The national divide and the Life non sequitur

I've mumbled before about the growing chasm within our nation. Sad that a national calamity would further highlight this truth.

Consider, the folks most vocal about gun-control in the aftermath of violent tragedy are by and large the same ones who are the most vocal about unrestrained abortion. I can't figure out the logic there. Would someone enlighten me?

Light in darkness

Ben Stein, of Ferris Bueller fame ("Bueller? Bueller?) and more recently as a philosopher and culture barometer, penned a lament in the days following our recent national tragedy. A worthy read you can find here. At the end of his piece he grieves,

"Man is made of such crooked stuff that it is impossible to set him straight, said a famous philosopher."

Paul sketched with the same charcoal black when he told the church at Rome, "None is righteous. No, not one" (Romans 3:10). I mentioned to a friend that such hellishness does not surprise me any longer. What surprises me anymore is when I see philanthropy.

In the world there is no objective, concrete hope.

But then Jesus said, "Be of good cheer for I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

This isn't some fairy-tale platitude to salve our psychological selves. It is truth.

Left to myself, I will ever wrestle the demons within. Paul cried in that same letter, "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate" (Romans 7:15). That is not abnormal. It is the normal human condition. Some of us restrain the beast better than others, but this God-rebel dominates our lives.

Only one thing can supplant this beast.

"Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." ~ Jesus (Matthew 11:28)

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has past away; behold the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

"For our sake he (God) made him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (5:21)

"I have been crucified (past tense) with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith (TRUST) in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

Therein, Mr. Stein, is our only hope for straightening the crooked human condition.

Merry Christmas.

Sin: The root of evil

Another horrifying day in America. Children dead. Teachers dead. The heart cries out, "Why? How did this happen? How could a human being do such a thing?"  Many folks a thousand miles away spent sleepless nights wrestling with such horror. Parents stole into their children's bedroom to behold their babes and to weep.

Two common answers have swirled about in the wake of this tragedy. It's a mental illness problem, and it's a gun problem. That's Roland Martin's take at CNN, and the sentiment in the Twitter-verse:

"MORE gun control, MORE mental health services. It's no longer a debate. Never was," spewed comedian Patton Oswalt. 

He wasn't alone in his anger.

"The way to honor these dead children is to demand strict gun control, free mental health care, and an end to violence as public policy," suggested Michael Moore.

Anybody notice anything missing from these ruminations? None of these men and few talking heads hold the man accountable for his actions. Man is culpable for what he does.

Man is an independent moral agent responsible for his thoughts, words, and deeds. That's part of what is meant by God when he stated, "Let us make man in our image" (Genesis 1:26). As such, he is responsible for his choices. God went on to strip away excuses when he declared,

"What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person." (Mark 7:20-23)

I do understand that some do not have all of the cognitive tools that others have. Consider the man or woman with Down's Syndrome, but when has there ever been an instance of one with a clear genetic challenge who has gone off the moral deep end and unleashed carnage on an entire school or anything even approximating such atrocity? Rather you'll find the average Down's individual a more moral and compassionate individual than an individual with the standard chromosomal alignment. Nope, if you peek into the cells of butchers like the one in Connecticut, you'll find a set up much like mine or yours.

But what of their past, what of their environment? This has been the focus of modern psychology. We are not responsible for what we do because we are machines, experts assert, and are simply the product of our past and our environment. Does anything that has ever happened to me in the past justify my murdering twenty kids? God doesn't seem to think so. In fact, he goes so far as to command that we control our reactions to slights and affronts.

"But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you." (Matthew 5:44)

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, commands them to,

"Repay no one evil for evil...If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”" (Romans 12:17a, 19)

From the time of the Fall of Man, man's rebelliousness against God and his commands have plagued him and his relationship with his fellow man. He destroys himself and all that is good. Little points to the veracity of the Bible more than what's happening in the world around us. How can man who on the one hand seems to be able to do such good turn about and unleash such evil?

Anthropologists, sociologists, and psychologists continue to wrestle with that question, but thousands of years ago, God had recorded for his creatures the truth. Man, created in God's image, has rebelled against his Creator, and while he still carries that image (and thereby the capability for good), that image is marred beyond man's ability to restore it leaving him ever in a struggle against an innate hostility toward God and toward the good.

