Daily Java: Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:13)
The Old Testament prophet Jonah figured this out early. He didn’t want to do what God wanted him to do so he tried to run away. Of course, there is the story of the fish swallowing him for three days while he considered how stupid it is to try to hide from God. You can run but you cannot hide. God not only sees where you are and he also sees who you are.
A Christian can pretend he is something good when he isn’t, and the only one he is fooling is himself (maybe). 1 John says that if we say we have no sin we lie and the truth is not in us.
Not that the truth is not known by God, because it is. He truly sees our hearts. “The heart is deceitful above all else and desperately wicked, who can know it. I the Lord know the heart, I know the mind” (Jeremiah 17:9ff - my own translation).
God knows us even when we refuse to know ourselves.
The amazing thing in all this is even though he knows us, he loves us with an everlasting love. Just like you will love your children even when they act stupid, God will love us anyway.
My wife is one of those rare creatures who loves her husband with an unqualified love. It would be interesting (from a purely academic viewpoint, of course – not first hand) to see what would make her stop loving me.
She would love me if I were in the gutter, she would love me if I were wealthy, she would love me anyway.
And the same goes for me. I will always love her.
However, if I had to admit it, my love for her stands short next to her love for me. She is that kind of woman. I know that she loves me.
In the same way, I know that God loves me, even when I am short of his expectations. He knows us, yet he loves us.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
daily java
Daily Java: Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:23-25)
One of the hardest things to do is to get people to come to church when there are no special things happening.
Stuff at church is not to reward someone for coming by having a great program or an interesting day; it is to worship the Lord and praise his name, and to encourage each other. You cannot encourage or be encouraged if you are absent. There is also no glory to be found in staying home from church.
A preacher once made the comment about how sad it was to stay away from a church service for some reason and when you came back, the Spirit had moved and everybody else had moved to the next level.
Church attendance it to encourage each other to move to that next level, to encourage each other to grow, to encourage each other to be better at serving God. Just in general, to encourage each other.
As Christians we look for ways to spur one another, to push one another, on to love and good deeds. Church attendance, or that is attendance at worship services, allows us that opportunity.
It is pathetic when we come and sit and participate and listen, yet get nothing from it. We just give our presence and that’s all.
It is when we give ourselves to God and ourselves to the worship, to the teaching, that we gain something.
Church is dead to so many because they are dead themselves. The preacher can only do so much, the church council can only give so much support, the worship leader can only do so much. There comes a point where the attendee has to enter into the worship. You have to do something yourself.
What a service that would be when all who attend give themselves totally to the worship of God and the encouragement of each other.
One of the hardest things to do is to get people to come to church when there are no special things happening.
Stuff at church is not to reward someone for coming by having a great program or an interesting day; it is to worship the Lord and praise his name, and to encourage each other. You cannot encourage or be encouraged if you are absent. There is also no glory to be found in staying home from church.
A preacher once made the comment about how sad it was to stay away from a church service for some reason and when you came back, the Spirit had moved and everybody else had moved to the next level.
Church attendance it to encourage each other to move to that next level, to encourage each other to grow, to encourage each other to be better at serving God. Just in general, to encourage each other.
As Christians we look for ways to spur one another, to push one another, on to love and good deeds. Church attendance, or that is attendance at worship services, allows us that opportunity.
It is pathetic when we come and sit and participate and listen, yet get nothing from it. We just give our presence and that’s all.
It is when we give ourselves to God and ourselves to the worship, to the teaching, that we gain something.
Church is dead to so many because they are dead themselves. The preacher can only do so much, the church council can only give so much support, the worship leader can only do so much. There comes a point where the attendee has to enter into the worship. You have to do something yourself.
What a service that would be when all who attend give themselves totally to the worship of God and the encouragement of each other.
Friday, August 20, 2010
the homeless man who lived with us
My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? (James 2:1-4)
Thinking about the Bible’s comments in James 2 on favoritism. We all claim to be against it, yet when was the last time you spoke directly to a homeless person? Or gave something that was valuable to you to someone else who really had a need for it? or spoke politely to a cashier in the grocery store, or the guy who sweeps the floors at WalMart?
It is easy to ignore some people.
