Don’t be a moron … an oxymoron, that is.

I’m an official Old Guy. And speaking of “morons,” according to a young feller of somewhat questionable character whom I happened upon in my neighborhood the other day, I’m only a Fat Old Man who has nothing of relevance to say to him. Of course he didn’t use the word relevance during his tiring tirade. Not being one to make snap judgments, I only suspect he couldn’t define relevance on a bet.

Oh, he didn’t hurt my feelings, any more than a rattlesnake shaking his tail at me would. But he made a valid observation.

As a card-carrying Old Guy (the trusty, AARP card), I no longer suffer the world-shaking, hormone-stimulated temptations I once did. Don’t get me wrong; they’re still here, making me miserable at times, but the extreme, young-buck-urgency has passed. So another compulsion has replaced it: That being the pressing need to preach chastity at today’s young bucks. No, I wasn’t very good at chastity, but I can surely try and guilt-trip these terrible, sinful, whoremongers.

But I won’t. I had enough of that for an entire generation of young men, courtesy of my Catholic upbringing.

The good news is, I survived, more-or-less sane, though damaged for life. Now, that’s my only excuse for being the messed-up seeker I am today, so don’t knock it!

More Good News!

Turns out I never had to worry too much about Jesus shuttling me off to perdition for an impure thought or two. He’s good that way; it’s called, Grace. And He made infinite portions of it available at the foot of the cross where He died.

“Why,” you ask, “would any self-respecting God demean Himself to be born into a working-class family, only to ultimately be vilified, purjured, slandered, tortured, humiliated, and murdered in the worst way the Romans could invent?”

You didn’t ask that? Well you should. The bulk of Christendom can’t answer that essential question with the authority of one who has experienced God’s Amazing Grace. Jesus’ cross is where I found it, and so can you.

The World Taxi Company

When Jesus’ disciples asked how to get to the Father, He told them, and us, that He is the way, the truth, and the life. Sounds simple enough.

Trouble is, while we’re stuck in the world, finding the one, true way among all the distractions, detours and delays can be a problem. So most of us call on the World Taxi Company to take us where we want to go, but the taxi fare to that glorious place can be awfully expensive: Broken relationships. Guilt feelings. Trust issues. And for Catholics, fear of dying in our sins. That stuff can mess with even a sound mind. Imagine what it did to mine.

Unfortunately, the taxi driver(Name’s Beelzebub, or something foreign like that) won’t be stiffed. That old demon must’ve had a difficult childhood, ‘cause he’ll lie, cheat, steal, and murder to keep you away from that Old Rugged Cross. Thing is, despite his slick demeanor, he despises that cross with a red hot, grinding ferocity. And he despises you nearly as much, though you wouldn’t know it from that comely grin he keeps flashing in the rear-view mirror.

I hate to press such an ugly topic, but I gotta warn you about his favorite detours. They seem like world-class destinations, to hear him tell it.

The Scenic Route
Here’s the itinerary he planned for me. The particulars may vary somewhat for you, but you’ll get the idea.

First Stop: Religion. My family was Catholic, so a Catholic rearing was in store for me. And not just any Catholic rearing. I’m talking the parochial school, seriously guilt-tripped Catholic rearing. By the time I was confirmed, I knew I was all washed up, and not the clean kind of washed up. If I didn’t make Saturday-evening confession I couldn’t take communion(Holy Eucharist, for today’s Catholics) Sunday morning, which would tell everyone that I was a nasty, nasty boy. I actually thought I was unique in my urges, and my feeble, messy attempts at assuaging them.

I knew I was in deeper than I could ever swim out. That’s because I knew I was a condemned hypocrite … just as condemned as those Pharisees and Sadducees that Jesus cursed. And the Sacrament of Penance, instead of restoring my relationship with God, served only to deepen my depravity, because at some elemental level I knew I was trying to use the Church to manipulate God. Let’s see, I know there’s a Bible verse about messing with God … Oh yeah. Galatians 6:7-8 tells us, Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Guess I didn’t have the strength of will to play the sanctimonious, Catholic Game. So I gave up for a few years, until I met Christ for real, which is another story, and the best one of all in my life.

Second Stop: Possessions. Since I could never be accused of possessing significant wealth, I had to worship them on a more modest scale. Still, I put nearly as much effort into manipulating my stuff as I did at trying to manipulate God. After all, it made a truly convenient idol, with the added benefit of its being all mine … and the bank’s.

