised, and that the economy doesn't suffer as a result. However taxes rarely perform that way.

Food for thought… re: Proposition 100, the “temporary” 1% (one percent) sales tax increase.

"The debate over Prop 100—the plan to raise the state’s sales tax by 18 percent—is in full swing and Goldwater is working hard to explain why this tax increase is unnecessary. Goldwater Institute President Darcy Olsen will be debating the issue on Channel 3 this Sunday, May 2, at 5:30 p.m. We hope you’ll have the time to tune in.

"You may remember that 10 years ago we raised the state sales tax with the promise that the new money would go to classrooms. Earlier this year, the state’s Auditor General looked into how that money is being spent and found that just over half makes it to the classroom. The rest gets spent on administration. In fact, less of each dollar spent on education in Arizona makes it to the classroom than before we raised the sales tax ten years ago. About an hour ago we posted a 30 second video on You Tube to explain this little know aspect of the sales tax debate."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG5pc3QtBog&feature=player_embedded

emailed to me From: "Starlee Rhoades" of the Goldwater Institute
Sent: Friday, April 30, 2010 3:47:49 PM GMT -07:00 U.S. Mountain Time (Arizona)

Make it stick

I've played around with JB Weld a few times but never before done a large project with epoxy. My most recent endeavor was fixing a “modern” auto key: they have tiny computer chips embedded within the plastic, so if the plastic ring part breaks (has happened to us 3 times now), you can’t just drill a new hole into the steel key and have it start your car. Maybe it’s due to the dry air…I just call it bad design. At $100 a pop, I wasn’t about to buy extra car keys. So after sanding the broken area, I drilled a tiny hole on each side of the key, and inserted a short length of twisted wire bicycle cable, anchored with a drop of JB Weld in each hole. Bingo: the key stays on the ring, and it looks kinda cool, too. Take that, you modern key selling pirates.

After purchasing a box of Marine Tex, I realized I was in a different ballpark. You don’t want to mess around with this stuff…without being thoughtful. All the lessons my Dad taught me 20+ years ago came flooding back: (1) don’t use the same tools for scooping out resin and catalyst, (2) read the instructions, (3) have all your tools and clean-up stuff ready to go, (4) make plenty of extra…and be ready with extra projects to fix with the left-over. And so forth. You don’t want to be a doofus by blowing the job, which could get much more expensive than the cost of the epoxy.

Once the job was complete, I pondered the art of epoxy. Like welding, it’s a true art and one which is coming to a close in this post-modern world. Like hunting and farming. I encourage you to learn another skill and teach it to your kids. Like sharing the Gospel, it won’t be a fruitless endeavor for both you and the recipient.

235 years ago

While at school out East, I took a winter's field day to Concord, crossed the North Bridge, and tested the ice on the creek. Yeah, I got my toes wet. I recall thinking it isn't much of a creek, across which a shot was heard 'round the world. But numerous times since, I've wondered how quickly I'd have scrambled up and down its banks with a musket on my shoulder...

"The battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War.[8][9] They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge, near Boston. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in the mainland of British North America.

About 700 British Army regulars, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, were given secret orders to capture and destroy military supplies that were reportedly stored by the Massachusetts militia at Concord. Through effective intelligence gathering, Patriot colonials had received word weeks before the expedition that their supplies might be at risk, and had moved most of them to other locations. They also received details about British plans on the night before the battle, and were able to rapidly notify the area militias of the military movement.

The first shots were fired just as the sun was rising at Lexington. The militia were outnumbered and fell back, and the regulars proceeded on to Concord, where they searched for the supplies. At the North Bridge in Concord, several hundred militiamen fought and defeated three companies of the King's troops. The outnumbered regulars fell back from the Minutemen after a pitched battle in open territory.