We had a homeless man live with us for several months. His name was Joel. Joel was a big guy, my size, who had in the past ruled the camps in which he lived with his fists. By the time he came to us he had AIDS and was pretty sick. I offered him a room to live in because I knew that he would die if he had to live under the bridge where he was going to have to go. He had been living in an empty house with the permission of the people who owned it, but they had sold the house and he had to move. He and his friend were going to have to move out.
His friend was healthy, Joel was not. and Joel was a Christian, a brother in Christ. So he came. I got to know him, and a lot of his homeless friends. And I got to love him. He became my friend. He participated with my family in the first Thanksgiving and Christmas he had been in for over a decade. I gave him a couple of presents in a stocking and he just sat and looked at them. It had been so long since he had a family. He bought presents for Ella and our daughter and son with his food stamps.
It began to dawn on me that these were real people, people I had overlooked for years. Or at least looked at without really seeing them. I have always been an easy touch for homeless people, but I always give my money to Ella or something so I won’t be tempted to give it all away.
But having Joel with us changed my whole perception of people. He died on a Tuesday morning with no one around with him in the hospital. When I called to see how he was, they told me he was gone. When I told them that we would take care of him, they were glad that the country didn’t have to pay for the burial.
Oddly enough, he knew a lot of church people and his funeral was well-attended. He just didn’t like to be told what to do or have to follow rules. So he lived on the streets until he was just too sick when he came to us.
I miss him. I only knew him for less than a year, but he made an impact on me. I have never looked at a homeless person or even one of the guys who stand out on the parking lots the same after knowing him.
Thinking about the Bible’s comments in James 2 on favoritism. We all claim to be against it, yet when was the last time you spoke directly to a homeless person? Or gave something that was valuable to you to someone else who really had a need for it? or spoke politely to a cashier in the grocery store, or the guy who sweeps the floors at WalMart?
It is easy to ignore some people.
We had a homeless man live with us for several months. His name was Joel. Joel was a big guy, my size, who had in the past ruled the camps in which he lived with his fists. By the time he came to us he had AIDS and was pretty sick. I offered him a room to live in because I knew that he would die if he had to live under the bridge where he was going to have to go. He had been living in an empty house with the permission of the people who owned it, but they had sold the house and he had to move. He and his friend were going to have to move out.
His friend was healthy, Joel was not. and Joel was a Christian, a brother in Christ. So he came. I got to know him, and a lot of his homeless friends. And I got to love him. He became my friend. He participated with my family in the first Thanksgiving and Christmas he had been in for over a decade. I gave him a couple of presents in a stocking and he just sat and looked at them. It had been so long since he had a family. He bought presents for Ella and our daughter and son with his food stamps.
It began to dawn on me that these were real people, people I had overlooked for years. Or at least looked at without really seeing them. I have always been an easy touch for homeless people, but I always give my money to Ella or something so I won’t be tempted to give it all away.
But having Joel with us changed my whole perception of people. He died on a Tuesday morning with no one around with him in the hospital. When I called to see how he was, they told me he was gone. When I told them that we would take care of him, they were glad that the country didn’t have to pay for the burial.
Oddly enough, he knew a lot of church people and his funeral was well-attended. He just didn’t like to be told what to do or have to follow rules. So he lived on the streets until he was just too sick when he came to us.
I miss him. I only knew him for less than a year, but he made an impact on me. I have never looked at a homeless person or even one of the guys who stand out on the parking lots the same after knowing him.
daily java
Daily Java: When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)
When I was a young preacher, I tried so hard to find the right way to say something, the best way to present the gospel so people would understand it and accept it. I felt it was all on my shoulders.
One of the hardest things for a preacher to do is realize that his power comes from God, not his own ability.
We are not salesmen trying to find a way to present the word of God. The word of God is power and great in its own right, and really doesn’t need our help.
It is after all, the mighty and everlasting word of God that comes from the mind of the all-powerful heavenly Father. It doesn’t need our help,
If someone accepts it, that is good and the ability to accept comes from God. But if someone doesn’t, it is not our fault.
Jesus says No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him (John 6:44). If anyone comes to God, it is God that draws him, not you. You can try and you can teach and preach to the best of your ability, but when it comes down to it, it is God who is at work.