My success rate wasn’t improving. Neither was my temperament. Instead of owning my stuff, it owned me, and stuff can be a demanding master.

Third Stop: Power. Yes, Possessions and Power are Money’s paternal twins, but I listed them separately for clarity. Personally, I didn’t have Power’s steep admission fee. Not by a long shot. But lusted after it just the same. Even worse, I hated those who wielded power over me.

The problem with Power is, it can make all the other stops deeper, longer, and even more muddy. I’m talking quicksand muddy. One of mankind’s most predictable desperations is the panic to maintain power once it is attained. Digging into any state or national government, or even corporate, religious, or nonprofit organizations, will reveal more entrenched worms than a bait store.

And entrenchment isn’t half the problem. Add to that the abuse of power and things get ugly fast. Yet, true to the Human Condition(spelled s-i-n), even revolutionaries bent on reforming government soon fall into that same quicksand.

Fourth Stop: For the benefit of those who are a bit queasy about the “S” word, I’ll euphemise it to, “Biological Urges.” To clarify it even further, I’m referring to the three-letter “S” word. That infernal taxi driver had lots of help at this stop; my youthful hormones made me a most willing tourist.

Don’t get me wrong; these specific “Biological Urges” are perfectly natural. In fact, they are God’s gift to His creation as long as sating them doesn’t become mankind’s first priority. Or second, or third, etc. And because God had His most special plans in mind for us, He told us to satisfy those “Biological Urges” only within the context of marriage. What a God we have, to make a such a laborious process so much fun. And He didn’t have to.

As my devilish driver was showing me this appealing world system, however, he neglected to mention the last two planned stops.

Fifth Stop: Judgment. As Jesus explained His plan to those gathered around him, He described His final court date, as related in Matthew 25:31-45: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.

34 Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,

36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'

37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?

38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?

39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?'

40 And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'

41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,

43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'

44 Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?'

45 Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'

No way do I intend to stand before the righteous Judge on His left. Have you ever noticed how, when you stand before someone, if you want to be on his right, you must move to your left? His right is your left, and his left is your right. Why do I belabor this obvious fact? Because, as with directional right and left, moral right and wrong are most easily confused. Often, what seems right and expedient at the moment is exactly wrong from God’s perspective.

Sixth Step: Perdition. As with all righteous judges, Jesus hates to sentence even the worst of offenders to their just deserts. He said as much, as recorded in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world--that’s you, me, and everyone who has ever inhabited Planet Earth--that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” I’m very much afraid that well-known Bible passage has lost much of its meaning to God’s church. And I doubt I can correct that tragedy within these lines, as better writers and smarter brethren than I have penned volumes trying to bring the message home to the church.

So, speaking of those who rejected Jesus’ offer of reconciliation with the Father, Judge Jesus continued His pronouncement: Matthew 25:46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Sinning Saints
Back to the above referenced Oxymoron.

But first, a message from our dictionary:

Noun: oxymoron

1: Conjoining contradictory terms (as in 'deafening silence')

Get the picture? It’s like … well … sinning saints. You and I can’t be one and the other at the same time.

Endless non-oxy-morons--the alleged, human variety--cheerfully preach and teach that Christ-followers must  necessarily continue sinning, even after their sin-nature died on Christ’s cross. Worse, they actually seem to believe their garbage. To say it is unscriptural is an understatement of galactic proportions. In fact, the Bible says the exact opposite. I could list many Scripture passages to support my allegation, but I won’t bother, as this debate has raged within Christendom for centuries.

Besides being unscriptural, teachings that encourage Christ-followers to continue their worldly lifestyles violate my knowledge of who God is. For instance, all orthodox Christian sects accept the fact that believers are in Christ, as part of God. What logic would suggest that chronic sinners, and their sin, could ever be part of the holy God? “Holy” simply means “separated unto” God. If I enjoy the occasional tidbit of gossip or immerse my mind in porn, how am I separated unto God? To do that makes me an oxy-moron, with the emphasis on moron.

If the possibility that your ongoing sin--secret, or otherwise--might bring a reproach on your loving Savior doesn’t matter as much to you as doing your own, sinful, thing, I urge you to reexamine the faith you profess. When we “follow” Christ more to cop a plea into heaven, than to impact our world for Him, we are indeed morons, oxy, or otherwise.