More militiamen arrived soon thereafter and inflicted heavy damage on the regulars as they marched back towards Boston. Upon returning to Lexington, Smith's expedition was rescued by reinforcements under Lieutenant-General Hugh Percy. The combined force, now of about 1,700 men, marched back to Boston under heavy fire in a tactical withdrawal and eventually reached the safety of Charlestown. The accumulated militias blockaded the narrow land accesses to Charlestown and Boston, starting the Siege of Boston.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his "Concord Hymn", described the first shot fired by the Patriots at the North Bridge as the "shot heard 'round the world," even though it was not the first shot of the war.[10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Lexington_and_Concord

God, please bless these United States of America!

Our state of health

Here is the best summary I've seen about the practical impacts of the new Health Care law. We are free to think either, "It's the right thing to do," or, "It's socialist," but it is worth knowing specifics...

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/mar/28/health-laws-heavy-impact/

Here's are two samples:

"Tax on Home Sales. Imposes a 3.8 percent tax on home sales and other real estate transactions. Middle-income people must pay the full tax even if they are “rich” for only one day – the day they sell their house and buy a new one."

"Tax on investment income. ObamaCare imposes a 3.8 percent annual tax on investment income of individuals making $200,000 or more and on families making $250,000 or more. The new tax is not indexed to inflation, so more people will fall under it each year. Seniors on fixed incomes and people with IRAs and 401(k) plans will be hit particularly hard."

How do you think that's going to affect homeownership, the real estate market, individual investing, the economy? Just remember, a government discourages activities by taxing them. Hmmm.

Mustard Seed

To preface, here's another recommendation for the Chronological Bible. I began the New Testament a few months ago, and the way the Gospels are woven together is a treat and a blessing. I have a feeling I'll be reading the Gospels again quite soon.

In our Bible study tonight we discussed I Peter Chapter 2, in which we are called to respect all human authority which is over us. This is one of the Bible's "hard sayings," especially for Americans, not only because it calls us to do something difficult, but also because we have a hard time understanding practically what it means. Similarly, the chapter continues by instructing slaves to obey their masters. What can this possibly mean to Americans?

My friend Dave, AKA Troubled Corinthian, made the point that Americans are under the Constitution, and that every American is, in effect, a sovereign individual. We have no master but God. This has interesting ramifications when applied to whether we should obey a law which we understand to be un-Constitutional, let alone such laws as may be in violation of our Christianity. Be that as it may, the focus here is that Jesus is our Lord, and we are slaves to Him. I repeat, this is difficult to understand for the modern mind, let alone to live under. All Americans are equal under the Constitution (if not treated equally in practice, another topic for another time), and all Christians are slaves to Christ.

Let's consider Mark 9:14-29, the story of the demon-possessed son, whom the disciples did not have faith to heal. Jesus rebuked them for their faithlessness, and we recall another saying of Christ, that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can tell a mountain to throw itself into the sea, and it will. Now consider Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, and gave them all kinds of power. Do you have faith that is true? Although we often bemoan particular losses of liberty in recent decades, imagine American life compared to human history: how blessed we are with political freedoms and earthly riches! Not only a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage, but a TV in every living room as well! Few of us contemplate how different much of the outside world is, where the right to gather and worship God is not protected by law. May the American dream help move our faith a little closer to appreciating the difference between a fisherman's life before and after Christ entered his life?

The founding fathers said, "Yes." They used overtones of the Great Commission and adamantly believed it was God's Will that the United States be formed and consciously planned to spread liberty. If we are truly thankful for the many blessings America bestows--especially compared to the rest of the world and all of world history--how much more should we be thankful to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns forever, who died to redeem humanity and now lives, Whose yoke is easy and Whose burden is light? His love and power is infinite, and He has invited us to be adopted sons and daughters into His kingdom. What an inheritance!

So although as Americans we struggle to understand what it means to suffer for Christ, or to be a slave, our imaginations are blessed nonetheless by comparing our blessings here on earth to the endless riches God has yet to unfold. Let us never take our blessings for granted, nor forget even America is only a tiny glimpse of the freedoms in store for all believers in Christ.