If you get right down to it, if there is no God, who can say such barbarity is wrong? Is it not survival of the fittest in a world that is red in tooth and claw? But we rail against such a notion. We know such conduct is evil because we were created in God's image, marred though we be. 

So what is it then that causes a man to gun down innocents? The same thing that makes a man cheat on his wife. The same thing that makes a man rob a convenience store. The same thing that makes a man slander a political opponent. It is the sinfulness of man's own heart.

It is for this very reason that Jesus Christ bore in himself the penalty of mankind's rebellion against God. His vicarious sacrifice for us provided the means of justice in dealing with such rebellion by which God's righteousness might be satisfied and by which man might be restored in his relationship to God. Paul went on to declare of the one who has accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to himself thusly:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

A bit later, Paul declares how this took place:

"For our sake he made him (Jesus Christ) to be sin who  knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (5:21)

Even as a Christian, the struggle against our sinful nature remains (Romans 7:23, 1 John 1:8), but as a Christian, God empowers us (Philippians 2:13) and disciplines us (Hebrews 12:7-10) that our minds and our lives might be transformed to a thing that is pleasing to God (Romans 12:1-2).

And so when horrors like those of this past week come, we grieve. Man's rebellion against God continues to slap us in the face, but we do not have to grieve as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). God has provided the solution to such evil by bearing himself the ultimate penalty that was due to each one of us.

This is the only answer (Acts 4:12). We just choose to ignore it.

'Tis the season

Ah, the sound of Christmas is in the air.

** The ACLU is on its annual nativity rampage.
** Nursing homes have to remove their Christmas trees.
**School's can't see a Charlie Brown Christmas because Linus quotes from that book.

Okay, it's not just because it's Christmas.

** A national coach of the year nominee was canned for praying with an injured opponent and watching movies that contained religious themes with his team (yeah, that book was mentioned in those movies, too).
**Atheists want a statue of Jesus removed from a ski resort.
** West Point cadet has checked out six months before graduating claiming that he endured unconstitutional proselytism from the officers there. Considering proselytism is nowhere even remotely discussed in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights, one wonders what really went on. Did they threaten beheading? When atheists say "Boo!," citizen's government officials cower.

"What wrong did your fathers find in me

that they went far from me

and went after worthlessness,

and became worthless?"

In light of this animosity toward anything within fifteen feet of that book, the Bible, what will become of the holidays? Really, not much else because Christmas in America has become meaningless.

Consider. The day the Church decided to celebrate the birth of Christ has become an excuse for materialistic excess that moves most companies into the fiscal black. Christmas makes money! Why on earth would we curtail or readdress this buying binge?

The story of the event that precipitated the holiday, God in a manger, that man's rebellion required God's provision of himself, has all but vanished. You'll not find that message in any of my favorite Christmas shows (Grinch (animated and otherwise), Rudolph, It's a Wonderful Life) except Charlie Brown's. Instead, we're sold something as substantial and satisfying as last year's Christmas trinkets.

Even the saint who has become tied to the holiday has been turned into a cartoon character and his real story largely forgotten. The name Christmas* remains, but few know that the word refers to the church service commemorating Jesus' birth. Few consider that holiday comes from holy day, a day set aside for some religious observance.

"They did not say, 'Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt...'"

But with all of that, there is great hope. With the truth of Christmas being syphoned away from the American psyche, Christmas is going nowhere. To quote the Grinch (even though after his heart grew three sizes that day, he still didn't get it), it's not "packages, boxes, or bags." Also, God never mandated that it be a national celebration. We have enjoyed the twilight of a nation that was born with a love for the Lord. That love is now all but dead. This is no longer a Christian nation so it should not surprise us that its entertainment industry, its schools, and its government have driven God from its presence.

"Why do you contend with me?

You have all transgressed against me, declares the LORD."

No atheist can revise the fact that God did enter the world in flesh over two thousand years ago. No holiday fiction can change that man's heart is deceitfully wicked and in rebellion against a holy God. No mountain of presents can rival a God in a farm trough or God on a cross.