That takes the burden off you. If someone refuses God, it is because they refuse him, not because you are a bad teacher or preacher.
He is Lord, he is God, and his will shall be done, no matter how badly you may botch up the telling. You do the best you can and God will take up the slack.
After all, it is his word anyway. All you are is an inadequate presenter. If you love him, that is all that matters.
The apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 3, wrote that it was he who planted, others watered, but God gives the increase. It is his seed, his word, and his will. We have to realize that and let him work.
When I was a young preacher, I tried so hard to find the right way to say something, the best way to present the gospel so people would understand it and accept it. I felt it was all on my shoulders.
One of the hardest things for a preacher to do is realize that his power comes from God, not his own ability.
We are not salesmen trying to find a way to present the word of God. The word of God is power and great in its own right, and really doesn’t need our help.
It is after all, the mighty and everlasting word of God that comes from the mind of the all-powerful heavenly Father. It doesn’t need our help,
If someone accepts it, that is good and the ability to accept comes from God. But if someone doesn’t, it is not our fault.
Jesus says No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him (John 6:44). If anyone comes to God, it is God that draws him, not you. You can try and you can teach and preach to the best of your ability, but when it comes down to it, it is God who is at work.
That takes the burden off you. If someone refuses God, it is because they refuse him, not because you are a bad teacher or preacher.
He is Lord, he is God, and his will shall be done, no matter how badly you may botch up the telling. You do the best you can and God will take up the slack.
After all, it is his word anyway. All you are is an inadequate presenter. If you love him, that is all that matters.
The apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 3, wrote that it was he who planted, others watered, but God gives the increase. It is his seed, his word, and his will. We have to realize that and let him work.
awake at 3:00 in the morning
Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. (Psalm 103:1-2)
It is three-ten in the morning and I am awake. I am not sure why, as I was sleeping soundly. But whatever the reason, I am awake.
I use a sleep mask which makes me sleep like a dead man in one position all night. When I wake up in the mornings, my right shoulder and my right ear usually hurt because I slept on them all night without moving.
Tonight, I woke up about 2:30 and couldn’t get back to sleep. I was relatively comfortable just lying there feeling the air blowing in my face, but I was awake.
And I was thinking.
Three o’clock thinking is the worst kind in the world. It embodies all that you hate in thinking. You are going round and round about stuff you would just as soon not think about. Failures, problems, difficulties, politics, the itch on your nose that is under the mask and that you will have to open one side to get to – all go round and round in your suddenly overactive mind.
My wife had to get up for a moment. When she came back to bed, I said, I am awake.
Well, maybe you need to get up and write, she replied. Yeah, I guess so, I said.
So here I am, at the computer and it is 3:20. And I have written. But I feel absolutely no sleepiness at all.
Before I got the mask, I did this a lot. I got up in the middle of the night and prowled around the house. We were in a one bedroom apartment so that didn’t take long. We are in a two bedroom house with a full basement, so if I wanted to, it could take longer. But I don’t really feel like walking around.
A lot of times when I wake up, I pray just lying in bed until I go back to sleep. For some reason, that didn’t strike me this morning. I was thinking about the president, and again, for some reason, I wondered what would happen if he were killed, how they would explain it to his children, how people would react. I don’t have any idea why that came to mind.
I remember how the commenters on the internet reacted when Mr Cheney had his heart problems not long ago, how many of them gibbered about how it was a good thing and that they hoped he would die. I was thinking that I hoped it would not be the case.
Okay, an odd thing, true, but it was three o’clock in the morning. You are never your most logical at that time.
I also began to dwell on a host of other stuff, stuff that I would just as soon not think about. That is the stuff that comes at this time in the morning if you can’t sleep. I hate that stuff.
Praise the Lord , O my soul; all my inmost being praise his holy name.
The cat just came in and is surprised to find someone up at this hour. He is making something of a nuisance of himself, something he does well – in general, he has been a disappointment as a cat – but he just wants affection.
Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
The VCR just clicked off. I had it set to record Forbidden Planet, one of my favorites on TCM. We got rid of our cable and the DVR Monday, but he told me that it may be a while until the cable itself is shut off. So I thought I would record a few things on the VCR. It is getting harder and harder to find VCR tapes. One day I will go to the store and there won’t be any. And that will be sad.