Christianity in the Middle East

This is hilarious...and true IMHO...

ABC News found that Trijicon, which makes rifle scopes for the military, stamps references to Bible verses on its equipment [1]. The defense contractor subsequently announced [2] that it will voluntarily stop stamping these references on combat rifle sights. These sights are used in Iraq and Afghanistan — sometimes to train Muslims, sometimes to shoot them. According to ABC News, this is very important. If a Muslim were to see this code on the side of a rifle and then look up the verse in one of the many Bibles you can easily find in Muslim countries, then that Muslim might become indoctrinated with Christianity and then … chaos or something.

read it all...

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/does-the-middle-east-need-more-christians/?print=1

Of Machinery and Parasites

"I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious." --Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Ludlow, 1824

Boy, this sure sounds like a host of federal bureaus to me. With Massachusetts electing a conservative senator to fill "Ted Kennedy's seat," I look forward to seeing that big train turning.

Hattip again to Founders Quotes Daily

New Years Revelations

I've been blessed with a few enlightening DVDs over the past 12 months, so here goes:

Star of Bethlehem: you will be amazed by the ground-breaking astronomical discovery behind this, whether you're a believer or not. http://www.bethlehemstar.net/

John MacArthur: Taking the mystery out of knowing God's Will. In short, God Wills that you be:
1. Saved (from your sins, and eternally)
2. Spirit-filled (Holy Spirit)
3. Sanctified (separated from sin)
4. Submissive and humble before Almighty God
5. Suffering in this world, as did Christ, but NOT like He suffered, necessarily
6. Thankful
7. Free to act as you will, as long as you do the above!
excerpt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2AYv4Q2BaQ

And the glue which holds us all together, awesome science and speaking. Here's an excerpt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4zgJXPpI4

Life Principles

I again refer to and quote from Gabe Suarez's excellent Warrior talk emails.
Chalk this as one of those lists which would do well do tape on the mirror.

What are the components of the Warrior Mindset?

1. A firm belief in G-D
2. Knowing the deep love of family, friends and country
3. Belief in the sanctity of human life
4. Knowing the difference between what is right and what is wrong
5. Having the strength to act on what is right
6. Having the strength to resist that which is wrong
7. Strength to overcome fear when necessary
8. Taking responsibility for one's safety and the safety of dependants
9. Wisdom to be selective in one's battles
10. Alert to one's surrounding
11. Profiling and evaluating people and things on a constant basis
12. Making plans of action dynamically and continually
13. Being committed to any necessary action
14. Placing the outcome of one's actions above the personal cost of the action
15. Willingness to terminate the life of another who threatens innocent lives
16. Accepting the possibility of death as a consequence of engaging evil
17. Commitment to training and further improving skill sets as well as deepening the understanding of the spiritual basis for being a Warrior

Pruning Knife

Hey, most people I know are sharpening their pruning knives,
while the government violins get new strings and play on. Enough.
(If you haven't yet signed up for Founders Quotes Daily, get thee hence.)

"The multiplication of public offices,
increase of expense beyond income,
growth and entailment of a public debt,
are indications soliciting the employment of the pruning knife."

--Thomas Jefferson, letter to Spencer Roane, 1821

Unless you think the founders weren't that smart,
or that their thoughts don't apply to modern society, or...
...in which case I'm not sure what to do with you.

