Merry Christmas!!

A very Merry Christmas from me and my family to you and yours.

On this amazing day, have you considered why we celebrate it?  Do you believe it?


The prophets of the Old Testament foresaw that a virgin would be with child (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:22-23). The Matthew verse is important because the Hebrew word in Isaiah could be translated young girl or virgin. The Jews at the time of Christ understood the passage to be about a virgin. While an impossibility in the physical realm, would such a thing be too hard for the God of the universe?


But why?  Why did God the Son need to take on flesh?  Consider John 3:16

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

Some things to key on here:


1.  Salvation for man would not have happened apart from God's intervention.  The verse indicates that apart from this even, man would perish. We, left to ourselves, have hell awaiting us on the other side.  Why? Because our sin (rebellion) separates us from a holy and righteous God (Romans 3:10-18, 6:23a).


2.  God loves us despite our sin! That does not mean he condones our sin.  Rather, for man to come to God, man's sin had to be justly dealt with.  Because man's sin left him in a position separated from God, only God could fix the problem.  Consider these verses: Romans 5:6-8, 2 Corinthians 5:21.


3.  Jesus: The Fix. God the Father gave God the Son. Jesus always knew that he would have the sin of all mankind heaped on him at the cross . That's why he agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane, not that he would be physically killed but that he would be bearing the wrath, the pure, white-hot and just wrath of God the Father. There had been perfect fellowship within the Trinity through eternity past. Now, for the first time, One Member of the Trinity would turn his back on Another. Why? So God would be just in dealing with sin, but the only way he could do so was to become man himself and bear the punishment of our sin for us.  He became just and justifier (Romans 3:26).


So what's left for us on Christmas day? To believe. Not to a Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus belief as some atheists assert. No, we believe in the historical birth of God the Son, we believe in the historical death and crucifixion of Jesus (God the Son) for the sin of all mankind, and we believe in the resurrection of God the Son as the guarantee of the eternal life that he procured for us on the cross (1 Corinthians 15:1-28).


As you gather with your family and open gifts, I pray that you will consider the greatest gift, the gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:23b). Understand, though, the gift is not yours unless you take it.  How do you do that?


1. Recognize it.  Recognize that your sin has separated you from God.


2. Confess it. Admit that you are a sinner to God. In other words, apologize for rebelling against him. Think about David's words in Psalm 51:4 after he'd committed adultery and murder.


3. Accept it.  Accept what Jesus did on your behalf. Note what Romans 8:1 says about those who have accepted that free gift.


4. Believe it. Trust what God says about the doneness of the deal. Romans 10:9-10


5. Live it.  With that done, live a life of gratitude for what God has done for you. Consider Galatians 2:20.


Have yourself a Merry little Christmas!


~ keith

Thought for the day: Social Security

What are you going to do when you demand your money from the one who stands as judge and jailor, and he just shrugs his shoulders and pulls out his empty pocket linings?

There will be no integrity laden George Bailey to make things right.

Politically incorrect: Motherhood & living together

Among my daily reads, I came across two articles, both from National Review, that fly in the face of post-modernism, an ethic that says, "Anyway is a good way as long as it's your way."

The first deals with working moms.  It's sure to ignite a firestorm.  You'll find it here.

The second peaks beneath the covers of cohabitation (sorry), and the damage unmarried parents inflicts upon the children.  More fuel for the flames.  Read it here.

Bottom line to both:  Doing it 'my way' ends in misery.

I'll never forget the great advice my friend Brian Rath once gave me.  I was stewing in the misery of a job failure when he told me, "If we could orchestrate our lives exactly as we wanted them to be, we would be the most miserable people." The heart of the matter? God knows what's best. He has a plan. We must trust and obey.

Will we ever get it?

Complaint v. Petition

I had a normal dream the other night.

I don't suspect that normal should be an adjective used when chatting about dreams, but having shared with my bride the surreality that unleashes itself when I dip into REM sleep, I'd have to say that that night's forray into the peculiar and inexplicable land of Morpheus comes as close to normal life as anything I've experienced in many a day.

In the darkness of my early morning, I thanked God for my normal dream, but the moment the words passed my lips, it dawned on me that I'd never asked him for a normal dream. I'd groused about the weirdness of my dreams--no, I'd complained about them--but I never once asked him for something less bizarre.

And then I thought of Israel.

Israel endured 400 years of slavery at the hand of Egypt. God worked in miraculous ways to free the 2 million-plus folks he had chosen as his special people. Hot on the heels of one of the most amazing military victories ever and a handful of days after their release, the Hebrews got hungry and thirsty. Rather than ask the One who delivered them from their servitude for some food and water, they griped. Oh, how they griped.

"Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." (Exodus 16:3)

"Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" (Exodus 17:3)

"Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at." (Numbers 11:4-6)

As the One who gives and the One who witholds, God understood with absolute clarity Israel's need (Matthew 6:8). He also understood the heart of their gripe; it was against Him. Thus kindled God's righteous displeasure with his people.

What would have changed the deal? How about, "God, we are parched and we are starved. As you miraculously made the way for our escape from Egypt, we trust you completely to take care of us and to provide for our needs. We look forward to how you will do that because we can't figure it out in this dry and barren place." Just a little trust toward the One who had proven himself so very trustworthy.

