Wednesday.....Culture.....Fourth Thursday of November

         The economy may totally collapse, war looms in the Middle East, the church cannot get enough latte cafes, scoundrels and scalawags abound in Congress and corporate America, Hillary Clinton is in the news more than ever, but in our home tonight it was time for ROCK AND ROLL TRIVIOLOGIES, the game for the seriously confused as to what is important in life. Our son and his fiancee are home from their respective colleges. We had a nice dinner followed by a game. Now my wife is ultra competitive, probably because she is good at many things. Ping Pong is probably the worst.....no, no.....500....no, its tennis! My future daughter-in-law, a top student in high school and college, seems to be very competitive as is our son. Then there am I, the self-proclaimed I like it when the other guy wins type of guy.....except in Trivia. After a couple of hours (my wife and I versus our son and and his fiancee) we were tied. Such is the nature of this game that it can take a while. We tried two forms of overtime sudden death with no winner. Then the question came that could win it all for us, Q: The Philadelphia born 1950's and 60's teen idol appeared frequently on American Bandstand, and co-starred in the film Bye Bye Birdie with..... my hands flew up in the air "Bobby Rydell...Yes!", with Ann-Margaret and Dick Van Dyke.
          Americans like to win! We like to win wars, Olympics, to be first to the moon. We want to see who wins Survivor, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, who loses the most weight. We often lose the capacity to enjoy a very good season if it does not culminate in a Super Bowl or Stanley Cup. On the other hand our education scores are probably 137th in the world behind Lower Slobodia and it doesn't seem to bother us. Is their a correlation here? This particular characteristic, the desire to be first, may have begun germinating in us on October 5th 1957 when the Soviet Union announced that it had beaten us to space and then again on April 12th, 1961 when they announced that it had sent a man into space first. Alan Shepard was in space a month later and we haven't stopped this quest for the gold since. In February 1964 Cassius Clay predicted, in a rhyme of course, that he would launch the heavyweight champion of the world, Sonny Liston, into space. Joe Namath, in 1969, grabbed the attention of Americans by boldly proclaiming We're going to win this game. I guarantee it! Both of these successful predictions were huge upsets.
         We had found our destiny in the 1960s, and the narcissistic 70s followed. It's kind of ironic that the Wall Street Journal (a newspaper built on seeking success) began a tradition in 1961 that continues to this, the day before Thanksgiving, publishing a chronicle of the Plymouth Colony in 1602 from the pen of William Bradford, it begins: So they left that goodly and pleasant city of Leyden, which had been their resting place for above eleven years, but they knew that they were pilgrims and strangers here below and looked not much on these things, but lifted up their eyes to heaven their dearest country, where God hath prepared for them a city and therein quieted their spirits.
         Thanksgiving is the only holiday to me. Christmas and Easter have departed from their scriptural origins and the 4th of July, wonderful though it is in its meaning, has long since lost its savor. These pilgrims offered the first thanksgiving to Almighty God. The new congress and George Washington recommended a day of thanksgiving and Abraham Lincoln initiated the last Thursday of November as the day to be put aside. More than any other individual day of the year, I can meditate on the temporal blessings that have been given to America. I can look at these courageous pilgrims and desire to have even a morsel of their determination. It is a day of pure thankfulness, and I am thankful for it!

Tuesday.....International.....The Nefarious Extravaganza

World leaders and scientists have been, for quite some time, pushing hard and fast for climate change legislation. It is described as a looming catastrophe and an emergency situation that has to be dealt with immediately. Numerous times we were told that these opinions were unanimous amongst climate scientists. Skeptics are routinely ridiculed. From the other side, the word skeptics does not quite accurately describe the feeling. This is a scam, the purpose being levelling the playing fields for the world's economies and ultimately redistributing the wealth of the planet. Lo and behold, emails in Britain were hacked and many of these prestigious scientists were cooking the books, manipulating their readers and attempting to censor and punish rebellious scientists, of whom there are many, who had the audacity to oppose the establishment. Some of corporate America has joined this bandwagon, following the scent of money. Where do you think that this will go now? One might be tempted to think that it is the end of serious consideration for global warming legislation. One would be wrong! President Obama said today that the world is one step closer to a climate change agreement to be decided in next month's summit in Copenhagen. What would induce the leadership of the Democratic Party to continue in this fable? At one point in the Clinton administration, President Clinton was stressed over his personal problems and showing it. The Vice-President, today's self-proclaimed leader of the global warming fiasco, sternly addressed his boss and said Get with the program. This current program includes health care legislation where cooking the books on the costs and benefits is occurring. These plans, and others, must be passed now and in the very near future because the powers that be know that their control will probably be decimated in next years elections. It is now or never. Al Gore appeared on this weeks Saturday Night Live in an attempt to solidify the 18 to 29 age group support which according to Gallup, is the only age group not to drop below 50% in President Obama's approval ratings. The media is needed until tyranny is established and then, even it, can be cast aside, and this is the over-arching program we are experiencing in America right now.