Founding Minds Write

My friend Troubled Corinthian is moved to spread the reading of our founding documents to anyone who will get together. He gave me the book "5000 Year Leap" for Christmas which should be required reading for all U.S. high schoolers. I suggested this book would be a great starting point, since most Americans (let alone students) are rarley able to digest the founders' writing.

http://www.amazon.com/5000-Year-Leap-Miracle-Changed/dp/0880801484

Indeed, unless you are a law student, it's a rare person who picks up, say, the Federalist Papers for light reading. Also, I think the below service is excellent for sharpening one's mind in the writing of our founders. I easily recall how in college my mind worked to process reading Shakespeare, and within a few plays it was cake. Much easier than learning a new language, but it takes a little patience and attention at the start. Of course the founders came much later than Shakespeare, and their language is the same as ours...excepting their glorious choice of wordsmithing...e.g.:

"There is something so far-fetched and so extravagant in the idea of danger to liberty from the militia that one is at a loss whether to treat it with gravity or with raillery; whether to consider it as a mere trial of skill, like the paradoxes of rhetoricians; as a disingenuous artifice to instil prejudices at any price; or as the serious." --Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 29

I thoroughly enjoy daily quotations from this service, followed by weekly editorials.

http://patriotpost.us/subscribe/

Thank your military

http://media.causes.com/576542?p_id=92681239

"Show our military there are still plenty of people who appreciate their service and sacrifice. Pass this YouTube video link to every person you know so it will eventually reach every present and former military person across the globe! Love your freedom? Thank your military."

The rationing begins?

If you've been concerned about health care reform, and wonder if rationing is really being considered, check this out:


http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/11/16/mammography.recommendation.changes/index.html

"With its new recommendations, the [task force] is essentially telling women that mammography at age 40 to 49 saves lives; just not enough of them," Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society.

Welcome to the brave new world, comrade.

Post script...here's some more fine reading from a recovering Berkely liberal...

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/obamas_mind_game.html

Brainwashing the masses to believe that racism is a greater danger than radical Islam...
Opposing health care means you oppose Obama. Oppose Obama and you're part of a vast right-wing racist conspiracy.
...
Obama and the Left are making sure that there ia an increasing number of persuadable people. By displacing workers, panicking business owners with Draconian laws, and whipping up rage and paranoia, they amass more lackeys.


The American Hard Left knows how to create a cult because it is a cult, one with a violent history. The Black Panthers, Symbionese Liberation Army, Weathermen, Black Muslims -- all nefarious cults.


Members of the Weathermen, for instance, had their spirits broken through forced wickedness, such as animal abuse. Patty Hearst morphed into bank robber Tania after weeks of isolation, rape, and beatings by the SLA. Huey P. Newton sent his Black Panthers to the hospital or to the grave if they didn't practice total obedience.


So what's the end game here?


The first goal is power. The Left has an insatiable need to control every aspect of our lives.


But there's a deeper reason, one much more insidious.


The Left wants to tear Americans down. Just as the Weatherman did to those naïve lost kids, they want to break our spirits. This goal of degradation is more crucial than their one-world government.


The progressives want to turn us into them, to make us feel as deprived and depraved and deadened. It's the only way that they can silence the roar of shame and self-loathing.


What they don't understand is this: it's not going to happen. There are too many of us who won't be hypnotized.


We can see right through them. We know who they are: the most piteous of human beings, and the most dangerous. Men without a country, orphans far from home. The forsaken and disowned.


They're "hungry ghosts," to use a Tibetan phrase: tormented beings who are starving to death from their inner nothingness.


Mother Teresa was once asked how she coped with serving the poorest of the poor in Calcutta. She responded that what she saw in the cities of the United States was much more disturbing, because it was a "poverty of the spirit."


Poverty of the spirit. No truer words can be spoken of the progressive Left.

Flora and Fauna

What responsibility do humans have to the rest of creation, specifically, on planet Earth? We live in decadent times, indeed, since it is now en vogue to be philosophically suicidal. Some track this back to Neitzsche, but the root actually goes to day one: in that day you will surely die. What? You won't die, and don't call me Shirley! And so goes the great lie, that we can be as gods.

However today we see people actually espousing the destruction of the human race, so we stop abusing the rest of nature! I kid you not: yesterday I saw a bumper sticker which proclaimed, "Plants and animals die to make room for your fat ass."