I hope in the future if I'm troubled in the least by the utter weirdness of my dreams that I will simply trust God to do his good work. If I'd like them stopped, I'll make that request (with thanksgiving, Philippians 4:6), and continue to trust him for the next emersion into REM sleep. I'd hate to endure the outcome of Israel's grousing (Numbers 11:19-20).

Quote of the Day: Anti-theism

Antitheism provides every reason to be immoral and is bereft of any objective point of reference with which to condemn any choice.   

Any antitheist who lives a moral life merely lives better than his or her philosophy warrants.   

All denunciation implies a moral doctrine of some kind, and the antitheist is forever engaged in undermining his own mines.

Ravi Zacharias

"Can Man Live Without God?" 

(italics in the original

QotD: Thom. Sowell

"It doesn't seem very scientific to have a good-looking nurse taking a man's blood pressure."

~ Economist Thomas Sowell

"Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene"

Other beauts from the same column:

The difference between mob rule and democracy was never more sharply demonstrated than by labor unions' attempts to prevent the Wisconsin voters' elected representatives from carrying out their official duties at the state Capitol. What would it matter what the voters want if any mob can stop it from happening?

Learned scholars still debate the reasons for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Learned scholars of the future, looking back on our decline and fall, may simply be baffled as to how we could have been so stupid.



QotD: Pascal's Wager, the atheist, and the agnostic

I have heard Pascal's Wager in the past, but it struck me afresh last night as Dinesh D'Souza unpacked it in his book, What's so great about Christianity?

Pascal's Wager considers the existence of God philosophically (really, Pascal directed it toward the atheist, the apatheist, and the agnostic).  He looks to death and considers, what's the risk? Dinesh D'Souza takes it from here (italics mine):

If we have faith in God and it turns out that God does not exist, we have a downside risk: metaphysical error. But if we reject God during our lives, and it turns out God does exist, there is much more serious risk: eternal separation from God.  Based on these two possible outcomes, Pascal declares that it is much less risky to have faith in God. In the face of an uncertain outcome, no rational person would refuse to give up something that is finite if there is the possibility of gaining an infinite prize. In fact, under these conditions it is unreasonable not to believe. Pascal writes, "let us weigh up the gain and loss involved in calling heads that God exists. If you win, you win everything. If you lose, you lose nothing. Do not hesitate, then: wager that He does exist."


The ingenuity of Pascal's argument is that it emphasizes the practical necessity of making a choice. This necessity is imposed by death. There comes a day when there are no tomorrows, and then we all have to cast our votes for or against the proposition on the ballot.  The unavoidability of the decision exposes the sheer stupidity of "apatheism," the pretense that something doesn't matter when it is quite literally a matter of life and death.  The apatheist and the agnostic refuse to choose when there is no option to abstain.  So the refusal to choose becomes a choice--a choice against God.


Pascal also exposes the pose of the atheist who fancies himself as a brave and lonely man facing the abyss. We admire a man who is steadfast in the face of unavoidable adversity. If we knew we were alone in the universe and that death was the end, then there is no alternative but to stand tough in our mortal skins and curse the darkness. But what would we think of a man who stands ready to face a horrible fate that he has a chance to avert? If you are trapped in the den with a hungry lion, and there is a door that may offer a way out, what sane person would refuse to jump through the door? Viewed this way, the atheist position becomes a kind of intransigence, a reckless man's decision to play Russian roulette with his soul.


Atheists sometimes express their bafflement over why God would not make his presence more obvious. Carl Sagan helpfully suggests that in order to dispel all doubts about his existence, "God could have engraved the Ten Commandments on the moon."  Pascal supplies a plausible reason for what he calls the hiddenness of God.  Perhaps, he writes, God wants to hide himself from those who have no desire to encounter him while revealing himself to those whose hearts are open to him. If God were to declare himself beyond our ability to reject him, then he would be forcing himself on us. Pascal remarks that perhaps God wants to be known not by everyone but only by the creatures who seek him.

Dinesh D'Souza, What's so great about Christianity, pp. 202-203 

Movie villains 2

As I lamented Hollywood's oil hatred, exemplified in Cars 2, in my last post, I cited other villains cliched by movie makers over the past thirty years, notably OUR government, OUR military, and the church. Regarding the latter, I should have been more specific. It's not the church per se.  Hollywood hates those who take Christianity seriously and live it out at home, at work, at play, and yes, in the church.  That hatred burbles to the surface in villains that look nothing like Christ.

You might think I'm just being thin-skinned, knowing full well that I am a Christian of the born-again variety, a man who tries to love his wife, train his children, labor at work, and cast his vote in accord with the word of God. I understand that there are Christians who do evil and that there are those who profess to be Christians who do evil in the name of God.

But.

Is this the exception or is this the rule? Dinesh D'Souza in his sterling work, "What's So Great About Christianity," details the rise of western civilization (is there really any other?) upon the foundation of Christianity, a history rapidly being amputated from our schools.