Sunday.....Christianity.....The Challenge Of Youth

I've touched before of the fact that I am not very competitive. If I win a game I feel guilty and when the other person wins, I can enjoy it. I guess that I should admit that Trivial Pursuit does not fit in this description. Maybe it is because winning a game that involves knowing a whole lot about nothing produces no guilt in me. Somewhat related, I don't have to win arguments or debates. The reasons for this differ somewhat. It is human nature that in most cases when a person loses an argument they only cling more stubbornly to their belief. Ironically, when they win an argument (argument here being an informal debate) they are more likely to be magnanimous and without the perceived threat can actually consider the opposing argument. This is Sunday's blog so the topic is Christianity and the issues are generally doctrines and practices. The most frequently occurring theme has been the message of the sermon. Someone may have read my thoughts that the work of Christ on the cross should be the weekly theme in the sermon and all else can be built around that. They might disagree vehemently with this but will undoubtedly be aware of the absence of the cross in future sermons. I haven't written too much on predestination but the concept and it's alternative have been mentioned. Others detail the scriptural evidence much better than I can. I am happy if the concept is meditated upon at some future time, that being, we either do something towards our salvation that other doctrine must be concocted and built upon, or we do absolutely nothing prior to God's Spirit regenerating us which protects us against any reliance on ourselves. It also enables us to evangelize, free from the temptation to manipulate people into making a decision void of repentance. I've given only a couple of sentences here on two topics. If one is truly seeking answers or truth, they will research further. Now if everyone did what I am doing in this, we would have a whole lot meditating and no evidence but that's not the way it is. There has been a lot of research on why Generation X does not go to church. Let me segue this into a 1968 film that is categorized as a cult classic. The year saw assassinations, the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and protests against the war in Vietnam. It was a year of chaos. Christopher Jones played Max Frost in the film Wild In The Streets (you may remember the Yardbird's hit The Shape Of Things To Come.) The plot in a nutshell: a charismatic candidate is running for president...he seeks support from a popular rock group...the leader of the group (Frost) deceives him and leads his supporters into demanding the voting age be dropped to 14 instead of the 18 that the candidate was running on. The candidate wins...events follow and Frost becomes president and changes the mandatory retirement age to 30 and those over 35 are to put into re-education camps. Now to the reason I brought this film up. Max shortly becomes 30 years old and is one of the rejected! From my short experience into this cultural mindset, the young generally do not realize that their own youth is temporary and they have a whole life to live when it is over. The answer is not in celebrating with the youth doing their own thing for a little quid pro quo at the polls. The answer is more along the lines of joining us adults and learning for they will be in this much maligned age group (older adults) before they know it. As it relates to church; make it known to them that their are few things more satisfying than to see a young person trusting in Jesus Christ and loving His Word but that there is knowledge, experience and maturity to had and before they know it, they will be older and hopefully the church leaders, the parents and the very backbone of this nation. So they can go on a trip and when it is over, thumb home...or they can go on a journey to a destination, with more excitement and challenges than they can imagine where every age is represented, respected and depended upon.

Friday.....America.....A & E

I think that everyone realizes that music can have a powerful effect in a person's life. I am more of a Jack-of-all-trades when it comes to music. I know a little bit about many types but I'm not even near an expert in any of them. I know that Richard Wagner's compositions are stirring in a militaristic sort of way. The scene from Apocalypse Now where the helicopter gunship advances on a Viet Cong village, blaring Wagner's Ride Of The Valkries from speakers, is chilling. When I listen to Ralph (Raif) Vaughan Williams I can picture myself sailing through the whitecaps on a tall ship. Individual songs can immediately transport me to a specific time and place. When I listen to the Fifth Dimension's Wedding Bell Blues, I am laying in my bunk in basic training at Fort Dix with Tom's transistor playing loudly in the next bunk. I am in an EM Club in Vietnam when I hear Roberta Flack singing Killing Me Softly With His Song. I'm sure you experience the same moments. I heard it said that Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin wrote the number one rock song of all time Stairway To Heaven while in a trance-like state and I believe that Handel described a similar writing method with parts of his Messiah. It was a song I heard today, that reduced me to boiled spaghetti, as it always does, that brought on this topic. The Winstons were a soul, funk group from the 60s and they went gold with Color Him Father the lyrics start out this way:

There's a man at our house, he's so big and so strong
He goes to work each day, stays all day long
He comes home each night looking tired and beat
He sits down at the dinner table and has a bite to eat
Never a frown, always a smile
When he says to me "How's my child"
I've been studying hard all day in school
Tryin' to understand the golden rule
Think I'll color this man father
I think I'll color the man love, yes I will

One theme that has appeared in this blog from time to time is my thought that the answers to our society's reeling out of control are not welfare, diversity or toys in abundance . They are God, family, respect for your neighbor and responsibility. This song Color Him Father, is about a man who marries a widow and becomes a father to her seven children. We are entitled to tell the God that we do not believe in that we will be the master of our own fate but no adult should make that choice for a child! Johann Sebastian Bach added the initials SDG after his name on his cantatas, his message being that his work was to reflect Soli Deo Gloria, which is Latin for To God alone be glory! I was an inquirer in 1982 when I saw the film Chariots of Fire (Academy Award winner for Best Picture.) The strength of conviction in the man (Eric Liddell) effected me greatly. Country music is not my first choice in music but I hear a lot of it because it is the first choice of my wife. Maybe it is my imagination but it seems that I hear more and more themes that are reverential to God. The Arts, in general, both reflect where the culture is and influence it. It would be a worthy topic of prayer to plead God's mercy upon us by moving in hearts and minds of those who have such gifts.

Thursday.....Politics.....Some Things I Like About BHO

You would not have to read very far into this blog to realize that I believe that Barack Obama was unprepared and possibly unqualified to be President of the United States, that his method in taking office was deception, his foreign policy lowers the defense of this nation, his domestic policies are too close to the beginnings of a totalitarian state and that he represents a Socialist takeover of America. Is there not anything good that I can say about him? Actually there are some things. I do not wish ill of this man, our President. I've mentioned before that the optimism I perceive on the faces of the black community, particularly the children, tempts me at times to overlook some of these serious problems, tempts me greatly but fails to convince. Here are the things that I like about Barack Obama: He came from a dysfunctional family, and survived. One does not have to be poor during their youth to be disadvantaged. He was a bright and motivated student that accomplished much in academia. He is a faithful husband and loving father of two beautiful children. His speech is polite and constrained and at times he can be charming. I do not doubt his compassion, rather his wisdom. I want him to utterly fail in instituting his agenda but succeed in dealing with threats to this nation both foreign and domestic. I want him to learn and grow into a job that Saul Alinsky did not prepare him for, and I want him to retire from office in three years with the respect any former President should receive.

Some day I may want to write about the things that I like about Hillary Clinton, but that will be the day the men in white uniforms come for me and put me into a room with big plexiglas windows and rubber walls which I will surely think is a racquetball court and ask for a paddle and ball to practice with.

Sunday.....Christianity.....More Food Sir?

The following is a paragraph from Charles Dickens Oliver Twist where the boys who lived at the workhouse were issued three meals of thin gruel a day, with an onion twice a week, and a half a roll on Sundays. The boys cast lots and Oliver was chosen to ask for a second portion of food. Here are Dickens words: The evening arrived; the boys took their place. The master, in his cook's uniform stationed himself at the copper; his pauper assistants ranged themselves behind him; the gruel was served out; and a long grace was said over the short commons. The gruel disappeared; the boys whispered themselves, and winked at Oliver; while his neighbors nudged him. Child as he was, he was desperate with hunger, and reckless with misery. He rose from the table; and advancing to the master, basin and spoon in hand, said: somewhat alarmed at his own temerity: 'Please sir, I want some more food.' There have been times, in the past, when I have gone up to a pastor after the sermon and essentially said the same thing, More food sir? There are many throughout Christian churches in this country who are malnourished and probably some congregations where an Oliver was chosen, or volunteered. The problem becomes even more complicated for there have been times when I had been fed overwhelming portions and failed to acknowledge it and be thankful, but as in personal finances, maybe it's good to experience lean times in order to be thankful in fatter times. The problem becomes even more pronounced in that the vast majority of those who not hear the gospel, do not even know it.