The benefits of God are one thing I try to think on. One of those benefits is the knowledge that at 3:40 in the morning, when my mind is active on things that I wish I had done and that I wish I hadn’t done, that when my heart condemns me, he is greater than my heart (1 John 3:19ff). Even though I lie awake awash in self-recrimination, he still loves me and is greater than my feelings. Those are the benefits I think about right now.
I praise him from my inmost being. If I didn’t, the praise would be kind of worthless, just a surface praise. Do you like me? Yeah, I guess you’re okay. The kind of praise that you might get from someone indifferent.
All that I have and all that I am, sorry and pathetic that it may be, is to his praise. How else could a person live his life.
It is 3:45. The cat gave up and left. My right hand keeps going to sleep and I have to stop to let it wake up. Carpal tunnel syndrome. Especially a curse if you play guitar. Oh, well, at least some part of me can sleep.
Praise the Lord.
Maybe I’ll go make some coffee or something. Just the thing to help you sleep. Caffeine.
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. (Psalm 103:1-2)
It is three-ten in the morning and I am awake. I am not sure why, as I was sleeping soundly. But whatever the reason, I am awake.
I use a sleep mask which makes me sleep like a dead man in one position all night. When I wake up in the mornings, my right shoulder and my right ear usually hurt because I slept on them all night without moving.
Tonight, I woke up about 2:30 and couldn’t get back to sleep. I was relatively comfortable just lying there feeling the air blowing in my face, but I was awake.
And I was thinking.
Three o’clock thinking is the worst kind in the world. It embodies all that you hate in thinking. You are going round and round about stuff you would just as soon not think about. Failures, problems, difficulties, politics, the itch on your nose that is under the mask and that you will have to open one side to get to – all go round and round in your suddenly overactive mind.
My wife had to get up for a moment. When she came back to bed, I said, I am awake.
Well, maybe you need to get up and write, she replied. Yeah, I guess so, I said.
So here I am, at the computer and it is 3:20. And I have written. But I feel absolutely no sleepiness at all.
Before I got the mask, I did this a lot. I got up in the middle of the night and prowled around the house. We were in a one bedroom apartment so that didn’t take long. We are in a two bedroom house with a full basement, so if I wanted to, it could take longer. But I don’t really feel like walking around.
A lot of times when I wake up, I pray just lying in bed until I go back to sleep. For some reason, that didn’t strike me this morning. I was thinking about the president, and again, for some reason, I wondered what would happen if he were killed, how they would explain it to his children, how people would react. I don’t have any idea why that came to mind.
I remember how the commenters on the internet reacted when Mr Cheney had his heart problems not long ago, how many of them gibbered about how it was a good thing and that they hoped he would die. I was thinking that I hoped it would not be the case.
Okay, an odd thing, true, but it was three o’clock in the morning. You are never your most logical at that time.
I also began to dwell on a host of other stuff, stuff that I would just as soon not think about. That is the stuff that comes at this time in the morning if you can’t sleep. I hate that stuff.
Praise the Lord , O my soul; all my inmost being praise his holy name.
The cat just came in and is surprised to find someone up at this hour. He is making something of a nuisance of himself, something he does well – in general, he has been a disappointment as a cat – but he just wants affection.
Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
The VCR just clicked off. I had it set to record Forbidden Planet, one of my favorites on TCM. We got rid of our cable and the DVR Monday, but he told me that it may be a while until the cable itself is shut off. So I thought I would record a few things on the VCR. It is getting harder and harder to find VCR tapes. One day I will go to the store and there won’t be any. And that will be sad.
The benefits of God are one thing I try to think on. One of those benefits is the knowledge that at 3:40 in the morning, when my mind is active on things that I wish I had done and that I wish I hadn’t done, that when my heart condemns me, he is greater than my heart (1 John 3:19ff). Even though I lie awake awash in self-recrimination, he still loves me and is greater than my feelings. Those are the benefits I think about right now.
I praise him from my inmost being. If I didn’t, the praise would be kind of worthless, just a surface praise. Do you like me? Yeah, I guess you’re okay. The kind of praise that you might get from someone indifferent.
All that I have and all that I am, sorry and pathetic that it may be, is to his praise. How else could a person live his life.
