On "Relationships"

I placed the word Relationships in quotation marks because the word is so loaded with implications. Fundamentally, a relationship is nothing more than the interaction between two things, be they living beings, parts of a structural system, or organs within an organism.

      Men and women, or even friends of the same sex, tend to form expectations regarding one another. One such expectation is a belief that one party belongs to the other. People, however, must not try to “possess” one another. Only God has the right to possess people, as He created us for that very purpose. So when we become possessive we usurp God’s authority by trying to own what can only belong to Him.

      That is equally true for our accruing material possessions. While we don't usually think of relationships with things, if they influence our lives, there is a relationship in play. Whether as substitutes for God and His ample provision, which is idolatry, or hoarding them as a rainy-day provision, which is miserly, excess accumulations here on earth seem to bely our hope for eternity.

      To follow Christ effectively, we must constantly examine the character of our relationships with people, and things.

Insight From Hymn 43

I couldn't see Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, as a church’s preacher; his stage persona is just too sinister for that. Yet, a number of his songs focus critically on the church.

     Hymn 43, though it overstates the church’s corruption, eloquently presents a tragic truth that, while easily observed from the outside, God can only remedy from the inside:

If Jesus saves, well, He'd better save Himself  

from the gory glory seekers who use His name in death.

     Though the first line feels offensive, it likely just states writer Anderson’s offense taken from his observations of Christendom’s shenanigans that deny God’s power by asserting their own hunger and thirst for influence. “If Jesus saves,” draws its reference from Mark 9:24, where the father of a demon possessed boy who kept throwing himself into the fire, humbly asked Jesus to heal his son. “He’d better save Himself,” refers to the mocking Jesus endured throughout his seeming eternity on the cross. In the sense that “Himself” refers to God’s church, Hebrews 6:4-6 reveals the often neglected truth regarding apostasy.
     The second line paints a truly sinister picture of a shocking parallel between nominal Christian religion and Satanic religion. “Gory glory seekers,” are those Sunday Christians whose smiles and glad-handing mock true piety, which word, by the way, once described godly character, but is now used in mocking God’s church.
     No doubt, all Christians would take exception to accusations that they, "use His name in death." I know I do. Yet, in the sense that Bible-thumping Christians routinely use Christianese in our usually vain attempts at sharing God's good news with outsiders, we must heed Anderson's harsh words, repent, and use His name in life! People listen to the stories of how accepting Jesus loving work on the cross changed our lives, and how loving Him in return affects our every thought, word and deed.
     In view of outsiders’ scathing observations such as this Jethro Tull song, are we unjustly accused? Yes, but not by as much as we’d love to believe about ourselves.

Bugged

First, I don’t like ‘em … bugs, that is. Or anyone or anything that causes me to feel bugged.

      Second, by and large, insecure feelings bug me. But people, places or things don’t actually cause me to feel insecure. Rather, my ignorance of, and uncertainty about key aspects of those people, places or things, produce that dreaded, bugged feeling.

      And third, feeling bugged gives me hives—YIKES!

The Good Ship Relation

      Groucho, on one of the original TV quiz shows, You Bet Your Life, used to announce, “Say the secret word and win a hundred dollars.” There’s a secret word today that may not pay a hundred dollars when uttered, but it gives lots of folks hives, and that bug-inflicting word is—wait for the drum-roll—Relationship.

      Why is that sensitizing word such a bugaboo? That’s hard to say—oops, are my pants on fire? Okay, it’s not hard to say: People get hurt through interpersonal relationship failures, and once burned, twice shy, to the degree that we almost universally use a euphemistic substitute: Friendship. So, truth be known, a friendship is a relationship, without all the negative connotations.

      Another issue with relationships raises the stakes against them even higher: That is, the implied element of control. Yes, many control-freaks roam the earth, seeking whom they may devour. And complicating that even further is what popular-psychology calls codependent behavior, or in this case, the need to control, and to be controlled. Think in terms of an artificial bond, akin to that of rare-earth magnets, which are almost impossible to separate without the necessary knowledge and tools.

      We card-carrying, popular-psychologists know a sure fire symptom of codependent relationships: When the controll-ee takes his or her emotional and physical lumps from the controll-er, and makes excuses for the abuser, refusing to end it, that is a codependent relationship. Remember the stuck-together rare-earth magnets? In the observer’s view(that’s me), it is a bad thing, ultimately unhealthy for all parties. I say “all” parties because the most vulnerable of all are the children, who know something stinks in Relationship Land, and without a full understanding, blame themselves.