The truth of the opening pages of Matthew's, Luke's, and John's gospels cannot and will not be eradicated by the ACLU nor obscured by Frosty the Snowman. What has happened in history cannot be altered. Therefore, let us truly rejoice in the God who so loved his unloveable creation that he sent his Son to die on their behalf that they might be restored in fellowship and in family to him.

This God still stands in the middle of a crowded and indifferent world declaring,

"Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD.

I will not look on you in anger,

for I am merciful, declares the LORD;

I will not be angry forever.

Only acknowledge your guilt,

that you rebelled against the LORD your God...

and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the LORD.

Return, O faithless children, declares the LORD;

for I am your master."

In these darkening days, have yourself a merry, little Christmas rejoicing that your God has given you ears to hear the call of his voice. Remember what he's done for you, for me.

-----------------------------

* Please don't get too knotted about people using X-mas. It originally did not mean to obscure Christ but to actually represent him. X is the Greek letter chi which is the first letter of Cristos or Christ. It's usage goes back hundreds of years and was first used as such by the church. So if you see "Merry Xmas," smile and thank God.

Note: Scripture cited above comes from Jeremiah 2:5,6, 29, 3:12-14

What lens? "Reality Check"

A few seasons ago I started this blog to continue conversations with men that had begun at our church. A number of us really wanted to look at all aspects of life with God's eyes as best we could, and that meant that we had to examine the world around us through the lens of God's word, the Bible. Apart from that sure foundation, all is mere conjecture.

This past weekend, my eldest son, Jeremy Pond, wholly apart from this blog and any impetus from me began an audio blog, Reality Check, with much the same purpose.  His first piece introduced the concept in just under two-minutes. His second dives right into the deep-end and provides a clear, concise seven-minute synopsis of what's been happening between Israel and Hamas, Egypt, the Palestinians, Gaza, etc. You can find them both at www.realitycheckcommentary.com. I invite you to bookmark the site. You'll want to check back from time to time.

So what is the lens through which you look at the world? You do, you know. Something informs the way that you look at things. If you call yourself a Christian and have never before considered examining all things through the lens of God's word, let me encourage you to start now. The best place to begin is with God's word. You've got to know it to be able to seeing things through such a matrix. While my son's audio blog and this written blog intend to assist you to that end, even these must be considered from the sure foundation of God's word.

Give Reality Check a listen. It's worth your time.

Evidence

Amidst my ponderings of the continued ebb (just ebb, no flow) of Christianity's moral and cultural influence in the United States especially in light of Election 2012, I kept hearing folks quoting G. K. Chesterton in various contexts. He said in his usual blunt manner,

"Christianity has not been tried and found wanting;
it has been found difficult and not tried."

Makes sense. When I can scratch any itch in 50 million different ways and when my government will not hold me culpable for my bad decisions but will continue to provide me the sticks for my itch scratching, why should I consider a religion that appears to have run its course? Many folks still consider Jesus a pretty decent philosopher for his day, but did he really intend for Paul to go so far as to have wives submit to husbands? This is the 21st century, after all. And what did Jesus mean anyway when he suggested plucking our eyes over lust? Really? So rather than pursue and investigate, we're content to pluck passages from their contexts rather than our eyes.* Christianity is labeled ridiculous, and its adherents are painted as uneducated, flat-earth, science-damning hillbillies. It's much easier to dismiss someone with the sweep of an insult that to examine their arguments.

But here's the problem: the Bible is true.

Because of the easy dismissals and primary-colored caricatures, few today wade into the deep waters of biblical claims to investigate for themselves. Biblical study is unsettling. It's difficult. And like Augustine near 1700 years ago, the agony one encounters as he comes face to face with the truth becomes unbearable for he must answer the question "If it is true, shall I live the rest of my life in the delusion of my own will, or shall I pursue the One who has created me for his good purpose and given all that I might be restored in relationship to him?"

So let me throw out a few reasons you might consider that point to the cornerstone truth that, yes, Jesus Christ is your Savior, your God, and your King.