Friday.....America.....The Beautiful

I must have a natural affinity for England and the British people. I love rain and wind. I don't know how to cook. It might just be that my two favorite movies of all time are Chariots of Fire and The Winslow Boy, which were set in early 1900s England, and Amazing Grace (about William Wilberforce), Master and Commander, Mrs. Miniver and Gunga Din (see December 27, 2008) are not too far behind. Hitler had sweet talked a number of European countries only to invade them within six months but Winston Churchill saw through Nazi promises. If you look through pictures of Churchill in his fifties... for just the right one, and maybe have a beer or two first, you can almost... see a slight resemblance in Rush Limbaugh, but you don't need the beer to see the similarities in discernment, for Churchill saw what Nazi Germany was up to while everyone else was worried about offending them and Limbaugh takes his cigar out of his mouth on weekdays long enough to give a similar warning. By the way, I recommend another movie, Albert Finney as Winston (he was John Newton in Amazing Grace) in The Gathering Storm. Whether at home, or in factories, or in any one of their military posts around the world, the British were a model of stiff upper lipped determination and were to be greatly admired, but here is the rub, and the only thing that makes this believable is human nature itself; Churchill was not ready to celebrate after the war for he was concerned about the intentions of the Soviet Union and was turned out of office in the 1946 elections! A year later, in a speech given in Missouri, he gave the world the term Iron Curtain. One might protest that Churchill made a number of mistakes in his life of leadership but he was a giant when history called for one as George W. Bush was one for eight years! Returning to the Brits, as courageous and defiant as they were against Hitler, they took up residence in Vanity Fair after the war and have since permitted unguarded immigration to paralyse them and jeopardise their security and future. We have to learn from this here in America. We know of those who built this nation. They were in the pulpits, pews and courts, on the farms and in the cities, under pilgrim, tricorn and coonskin hats, Civil War Kepis, Cavalry hats, helmets and berets. They cooked and sewed and drove rivets. They wore blue and gray, G. I. brown, navy white, air force blue, jungle camo and are now wearing desert camo. At this very moment I'm listening to XM Radio and Ray Charles version of America The Beautiful is playing. It is an amazing rendition and you probably can find it on YouTube. I think that I'll abruptly finish this blog with some of those lyrics written by Katharine Lee Bates over a century ago:

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
for purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness.
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw.
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes proved
in liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!


O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Wednesday.....Culture.....To Be A Pilgrim

I started this blog on November 27th of last year and had no idea that it would last this long. A few months ago, I thought that it would be good to go an entire year. Right now, it may not be day-to-day, but is probably week-to-week......possibly month-to-month.......probably not year-to-year and definitely not decade-to-decade. You probably get my thoughts on this, but maybe not, possibly don't care and definitely..........you know it's way too easy to type. What we need in this country are regulations that keyboard letters change position every time the computer is booted up. Seriously, I never wanted to do anything more on this blog than be a mailman. If you read the books that I reviewed, you would have little use for the things that I have to say on politics other than hearing them put in a different way. On the Christian topics, I tried to repeat things that have been said for centuries only in a way that might cause one to examine it a little bit differently. I really wanted to address the issue of whether a Christian should be involved in politics or not and to what extent. I'd like to mention two ministries here. The first is that of R. C. Sproul of Ligonier Ministries in Orlando, Florida (http://www.ligonier.org/). If you are an inquirer, a new Christian or just interested in examining the beliefs that you have developed over the years, you can find enough resources here to at least say that you have considered the Reformed position. The second ministry is the White Horse Inn radio program heard here in Pittsburgh on Sunday evenings at 8:30 on FM 101.5. (http://www.whitehorseinn.org/) (If you visit these websites, Ligonier will give you three free months of their Tabletalk magazine, and the White Horse Inn will send you, also for free, an issue of their magazine Modern Reformation and a CD of their radio program.) I'm not a carbon copy follower of the folks at the Inn, in fact they would probably disavow a number of the thoughts I have put forth, particularly on the topic of Christianity and American patriotism, but in reality, I do not differ with their thoughts as much as it might seem at first glance. I wrote before that my concern was that we often overreact to potential problems by avoiding the issue in question entirely. There are indeed, problems that the Christian will encounter while in the political arena. They may have affected me more than I realize but I also am convinced that if we do not do our part, we really have no right to enjoy the benefits from the sacrifices others have made. One main theme of this blog has been that in America, we are most certainly in trouble. What words can I use to emphasize this point? This time period that we are in does not have your run of the mill problems. If we realized this, it would be very hard to sit for an entire afternoon watching football, at least without full cognizance that it is but a respite and that there is work to be done after the games are over. I am not embarrassed by the words I have written on my feelings for this country. There were far too many sacrifices made for me to live the life I live and not remember and try to honor them. I tried to address the issues in the Christian church with humility and that should be the easiest task I have in this life but I was not satisfied with my blog of this past Sunday, for I should have directed the comments more to myself. That may be part of why I am examining where I am going from here. On domestic politics, I acknowledge that compromise with those who call themselves moderates is necessary at times but there is a fine line between moderation and capitulation and that line has been crossed far too often in this politically correct culture. Another main theme here has been that greed got us into this mess, we apparently did not learn a lesson and there are more economic landmines ahead than the ones we have already stepped on. My last thought in today's blog is on the concept of a pilgrim. If you read any book that I have recommended, please let it be John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. I mentioned before that the 20th century London preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon read this book 100 times. It was a Christian literature staple for centuries and with good reason. It describes the Christian, devotion and backsliding, joys and sorrows, faith and weakness through allegory. Referring again to Modern Reformation magazine, the last page of the most recent issue is an editorial by the editor-in-chief Michael Horton entitled To be a Pilgrim. Dr. Horton includes the text from John Bunyan's only hymn of the same title To Be A Pilgrim and these are those words:

Who would true valour see,
Let him come hither;
One here will constant be,
Come wind, come weather
There's no discouragement
Shall make him once relent
His first avowed intent
To be a pilgrim.

Whoso beset him round
with dismal stories
Do but themselves confound;
His strength the more is.
No lion can him fright,
He'll with a giant fight,
He will have a right
To be a pilgrim

Hobgoblin nor foul fiend
Can daunt his spirit,
He knows he at the end
Shall life inherit,
Then fancies fly away,
He'll fear not what men say,
He'll labor night and day
To be a pilgrim.

Sunday.....Christianity.....Missionaries

My wife and I had coffee at Starbucks yesterday with a missionary couple on furlough from Senegal. Regular church-goers in America are familiar with missionaries visiting their churches for support and running their slide shows. Yesterday was similar as we watched a DVD showing the smiling faces of those who these two missionaries have dedicated their lives to help. They've been on this field in Senegal now for two decades. I remember, quite some time ago, seeing a comic where a Crusader on horseback had his spear at the throat of a Moslem laying on the ground. The caption had the Moslem saying Tell me more of this Christian God of yours. When Christianity radically departs from the gospel, which it has at times, it is no longer Christianity. Conversely, there were times in history when Islam showed compassion, restraint and mercy towards its enemies. Today, there are over one billion Moslems in the world and if only one percent of those are Jihadists, it would be enough to bring the world to chaos, and there are far more than that. These Jihadists know our laws very well. They know that we are vulnerable in that we protect the liberties, even of the very ones who want to destroy us. They know our media as well, a media that would rather gamble with our security than find themselves on the side of the Conservative, so when Jihad strikes as it did at Fort Hood, they look for any possible reason, other than Jihad, to focus on. If the media should come to realize that this relentless defense of their own political philosophy makes our nation more vulnerable, and if our legislators come to recognize that liberty in our country is predicated on the good will of those receiving it, the Jihadist missionary may fail. There is another reason that we find ourselves in the peril we are in and that is the condition of Christianity if America. How many of you who are reading this, who attended church today, can say that the topic of the sermon that they heard was Christ? I've asked this question to Christians many times before! The initial response is usually yes, but after further questions it is evident that Christ was not the topic, but merely a blurb as on the cover of the sermon that was actually about any one of a number of other biblical themes. We value an impressive church building with a cafe bar, dynamic youth ministry and vibrant believer's community. We are sitting too confident. We have forgotten how to mourn over our own condition. I've probably offended a good portion of contemporary Christianity here and many would take me to task on this slight of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ but they would do better to be concerned about the slight to Christ in our pulpits. This issue may be moot, for if these missionaries of hate succeed here, we, the church, will do what we always do in times of distress, and that it is humbly forsake the baubles of this world and seek Christ's mercy while proclaiming His glory when we meet..