      Of course, when the controll-ee takes a few lumps, but puts his-or-her foot down and defiantly declares, “Hit the road, Jack!” we’ve just observed an injured, but emotionally healthy, person’s response to a complete jerk, or jerkette, depending upon, (yada, yada, etcetera). By the magnetic analogy, this would be a rare-earth magnet stuck to a piece of stainless steel; It’s a strong bond, but without having another magnet's reversed polls to feed upon, it can be removed with relative ease.

Truth Zone

      While watching Bones, I noted Booth’s and Brennan’s use of a little investigative tool called, The Truth Zone, where they would agree to complete disclosure of all relevant information. Wow! Is that an idealistic, schmaltzy idea, or what?

      While that would be an awesome way of defusing that bugged feeling that I’ve temporarily lost track of due to my popular-psychological tirade, it’s largely wishful thinking. To establish such a space of honesty, we would first have to establish a space of trust.

      Trouble is, there’s no such thing as a unilateral truth, or trust, zone; I can think of no way to guarantee cooperation from all participants. Here is where the “F” word reigns supreme(that’s Fear, for those with a history in the mean world). Even with a referee’s involvement, we fear that all parties will not tell the truth, or even share their best-guess as to what that really is. Who wants to expose their vulnerability without such a guarantee?

      Don’t count me in! So, Bones guys, thanks for a great, but completely unrealistic, idea.

Bag’em and Tag’em?

      Ever more forensic procedurals oozing from my very pores. Now isn’t that a lovely image!

      What the Brennan and Booth characters do with forensic evidence, the real world does with personal observations … as in, interpersonal cues. Trouble is, that’s hardly an exact science. The evidence we gather is always contaminated with relational baggage, sometimes from early childhood. Certainly, such evidence would never make a case in a court of law, even though we amateur, relational forensic analysts typically assign to it rock-solid significance. And therein lies the bugaboo; by trying to protect ourselves with fear, without allowing ourselves the flexibility of listening to and trusting God’s still, small voice, we allow our world of relational hurt to hobble our emotional development. And that’s really bad thing.

      Everyone who gets bugged about sensitive people, place, and thing-issues will not necessarily sprout hives, but God will not condone the emotional handicap caused by fear and avoidance. That’s just not His style.

Hope’s Failure

Hope’s failure is its lingering death,
      more prolonged than that of old age.
Hope divine, thought to be eternal,
      rages toward its sudden, cold end,
While another, adorned with its death shroud,
      wheezes on, fatally immortal.

      While that might seem dark and morose, understanding its “Hope divine,” depends upon Romans 8:24. Divine hope ends when we close our eyes upon this world, and open them to our Savior’s loving countenance. Then, our living hope will have outlived its function, and die with a “sudden, cold end.”

Romans 8:24b ESV Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?

      “Fatally immortal” hope is the oxymoron it seems. As it is essentially temporal, fleshly, its death shroud conceals the hopeless morass of unrequited love, a pathetic existence centered upon the erstwhile emotion of some mythical, brief interpersonal connection. It seems immortal because it refuses to die, continuing with the regularity of a toothache.

My Scribbling's Fruit

Writing takes me all over the Internet, so blame thou me that I get distracted? (Oops! Classical overload?)

      Yesterday I discovered John Donne, whose name my "education" touched upon. Churchman? Poet? Social critic? Church-critic? Yes, but such measly characterizations hardly scratch the surface of his life's achievements. As I haven't yet plumbed his works deeply enough to judge his character (Catch my tongue-in-cheek presumption?), I'll not include "Christian" in his life's portfolio.
      Am I wrong, or did well-educated, fourteenth and fifteenth century people seem to make so much more of their lives than our contemporaries? Though then, as now, making their fortunes preoccupied much of their effort.
      While I'm certainly not a Renascence Man, I kinda like this one. His prose and verse, in a way similar to those of the Scriptures, beckon me to discover what lies under his deeply metaphorical, pen-scratchings.
      So, I'll gratify you by giving my "pen" a rest, and intrigue you with, The Flea.