How, too, does such Hollywood's Christian villainy jive with the cover-to-cover word of God? The Bible reveals that those who are Christ-followers will be known by their love (John 13:34-35), that they are to love their neighbor as their very self (Matthew 22:39, Romans 13:9), and that their character will reveal love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, self-control, and more (Galatians 5:22-23). The Son of God declared that you will know a tree by it's fruit, therefore if these things are obvious by their absence in someone's life, their relationship with Jesus Christ is questionable at best (1 John 3:6-10).

Will a Christian be perfect and without sin?  That is without a doubt the standard because God himself is the standard (Matthew 5:48, 1 Peter1:15-16), but at the same time, as we struggle in our skin (Romans 7:13-24), we will still sin (1 John 1:8).

If that is what we would expect to see of Joe "The Average" Christian, why do we not find such characters in television or in film? Ever. If you find a practicing Christian in film, it's a C-grade "religious" movie with a production quality of a junior high school play (yes, there are exceptions), and therefore, few see it. The entertainment's vision of a practicing Christian falls into one of these categories:

• Ignorant.  The person has no education and, in the Hollywood mind, believes the Bible literally.  That said, I believe the Bible literally where a plain reading demands a literal reading. But Hollywood has no understanding of context or of the different types of literature in Scripture. To their mind, anyone who believes it is an eyes-aflame ignoramous.
• Evil. Hollywood believes the Bible to be a dangerous book unless you cut parts out of it. Any who choose to live by it are therefore by default evil.
• Intolerant. Because a Christian has the audacity to declare something sin, they get portrayed as out-of-touch isolationists.
• Hypocritical. To the movie-making mind, not one Christian practices what he preaches. All decry the perversity of the culture only to return home and bed the baby sitter.

Yes, many Christ-followers do not know their Scripture and many are not on top of current events, but many more are.

Yes, many Christ-followers misapply the very word of God they profess to follow, but many more honor the name of Christ with their lives. The lives of many who profess to be Christ-followers and carry out evil in the name of Christ look nothing like God's word says a Christ-follower will look.

Yes, many Christians exhibit little tolerance, but many more live great care and compassion for their fellow man without condoning their sin.

Yes, many fall short of the holiness of God's character, but that is why Christ shed his blood in the first place. Man cannot attain to the holiness demanded by a holy God.

Here's my beef. In the past thirty years, how many noble Christian characters have made it into film or television, not pseudo-religion like "Touched by an Angel" but those who hold to and live out a vibrant faith in Jesus Christ? The idea of the Christian villain would not even be an issue if any semblance of balance was shown by those who produce our entertainment.  

Despite the success of films like The Blind Side, Soul Surfer and the works of Sherwood Pictures, an arm of Sherwood Baptist Church (Fireproof, Facing the Giants, Courageous), we get fed film after film like the upcoming film, "The Ledge." 

"Those quiet religious types are always hiding a bit of crazy, aren’t they? Anyway, at least in “The Ledge” they are, as it centers (on) a Bible thumper who gets off-the-crucifix crazy when he finds out his wife is taking advantage of the pleasures of the secular flesh."

That crazy Bible thumper takes Leviticus into his own hands and demands that the adulterous atheist commit suicide before he murders his adulterous wife.  Charming.

Not to be outdone in bashing believers, "Salvation Boulevard" will also pitch in to tar and feather the pious.

"Set in the world of mega-churches in which a former Deadhead-turned-born again-Christian finds himself on the run from fundamentalist members of his mega-church who will do anything to protect their larger-than-life pastor." 

Yeah, it breaks my heart, but yet again, it does not surprise me. A few millenia back, as the incarnate God walked the earth, he said, "You will be hated by all for my name's sake" (Mark 13:13). And It gets better. On the night before he would be nearly beaten to death and then hung upon a Roman cross to die, he told his disciples,

"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name,because they do not know him who sent me...But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled:'They hated me without a cause.' (John 15:18-21, 25)

So Christian villains will continue to fill the cineplex. Perhaps our conduct as Bible-believing Christ-followers will help others to see that such films are truly works of fiction.

To welcome the worm

Over the last couple of months, I have posted photos of the Wichita Falls, Texas ten-day forecast on Facebook that looked a lot like today's forecast:

Why would I share such? Perhaps it is my Minnesota roots longing for a 75-degree day to go bike down around the lakes on the southwest side of Minneapolis.  North Texas has no such place where lake dumps into lake ringed by bike paths and naturally growing elms, oaks, maples and pines. Nor does it see 75-degrees between the months of April and October except between 1 and 2 a.m. I remember my undergrad philosophy instructor, Patrick Tower, telling me that "misery loved miserable company." Maybe I just wanted everyone to take pity.

Quite frankly, the area around where I live is facing a dire situation. The heat, yes, has been unrelenting. Couple that with wind that never dies and a ground-quenching rain that last visited some time late last summer and you have a) a tinder box, b) a crop-destroying drought, and c) conditions that crack a house's foundation. If you could think to pray for this neck of the woods--that God would send rain--when you happen to think of me, that would be most appreciated.

As I rode my motorcycle home this afternoon, a decent-sized cloud mass shielded the sun, and praises to God spilled from my lips. When it's 105-degrees, a modicum of shade makes all the difference.  But that cloud got me to thinking of Jonah.