1) THE TESTIMONY OF WITNESSES. Matthew and John, two of the gospel** writers, were among the twelve of Jesus closest followers, and they recorded the relevant happenings of Jesus' life and ministry. The earliest extra-biblical testimonies credit these writings as those of these men despite the attempts of modern scholars to push the writings beyond the time of these men. Mark, while not a disciple of Christ, became a close assistant first to Paul and Barnabas and ultimately to Peter in Rome. If anybody knew Jesus, it was Peter. Lastly, as Paul emphasized the importance of the resurrection of Jesus to the church at Corinth, Greece, he indicated that there were 500 folks who saw the risen Jesus at one time and many of them were still alive to corroborate the account.

2) INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING. Luke was not a disciple of Jesus during his earthly ministry and perhaps never saw him. He was a physician by trade and from the manner and style of his writing, he was a well-educated man. In his bio of Christ, he scoured the testimonies of those still alive, he separated the wheat from the chaff, and attempted to present the most accurate account he could to a friend of his, Theophilus, that he might have certainty about the things he was taught (Luke 1:1-4). In the book of Acts, the book immediately following the four gospels, he provides one of the most geographically detailed accounts of the Mediterranean region and of first century seafaring in his account of the spread of the early church.

3) FULFILLED PROPHECY. To Blaise Pascal, this was the most compelling aspect of the entire Bible. No other religion so audaciously hangs its existence on things to come. It was a keynote to Israel that God had actually spoken through specific men.

Isaiah 45:21 - "Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me."
Isaiah 48:3 - "The former things I declared of old; they went out from my mouth, and I announced them; then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass."
Isaiah 48:5 - "I declared them to you from of old, before they came to pass I announced them to you, lest you should say, ‘My idol did them, my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’"

Because prophetic fulfillment is one of the most compelling aspects of the entire Bible as the previous verses show that God intended it to be so, scholars have gone through the contortions of a Chinese acrobat to move the writings of the Bible all centuries later than the Bible itself indicates. They believe that because prophecy ranks with the supernatural, it cannot be. Therefore what had to have happened is religious leaders took the events of the day, events that had taken place, and they wrote prophetic stories to make it look like they had been fulfilled, that God loves his people, and that he can see the end from the beginning. The gymnastics required to neuter prophecies pales in comparison with the lies required to post-write prophecies. Any child knows the difficulty of maintaining a single lie. Now imagine trying to maintain the thousand of fulfilled and yet to be fulfilled prophecies. Such deception cannot be historically substantiated.

As one reads through the gospel of Matthew, you can't help but notice his emphasis on the sheer number of prophecies that Jesus Christ's advent fulfilled, a few he could have tried to fulfill to try and make people believe he was the Christ (i.e. riding into Jerusalem on a donkey) but most he had no control over (his place of his birth, the means of his death, and the events surrounding that event to name a paltry few).

The evidence for the veracity of the Bible is overwhelming. But will we take the time to read and assess what it says for ourselves? As Chesterton notes, few are willing to wade in past the preconceptions and challenges to glean the truth. Perhaps today you might consider taking a challenge from the very lips of God, "Taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8). As Augustine discovered, it's a life-altering consideration.

-------------------------------------
* I have to do it because some will take me out of context. I am NOT advocating eye-plucking for those struggling with lust. Hyperbole, people. Jesus had figures of speech mastered.

** Many do not know any longer what a "gospel" is. The word means good news. What have become known as the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are the first four books of the New Testament of the Bible. Even "New" Testament is something of a misnomer. Rather than Old and New, consider them the first and second Testaments, or as we would say, Part I and Part II of the book. The gospels are in essence biographies of Jesus life. Some are more chronological than others, but all tell of the historical events of Jesus' life, ministry, death, and resurrection.

How's your traction?

For the Bible-believing Christian, Tuesday's election brought a splash of sobriety to life in these United States. Some troubling issues (two of which I highlighted in yesterday's post):

** America is turning from God's design for marriage.
** We seem to be ho-hum about drug use.
** It appears we desire a socialist model (I deserve some of yours) as opposed to a capitalistic model (keep your mitts off mine; I'll share if you are truly in need and then whole-heartedly).
** National defense has taken a back seat to an international group hug.
** The above applies to all nations but Israel, who we have hung out to dry.
** Expect to see any restrictions to abortion loosed.
** The flavor of the Supreme Court will certainly see a change.