THE FLEA. by John Donne MARK but this flea, and mark in this, How little that which thou deniest me is ; It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be. Thou know'st that this cannot be said A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead ;     Yet this enjoys before it woo,     And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two ;     And this, alas ! is more than we would do. O stay, three lives in one flea spare, Where we almost, yea, more than married are. This flea is you and I, and this Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is. Though parents grudge, and you, we're met, And cloister'd in these living walls of jet.     Though use make you apt to kill me,     Let not to that self-murder added be,     And sacrilege, three sins in killing three. Cruel and sudden, hast thou since Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence? Wherein could this flea guilty be, Except in that drop which it suck'd from thee? Yet thou triumph'st, and say'st that thou Find'st not thyself nor me the weaker now. 'Tis true ; then learn how false fears be ; Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me, Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee.

Good With ... What

'Cept, I ain't good with math

Our Mission, Should We Choose To Accept It

We the church must not directly attack the world’s sin,
but offer redemption to the world’s sinners.

Directly attacking the world’s sin is worse than futile,
as it inoculates sinners against the gospel.

Instead, the church must clean its own house,
so it can shine as Christ’s unsullied example of holiness,
offering His loving redemption to the world’s sinners.

      Need a mission? We can produce a glitzy show, and reap megabucks in donations, by condemning the world’s sins from the public media stage, and maybe even throwing in a few spectacular, apparent healings now and again.
      There’s a huge mission here: Tens of thousands of Couch-Potato-Christians get to feel good by serving as card-carrying Faith Partners, and in return for their monthly pledges, eagerly anticipate the postal carrier’s delivery of those great, token gifts. There is an organization for these generous brethren: Super Unselfish Christian Knights and Ever Responsible Saints, or, S.U.C.K.E.R.S.
      While these Christian Media Personalities claim to advance Family Values and line churches’ aisles with repentant sinners, their main talent lies in lining their own pockets with the proceeds from selling Charismatic indulgences. But, while those obvious charlatans create quite a stir, by far the greater damage comes from rank-and-file Evangelicals who, with the best of motives, wag their bony, judgmental fingers at the world’s sinners, condemning them to hellfire and damnation for the sins they really can’t help doing. Simple fact: Sinners sin. They always have, they always will. And even their most repugnant, disgusting sins won’t embed them any deeper in perdition than the church members, whose sin is judging sinners.
      Sinners need conviction, not condemnation, before they can respond to Christ’s loving, gospel of grace. And only One Person can deliver that conviction deep into their sin-sick hearts. That Person is God’s Holy Spirit, doing His work in His time.

Father, in Jesus’ Name, convict us, Your church, of our judging, all our other fleshly works of sin, so that Your Spirit of Holiness will shine through us like a beacon over the world’s craggy rocks, directing sinners to Your eternally safe harbor. That is Your will, Father, and our mission.

Some Wars Are So Unequal

You think you know what she's saying. FAIL!

What's Wrong With Being Pragmatic?

Coming from a flamin’ idealist, that’s gotta be a loaded question. Oversimplified, a pragmatic approach means, “What will I really get out of it?” Whether “it” is a potential job change or a purchase you’re considering, the pragmatic view emphasizes and anticipates real outcomes, rather than pie-in-the-sky-by’n-by.

      Every decision you face presents a multiple-choice test, and idealistic prattle aside, you will always choose the option that seems to offer the best probability of reward. Trouble is, that one word, seems, throws a wet blanket over all your scheming for that dangling carrot. As you don’t enjoy the benefit of omniscience, you can’t know the downside that lurks behind all that glittery promise.
      Therein lies Pragmatism’s Achilles Heel. But you knew the title question was loaded from the git-go, right? Pragmatically speaking, every path you take that is based on your own perceptions of reality is fraught with unforeseen danger. Your only option that guarantees an ultimately blissful end, lies in the path laid out for you by the One who holds your future, and who loves you so much that His plan is the best of all possible outcomes.
      So, how can you know which of all possible paths is the right one?
      The Lord Jesus, God’s eternal Word in human flesh, has revealed in His written word, a set of clear guidelines and principles that, when followed, will reward you with His eternal perspective and wisdom, His spiritual gifts and fruit, His focused illumination for each step of the way, and His eternal light that reaches to the end of your earthly days and right into an eternity in His loving arms.
      That perfect path begins at the best-known Scriptural address of all, John 3:16 and 17, which goes like this: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
      But that’s just the starting point. True happiness, both on Earth and in eternity, depends on believing in Jesus as His word says, which means granting Him total access to your heart of hearts, the seat of your will and your motives, and allowing Him to change you into the person He created you to be.
      How could you ever be more pragmatic than that?

Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged

      Not having read the book, my comments are based on a documentary about Ayn Rand, featuring her novel, Atlas Shrugged. In the program, a young woman quoted protagonist Dagny Taggart, “I swear by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.” I suppose that summarizes Taggart’s personal statement of the author’s philosophical thrust.
      Rand’s not-so fictional antagonists were the welfare enforcers who exploited the poor as their stairway to power. But they also exploited the Christian virtue of charity, warping it into a mandate for state-run welfare. Her analysis of the welfare mindset was precisely on target; professional do-gooders who ultimately profit from making the poor dependent on them.
      A second villainous persona was the corporate executive. Sidestepping market forces, they sold out productivity by trading support for politicians and their programs, for government contracts and subsidies.

Short-list of principles presented in the book:

• Objectivism—a form of materialism where ones goal is to achieve fulfillment of their objective, without compromising the responsibilities attendant to it.
• Individualism vs. collectivism—the right to responsibly pursue the rewards of ones own productivity without having the burden of “The Greater Good” imposed on them by the government.
• self-interest vs. altruism—altruism is the socio/cultural mandate for “The Haves” to sacrifice the rewards of their own productivity to bring about equality with the “The Have-Nots.”

      While Rand got a lot of things right, she lumped Christian charity into the category of “Mystical Collectivism,” a sub-heading of altruism, and nothing more than a means of fleecing the productive, middle class of their rewards. Though Rand was a refugee from Communism, that idea borders on the Communistic hatred of religion, which was not the conflicting ideology they pretended it was, but simply Communism’s main competition for the minds and money of the people they claimed to defend.
      Rand stood staunchly for The American Dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Those three rights, however, must be defined according to the Biblical, New Testament world view if they are to work as our nation’s founding fathers envisioned. Otherwise, they produce survival-of-the-strongest, anarchy, and the pursuit of self-gratification. Ambition, without grace, exploits the weak, and defines success by who dies with the most toys left to their spoiled kids.

A Friend

Loves you when you are unlovable

Stays with you when you want to be alone

Challenges you when you lapse into self-pity

Treasures you when you feel worthless

Cares for you when you couldn't care less

Supports you when you’re out of balance

Guards you when you feel vulnerable

Grieves with you when you suffer loss

Cries with you when you’re hurt

Defends you when you’re at fault

Gives all when you’re in need

Keeps listening to you when you prattle

POWER AND STRENGTH--HURRAH!

Isaiah 40:27-31 ESV Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God"? (28) Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. (29) He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. (30) Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; (31) but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

      For all their rhetoric, the Jews didn’t hold God in high regard. Though they witnessed wonders of salvation and restoration, they thought God didn’t notice them. The same is true of me, as I descend into discouragement and depression. I call out to Him, but all I hear is my own pathetic voice, telling me, “You should be ashamed of yourself. You’re not good enough for God to answer your prayers. What kind of Christian can’t even get God to answer intercessory prayers. Sure, God loves you, but he has to. That’s just who he is.”

      But I say, “Cow piles! Take a hike, Satan!”

2Timothy 1:12 ESV which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.

      What has been entrusted to me? The Holy Spirit of Christ Jesus, the very Word of God who spoke the universe into existence, and sonship in His name. As a son, the Eternal One loves me with a fanatical affection, placing my ultimate wellbeing above all else.

      I don’t know why He chose me, but He did, and I am forever humbled and grateful for that. Whenever I get down in the mouth, my duty to my God and Savior is to remember these things, and to meditate on them until I cry for gratitude, instead of self-pity.

      God sent Isaiah 40:29 especially for me.

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

(Isa40:29 ESV)

      There could be no better test case for God’s faithfulness and infusion of strength than “Po me,” as I have a resistant strain of spiritual impotence and self-pity. For years, I regarded my weakness stronger than His power to change me. In that belief, I was a blasphemer, as I made the Almighty, Eternal One out to be weaker than I. Then, a few years ago, I began changing my prayer from, “Fix me or I can’t serve you,” to, “Use me somehow, just as I am.”

      Well, that didn’t change a thing … for a while … but God showed me that slow change is just as good as overnight change, and that I must persevere in what He gave me to do until I’ve proven myself worthy of more.

“I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

(Luke 19:26 ESV)

      Though God has not called me to suffer as yet for His gospel, or at least certainly not on the scale of faithful martyrs today and throughout history, Apostle Paul’s testimony is an apt last word.

2Timothy 1:8-12 ESV Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, (9) who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, (10) and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, (11) for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, (12) which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.