Saturday.....War On Terror.....Bureaucrats & National Security

In a rare Saturday night vote, the House of Representatives narrowly passed the Health Care Bill enabling it to move on to the Senate to be debated. The vote was 220 to 215 with 218 votes needed for passage. Thirty-nine Democratic Representatives voted against it. Today was arm-twisting time in Nancy's Pelosi's majority rule. This pressure has always gone on in Congress but this issue makes it particularly despicable. A couple of thoughts on this: If this bill eventually becomes law, Nancy Pelosi would be in retirement somewhere when the disaster is evident to everyone. Three more Democrat no votes would have defeated this bill, in fact had not the yes votes been certain, the vote would not have taken place today. We need term limits.. Unfortunately, there are problems even greater than the seniority power structure of Congress. I refer you to a 2008 book by Bill Gertz called The Failure Factory, How Unelected Bureaucrats are Undermining U. S. Security (isbn 978-0-307-33808 paperback $16.) The American public should be aware of the jealousies between the State Department and Department of Defense, and between the intelligence agencies, but what we need to know more of, and Gertz lays it out in the open, is the firmly entrenched bureaucrats who are relatively unknown to the public but influential enough to thwart the policies of the President of the United States, which was done time and again during the war in Iraq. The book was published before the elections of 2008 and Gertz' concern (one of them anyway) on Barack Obama was that he was a tabula rasa on foreign policy. Barack Obama has an agenda but he would be putty in the hands of these shadow powers that even George Bush was hurt by and a veteran in this arena, John McCain would have struggled with. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid look like Shirley Temple and Mickey Rooney compared to some of these folks. Bill Gertz gives twelve pieces of advice on bureaucratic reform. Personally, I would like to see this become a campaign issue in coming elections. This is not a pretty picture but needs addressed for the sake of our national security.

Friday.....America.....Terror, Thy Name Is...

In the late 1950s America was transfixed by the phenomenon of the Hula Hoop. It would take something on the level of the iPhone to do that today. It was a simpler time, for all we had to worry about was megaton hydrogen bomb laden ballistic missiles being sent our way. We have since lost our moorings in America and our ship of state is drifting aimlessly amongst the shoals. Our moorings were tied to belief in and dependence upon God, and we were kept safe. We are not safe today. We are at the mercy of those who have no mercy. We cannot come to consensus on how to deal with those who walk among us and want to destroy us. We are so conflicted in our own national conscience that we often cannot even punish a serial killer. Yet, Terror, thy name is Jesus and thy weapon is truth. We will make laws to protect us from you. We will isolate those whom you send to us. We will ban your book. You have disquieted us, your words upset us. We do not recognize your holiness. You are not our king. We will not pay you homage. You are not our God for there is no God. We were your slaves but now we are free. If you desire to live here, you will do our bidding. This is not the proclamation of everyone in America, not even of the majority but it a proclamation that is placarded in our universities, and on the marquis of our theaters. It is the lapel pin on our business suits and hoisted up on our flagpoles but it is not buoyant and those who cling to it as the ship sinks beneath the raging waves will perish. Even as Gideon needed way-tokens, I need them also. I rejoice in my weakness for I see so clearly how a man's perceived strength without God is a pitiful state to be in.

C'mon Get Happy!

         The European Court of Human Rights based in Strasbourg France ruled for a Finnish woman who immigrated to Italy in that crucifixes in Italian public schools were indeed harmful to her children. The award was for roughly $7000 but did not tell the public schools in Italy to remove the crucifixes. We are a litigious society, we sue. If violated in some way, we want the perpetrator arrested and tried. If accused, we want our day in court.
          We file grievances in the workplace. We stand before committees, boards and church bodies. We file complaints with organizations that exist for that purpose. We ask for an instant replay and we demand recounts. We can abuse most of these courts and arbiters but it sure beats calling our friends and heading out with clubs and axes to settle disputes. We demand justice but the hard reality is that we are an unending line of thieves, liars, murderers and idolaters and that justice in the day of judgement is not what should be desired.
         If you should back into someone else's car, they would demand propitiation. We have all sinned and fallen short of a God whose holiness we cannot even imagine. Propitiation is demanded. What have you got to offer? What has anyone to offer. If one has only a remote impression of God then they might feel that surely a compromise of some sort can be made on that day. If one has any vision at all of a God who is not only the essence of love but also the essence of justice, then one would not want to face that day in court.
         There is only one who can make propitiation to God, and that is God..... the Son, and he has made it, but for who? The advocate in this court is also the one who made the propitiation. Would you not want to consult with him before your day in court? Would you not want to see the charges against you? Would you not want to at least read the law that you broke? You can do this. If you allot yourself the time to sit and read the Bible, given to you for this purpose, it will proclaim the law and then you will very clearly see that you have broken it and that a guilty verdict will be forthcoming. That same book will give you the gospel and tell you to look to that advocate and to trust in Him in that He can plead the propitiation that He has made, for you. Or.....you can just sing the song that is playing as I write, I kid you not as Jack Paar would say, on Sirius/XM channel 4!