That's the tip of the iceberg. Each of these leads to other issues that exposes a trend in our country that moves us away from conventional morality (i.e. biblical morality*) toward a "whatever, dude!" morality. To me, this is a heartbreaking thing to see. There are two absolutely wrong attitudes to take in the wake of this election.

First, we must avoid a Kumbayah mentality. I caught some posts about how now is the time to come together as a nation. That sounds very nice, but might I ask around what? A gaping moral divide exists in our country that cannot simply be skipped across. This is not to say that I should hate those opposed to God and biblical values. By no means! Nor should I build a Christian monastery and head for the hills. We are to be salt and light in a fallen world, and the United States 2012 surely falls into that category. But being salt and light means holding God's truths high. Those will bring conviction to some and hatred from many others. As we uphold the truth, part of that is the truth of the gospel, that while man stands in stark and abject rebellion before a holy and righteous God, that same God has provided the means of man's redemption, the completed work of God the Son, Jesus Christ.

Second, and my entire reason for this post we must not despair. Certain verses rang in my ears all day yesterday.

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

Paul gave this challenge, these commands, to the church in the town of Thessalonica, a high-octane, low-morality port city in Greece, a major cross-roads for the Roman empire. This was a church in the midst of tough persecution, but dwell upon what he told them:

REJOICE ALWAYS

"But...but...but..." Sorry, that won't fly. Why can I rejoice? God remains sovereign over all his creation. God's plan cannot be thwarted by man or 60 million men. Tuesday's election did not startle him. All things will work together for good for those who love God and are the called according to his purpose. Christ will come again, one day. God will set all things aright, one day. He loves me.

How do I know all these things? The Bible tells me so, and I believe it. I believe him for the Bible is God's word to us, to me. Saint, this is where the rubber meets the road. Will I trust him? Do I believe him? Satan has tried from the Garden of Eden to undermine what God has said. "Did God actually say..." He's working overtime in our day and age to portray God's word as irrelevant and outdated or unknowable and subject to diverse interpretations. Really, God's word reads pretty plainly in most parts. This one's hard to get around. Rejoice always!

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

Another one that doesn't require a Rosetta Stone to figure out. Commune always with your God. As with abiding with your wife you should communicate with her always. Sometimes you just abide together in silence in a room but you are comforted by her presence. Sometimes it's just a text to tell her you love her or need her to pick something up for you. Other times, you date her with purpose or take a long walk with her to talk and to hear her voice. It should be no different with God.

My prayer from before the election has not changed. While I think a different vote would have stemmed the demise of our nation, a president will not change our heading. If we as a people reject God, will he not give us our desire? That terrifies me. As such, my prayer unceasing has been that God would bring a heart of repentance upon our nation that we might then turn to him and be healed. There is much to pray about and for regarding our country, so pray without ceasing.

GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES

Yeah, that means Tuesday's election, too. Saint, can you grieve and give thanks that Barack Obama was elected? I've already provided a number of reasons to grieve, but give thanks?! Yes, indeed. Give thanks. "Why??" I hear you screaming. Because God will do amazing things through this election that we do not yet see.

If you knew right now that the dismantling and disintegration of the United States of America would mean that millions would come face to face with their sin and turn to salvation in Jesus Christ, would this not be better than dying with a fat wallet and an eternity in hell facing you on the other side? America has been a phenomenal political experiment proving that a nation founded upon God's principles can thrive and flourish, but if the people have come to the point of rejecting God, can we expect any less than that they will reject his principles, too? So while I do not know what God will do through Election 2012, I will thank him for it and trust him for what he will do through it.

So, sibling, are our wheels steady on the road? Do we really believe what God has said in his word? If so and especially in light of the past few days, we must rejoice, pray, and ooze thanksgiving. These are, after all, the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

---------------------------------------------------------
* John MacArthur gave two outstanding messages on the demise of biblical morality in our political process. You can find them here and here. From the link, you can read, listen to, or download the sermons in their entirety.