Not Good Enough, Chistian

Isa 40:27-31 ESV  Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God"?  (28)  Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.  (29)  He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. (30)  Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;  (31)  but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

      For all their rhetoric, the Jews didn’t hold God in high regard. Though they witnessed wonders of salvation and restoration, they thought God didn’t notice them. The same is true of me, as I descend into discouragement and depression. I call out to Him, but all I hear is my own pathetic voice, telling me, “You should be ashamed of yourself. You’re not good enough for God to answer your prayers. What kind of Christian can’t even get God to answer intercessory prayers. Sure, God loves you, but he has to. That’s just who he is.”

      But I say, “Cow piles! Take a hike, Satan!”

2Ti 1:12 ESV  which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.

      What has been entrusted to me? The Holy Spirit of Christ Jesus, the very Word of God who spoke the universe into existence, and sonship in His name. As a son, the Eternal One loves me with a fanatical affection, placing my ultimate wellbeing above all else.

      I don’t know why He chose me, but He did, and I am forever humbled and grateful for that. Whenever I get down in the mouth, my duty to my God and Savior is to remember these things, and to meditate on them until I cry for gratitude, rather than for self-pity.

      God sent Isaiah 40:29 especially for me.

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

(Isa 40:29 ESV)

      There could be no better test case for God’s faithfulness and infusion of strength than “Po me,” as I have a resistant strain of spiritual impotence and self-pity. For years, I regarded my weakness stronger than His power to change me. In that belief, I was a blasphemer, as I made the Almighty, Eternal One out to be weaker than I. Then, a few years ago, I began changing my prayer from, “Fix me or I can’t serve you,” to, “Use me somehow, just as I am.”

      Well, that didn’t change a thing … for a while … but God showed me that slow change is just as good as overnight change, and that I must persevere in what He gave me to do until I’ve proven myself worthy of more.

“I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

(Luk 19:26 ESV)

      Though God has not called me to suffer as yet for His gospel, or at least certainly not on the scale of faithful martyrs today and throughout history, Apostle Paul’s testimony is an apt last word.

2Ti 1:8-12 ESV  Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,  (9)  who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,  (10)  and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, (11)  for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher,  (12)  which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.

Did He Get it Right?

David McCasland wrote an article for Our Daily Bread titled, “Our Hopes and Dreams.” Basing this piece on Apostle Paul’s dedication to advancing God’s kingdom, and the trials and setbacks he faced while so doing, the author concluded with this statement:

When our goal is to honor the Lord, He guides and guards us each step of the way. Whatever our hopes and dreams may be, when we place them in God’s hands we know that everything, including setback or success, is under His control. —David McCasland

McCasland used as a reference Scripture passage Acts 20:16-24.

I have to wonder if our lives more resemble a model sailboat under radio control, or one with a preset, wind controlled rudder and sail. To what extent does God micromanage our lives?

While the passage in Acts testifies to the Apostle’s own inability to predict the future, and his confidence in God’s faithfulness to carry out His intentions, it doesn’t say “everything, including setback or success, is under His control.”

Our absolutely sovereign, self-existent God cannot be constrained to human concepts and expectations for Him. We’re locked in to thinking of Him as either in control, or not in control. Are those the only two possibilities? Oh, I hope not, as those options are so … finite.

Apostle Paul gives a different perspective.

(Rom 8:28 NASB)  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

To me, this says He coordinates, but He doesn’t control. I desperately wish He would do just that, so we could see His mighty hand at work minute-by-minute. But trust doesn’t work like that, for we walk by faith, not by sight--  (2Corinthians 5:7 NASB)

Whether God micromanages our lives, or guides us through life’s pitfalls, matters little to a Christ-follower. We must simply trust Him to love us as only He can.

Optimize That Thing

Anyone who spots the above title while racing at light-speed along Al Gore’s Information Superhighway will assume “That Thing” is at least their Internet connection, and probably their whole digital shebang. But optimization takes work, so most of us flow with the default condition.

The same idea applies where “That Thing” is our mental, emotional, spiritual, or physical conditioning. Using our physical conditioning as an example, the default condition is known as, “Flab.” We have some vague idea that we could look or feel better, “if only,” but that would come at the price of concentrated “Work!?” as Dobie Gillis’ pal Maynard G. Krebs would say.

Meet Maynard Krebs

Our list of default conditions could fill a library, but the most crucial area is responsibility, whether personal, family, intellectual, spiritual or civil. You may have noticed the many ways in which these areas of responsibility can overlap, so by connecting them all as our personal skeletal structure, we can work toward the personal integrity and strength that all great people enjoy.