It is 3:45. The cat gave up and left. My right hand keeps going to sleep and I have to stop to let it wake up. Carpal tunnel syndrome. Especially a curse if you play guitar. Oh, well, at least some part of me can sleep.
Praise the Lord.
Maybe I’ll go make some coffee or something. Just the thing to help you sleep. Caffeine.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
daily java
Daily Java: We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" — but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:6-10)
When the Passion came out, Hollywood said such a movie would never sell and Mel Gibson would be broke and never work in Hollywood again. To their surprise, it was a smash.
Hollywood said, okay, we’ll make some “Christian” movies too to tap into that obviously big audience. So they made The Nativity, a boring and badly acted movie about a whiny little Mary.
It busted. Hollywood said, what is the deal? The Passion was so big, why didn’t our offering do well? The could not understand that the mind of man couldn’t understand the mind of God. What they offered was nothing more than uneducated surface stuff.
Mel Gibson was a Christian. He understood Jesus because he identified with him. In fact, it was his hand that held the nail as it was driven into the Jesus character’s hand.
Hollywood, on the other hand, was made up of people who were not Christians and were against all of the things that Christians stood for. They had no idea why people went to see the Passion. All they saw was a possible cash cow.
Every movie Hollywood makes that has a “Christian” theme flops because they do not know the mind of God.
God’s secret wisdom. To those who are outside the grace of God it is indeed secret. They cannot grasp it, cannot understand it, cannot figure it out. All they see is a bunch of people who, when they get angry, “they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
I read of a couple of singers who hated it when Bible thumpers come to their concerts.
The mind of God is so far from the mind of the world that to the world it looks like some kind of secret thing. They do not understand it so they try to get rid of it.
But God knows and nothing that we have seen yet can tell us of the greatness of his love and what he has prepared for us. In one way. But in another, if we are in him, we see a glimpse of it.
God has such greatness in store for us if we love him and are called according to his promises.
When the Passion came out, Hollywood said such a movie would never sell and Mel Gibson would be broke and never work in Hollywood again. To their surprise, it was a smash.
Hollywood said, okay, we’ll make some “Christian” movies too to tap into that obviously big audience. So they made The Nativity, a boring and badly acted movie about a whiny little Mary.
It busted. Hollywood said, what is the deal? The Passion was so big, why didn’t our offering do well? The could not understand that the mind of man couldn’t understand the mind of God. What they offered was nothing more than uneducated surface stuff.
Mel Gibson was a Christian. He understood Jesus because he identified with him. In fact, it was his hand that held the nail as it was driven into the Jesus character’s hand.
Hollywood, on the other hand, was made up of people who were not Christians and were against all of the things that Christians stood for. They had no idea why people went to see the Passion. All they saw was a possible cash cow.
Every movie Hollywood makes that has a “Christian” theme flops because they do not know the mind of God.
God’s secret wisdom. To those who are outside the grace of God it is indeed secret. They cannot grasp it, cannot understand it, cannot figure it out. All they see is a bunch of people who, when they get angry, “they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
I read of a couple of singers who hated it when Bible thumpers come to their concerts.
The mind of God is so far from the mind of the world that to the world it looks like some kind of secret thing. They do not understand it so they try to get rid of it.
But God knows and nothing that we have seen yet can tell us of the greatness of his love and what he has prepared for us. In one way. But in another, if we are in him, we see a glimpse of it.
God has such greatness in store for us if we love him and are called according to his promises.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
richard corey
Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson
Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean-favoured and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
“Good Morning!” and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich, yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine — we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked and waited for the light,
And went without the meat and cursed the bread,
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet in his head.
There was a song by Simon and Garfunkel called Richard Corey in which they retold this poem in song I still remember the words almost half a century later. It is a fact that people lust after wealth even when it is self-destructive.
There was also a movie called the Magic Christian that had as it ending piece a lot of money thrown into a vat filled with manure and animal waste. People jumped into this unholy mixture while Badfinger sang “If You Want It Here It Is Come And Get It.” Even when it kills them, they will try to get wealth.
Simon and Garfunkel sang this:
They say that Richard Cory owns one half of this whole town,
With political connections to spread his wealth around.
Born into society, a banker's only child,
He had everything a man could want: power, grace, and style.