I'll not go into the entire big-fish story (yes, it was a fish and not a whale). Let's skip to the end. Jonah was in the middle of a mood. In fact he was hating life much like I have been hating 10-day forecasts. As he moped on a sun-scorched hillside, God in his goodness sprouted a Miracle-Gro laced plant to grow up and cool the perturbed prophet's brow (Jonah 4:6).

That very same God, to teach Jonah his sovereignty in all things, sent a root-chomping worm that withered the shade-producing plant. Jonah's response? He posted a picture on Facebook of the withered plant and considered death to be favorable to enduring the inferno atop the hill for another day.

God's response: "Son, I bring the shade and I bring the worm. I have my purposes in both, purposes that you do not see. How about coughing up a little praise for the shade AND for the worm?" (a very loose paraphrase of Jonah 4:9-11).

As I type this, my thermostat's on an endurable 77-degrees. I have a kiddie-pool in the back yard to dip into if I need to cool off not to mention the four gallons of ice cream in the freezer and lemonade in the fridge. My God is so very good to me in ways seen and unseen. His word makes clear that he controls the weather (Matthew 5:45). So when we see no rain, when the wind never ceases, and when the temps make the world feel like an Easy-Bake Oven, God's not surprised; he has brought it to pass for his GOOD purposes.

By the time I pulled my bike in the garage, he had given me a repentant heart as well as a cloud-covered ride home. I will continue to pray that he will send the rain and the cooler temps, but I will do so with thanksgiving for his good and for his provision and for his purposes unseen. Though I do not understand all of his ways, I do know that God is always good.

Movie villains and 'Cars 2'

No pitcher can go an entire season without a loss. In fact, some of the best pitchers during their best seasons will find themselves on the receiving end of an old-fashioned whoopin'.

It comes as no surprise that Pixar would finally have a weak outing. "Cars 2" has great visuals, all the usual suspects in the realm of vocal talents, and, as usual, none of the double entendres or innuendos that fill most "family-friendly" movies. As a story, I felt it fell far short of the compelling storylines that have been Pixar hallmarks. Easily the weakest film of the lot.

What really made the movie fizzle was Pixar's choice of villain, a corrupt oil company. As crushed as I was to see the finest movie company to rise in my lifetime genuflect to political correctness, I saw the handwriting when Woody of "Toy Story" fame appeared in a gay-pride commercial sponsored by Google Chrome. So, now, Pixar becomes yet another shill for the Hollywood machine churning out propaganda for leftist thought.

Think back across the movies you've seen in the last twenty years.  Who are Hollywood's TOP 5 villains?

5 - The church

4 - Our military

3 - Our government

2 - The rich

1 - Companies and corporations

Joe Stalin must be laughing himself silly as he burns in hell thinking that Americans are coughing up $8 a pop at the Cineplex to have their noses rubbed in their very way of life.

Now, folks, there is not a pristine organization on the planet because every organization is made up of flawed and fallen people, but look at those five groups. Villains? Really?

I just saw a video posted by a friend's daughter on Facebook of her week ministering to the folks of Joplin, Missouri.  They went in association with Samaritan's Purse, a Christian relief organization begun by a fellow named Franklin Graham. You might recognize the name. Billy's son. How many atheist organizations are pouring manpower and money into Joplin? For all that the church has done in the name of Christ for good over the centuries, she's known for Crusades, Inquisitions, Witch Trials, and pedophilia.  Charming.

On this July 4th do I really need to defend our military? Do we believe that it's made up of fascist zealots who delight in atrocity and rape? Really?

Same goes for our elected officials. WE VOTED THEM IN, PEOPLE!! If they are villainesque, they merely reflect their constituents.

The rich as a villain. Why? Because they've gots and we han't gots. Honestly, that's it. Most of us don't see the philanthropy carried out by those with wealth because they don't want it trumpeted. Yes, there are miserly cads and those who give for tax-break only, but oh so many more give because they have been richly blessed. They understand their God-given responsibility to give back. Most of us knuckleheads don't understand that without the wealthy, most of us don't have a job.  We're just dumb.

And that takes us to companies and corporations. Pixar picked "Big Oil" as its must-have villain for "Cars 2" (here). Would someone tell me the evil that oil companies have wrought upon the world? I say, "Thank you very much for the gasoline. Could you please pump some more?" Regarding an oil spill or a tanker run aground, it is great media.  Lots of pictures.  Considering the bajillion oil platforms and oil tankers that lap the globe, I remember two hiccups in my lifetime, the Exxon Valdez and the Gulf last year. Surgeons don't fare that well. Movie studios certainly don't. So oil is the villain? Really?

Here are a couple of villains for you:

1. Hugo Chavez

2. Mahmoud Ahmadinejahd

3. Vladamir Putin

4. Abortion doctors and those who fund this national sin

5. Islam - that brand where folks live out the Koran like Mohammed did

6. China

We could toss "atheism" into that pot considering the worldwide brutality that has been birthed from the philosophies of Nietzsche and those who hold to no higher authority to which man is accountable, but Hollywood prefers the atheistic hero and fundamentalist (Christian, of course) villain as seen in their upcoming release, "The Ledge." Considering I already had Hugo, Mahmoud, Vlad and China, I figured adding "atheism" would be redundant.