Did you say you need a measuring rod for personal integrity? That’s easy. It’s the neighborhood polling place. That’s right, the way you vote is the best single indicator of your personal character and integrity. Do you cast your vote for principle, or for self-interest, hoping to get something from government?

Hey Maynard, are you listening? Or maybe you’re one of the cynics who say, “What difference does it make?”

Krebs, old buddy, you need to yank your proverbial head out of the sand. Sure, some of the most common advice you’ll hear is, “I don’t waste my time voting. Don’t really matter who gets promoted to Head Honcho, don’t ya know?”

Okay Maynard, how do you explain all the money and time political activists spend during an election year? Would those savvy insiders waste their resources buying ad-time and space in every imaginable media outlet if votes really didn’t count? In fact, votes count so much that liberal organizations like ACORN resurrect dead people and transform pets into human beings to get their votes.

Problem is, Maynard, responsible voting isn’t easy. Cynics have one thing right; during political campaigns we know one fact: When politicians’ lips are flapping, we know they’re lying. One explanation for that fact is most of them are lawyers. Our only recourse as voters is to ignore the hype and find out the truth for ourselves. But researching the candidates and issues takes work—DON’T SAY IT, KREBS!

Despite their public posturing, all political candidates have beliefs about how the world works. And while they all believe, “Them that has, gets,” the ways each one employs to pursue that goal differ like night from day.

The Dark Side

Socialists, whether or not they label themselves as such, consistently aim their policies toward fomenting discontent, such as class warfare and social fear. Our Progressive (euphemism for Socialist, Secularist, Liberal, or Democrat) friends work toward trivializing traditional morality, and the spiritual influences that support it. Their motivation? To so erode our society that enough people will change their names to Maynard G. Krebs to keep them in office until all we hold dear comes crashing down on our heads.

This quest for power has succeeded brilliantly over the past seventy-five years, with the people only occasionally catching on and temporarily arresting the downward spiral into Socialism and its entitlement-based culture. I still find it hard to believe that my memory is better than society’s.

But Maynard says, “Right-on, groovy, and outasight!” As a card-carrying leach, the idea of government filling his pockets with “Rich People’s” money sounds irresistible. What he and his friends fail to grasp, however, is the demotivating effect wealth-transfer has on those “Rich People,” who own the businesses and sign the paychecks for all those folks who like to wear decent clothing while eating and sleeping in a secure home with their well-educated kids who also love the amenities their parents spend their lives accumulating.

That welfare-based, entitlement-oriented society is nothing more or less than a Ponzi scheme on a vast, international scale. The Government, “We The People,” continually borrows unbacked “money” from the financial establishment, driving our national debt up, our real value down, and accruing astronomical interest debt in the process. Eventually, that valueless debt will come due, and we will have no way to pay it, short of selling our national and personal sovereignty to the highest bidder, who now happens to be the Communist Chinese. While independent economists have painted this dismal picture for years, all the Maynards hear only what Big Brother wants published—nothing personal against anyone actually named Maynard.

Is There a Solution?

OPTIMIZE!

Computer geeks realize that true optimization begins in the Command Line instructions. It tells the Operating System what’s what and who’s who. It also initiates a thorough virus scan at the most fundamental level: The Boot Sector. Without circumventing computer viruses at this level, the entire system on which it’s built will be corrupt.

Analog life(that’s everything but computers) closely parallels that process. Every human being carried a unique virus when we were “booted up.” That’s not the way we were made, but it’s what happened when we first presumed to edit our own “machine language programming.” In Windows terms, the Creator granted us “Administrative Control” over ourselves, and we thought we could “tweak” His plan for us.

The Creator’s Holy Spirit enables and conducts a very special virus scan for sin in our lives, but it’s not completely automatic. He still gives us the responsibility for “clicking” on the “Clean Button” before our sin is added to the database that He eradicated at the decidedly low-tech, wooden cross where He died. Only when we are freed from that sin-virus can we begin the Spiritual Optimization process that will make us into the fully functioning “units” He created us to be.

Application Execution—Without Crashing

Each area of our lives is like an application on a computer; it gets a specific job done, and our “Spirit-Operating System,” built on and by our Creator, provides the unseen foundation for all else. When our “S-O.S.” is out of whack, we can’t function well, if at all. In computer terminology, that last part is calledCrashing!