These people have confused America's freedom of speech with countries which really do abuse the planet and don't care.

Change begins on the inside

"Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles."
-Patrick Henry

Please consider these things when you observe the news: is it just? moderate? temperate? frugal? virtuous? in harmony with America's fundamental principles? If not, then you government has gone astray, and it is your job to deal with it. Midterm elections are in 2010, and you can be a part of the CHANGE.

Now, what does God require of you?

"He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?" (NKJV)

Please consider these things when you react to the world around you: do justly. love mercy. walk humbly with your God. God bless the United States which, for all its faults, is still the greatest country on earth and makes provisions for peaceful change in its government.

And for the "deep thoughts." Do you disagree with Patrick Henry's first sentence above, that there are no "bad" people? Perhaps that assumption is one of the roots of the division in America. We will discuss this more at a later time.

Bind him down

"In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."

--Thomas Jefferson

I leave it for you to decide how to apply that quotation, then read where I just saw it:

http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2009/10/29/nobody-questions-that/

Breaking down into our Constituent pieces

Go read "Dismantling America" by Thomas Sowell. It's short and important, but no big surprise.

"...Nothing is more consistent with his lifelong patterns than putting such people in government-- people who reject American values, resent Americans in general and successful Americans in particular, as well as resenting America's influence in the world.
"...Whether enough people will wake up in time to keep America from being dismantled, piece by piece, is another question-- and the biggest question for this generation."

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/10/27/dismantling_america_98883.html

I am behind in my reading through the Bible in 2009, however I find it very interesting that I am now in the book of Isaiah, in which the prophet warns God's people to turn back to Him or be laid waste.

In defense of liberty

Thoughts of the day:

"The contest for the ages has been to rescue liberty from the grasp of executive power." - Daniel Webster"

The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men." – John Quincy Adams

Hattip to m4carbine.net

God-Incidents

While discussing whether or not coincidences exist, my wife used the word "incident," in saydescribing what God crafts in our world. She recently experienced an incident which appeared so out of the ordinary that she felt it was a small miracle. I am blessed by experiencing these all the time. This matter is related to two different Wills of God: what is His Will (what would He prefer), and that all things are within His Will (power and control). God-incidents versus coincidence is obviously a difficult concept for the finite human brain. To believe that God organizes events before the beginning of time such that, for instance, we miss being in a car crash by 2 seconds, may be more easily dealt with by attributing this to the laws of nature and good fortune. However, for those who believe in a God who is good, omnipotent, active and present, the small leap of faith yields great rewards. I do not say small because it is easy...the faith of a child generally becomes more and more difficult for adults to enjoy, and it is even harder for a rich man, since this entails depending solely on the power and desier of God to take better care of us, at all times, than we would of ourselves at any time. One portion of the reward is a glance into the realm of the Real, for our struggle is not bound by this physical world, but against spiritual powers and principalities (Ephesians 6:12).

Most sane individuals desire to know what is real: a desire ranging throughout history from Plato's cave to the movie The Matrix. However one's sanity may be called into question anyhow when making such statements as "God knows the number of hairs on every human head on earth" (Matthew 10:30, Luke 12:7). Or consider this:

Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
(Matthew 6:26 ff)

If God is also personal and desires to have a relationship with us, why would He not want to design small and great events in our lives, before the beginning of time, to draw us closer to Him? What is difficult for us to conceive is a snap of the Almighty's fingers. While discussing this matter with another friend, I suggested the challenge of thinking that God is in control of all things, and nothing we do can ultimately change His Will (which one?) Andy replied that our response is one of responsibility. We are responsible to the extent that we are capable, and God uses our efforts to make us grow.