Despite spending forty years and billions of dollars to stem the military and geopolitical tide of godless socialism and communism, such diseased ideologies have infected our country through the university and through television and film with the drumbeat, "America and it's way of life is evil." Occasionally you find an individual to stand up and say, "No, foundational and fundamental America is VERY good." Until very recently, I thought Pixar was that go-to guy, but as with most major league aces, some weakness has been exposed.

Will there be any pleasant surprises at the box office this year? Movie-junkie that I am, I hope so.

NBC

In case you missed it, NBC successfully neutered the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance during their opening segment to the U.S. Open golf tournament this past Sunday (here).  The bit had children reciting the pledge and cut-aways to patriotic images around the D.C. area where the tourney took place this year. When they cut away after "...one nation..." they returned to "...with liberty and justice for all."

When the phone calls began to swamp their switchboard, they fumbled their on-air apology by referencing an omission that may have caused some offense, but the offense was not intended. Ah. Okay.

NBC has done this with intent before (here). Really, this should surprise no one. We are a post-modern and certainly a post-Christian nation. Francis Schaeffer noted that art accurately reflected the heart of a culture or where that culture would go. Find a family on TV whose relationship to the Creator is treated with respect (maybe CBS' Bluebloods where they actually pray before they eat). It's not just our entertainment. We allowed our government to drive prayer from the public schools. What politician will be elected or professor be hired if it comes to light that Christ informs their life in all matters? God has been driven from the American public square.

Call it spiritual entropy. The beautiful package deposited on our doorstep in the late 1700's has been mashed to pieces, not by some hooligan or vagrant, but by us. Jesus Christ is not merely unwelcome, he is not tolerated.

Here's the deal. Whether NBC recognizes it or not, we are a nation under God. In fact, whether or not any nation recognizes it doesn't change the reality that every nation is under God. That is reality. I can deny it until my face turns red, white, and blue, but the God who created the universe and created my DNA created government to be his implementer of justice in the world (Romans 13). I can bow my knee today and submit to him acknowledging him as Lord of all or I will bow my knee one day future when it will be too late (Philippians 2:9-11, Matthew 25:46).

Am I surprised by what NBC did? Not really. Saddened, mostly. It breaks my heart to see my country turn its back on the God who has secured for us such freedoms and such opportunities.

It's time to take up the prayer of Daniel (Daniel 9:1-19).

The National Anthem

Here are a few rules in no particular order from someone who can't sing himself out of a wet paper bag on what to do if you get tapped to sing the National Anthem in some public forum.  I don't mean as one in the crowd (though I might jot ten rules for that at another time) but as the one standing there with the microphone.

1.  It's not about you.  Consider it a corporate prayer. You just happen to be the mouthpiece of 40 or 40,000 other folks in taking a moment to honor our country. Offend a Brit or a Canuck by singing it like your leading a crowd that's proud of its country.

2. Just sing the melody. Few songs rank as difficult to sing as our Star Spangled Banner. For those with vocal talent, it's not a big deal. That said, it's not the time to wow me with the prowess of your vocal talents.  Please, just sing the song.  No crazy tempo.  No wacky pitch changes.  If you can't figure out why, go back to number one.  Anyway, if you start singing like a woman in labor, you're going to screw up the timing of the fly-by, too.

3. Be respectful - face the flag.  I don't care who you are or how many platinum albums you have, it's an honor to be selected to represent those present. Look at it while you sing and not at your mug in the jumbo-tron. Remember the thousands of coffins that have been draped with that majestic piece of cloth so that you can do whatever it is that you do.

4. Be respectful - dress nicely.  That might strike you as quaint or "Beaver Cleaver," but you convey a lot by how you dress. Imagine you are going to meet someone important. That's a start.

5. Be respectful - be still. Walk straight to the microphone, and sing the song. No wild hand gestures are required. PLEASE, do not grab yourself! If you want something to do with your hand, try putting it over your heart. You ought not want folks looking at you anyway (see #1); you want them facing the flag and singing, too. When your done, please leave the stage, field, etc. Folks didn't come to see you anyway.

6. Practice. If you can't hit the notes, maybe you should bow out--no harm, no foul--but there is NO excuse for not knowing the words. If you have struggled with them in the past, you might even tote the lyrics on a 3 x 5 card.

7. Believe it. Did you know that there are four verses to the Star Spangled Banner? Yep. Let me encourage you, before you sing it in public, read all four verses. Understand the history behind the Anthem. If you can't support it or our nation, then please don't sing our nation's anthem just to steal a little face time or because you have an album coming out or because you were nominated for a Grammy.  Or if you're Sean Penn.

Yes, it is perhaps one of the most difficult national songs that has ever been, but what an awesome song it is. I long for the day when Americans will belt it out like the Canadians do during the Stanley Cup. We are, after all, Americans.  Let's sing it with pride.

THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER by Francis Scott Key


Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!