Dangerous places to live

After last night, Election 2012, the two most dangerous places to live in all the world have not changed and will not change: Israel and the mother's womb.

God calls his saints to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6). Now would be a very good time to take this to heart for Israel now has no national ally.

God calls us to be a mouthpiece for those who have no say and to be a defender for the poor and needy (Proverbs 31:8-9). Now would be a very good time to pray for the unborn child as the most pro-abortion president in our nation's history has attained a second term. Things will only get more dire.

Serve in your community at local pregnancy care centers. You don't have to be a counselor. They need administrative help, yard work to be done, and maintenance work almost every day of the year. Write letters to your congressman and local officials. A simple letter to the editor speaking out for the sanctity of human life is a good and easy thing to do.

No doubt folks in Israel are not comforted by the vote. If the unborn only knew, their terror would be greater still. Yet we press on trusting our God and King and laboring endlessly until the day of his appearing. The darker the night, the brighter will his light shine in and through us (Matthew 5:16). Let it shine!

Soiling the flag

I've come to expect that when the mean streets of the Middle East get prime time coverage, I'll see an American flag in tatters and afire, torched with purpose by those who loathe the United States and everything about us.

I am no longer surprised by Americans who do not know that clothing made from the flag dishonors our national symbol, and that writing on it or dragging it in the dirt shows little regard for it. Ever since Jim Craig draped the Stars and Stripes about his shoulders, it's become the norm for athletes to inappropriately--and quite unknowingly--drape our flag about their shoulders.

It's a different thing for a sitting President to abase the flag.

Now, I understand that the Christian is commanded to pray for those in authority over him (1 Timothy 2:1-2). This should not surprise the believer because if he has drunk deep of God's word to him, he would know full well that it is only by God's hand that any comes to power (Daniel 2:21, 5:21, Romans 13:1-7, 1 Peter 2:13-14). This does not mean that the Christian must hold his tongue regarding the conduct of one's leaders. To that end, I write.

President Barack Obama has done much to tarnish the office of the President of the United States and thereby denigrate our country. It did not take long for our President to begin bowing to sovereigns around the world to include those who have little regard for civil rights or putting his feet on a desk gifted to us in 1880 by Queen Elizabeth. In pursuing a second term as our President, he continues to show little regard for the greatness of our nation and our symbols. To show what an edgy and hep individual he is, his campaign has offered these posters to festoon the walls of his supporters:

Did you hear the outcry? Did anyone even notice? Mark Steyn recognized the desecration of the flag for what it was when he wrote:

I see the Obama campaign has redesigned the American flag, and very attractive it is too. Replacing the 50 stars of a federal republic is the single “O” logo symbolizing the great gaping maw of spendaholic centralization. And where the stripes used to be are a handful of red daubs, eerily mimicking the bloody finger streaks left on the pillars of the U.S. consulate in Benghazi as its staff were dragged out by a mob of savages to be tortured and killed. What better symbol could one have of American foreign policy?

Did you know that such is a desecration of the flag? From the Flag Code:

The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever.

In fact, to do such within the District of Columbia is considered a misdemeanor. Wholly apart from the criminal aspect, such a brazen display shows little regard for our national heritage, and like using the Oval Office for "extracurriculars," shows a hubris and narcissism inappropriate for a town clerk much less the President of the United States. There has been enough of a ruckus that the poster has since been pulled, but how is it that the leader of the greatest nation on the planet and his minions have no concept of the value of our national treasures?

Perhaps our next President will comport himself in a manner worthy of the office he holds both in the international arena and within the comfortable borders of his own country.

Bilbo's song

There was a time when a poet wasn't considered less of a man and when folks longed to hear the latest poetry. Not so much anymore. Oh, we'll still listen to a poem if it's cranking through our iPod, but even then, it's the hook and the music that grabs our attention more than the lyric. Do you remember the last song that really made you think and wonder?

In an era when movies reside at our fingertips and video games can be played with friends around the country (and the world), who wants to hear a poem? Our kids bounce from game to game and noise to noise in a sea of constant audio and visual stimulation. How many children read? We're stunting their imaginations. There's little we can do for our kids of greater value than reading good stories to our kids and demanding that they use their minds to consider the words.