But I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.
The papers print his picture almost everywhere he goes:
Richard Cory at the opera, Richard Cory at a show.
And the rumor of his parties and the orgies on his yacht!
Oh, he surely must be happy with everything he's got.
But I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.
He freely gave to charity, he had the common touch,
And they were grateful for his patronage and thanked him very much,
So my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read:
"Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head."
But I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.
Interesting song and poem.
Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean-favoured and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
“Good Morning!” and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich, yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine — we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked and waited for the light,
And went without the meat and cursed the bread,
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet in his head.
There was a song by Simon and Garfunkel called Richard Corey in which they retold this poem in song I still remember the words almost half a century later. It is a fact that people lust after wealth even when it is self-destructive.
There was also a movie called the Magic Christian that had as it ending piece a lot of money thrown into a vat filled with manure and animal waste. People jumped into this unholy mixture while Badfinger sang “If You Want It Here It Is Come And Get It.” Even when it kills them, they will try to get wealth.
Simon and Garfunkel sang this:
They say that Richard Cory owns one half of this whole town,
With political connections to spread his wealth around.
Born into society, a banker's only child,
He had everything a man could want: power, grace, and style.
But I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.
The papers print his picture almost everywhere he goes:
Richard Cory at the opera, Richard Cory at a show.
And the rumor of his parties and the orgies on his yacht!
Oh, he surely must be happy with everything he's got.
But I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.
He freely gave to charity, he had the common touch,
And they were grateful for his patronage and thanked him very much,
So my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read:
"Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head."
But I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.
Interesting song and poem.
the sun on my face
I was walking to the church just now. It is a short walk less than 5 blocks and very pleasant. It isn’t real warm (83 according to Yahoo) and the breeze is nice.
As I walked, I do what I have been doing a lot this summer. I was holding my face up to the sun, letting it bake in.
Because of that, I have a good tan. But above all, I feel the sun. last winter was so cold that I wondered at time if there would ever be a time when the sun was warm and bright and hot on my face.
It has been, of course. The seasons take their course, but because of the cold, I love the sun. this is the first year I have not even minded getting hot mowing the yard.
I was so cold last year. I am warm as long as the sun shines and it is summer.
I don’t mind the cold, but this was our first Nebraska winter and the wind is so strong. 20 below and a 30 mph wind. It kind of takes the starch out of a guy. And it makes said guy long for the sun in the summer.
I love weather in general. I like rainy days and cold and warmth. But when you don’t have one, you sure miss it.
Yesterday it was in the high 60’s all day. Kind of a freak, but it made me look forward to fall, a favorite time of year.
But now, as long as the sun shines, I will enjoy the warmth on my face.
As I walked, I do what I have been doing a lot this summer. I was holding my face up to the sun, letting it bake in.
Because of that, I have a good tan. But above all, I feel the sun. last winter was so cold that I wondered at time if there would ever be a time when the sun was warm and bright and hot on my face.
It has been, of course. The seasons take their course, but because of the cold, I love the sun. this is the first year I have not even minded getting hot mowing the yard.
I was so cold last year. I am warm as long as the sun shines and it is summer.
I don’t mind the cold, but this was our first Nebraska winter and the wind is so strong. 20 below and a 30 mph wind. It kind of takes the starch out of a guy. And it makes said guy long for the sun in the summer.
I love weather in general. I like rainy days and cold and warmth. But when you don’t have one, you sure miss it.
Yesterday it was in the high 60’s all day. Kind of a freak, but it made me look forward to fall, a favorite time of year.
But now, as long as the sun shines, I will enjoy the warmth on my face.
shooting our wounded
I was reading an article about Christians who no longer attend church. One of the people interviewed said that one reason he left church was that “priorities are so screwed up, and we shoot our wounded.”
Trying to do church without any real heart or desire to serve God makes it difficult. It becomes all power and control. Anyone who doesn’t go along with it or, worse yet, has a failing or sin, we leave behind. It is easier to shoot our wounded than to deal with their brokenness.
It is a tactic of war to shoot someone when there is a group of people following or fighting you. If you can wound one or more of their number, they are crippled. They have to carry that person. At least one other person is out of commission in trying to help the wounded person. It is a mean and cruel thing to do, but it is easier to shoot the wounded person than it is to help him.