NOTE ADDED:  Just learned of a fifth verse penned by Oliver Wendell Holmes over his disgust with the start of the Civil War in 1861.  Don't believe it worthy of the original but I share it here as a footnote to history and since we are in the War's sesquicentennial.


When our land is illumined with liberty's smile,
If a foe from within strikes a blow at her glory,
Down, down with the traitor that tries to defile
The flag of the stars, and the page of her story!
By the millions unchained,
Who their birthright have gained
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained;
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,
While the land of the free is the home of the brave.

QotD: The Race Card

"The modern definition of 'racist' is someone who is winning an argument with a liberal."

~ Peter Brimelow

The atheist's brother

I find it interesting when two brothers growing up in the same house end up on different forks in the road. When did that happen? What brought it to pass?

My brother and I find ourselves on different roads politically. On the one hand, when it comes to employment, he believes "The Man" (business leadership) is out to get you, but when it comes to politics, he is absolutely convinced "The Man" (government leadership this time) will save us.

Me? If you've read a few posts, you know that I'm big on personal responsibility in the workplace and in government. You also know that I come to those positions not from my own thinking but from what I read in the Bible. If God went to the effort to reveal himself to us through the written word, wouldn't we do well to live our lives in a manner pleasing to our Creator?

My brother and I are not the only two on opposite paths. Take the Hitchens brothers. Christopher is an unashamed, unabashed atheist and thinks you should be, too. Really, that latter position is a great position. If you know your way to jive with reality, why don't you try and convince others of that position? Hitchens has tried to convince the masses by penning "god is not Great" (the actual title capitalization) and "The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Non-believer."

Did you know Hitchens has a brother named Peter? Do you know that Peter is a Christian? Did you know that he, like his brother, grew up in a religious home but rejected the Bible in favor of rabid atheism?  For Peter, the very thing he embraced turned bitter in his stomach and led him to assert, "That in the end, what I rejected (the God of the Bible) was right." In the following 8-minute video, Peter describes his upbringing, his God rejecting and his God embracing.



About half way through the video, he describes realizing that he would face judgment and that the floor upon which he stood, a floor which was no floor at all in reality, had begun to collapse.

Why does Peter see with such crystal clarity but his brother Christopher, a man whose death is fast approaching due to cancer, has his eyes shut tight? I cannot answer that question, but this I do know, if Peter could do anything to open Christopher's eyes to the truth of man's standing before God and God's provision for man, he would. He understands the implications as illustrated by his own horror at seeing the painting "The Last Judgment" by Rogier van der Weyden, man will die and face the judgment (Hebrews 9:27).

Consider the atheist's passion for the believer. Why does he desire that he not believe? To what end? That he might eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die? Really, Paul said the same thing to the Christian--IF the resurrection had been a farce (1 Corinthians 15:32). But the resurrection is an historical event.

Christopher and Peter

So we face the passion of the believer for the atheist. It's a passion for his very existence, for his life. All mankind will know eternal life for we are not merely corporeal beings. But all of us by our very nature stand in open rebellion against God. Paul makes that eminently plain in Romans 3:10-18 and caps it off with "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" in Romans 3:23. The Christian as exemplified by Peter Hitchens here wants to do everything in his power to illuminate the judgment ahead, call the lost to turn around and ultimately point them to the one who has made the way for restoration and eternal life (John 14:6, 17:3).

It bums me out that my brother and I stand on different political roads, but it bums Peter Hitchens out far worse that he and his brother, Christopher, stand on different roads as they hurtle toward eternity.

Masquerade: The submissive wife

Like a police officer behind the tape at a crime scene, I'd like to ask that if you don't have a vested interest in this topic to just move along. You will think this foolishness.

Who has a vested interest? Christian women. Particularly Christian wives who have already committed themselves to trusting God at his word when it comes to how he created them and their role in marriage.

Few have it more challenging in the world today than those who seek to love their Lord by serving God in obedience in their marriage. Janie Cheaney wrote on that very topic in a recent issue of World Magazine (here). Paula Kirby of the Washington Post spent her column railing upon the Judeo-Christian role of women, wives, and mothers. It used to be that people would think through such things when they read or hear them, but now, because the voice is loud, few consider. Most absorb. Cheaney challenges us to consider.

More and more, though, I see an infection within the church, one that is ham-stringing marriages causing them to stagnate at or below the level of mediocrity, and this particular problem--not all problems, just this one--rests in the lap of the ladies (and before I get hammered by lasses far and wide, I have begun a blog to help, spur on, and admonish husbands to fulfill their God-given roles as husbands). The infection is this: the wife who professes Christ and believes that they submit to their husbands as unto the Lord (Ephesians 5:22, Colossians 3:18, 1 Peter 3:1, 5-6), but if you were to examine their relationship with their husband or even ask him, that is not what you would find.

They submit in word but not in deed.

A wife who does not submit to their husband as to the Lord has a problem that has NOTHING to do with the husband. God's commands to the wife do not depend upon whether or not she has a husband who is loving his wife as Christ loved the church just as his commands to the husband are still in full even if she is a shrew. You are right; I do not know your husband, but that does not matter. So let's get back to business.