A CFBA review of, The Mercy, by Beverly Lewis

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The Mercy Bethany House (September 6, 2011) by Beverly Lewis

BUT FIRST, A WORD FROM OUR BLOGGER:
Tonight I'm operating under a distinct handicap; I'm attempting to compose this on my daughter's laptop instead of my trusty, home PC. That's because I'm sitting roughly a thousand miles from home. Yet, The Boss has told me that no missed homework will be tolerated when the blog tour happens to involve a book I've requested. So, here is my meager attempt.
        This review represents my first actual reading and enjoyment of Amish fiction; an attempt that I nearly terminated before giving the story a real chance. My problem with Amish fiction was my mistaken understanding that stories about the Plain People would necessarily be ... plain. Boy! was I wrong! The Mercy is a powerful story about real human needs, reduced to the least common denominator in a cloistered community under attack from, "The Real World." And I wouldn't have discovered how wrong I was, had I not rented the dramatic production of the trilogy's first installment, The Shunning.
        How are god-fearing folks who do their best to faithfully live according to the Scripture's injunctions, supposed to lovingly deal with outsiders' ways when injected into their very midst? There's only one way to find out: Read the book. It will charm you, but it won't bore you. I guarantee you will fall in love with these characters as the narrative invites you into an Amish community and accepts you as family, openly and humbly struggling with some of life's most perplexing issues, after they've spent most of their lives trying to avoid just that.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Beverly's first venture into adult fiction is the best-selling trilogy, The Heritage of Lancaster County, including The Shunning, a suspenseful saga of Katie Lapp, a young Amish woman drawn to the modern world by secrets from her past. The book is loosely based on the author's maternal grandmother, Ada Ranck Buchwalter, who left her Old Order Mennonite upbringing to marry a Bible College student. One Amish-country newspaper claimed Beverly's work to be "a primer on Lancaster County folklore" and offers "an insider's view of Amish life."

Booksellers across the country, and around the world, have spread the word of Beverly's tender tales of Plain country life. A clerk in a Virginia bookstore wrote, "Beverly's books have a compelling freshness and spark. You just don't run across writing like that every day. I hope she'll keep writing stories about the Plain people for a long, long time."
A member of the National League of American Pen Women, as well as a Distinguished Alumnus of Evangel University, Lewis has written over 80 books for children, youth, and adults, many of them award-winning. She and her husband, David, make their home in Colorado, where they enjoy hiking, biking, and spending time with their family. They are also avid musicians and fiction "book worms."
ABOUT THE BOOK

Rose Kauffman pines for prodigal Nick Franco, the Bishop's foster son who left the Amish under a cloud of suspicion after his foster brother's death. His rebellion led to the "silencing" of their beloved Bishop. But is Nick really the rebel he appears to be? Rose's lingering feelings for her wayward friend refuse to fade, but she is frustrated that Nick won't return and make things right with the People. Nick avowed his love for Rose--but will he ever be willing to sacrifice modern life for her?
Meanwhile, Rose's older sister, Hen, is living in her parents' Dawdi Haus. Her estranged "English" husband, injured and helpless after a car accident, has reluctantly come to live with her and their young daughter during his recovery. Can their marriage recover, as well? Is there any possible middle ground between a woman reclaiming her old-fashioned Amish lifestyle and thoroughly modern man?
If you would like to read the first chapter of The Mercy, go HERE.
Watch the book trailer:

PETA Fauxpas

Fox News reported another of PETA’s tactless public attacks on anybody who chows down on anything but a vegan meal. If that term seems foreign, a vegan is someone who will not eat any flesh or byproducts of animals. That includes eggs, milk products, honey, animal fat, or gelatin.

The ad campaign features … well, here’s a picture of the billboard they hope to erect on or near Florida’s Anna Marie Island, where a young man nearly lost his leg to a shark while diving.

Among the gems of disinformation PETA has published are such statements as, “Americans kill twelve billion fish annually for food.” Truth is, although we may consume twelve billion fish annually (a statistic of dubious authority), Japan and a few other nations are also in on the crime of harvesting and packaging those poor, misunderstood critters. And that begs another question: What is PETA to do about the vast, unstemmed cruelty that fish perpetrate against one another. Fish consumption by humans pales in comparison.