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. James 4:8

Have you forgotton

From the NY Post today:

Instead of proudly and promptly rebuilding on the site of the Twin Towers, we've committed ourselves to the hopeless, useless task of rebuilding Afghanistan. (Perhaps we should have built a mosque at Ground Zero -- the Saudis would've funded it.)
Instead of taking a firm stand against Islamist fanaticism, we've made a cult of negotiations -- as our enemies pursue nuclear weapons; sponsor terrorism; torture, imprison, rape and murder their own citizens -- and laugh at us.
Instead of insisting that Islam must become a religion of responsibility, our leaders in both parties continue to bleat that "Islam's a religion of peace," ignoring the curious absence of Baptist suicide bombers.
Instead of requiring new immigrants to integrate into our society and conform to its public values, we encourage and subsidize anti-American, woman-hating, freedom-denying bigotry in the name of toleration.
Instead of pursuing our enemies to the ends of the earth, we help them sue us.
We've dishonored our dead and whitewashed our enemies. A distinctly unholy alliance between fanatical Islamists abroad and a politically correct "elite" in the US has reduced 9/11 to the status of a non-event, a day for politicians to preen about how little they've done.
We've forgotten the shock and the patriotic fury Americans felt on that bright September morning eight years ago. We've forgotten our identification with fellow citizens leaping from doomed skyscrapers. We've forgotten the courage of airline passengers who would not surrender to terror.
We've forgotten the men and women who burned to death or suffocated in the Pentagon. We've forgotten our promises, our vows, our commitments.
We've forgotten what we owe our dead and what we owe our children. We've even forgotten who attacked us.
We have betrayed the memory of our dead. In doing so, we betrayed ourselves and our country. Our troops continue to fight -- when they're allowed to do so -- but our politicians have surrendered.

read the rest of novelist Ralph Peter's article here: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/betraying_our_dead_H6T95r1BTCnkC1UbEdUfsO
and hattip to Michael Bane.

Although it's based on a different subject, the words of a hymn prompted my predominant feelings of this day: "Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree? Ohhhh, sometimes it causes me to tremble..."

Poor in spirit

Imagine a time you set aside for earnest reflection or prayer. Thoughts seemed focused for a short while, then the concerns of the day sprang up, and you were again hooked by normal habits of thinking. You realized this, then tried again, with more or less earnest focus, and again your prayer was foiled. At this point, it is natural to give in to the day's concerns...perhaps leaving the scene at least grateful for having made the attempt, or guilty at not having succeeded...so less likely to try again. For these reasons I often am thankful to have at least made the attempt in the morning, before anyone else in the house is astir, admiring the sunrise, and as of yet not focused on phone calls. This first fruit of my time is a good start, anyhow.

So what do we make of this inability to break away from the world's cares even for a few minutes? Christian reformers described the depravity of the soul, that humans are by nature caught in sin's quicksand. I suggest Attitude is key, here. When, at the point of giving up on prayer, we are moved to return to it, feeling guilty, we have a few predictable choices: (a) continue in guilt, (b) leave prayer behind and proceed with the work-day, (c) acknowledge our situation and ask for peace. Since (a) is untenable for long, it must give way to something else. Choice (b) is the natural human default position. Yet Grace is found in (c): admitting we are indeed poor in spirit--as evidenced by our week attempt even to pray for a few minutes--to recognize we are unable on our own to break away from these earthly chains, and to plead with the Almighty for forgiveness and love and an abundance of blessings to be showered upon our existence. This is what God wishes for us, if we simply ask, with a correct attitude, and have faith. Prayer is not a one-way conversation, and God uses even our natural propensities--easy to be distracted, prone to fee guilty--to call us back away from ourselves. This, too, reveals a facet of why we were created as finite, so that our own weakness points us to our Creator. When our spirit is poor, we are ready to inherit the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3).

Fluttering Contemplation

Caught up as usual in the business of the day, two butterflies chased across my window view: chaotic flight. Fluttering contemplation is not an oxymoron. Contemplation is understood as "going deeper" than standard operating procedures, not reflecting shallowly, nor flitting from thought to thought. We contemplate when a truth alights our consciousness and interrupts our mental routine. This is not simply chasing butterflies.