HOW DOES THIS PLAY OUT?

First, what does it mean to submit? It means to put one's self under the authority of another.  By choice. That means there is an equality inherent in the relationship but one party recognizes the leadership role of the other party and willingly and joyfully abides by that. God does not think men are better than women, he does not feel they are more important than women, but in his economy, God ordained that the husband lead the family.  Peter describes this even footing before God when he says to the husbands that they are coheirs with their wives. Equal. Paul says that sex does not matter in our standing before Christ for we are all one before Christ (Galatians 3:28). But God in his wisdom and by design created the wife as the helper to the husband (Genesis 2:18). Both created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) but man with the responsibility to lead and woman with the responsibility to support.

Consider the godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit as the ultimate example of equality and submission. Three persons. Each God. Total unity. How can this be? John 6:38 gives us a picture. Christ, God the Son, does the will of God the Father. Likewise the Spirit brings glory to the Son and only does what he hears (John 16:13-14). Equality in the godhead (Philippians 2:6) but submitted order. One of his own will submits to the other. So, too, in marriage.

Please do not take this opportunity to play lawyer.  No "yeah, buts." Many of other places speak of the glory and wonder of submission. That's not my purpose. I am addressing those who know and agree in principle to the previous paragraphs but through hardness of heart are not living it out. Do you know that such a hardness is natural? God said right after the Fall of Man that this very thing would happen.

"Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." (Genesis 3:16b)

Husbands might get all excited thinking God said that the wife will have sexual desire for her husband. Um, not always the case. In context, the same word "desire" is found one chapter later in Genesis 4:7. There God warns Cain that sin desires him, to have mastery over him, but that Cain must overcome that. So in the Fall, in her broken nature, the wife will now desire to dominate her husband, to have the position of authority, rather than to submit to her role as the helper or assistant in the relationship.

Because of that, you, wife, will not want your husband to lead you. You will want to and might actually fight against his authority and his attempts to lead either passively or actively. Submitting (by definition a choice) is now contrary to your fallen nature. Ask yourself these questions:

• Does your mood turn dark (perhaps for weeks on end) when he makes a decision contrary to your desire?
• Do you immediately come up with a list of his short-comings as long as Santa's "Naughty" list when he approaches you about a concern he has seen in your life? Do you immediately try to justify your conduct by pulling out the "Naughty" list that you've been keeping against your man since "I do" to show him that he has no justification for getting into your chili?
• Do you use sex like a mackerel for Shamu? Do you taunt and tease with your wiles to get your way when it suits you?
• Do you roll your eyes behind his back (perhaps to his face) when he tries to lead the family in prayer or in reading God's word because you know his sin better than he does? 
• Do you bristle when he asks you to consult him before making major purchases? When he asks to see the checkbook? When he tries to set a budget? When he...?

Let me encourage you, again: this is natural. It's normal. But it's part of your fallen naturalness.

So let me rebuke you: it's sin.  It's the dark wife of Proverbs (19:13, 21:9, 19, 25:24).

My heart aches for marriages mired in Midland because the husband has given up trying to lead his wife, thinking that it's better to live with a cease-fire than to go through the pain of trying to break through the polar icecap and bring healing to the marriage. Callouses build and spouses begin to co-exist. The wife has dominated; her desires have won the day. The husband, who perhaps has tried to lead in the past, has given up, choosing the unsettled peace of North and South Korea over the open warfare of the Union North and Confederate South.

This ought not be. The husband must lead (again, that's my other blog), but the wife must choose to submit and support and encourage and respect.  It's not North and South Korea.  It's not even the Civil War. It's one team but one that's not playing on the same page, God's page. You can't have two quarterbacks on the field at the same time. Only one can ultimately call the play.

So, wife, if you have seen your reflection in these words and do not like what you see, what do you do? If you are already a Christ-follower, you already know, but I'll spell it out anyway.

• Ask God.  Perhaps you don't know if this is you but you suspect it might be. Ask God to make it plain to you. With a sincere heart, fall before him and tell him that you don't want to be that way. God knows the dark corners of your heart and he will lead those who truly seek his way (Psalm 19:12, 13, 139:23-24).
• Repent. If you discern that this has been your way, repent.  Your sin is against God (Psalm 51:4). You have rebelled against his plan and purpose for your life. You have kicked against the goads of your design. You have put yourself upon his throne that you might order your life in a way that is most comfortable to you but is absolutely against his command. Let the Holy Spirit break your heart and grieve for what you have done. Then accept the cleansing that comes from true repentance (1 John 1:9).
• Apologize. Hardest words to speak in the English language. "I'm sorry." Be specific. Explain to your husband that you recognize what you have done and how you have behaved, and tell him how you have confessed before God and intend to walk in the future.
• Live it. Words are cheap. You will validate your words with your deeds (James 2:17-18).
• Trust God. The old root of sin will not be done away with until we are glorified, but its power over you was neutered at the cross.  Therefore, "consider yourselves dead to sin and...let not sin reign in your mortal bodies" (Romans 6:11-14). The road will be hard at times, but God does not have evil in store for you. All things work together for good (Romans 8:28). Trust him. Let him work in your life as you obey God in your marriage (Galatians 6:9).