Observe the great white shark pictured on the proposed billboard. How does a shark feasting on a human constitute payback for humans eating fish? Few people eat sharks. Show instead, an albacore tuna eating a human; now that would be payback. But wait, tuna don’t eat people.

The PETA spokesmodel also said, “People have the choice to be kind every time they sit down to a meal,” inferring that eating meat or fish or … is somehow unkind. As far as I know, few carnivorous people consume living, conscious, animals. If the entrée isn’t aware it’s being consumed, how is that unkind? No doubt they are referring to the inhumane practices of meat processors, and PETA has a point there.

Without polling PETA membership as to their religious persuasion, one gets the idea they see humans not as God’s special creation, but as just another animal produced by impersonal evolution. If they choose to believe I’m having Aunt Bessie for dinner tonight at Sizzler, that’s their business, and if they get their jollies practicing their vegan lifestyle, more power to ‘em.

I admire those who personally practice their convictions diligently. Even more so when said convictions pass the hypocrisy test. Here’s what I mean: PETA-type folks generally support abortion, and advocate using murdered preborn human remains for medical research involving stem cells. So, granting them the argument that humans are just another form of animal life, how is using human flesh any less cruel than using animal flesh? After all, research has proven that late-term fetuses feel pain the same as peopof all ages, and strong evidence exists that even younger preborn humans feel pain.

Is butchering preborn humans alive somehow more ethical than eating animals? Lets start up a nonprofit called PETPH (People for the Ethical Treatment of Preborn Humans). But, that won’t work. PETPH doesn’t flow off the tongue as easily.

Life's Delusions

They say, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” That adage proves true more often than not, but with a qualifier; it’s dangerous only when the knower knows less than he thinks he knows. Which, if we think about it, is most often.

Another way to express that old saw is, “The delusion of knowledge is a dangerous thing.” A thirsty, desert wanderer can convince himself that the optical illusion of water in the distance is quite real. He clambers to his feet and expends all his remaining strength running, stumbling, toward the inviting sight. As he draws closer to the mirage, however, he learns more about it, until eventually he falls face first into the parched, desert sand, waiting for the vultures to finish him off.

Not the most cheerful of scenarios, but delusions can indeed be fatal in one way or another. Think of cousin Dorcus, who felt perfectly comfortable in his bathtub full of water, so he figgered he had this swimming thing aced. When he hit the water after leaping from that rock on the lake shore, it didn’t take him long to realize that lakes and bathtubs are two very different things, even though there’s water in’em both. Remember how the preacher had a hard time keeping a straight face at the memorial service? He just couldn’t quit thinking of how Dorcus had been the stupidest know-it-all he’d ever tried not to know.

We all know people who suffer delusions of various sorts. Trouble is, they usually aren’t the ones who wind up suffering. Have you ever noticed how convinced they are of their rightness?

This is the first of a series of posts intended to deal with life’s delusions. If only dealing with them in fact were as easy as writing about dealing with them. But we’ll do our best to keep a clear head and a straight face through this whole ordeal. Deal?

Apocalipto

This film was incredibly credible, which is what kept me watching, though many scenes nearly forced me to look away. And that is why I would never allow youngsters to view it.

Exactly how accurate the details were, I have no way of knowing. Mel Gibson’s exhaustive research certainly made it seem authentic. But the joy, the love, the humor, the fear, the pain, the desperation, the whole gamut of emotion felt real and left me stirred.

Apocalipto reminded me how sheltered I am from life's raw cruelty; if it is not inflicted by a sadistic executioner or a hungry jaguar, plenty of savagery exists throughout what we euphemistically call "civilization." And it is ample evidence of what theologians call, "The Human Condition."

Humanity reputedly occupies the top branch of the evolutionary tree. We're tops in brutality, lustfulness, meanness, and greed, with religion contributing more than its share, as Apocalipto richly illustrates. If I weren't a Christ-follower, I'd be an atheist.

Please note that I did not use the generic term, Christian. During the first century, Jewish authorities coined the word as a pejorative term meaning “Little Christ.” But those branded by that term considered it the highest tribute, even when it meant their death by torture. Slowly, its use gained social approval until to be called “a Christian man” or woman became a tribute to ones high character.

That was then, but now it means “hypocrite,” or worse, to the many who have experienced betrayal at the hands of self-proclaimed Christians. But I digress.