Some may say contemplation does not require external stimulus: they conceive that their spirit contains longings which of their own accord draw them into contemplation. This may be, and yet it may also involve the oneness of the universe, such that there is nothing external: all material things touching each other, interconnecting, such that (for example) our subconcious and the need of our gardens for water interact and intersect. Certainly our internal longings cannot logically be completely dissasociated from the rest of the material universe ("nature"), since we are made of it and cannot remove ourselves from it--yet the difference between these two modes is useful for discussion. Since we are inextricably caught up in our "habit and skin" (Bruce Cockburn), contemplation is so important as a tool to "know ourselves," and why we should accept the invitation to contemplate, even if it comes on the wings of the temporary butterfly.

Another explanation for the original cause of contemplation is that there is something or someone beyond the realm of our material confines, of this mortal coil. Let's imagine God calls us out of ourselves, away from our prideful existence which, left to its own accord, operates like a child's Slinky toy: a spring falling through time, reacting within its physical shape and within physical law, not unlike any other material substance, awaiting the bottom of the stair. So, contemplation may be seen as (a) within one's own self, (b) connection with the rest of nature, or (c) God calling us out of (a) and (b). If this last is so, it would lend evidence that everday miracles do occur: http://billofgrace.blogspot.com/2009/05/everyday-miracles.html

The defensive measure or contrary use of the contemplative exercise is a glance out of the corner of your eye.* All animals' senses are heightened when they perceive danger. You may have noticed, when you are concerned with crossing a very busy street, that your peripheral vision reflexively kicks into turbo. However, this is the opposite of contemplation, for it directs us outwardly towards that which opposes us. This is one example of (a) and (b) above, and it is an exercise we share with non-human animals, a more reasoned (perhaps) approach to the fight-or-flight instinct. Thus we may consider contemplation to be NOT this defensive response, but rather a momentary countermeasure. We may then entertain that the ability to contemplate is one faculty which makes us different from the rest of nature.

If that is so, logic requires we consider that humanity is not alone in this structure or capacity, but rather there exists another who is that much different from us than we are from the rest of nature. This is just another way of describing one historical argument for the existence of God, and one thing we have in common with our Creator, which is separate from the rest of nature.

*Postnote: I have just read about "stress induced tunnel vision." This contrasts the example in an analogy discussed above. We will contemplate this further.

Original Understanding

When I was young, the King James version of the Bible was the standard. I memorized enough verses in AWANA (a Bible study for children) so that other translations' sentence formations still seem awkward, when it comes to those "Greatest Hits" of memory verses. However I have a new-found appreciation of what my colleagues call "the proper" version: the New American Standard. Not to be confused with the Catholic New American Bible, nor the NIV...all of which I feel comfortable with. I'm still enjoying my year-long journey reading the Chronological Bible, in New Living Translation, (although I am running about two months behind.) Regardless of what naysayers who don't actually read the Bible may tell you, I haven't seen THAT much difference between versions, especially when it comes to the most important of issues, like the saving blood of Christ. Different sentence structure, sure, but essentially the SAME meaning.



Now onto current events. There seems no end to debate regarding whether the Constitution should be considered with the Founders' intent, or whether it is a "living, breathing document," which can basically mean whatever you want it to. We are seeing changes which drastically alter the meaning of the Constitution. I posit that one reason the soul of "America" is in its death-throes, regardless of how well the United States are doing, is due to a lack of interest in our governing documents. Imagine a Christian who said he or she didn't really care what the Bible actually said, because it's just the spirit of the text that matters. That's what's happening with the Constitution today. Certain members of Congress actually want to change its meaning, and say that the original intent matters not.



http://www.umt.edu/law/original-understanding/presentation.htm



Amazing bibliography there, for getting a sense of the climate in which the Constitution was written. Here are a few excerpts:



It also requires taking account of heavy influence of Latin on eighteenth-century English. This influence existed partly because the Founders were temporally closer to widespread Latin usage than we are and partly because boys from the influential classes customarily were immersed in Latin from an early age and were expected to be fully competent before they enrolled in college. It is difficult to do effective originalist research without a fair knowledge of Latin, and some serious textual misconstructions have arisen from trying to do so.