The tragedy is, few of us will decide to “click” on that divine “Clean Button,” and allow our Creator to optimize our unseen foundation. While we “spiritually optimized units” may not comprise a large enough force to prevent our world’s, or even our nation’s, ultimate crash, we can at least measurably slow that down, and protect our families, while we are bound for eternally optimum, intimate fellowship with our loving Programmer, the Lord Jesus Christ.

I Wanna Be That Guy

I awoke from a dream drenched in tears, praying, “I wanna be that guy, Lord. I wanna be that guy.”

I was part of a church group participating with the Army in some sort of relief effort. My group had taken over the general purpose mess hall, where we ate first, then the soldiers ate a different meal after we were served. As we bunked in their barracks, the soldiers had to bivouac in the cold warehouse next door, and most of them were okay with that.

I know it was an army facility because one night they staged a contact game of some kind. Before the game started, the rifle squad stood tall on the knoll and snapped to attention at present arms as the PA system began playing our national anthem and the Stars and Stripes were raised somewhere out of sight. I too snapped to attention, with my right hand over my heart, filled with gratitude for being allowed to participate in the work we were doing.

As this was a dream, I feel fortunate to remember only snippets of it after waking, but what I do remember humbles me anew.

In one segment I happened by while some soldiers unloaded ice blocks from the back of a truck. I saw a gap in the process, so I stepped in to help record the order, right on that cold, water-soaked truck bed. Despite my good intentions, though, I couldn’t find dry scraps of paper for recording the serial numbers from the ice blocks, and yes, they don’t really stamp serial numbers on ice blocks, but this was a dream, after all. The point is, I tried to fill the gap, even though it wasn’t my responsibility.

Another segment had me standing near some soldiers trying to safely remove a large sign from the building’s front. A man standing on a ladder and one reaching out from an awning were about to lose their load, so I ran over to the weak end and offered my support. Oddly, the three other guys in the work detail were facing the other way, smoking and joking around. That time I proved a valuable resource when I filled the gap.

Still another segment had me in a similar situation to the ice unloading detail, but the soldiers were unloading large, military-looking bundles of parkas and such. I stepped up to the truck bed and held my arms out to receive one of those heavy bundles, passed it through a doorway, and kept doing so until the job was done, and I was as sweaty and dirty as the soldiers I was helping.

Next, as I was late getting to the mess hall because I was helping the men, I missed my group’s dinner, but the soldiers who were still in the chow line handed me a plate so I could eat with them. Without intending to, I had become one of the workers, and I felt like a contributor, rather than just a consumer.

That dream evening I stood looking out one of the mess hall’s windows as a praise hymn began in the background, and a powerful gratitude filled my eyes with tears as I awoke, repeating, “I wanna be that guy, Lord. I wanna be that guy.” Now I realize that I was really saying, "I wanna be like You, Lord. I wanna be like You."

I Hate Politics!

I know I'm not alone in that sentiment, but a time comes when even passive voters such as I must at least try to make waves. And being a non-swimmer, when I get in deep water I make plenty of waves.

The vast majority of voters loyal to either major political party haven't the foggiest idea what really goes on in those smoke-filled rooms. And yes, they're still smoke-filled, despite the Politically Correct dogma of smoke freedom. So, confession time: Down deep we've realized our woeful ignorance since we first began shedding our cockeyed idealism, and responded by imitating the mythical, head-burying kangaroo. "If it was good enough for Kennedy or Reagan, it's good enough for me."

The problem is, that was then, and this is now. What dragged my head out of the proverbial sand is this video of Anita Moncrief's statements at the Americans for Prosperity Foundation's Suite Tea Breakfast in Orlando, Florida on September 23, 2011. If you're now shaking your head and looking askance at this obvious conservative propaganda, please excuse my audacity for publishing my opinion on my own blog. But despite the mainstream media's smear tactics, this deserves an unbiased hearing. If you claim to be open-minded, please sacrifice the twenty minutes that viewing both parts of this video will cost you. It will either cement your liberalness or open your eyes. Either way, it will be well worth your time. (If the following videos don't work in your browser, copy/paste the following URL into its address bar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CmkbShVqNA )

If you agree that this is vital information in this pivotal election cycle, please break your silence and do everything you can to broadcast it, whether or not you will be popular for doing so. Because the liberal news media will certainly try to conceal it.

Tough, Being Affluent

I don’t know about you, but I typically have some month left over at the end of my money. Christ’s Apostle Paul was a pretty smart guy, maybe I should study his attitude regarding his resources.