To reveal that the end of the film brought with it the arrival of Spanish explorers will not spoil the story in the least. It is only appropriate to conclude the film’s depiction of pagan cruelty by introducing the next phase of religious inhumanity: Christendom!

Oh, but you may have it all wrong. I’m not anti-Christ at all. It’s just those who presume to build religions around God’s holy Son that put me off. Those whose religiosity keeps people away from Him will experience a major disappointment when they realize on which side they stand, when before Him in judgement. Apocalipto is nothing, compared to the perdition awaiting them. I only pray that my own religious practices won’t place me with them.

Brother Jonah

In Jonah's brief prayer from the great fish's belly, he began with what appears to be a self-righteous proverb against idolaters. Yet, it was even more a confession of his own idolatry; of asserting his own will over God's. Regardless what it seems, this prayer must be a confession of his own sin, as the next verse is a promise of thanksgiving sacrifice, which he could not perform without first having confessed his sin and repented of it.

Is this a true, Biblical principle, or is it only applicable to the Old Testament? If it is the former, today's church needs to tremble in fear of judgment, as idols abound among the brethren; idols of religion, materialism, pride, sectarianism. Many in today's church--myself included--are guilty of Jonah's sin; which is refusing to minister to the dregs of society, the down-and-outers whose excesses have defeated them, and yet they desperately cling to "the hair of the dog that bit them." Those are people for whom Jesus died, and yet the very depravity that confines them repulses the good Christians whose commission it is to love them to the Savior.

Yes, today's Church stands proudly in guilt of Jonah's sin, not deigning to dirty themselves on those who need to see Christ's love in action.

  Isaiah spoke for the Eternal One about meaningless religious observances: "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.' If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. "If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." (Isaiah 58:6-14 ESV)

  The apostle James added the New Testament post script to this prophesy: If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:26-27 ESV)

  What did James mean by, "Keep oneself unstained from the world?" Are we to avoid getting close enough to sinners that they might contaminate us? As we do that, we allow the world's materialistic values to saturate our lives.

  We conservatives glibly reject the social activism we witness among liberal Christendom as simply a "social gospel." And how do we impact the world for Christ? Those of us who bother trying, thump our Bibles at the world's sinners, condemning them to perdition for not living as we Good Christians do.

  Jesus had quite a lot to say about the religious hypocrites of His time--none of it good. Are we doomed to repeat their sin, and their condemnation? Not if we breathe deeply of God's word for our own health, before we try using it on those we wouldn't have at our dinner tables.

  We will be Jonah's brethren one way or the other; either in shirking our Great Commission responsibility, or in our repentance and ultimate obedience.

Initial Singularity

It seems that when scientists reach a stage in their theorizing that points toward the existence of a god-like entity, they switch tracks to pursue alternative theories. What motivates their aversion to the idea of an all-pervasive entity outside our frame-of-reference?

The answer is fear. Fear that we might be somehow “less-than” something or someone else. Our experience tells us that being “less-than” allows whatever is “greater-than” to establish a “pecking order,” with the “greater-than” entity(God) at the top, and the “less-than” entity(us) at the bottom.

Don't Just Do Something ... PANIC!

All fear boils down to anxiety over the unknown or unforeseeable. We plan and plot to control present circumstances so that they will likely produce some predictable, future circumstance. The more effective we perceive our efforts to control our circumstances, the less we fear what is beyond the veil of time.

What such control freaks fail to realize, though, is the vast range of possible circumstances that we cannot anticipate and prepare for. With that realization, we look at the alternative to preparing for the future: We decide the future will happen, and we can do absolutely nothing about it. And our only recourse to maintain sanity is to believe it doesn’t matter anyway. That solution, in pop-psychological terms, is called “denial,” the alternative to PANIC!

I Get a BANG out of Science

Short of exploring really confusing genesis scenarios, the best and brightest minds have settled on the Big Bang as the beginning of everything. The benefit of that is, a naturalistic explanation of our existence enables us to place ourselves firmly at the top of the natural pecking order. And Presto Change-o, we’re no longer answerable to anyone but ourselves.

Such cosmic autonomy is the dream of every child who runs afoul of parental control ... regardless of the “child’s” age or the “parental” authority figure’s identity. Those of us with average intelligence simply resort to bucking authority and suffering the consequences, until we decide life is less painful if we cooperate.