The founding generation tended to look at the world through a classical lens, not merely because of their immersion in Latin, but because Greco-Roman writings comprised such a large part of their education. Many of the founders retained a love of classics throughout their entire lives. (It was said, for example, that Patrick Henry – not someone thought of as a particularly bookish figure – annually re-read Livy’s Roman history.) Therefore, the originalist scholar needs at least a cursory knowledge of the history of ancient Greece and Rome, particularly of the Roman Republic. Especially important are the histories of Rome written by Livy and Polybius, Aristotle’s Politics, and Cicero’s De Officiis (“On Duties”) and Cicero’s more important orations.


Although the Founders didn’t talk much about it, they also were influenced by the Bible, long passages from which children learned by heart.



A clear super-majority of the leading Founders, including many, if not most, of the leading Anti-Federalists, were lawyers. Moreover, legal knowledge was very widespread among educated non-lawyers, and legal arguments were common public fare in the debate over ratification. It is somewhat surprising, therefore, that much of what passes for originalist scholarship treats legal sources skimpily – often relying on little more than Coke and Blackstone.





It's sad today's Congress presumes to know better than the Founders.

500th anniversary of grace and glory

It's the 500th anniversary of John Calvin's birth, and whether you agree with his theology or not, this is a biggie. It's been suggested that the Protestant Reformation, and Calvin's teachings in specific, were fundamental to the rise of capitalism (see "Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism" by Max Weber). Of course the spirit of America, too, owes a great debt to this man and these philosophies. Some would say the spirit of America is dead, and only the United States remain, but I'll let that go for now...

If you've been reading so far, you'll note we're challenged by attending to the politics of the age, since we wish to maintain America's freedoms--which defend the practice of our religions--and yet, we want not to be "of this world." Here's a recent essay on Calvin which poignantly speaks to this dilemma:

http://www.ligonier.org/blog/2009/07/where-is-the-glory-found.html

Calvin understood that we must remake worship. Everything else is icing. To put it another way, Calvin understood that we must seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, not so that we might have all these things added to us, but so that we might have the one needful thing -- the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

We, the heirs of Calvin, have forgotten this lesson. We, if we think about worship at all, see it as a means to the end. The end we have in mind is the power and the glory. We want to build political coalitions that we might change the world. We want to overcome the powers of the Hollywood elite that we might change the world. We want to remake the economic landscape that we might change the world. What God wants is that we would bow down in repentance and give glory to His name. What God wants is what Calvin did.

When Jesus told us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, He wasn't telling us: "Now when you go about your life, when you pursue your goals, don't forget the big picture. Don't lose sight of why you do what you do." Instead Jesus was telling us: "Seek this. Seek this alone. Forget about everything else. Have a single-minded passion and leave the rest alone. It is in my hands anyway."

We, on the other hand, have it all upside down and backwards. We will, especially this year, look at the glory that once was Geneva because of the ministry of Calvin. We will, especially this year, look out at all the nations that felt the ripples of Calvin, moving from Geneva, to England, to these United States, then back out across the globe through the modern missionary movement. We will, especially this year, remember the great economic power that was unleashed with the spread of liberty that likewise redounds to Calvin. What we will miss is the true glory, the real story. What we will miss is the unvarnished beauty of a single congregation in one neighborhood of Geneva, bowing in prayer to the living God, lifting up their voices, singing the Psalms of God, receiving the Word preached, and receiving the Word as bread and wine. There is where the glory is found.