Philippians 4:8-13 (ESV)  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  (9)  What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me--practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.  (10)  I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.  (11)  Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  (12)  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  (13)  I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Bible passages that begin with “Finally” are, oddly enough, called Final Instructions. The author may have used them as a summary of earlier, detailed exhortations. Or he may have added them at the end of his letter for emphasis. This passage from Paul’s letter to the Philippians is one of the important ones. Each verse delivers a key element for godly living that, while profound, seems quite logical.

Verse eight recommends eight positive mindsets for dealing with all circumstances. As they are a command, and not a suggestion, here’s a brief review. We must occupy our minds with whatever is:

• True: Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by me.” Truth is what doesn’t change, but it is an obsolete concept, and trying to define it in terms of today’s mindset is like trying to explain a glorious sunset to one born blind.
• Honorable: Uprightness, rectitude, nobility. As a character trait, honor is like truth; its standards don’t change with society’s whims.
• Just: Loving justice. Conforming to or highly regarding the law.
• Pure: Blameless, unsullied, undefiled, refined as by fire.
• Lovely: The Greek word means “toward love.” So lovely means living in a way that begets friendly love.
• Commendable: Of good reputation.
• Excellent: Virtue, moral goodness, chastity, modesty.
• Praiseworthy: That would be God, for He is exclusively worthy of praise.

As I commented for True and Honorable, these are all either forgotten or ridiculed in popular culture. And why? Because the world knows they are Biblical ideals, and even though universally “thinking on these things” would eliminate everything that the world considers evil, sin prevents the world system from even considering them.

Verse nine is self-explanatory as the Bible’s quickest tutorial on godliness. So we jump to verses eleven and twelve, where Paul speaks of having learned to be content despite his circumstances, and he introduces the secret to facing both scarcity and affluence. Leaving the details to us, he jumps in verse thirteen to his summation, a paraphrase of Jesus’ words as recorded in Mark 10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God."

So where are these unstated details? With precious little searching I found Paul’s secret for contentment in all things: Gratitude.

Psa 50:14, 22-23 ESV
(14) “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High,”
(22) “Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
(23) The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”

Without gratitude, we quickly lapse into grumbling—or worse. Whether rich or poor, we want more, and if we have ambition with no moral restraint, we’ll ultimately do anything to get it. So while living hand-to-mouth with gratitude isn't easy, learning to handle affluence in a godly way can be even tougher.

In Case You Missed It

This is coming your way so you'll be sure not to miss it, as it describes a critical aspect of life in Christ Jesus. As usual, I'll contribute my own take at the end. Enjoy, or be convicted, whichever shoe fits.

Winners And Losers

August 8, 2012 — by Dave Branon

Read: 1 Peter 3:8-12

In lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. —Philippians 2:3

Bible in a Year:
Isaiah 37-39

As the NFL playoff game ended and the Green Bay Packers celebrated their victory over the Chicago Bears, my daughter Lisa noticed that her little girl, 4-year-old Eliana, was crying. That seemed odd, since neither of Eliana’s parents particularly cared who won the game.

When Lisa asked Eliana why she was crying, she said, “I feel sorry for the Bears. They look so sad.”

Can we learn something from a preschooler about compassion? In a world where winning is so important and losers get rejected, forgotten, and maligned, we need this reminder: People need compassion. When we see others struggling with a loss are we willing to shed tears with them, put our arms around them, and offer to help?

A number of Scripture passages challenge us to treat others with compassion. Philippians 2:1-3 tells us to think of others above ourselves, looking out for their interests—not just ours. First Peter 3:8-12 reminds us that compassion means treating others “as brothers,” and Colossians 3:12-15 says that mercy, kindness, and humility are marks of those God has redeemed.

Look around you. See anyone going through a difficult loss? Go beyond feeling bad for them. Reach out with compassion and God’s love.

Lord, grant me a heart of compassion So burdened for others’ needs, That I will show them Your mercy In attitudes, words, and deeds. —Fitzhugh

One measure of our likeness to Christ is
our sensitivity to the suffering of others.

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My first impulse upon reading Dave Branon's devotional by was to put myself on the receiving end of the Scripturally mandated compassion. After all, my life of late hasn't been exactly easy, and I need compassion too, don't I?

Well, God gave me a few seconds to enjoy my little pity party before He gently reminded me that NOWHERE in Scripture does He encourage, or even permit, me to feel sorry for myself. He clearly stated His mandate to me in 2Corinthians 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,  (4)  who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Just as self-righteousness leaves no room for Christ to make us truly righteous, self-pity leaves no room for His grace.