In church, it is easier to shoot our wounded, or at least to ignore them until they spiritually die. It is a lot of trouble to help a wounded person, but it is also a lot of bother.
Galatians 6:1-2 tells us to bear one another’s burdens and in this way fulfill the law of Christ. It also says that we need to be careful that we don’t fall into the same sin.
It is real easy to get wounded. Remember that the next time you get judgmental. It could be you wounded and needing help. The world is a tough place and we are a family.
Trying to do church without any real heart or desire to serve God makes it difficult. It becomes all power and control. Anyone who doesn’t go along with it or, worse yet, has a failing or sin, we leave behind. It is easier to shoot our wounded than to deal with their brokenness.
It is a tactic of war to shoot someone when there is a group of people following or fighting you. If you can wound one or more of their number, they are crippled. They have to carry that person. At least one other person is out of commission in trying to help the wounded person. It is a mean and cruel thing to do, but it is easier to shoot the wounded person than it is to help him.
In church, it is easier to shoot our wounded, or at least to ignore them until they spiritually die. It is a lot of trouble to help a wounded person, but it is also a lot of bother.
Galatians 6:1-2 tells us to bear one another’s burdens and in this way fulfill the law of Christ. It also says that we need to be careful that we don’t fall into the same sin.
It is real easy to get wounded. Remember that the next time you get judgmental. It could be you wounded and needing help. The world is a tough place and we are a family.
i will not take food stamps or ride in a store scooter if i can help it
I will not, unless circumstances change and I am unable to stop it, ever take food stamps. Nor will I ride in a scooter in WalMart or anywhere else until I am absolutely incapable of doing otherwise.
My sense of personal pride prevents me from doing so. I know people who ride the scooters simply because they are too large to comfortably walk. I know people who take the food stamps because they are too lazy to get money for food any other way. I know people who have lost their sense of personal pride. For example:
I took Ella to the doctor today for one of her regular check-up things. There was a woman in the waiting room who was on a walker and had an oxygen tank. She was quite large and could barely move. The ladies at the front desk asked her a question to which she brayed out the answer. She moved to the water fountain across the waiting room, realized that she hadn’t told them something and brayed it across the room. She had a shrill whiny voice that carried quite well across the room.
As I looked at her and since I had to hear her, I wondered how it is that a woman can degenerate so far. She had turned into a sad person who felt that everyone didn’t mind if she did whatever she needed to do, talked as loud as she felt she needed to, etc.
The look on her face was sad. It was the look of a person who had given up in life. She was there to get along until she died, and she would probably fight death to the end.
She had a voucher of some kind. I heard of that several times. She had a walker. She had everything she needed except personal pride.
What is it that diminishes a person? Many times it is the simple lack of personal pride.
I am not talking about foolish pride, the kind that makes us think we are, like the sorcerer guy in Acts 8:9, “Someone Great.” I have known a lot of people that had that kind of feeling of overactive empowerment in their lives. It is the kind of pride that is spoken against throughout the Bible. It puts a person in the place of God the Father.
I am talking about the sense of personal pride, a feeling of who you are and what is right for you to do. My wife, Ella, has it. Even though she is in pain, she will go to get whatever she needs herself rather than ask me. I have told her again and again that I will get it, but her sense of personal pride hates the handout, even from someone who loves her.
It was a while before she could bring herself to ride a scooter. She just hated looking like someone who needed help. Now she rides one everywhere we go and I get it, glad, I might add, out of the car for her. Without it, she and I couldn’t go places unless I pushed her in a wheelchair.
The same goes for dressing in such a way that shows pride in self. Young women are dressing less and less, and it doesn’t seem to matter. Young men have managed to attain a fashion sense that is slob. At the mall, people look like they have no sense of personal pride at all. At WalMart, it is even worse.
When we give up that sense of personal pride, we do great damage to ourselves and to our relationship to God. There is no witness in that kind of person. How can you preach a God of power when you show that you are a victim of life and have no power.
I am not talking about people who are forced into these things by circumstances beyond their control. The young mother who has been deserted by her husband and has to find food for her children. Super emergency situations. Things like that. And I have ridden the scooter when I sprained my ankle and could not walk otherwise. But as soon as I get better, I got off.