My passion for you is that you have a marriage that honors God. It will never be perfect, alas, but if it honors God, you will know a joy in that relationship like nothing you have now. You will know his good pleasure and in so doing, you will know true pleasure. You and your man will be one flesh as much as you can be in a fallen world and that will testify to that world about the God you serve bringing him great glory. And it will bless you to your toes.

That can never happen if you do not submit heart and soul.

So if this does not concern you, move along. Nothing to see here. If it does concern you, step inside the tape and see what you can do to bring about healing.

Remember...

"No greater love has any man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

~ Jesus Christ

The American Revolution and the birth of Freedom

Gettysburg as we fought with each other to determine the nation we would be

Omaha Beach as Americans crossed seas to stop the hand of evil before it could reach across and grab us

Vietnam where Americans died and few knew quite why

Praising God that Americans still fight for our freedom, stemming the tide of that brand of Islam that seeks to strangle that freedom from our nation.

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,


 That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly


Scarce heard amid the guns below.



We are the Dead. Short days ago


We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields.



Take up our quarrel with the foe:


To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die


We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Worse than a lunatic

Now that 21 May has come and gone, I had hoped that Harold Camping and his ilk would retreat into shamed obscurity. Such is not the case. As with most movie sequels, he doesn't know when to quit. The sequel comes to a theater near you this October. Rather than slither into the shadows in repentant shame, Mr. Camping has kicked the can five months down the road stating in no uncertain terms that the end will come on October 21st.

I could mock him as Rick Reilly did. Or the Huffington Post did. Or Leno. Or Letterman. Or...or...or...Who hasn't mocked Mr. Camping? Who hasn't made him the butt of a joke?

But Mr. Camping is far worse than a cartoon, a buffoon, or a common loon. He's a heretic.

In a day when any knucklehead can start his own blog ("hey?!"), people opine with less forethought than Lady Gaga puts into her wardrobe, and the number of people who are speaking on behalf of God--on what he thinks, what he did, what he does, and what he will do--are legion. It's not just blogs. Every media web-site has their own religious opinionator. Even the Huffington Post added a Religion section. Movies teem with religious themes.

But for all of the talk on behalf of God, how many grasp the gravity of making such serious claims?

If I am going to speak on God's behalf, a) I must know what he's said, b) I must understand it within its given context, and c) I ought to understand how severe a matter it is for me to say, "Thus saith the Lord." Why do I need to be concerned about that?  Two very big reasons.

First, God doesn't take too kindly to folks saying he said something when in fact he said no such thing. That's why James warns

"Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness."  (James 3:1)

Paul goes so far as to suggest that those who preach a gospel other than that which the apostles have preached are accursed (Galatians 1:8-9), wishing later in his letter that such would castrate themselves (5:12, ouch).

God himself made it plain to Israel as he gave them the law that he would send prophets who were speaking directly for him. They would be correctors and encouragers. They would also tell the nation what would befall them should they continue on their present course. But here's the rub. Anyone can say, "Thus saith the Lord." Are we to believe every yokel that comes through the yeshiva? God thought of that and it's one of the reasons for prophecy.

"If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams." (Deuteronomy 13:1-3)

Does it jive with what God has said? If so, great. God's word is confirmed as his through the prophet. If not--well, verse 5 goes on to make that one pretty plain.

"But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD your God...So you shall purge the evil from your midst."

So if someone were to proclaim something other than what God's word said in ancient Israel they were to be executed.  Is it a serious thing to say "thus saith the Lord" when in fact God did not saith?

Another aspect of prophecy was in the foretelling of future events. The Lord said

"...when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him." (Deuteronomy 18:22)

The same bad news awaited that guy.

"And the LORD said to me, '...the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.'" (Deuteronomy 18:17a, 20)

Do I advocate building a gallows for date-setters? Not at all. In context, we are not Israel. I share the Deuteronomy passages to indicate God's mind on this issue. Jesus Christ also spoke on leading others astray and the consequences for those not careful about their teaching.

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea." (Mark 9:42)

Teach someone and lead them astray and it would be better for you to be bound to an anchor sans scuba gear and pitched into the deep with no way to hoist the anchor. Serious? Hard to miss that picture especially for those around the Sea of Galilee where Jesus spoke and where many made their way fishing.

The second reason that we should be careful about speaking for Christ is a reason that Mr. Camping and company seem to have ignored or forgotten: you slander the name of Christ. Both Peter and Paul hit on this when they warned

"You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."" (Romans 2:23-24)

"But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep." (2 Peter 2:1-3)

Isn't that what's happening because of Mr. Camping? Peter goes on to describe the end times which will precede the return of Christ. He says that many will scoff saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation" (3:4). Are the Campings of the world part of the reason for the scoffing?

Here's the deal. Christ is coming back. He said so. His historical resurrection testifies to his claims. Despite what the date-setters set, Jesus said no man would know the date nor the hour (Matthew 24:36), though he did make clear we would know the season (Matthew 24:32-25). When those who speak for God speak amiss, they either do not understand what they are doing or they know that they are out of bounds. Either way, the consequences are dark.