Those who are smart enough to earn the lofty title, “Scientist,” however, can do something creative about the accountability conundrum. All they have to do is go to school long enough to learn how other brilliant people have logically sidestepped the issue. Then they keep studying until they think they’ve worked out those other brilliant people's theoretical bugs, and they might even qualify for a Nobel Prize, which proves they were right ... till some other bright person proves them wrong and wins a Nobel for themselves.

A Rose By Any Other Name...

Some of the most enterprising scientists have invented a term for the beginning of everything: The “Initial Singularity” supposedly occurred billions of years ago, when all the matter and energy of the universe existed in one nearly infinitesimal point of nearly infinite mass. Then some passing—whatever—dropped one more teensy bit of matter into it and all HECK broke loose!

But, where did all that mass come from? Other enterprising scientists are working on that, and postulating the most wonderful theories, such as recurring BIG BANGs every few billions of years, where stuff goes out, and comes back in, then goes back out, and comes back in, ad infinitum. Or maybe membranes comprising various universes bump into one another and go BANG!, and stuff goes out, and comes back in, then goes back out, ad nauseam.

To the not-especially “objective eye(which, in truth, does not exist),” all this postulating appears suspiciously like grasping for excuses to avoid accepting accountability to something or someone greater than mankind. And most especially, something or someone infinitely greater.

Imagine a “causation” of sufficiently large scale to cram nearly-infinite matter into a nearly-infinitesimal spot....

I get a BIG BANG out of God!

I marvel at all the pseudo-scientific razzmatazz that smart folks shovel into the scholarly literature, and ultimately into our educated pea-brains, to explain what has no explanation outside of an infinite, Creative Force. And heaven forbid we should attach a Name to it, and imagine its being conscious, personal, and purposeful.

Despite all the argument going on between religious folks about how creation happened, most of them agree on one thing: It didn’t just happen. In fact, we don’t necessarily have to be religious to see that; the evidence is obvious and inescapable. Naturalists accuse deists of employing faith to accept God's existence. Personally, I haven’t enough faith to imagine the universe existing outside of His creative power.

Did God personally engineer every minute aspect of creation and micro-manage it to the present? Or did He place all that would be into one immense blast that brainy people call the Initial Singularity? Only God knows for sure, but we can get a good idea of His purpose in it.

He didn’t leave us to simply thrash it out in our own imaginations. Though many choose to ignore it, God dictated a book to several people whom He chose to record it, over thousands of years. What they wrote defies mortal imagination, containing within a finite number of words, God’s infinite mind, and His singular purpose.

THIS TIME I LISTENED FOR A CHANGE

Confession time: I was a Glenn Beck basher. Lacking cable TV at home, I’d half-heartedly watched his program on the TV at Perkins Restaurant, but they had the sound muted so I can’t really say I listened to him. I read some of the captioning the Fox network thoughtfully provided, but not enough to pick up any continuity. Often I looked up at the screen to read a caption that could have come from Limbaugh or one of the other talk-show entertainers. Because of my “in depth” analysis of Beck’s spiel, I tagged him in my mind as another knee-jerk, right-wing...well...jerk.

This evening, however, I happened to find a YouTube video showing him extolling our nation’s Founding Fathers, including 18th-century preacher George Whitefield. And I listened. Beck stood there in my flat-panel monitor actually making sense!

Was this an isolated moment of lucidity for him? To answer that question I watched other YouTube videos featuring Beck. At times he overstates for effect. And at times he understates for effect. I’m sure Beck would take exception to this, but to me he seemed quite similar to Savage, Limbaugh, O’Reilly, and several other talk-show entertainers. These people all rely on ratings. Where do ratings come from? From polling John Q. Public and all his cronies. How does a media personality get J.Q.P. and his friends to watch? By presenting entertainment. And very little is more entertaining than outrageous prattle, unless it’s wrestlers bad-mouthing one another or football players breaking each others’ heads.

Tragically, those examples illustrate the debauched state of our popular culture. At least this little tangent I’ve pursued introduced me to George Whitefield’s concise, tell-it-like-it-is preaching. Maybe if we had another Whitefield preaching, as he did, to people other than the choir, we’d see spiritual revival on the scale of The Great Awakening that fueled thirteen British colonies’ struggle for freedom.

And maybe if we who call ourselves Christ-followers quit spouting Evangelical slogans at each other and took time to listen to God’s word through His Holy Spirit for a change, we would indeed be ready to work for a change.