That sense of personal pride is missing from so many right now in our society. Food stamp usage is on the rise. It is even renamed to make it sound better: Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Plan (SNAP). People looking for a handout is on the rise.
I have received help before when I was absolutely desperate. But I hated it. And will not unless it is absolutely necessary for Ella to have what she needs. And I have always felt that if I took Food Stamps, or SNAP, I would be telling God he was incapable of giving me what I need.
Pride goes before a fall, true. But the lack of a sense of personal pride means you have no regard for yourself.
It was Jesus himself who said that you love your neighbor as yourself. If you do not love yourself, if you have no sense of personal pride, how in the world can you possibly love your neighbor. With that lack of a sense of personal pride, it is no wonder we all treat each other like dirt.
All this from hearing a woman whining loudly at the doctor’s office.
My sense of personal pride prevents me from doing so. I know people who ride the scooters simply because they are too large to comfortably walk. I know people who take the food stamps because they are too lazy to get money for food any other way. I know people who have lost their sense of personal pride. For example:
I took Ella to the doctor today for one of her regular check-up things. There was a woman in the waiting room who was on a walker and had an oxygen tank. She was quite large and could barely move. The ladies at the front desk asked her a question to which she brayed out the answer. She moved to the water fountain across the waiting room, realized that she hadn’t told them something and brayed it across the room. She had a shrill whiny voice that carried quite well across the room.
As I looked at her and since I had to hear her, I wondered how it is that a woman can degenerate so far. She had turned into a sad person who felt that everyone didn’t mind if she did whatever she needed to do, talked as loud as she felt she needed to, etc.
The look on her face was sad. It was the look of a person who had given up in life. She was there to get along until she died, and she would probably fight death to the end.
She had a voucher of some kind. I heard of that several times. She had a walker. She had everything she needed except personal pride.
What is it that diminishes a person? Many times it is the simple lack of personal pride.
I am not talking about foolish pride, the kind that makes us think we are, like the sorcerer guy in Acts 8:9, “Someone Great.” I have known a lot of people that had that kind of feeling of overactive empowerment in their lives. It is the kind of pride that is spoken against throughout the Bible. It puts a person in the place of God the Father.
I am talking about the sense of personal pride, a feeling of who you are and what is right for you to do. My wife, Ella, has it. Even though she is in pain, she will go to get whatever she needs herself rather than ask me. I have told her again and again that I will get it, but her sense of personal pride hates the handout, even from someone who loves her.
It was a while before she could bring herself to ride a scooter. She just hated looking like someone who needed help. Now she rides one everywhere we go and I get it, glad, I might add, out of the car for her. Without it, she and I couldn’t go places unless I pushed her in a wheelchair.
The same goes for dressing in such a way that shows pride in self. Young women are dressing less and less, and it doesn’t seem to matter. Young men have managed to attain a fashion sense that is slob. At the mall, people look like they have no sense of personal pride at all. At WalMart, it is even worse.
When we give up that sense of personal pride, we do great damage to ourselves and to our relationship to God. There is no witness in that kind of person. How can you preach a God of power when you show that you are a victim of life and have no power.
I am not talking about people who are forced into these things by circumstances beyond their control. The young mother who has been deserted by her husband and has to find food for her children. Super emergency situations. Things like that. And I have ridden the scooter when I sprained my ankle and could not walk otherwise. But as soon as I get better, I got off.
That sense of personal pride is missing from so many right now in our society. Food stamp usage is on the rise. It is even renamed to make it sound better: Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Plan (SNAP). People looking for a handout is on the rise.
I have received help before when I was absolutely desperate. But I hated it. And will not unless it is absolutely necessary for Ella to have what she needs. And I have always felt that if I took Food Stamps, or SNAP, I would be telling God he was incapable of giving me what I need.
Pride goes before a fall, true. But the lack of a sense of personal pride means you have no regard for yourself.
It was Jesus himself who said that you love your neighbor as yourself. If you do not love yourself, if you have no sense of personal pride, how in the world can you possibly love your neighbor. With that lack of a sense of personal pride, it is no wonder we all treat each other like dirt.
All this from hearing a woman whining loudly at the doctor’s office.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)