In the midst of my reading The Fellowship of the Ring to my daughters, I came across one of Bilbo's poems, one he recited before the Fellowship departed from Rivendell from the melancholy of his heart, and it touched me. In the midst of my middle age, the poem picked at my heart strings. Who was this J. R. R. Tolkien who could create lands and creatures in vivid prose and yet craft such poignant poems that don't distract from the tale but add startling and unexpected hues, who in the middle of a story about good and evil, halflings and Ringwraiths, could insert a poem that would bless a near-fifty year old man in north Texas?

For my friends who are fast approaching or have recently broached their fiftieth year, I offer you this poem by Bilbo Baggins from The Fellowship of the Ring.  Enjoy.

I sit beside the fire and think
of all that I have seen,
of meadow-flowers and butterflies
in summers that have been;

Of yellow leaves and gossamer
in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun
and wind upon my hair.

I sit beside the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
that I shall ever see.

For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood and every spring
there is a different green.

I sit beside the fire and think
of people long ago,
and people who will see a world
that I shall never know.

But all the while I sit and think
of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
and voices at the door.

Bill Nye, the ideology guy

My boys loved Bill Nye when they were little. Truth be told, I loved Bill Nye. How could you not love a goofy guy who made you hungry for science.

But that was then, and this is now. Bill has bounded out of the realm of science into philosophy, and not content with philosophy, he has donned the mantle of authority when it comes to how parents should train up their children.

Mr. Nye is a staunch evolutionist. In a recent video titled "Creationism is not appropriate for children," he said that when you ignore evolution"your worldview becomes crazy, untenable, itself inconsistent (1)." Honestly, most creationists think the same thing about an evolutionary worldview. Crazy. Untenable. Inconsistent. Fantasy.

Yet, despite incessant indoctrination from kindergarten through post-graduate studies, 46% of Americans remain young earth creationists according to a recent Gallup poll. Thirty-two percent believe God used evolution and only 15% believe (interesting word) in atheistic evolution. For that large a swath of the American fabric to still hold to a six-day creation, there must be something more substantial, more evidential to cling to than a fairy tale.

Mr. Nye doesn't think so and lets the insults fly:

"I say to the grownups, if you want to deny evolution and live in your world, that's completely inconsistent with the world we observe, that's fine."

Gee, thanks, Bill. Should they pad my room, too? He has gone beyond observation and experimentation into philosophy.  Despite over a century and a half since Darwin published Origin of Species: The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, no proof has been found indicating one kind of animal has ever transitioned to become another kind. Dogs beget still dogs. Fish beget fish. Chimps beget chimps and yes, man begets man.

Had he only coughed up that hairball, we could get busy with dinner, but Mr. Nye went further:

"But don't make your kids do it (deny evolution).  Because we need them.  We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future.  We need engineers that can build stuff and solve problems."

That's creepy stuff. You need them?! So, Bill, you don't want me to teach my kids what I am convinced is true and that I am convinced gives dignity to humanity within the created order? You don't want me to teach him the foundation of "love your neighbor as yourself?" or why all mankind is equal?

To Mr. Nye, only an evolutionist is equipped to teach science of any kind (Astro? Aero? Civil engineering??) to our children. That's disturbing.

Teaching my kids a responsibility to the God who made them does not them scientifically illiterate. It didn't slow down Blaise Pascal or Robert Oppenheimer. 

Does worshiping the God who raises up and puts down kingdoms make one ill-qualified to vote? It seems to me that President Obama appreciates my tax-dollars despite my believing in the one who suggested that I render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's (which is everything, by the way). 

And how, pray tell, does believing in a Creator impair one from being a creator or problem solver? Wouldn't that naturally follow? 

Al Campanis, the general manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers, was rightly fired the day after the racism of his heart overflowed in a Nightline interview in 1987. But for the Bill Nyes of the world, it's okay to denigrate those who take God at his word. Such animosity is in season (here).

Few will bat an eyelash over his propaganda and slurring of Bible-believers. Well, Bill, not that you care, but you've lost one fan.

--------------------------------------

 (1) Taken from CNN's "Bill Nye slams creationism" here.