Forget your troubles, c'mon get happy,
you better chase all your cares away.
Shout "Hallelujah," c'mon get happy,
get ready for the judgement day.

One last thought that I try to put in blogs like this, when Christ redeemed me, it must have been to display His power to redeem someone such as I, and to Him be all the glory!

Honduras

         To summarize what has happened in Honduras in the last few months, Manuel Zelaya is their former president. He schemed to bypass the Honduran constitution that prevented him from running again for his office. The Supreme Court, the Congress and the military saw this blatant attempt to usurp power that he was not eligible for and deposed him. The international community applied economic pressure on the Honduran government to return the leftist Zelaya.
          Where President Kennedy stood with the citizens of Berlin and said I am a Berliner, our administration chose to say We stand with those in the leftist international community. The Honduran economy is suffering greatly because of this isolation. In an apparent attempt to save face, we brokered a deal in which the Congress of Honduras would seek further advice from the Supreme Court and make a final decision on whether or not to let Zelaya return before the November 29th presidential election and until his term would have expired in January. Sounds good so far but international pressure is being applied to the lawmakers to restore Zelaya.
          Meanwhile, Secretary of State Clinton recently said that the United States will recognize Honduras even if their Congress does not restore Zelaya. Today, Wednesday, Manuel Zelaya sent a letter to Hillary Clinton, asking if the position condemning the coup d'etat has been changed or modified. After yesterday's election debacle, it's not a good time to show support for Hugo Chavez' Bolivarian Movement.

Mother Of All Bubbles

         New York University economist Nouriel Roubini wrote an article that caught my interest, the reason I'll explain towards the end of this blog. This is my take on his writing after reading the article three times to understand his terminology. When a currency is being devalued and interest rates are extremely low, as we are experiencing right now with the dollar, speculators advance towards what is called carry trades, that being they borrow dollars and invest in riskier assets of other currencies.                This is what is happening right now, evidenced by the stock markets advance in the last few months, and enormous profits are being made! The government's policies at this moment are making these carry trades even more inviting to speculators. Other countries are effected as speculators exchange the dollar for their currency and invest there. According to Roubini the mother of all asset bubbles is ahead. Roubini wonders if the government even knows of the monster it is creating. He says that sooner or later the decline of the dollar will end and speculators will become worried and want to cash in. I remember hearing a comment that Alan Greenspan made in answer to a question when before Congress on why he did not anticipate the collapse of the financial system sooner. His answer was something like this I made the mistake of thinking that bankers would do what was best for them. Roubini sees what Greenspan did not see in the financial sector and says ....one day this bubble will burst, leading to the biggest co-ordinated asset bust ever. 
          One of the fundamental themes of this blog is that man generally has no idea of the immense weaknesses in his nature, in fact we are obsessed with a belief that we call the shots, pull the strings and are masters of our own destiny. The reason that this article caught my interest so was that Roubini was one of the few economists that actually incorporated the world situation into economic prognostications. He even mentioned the potential upheaval from the Israel/Iran situation as precipitating this crash. If our government is fueling this situation as Nouriel Roubini says, I hope it's not being done for political purposes.

Valley Of Vision Redux

         At least a decade ago, I was listening to John MacArthur's radio program Grace To You. At the end of the program MacArthur offered, free, a copy of a book called Valley Of Vision, a compendium of prayers by Puritans and the Puritan minded from the 1600s up to Charles Haddon Spurgeon's death in 1892. I didn't send for the book but had second thoughts later and ordered it from a bookstore.
          In 2002 the pastor of the church we attended, and his wife, came over to our house for dinner. This is the man who I have mentioned before as being one of the finest preachers of our Savior Jesus Christ that I have ever heard. He brought a present with him, a leather bound copy of this book. It's the book that we have used as a pre-dinner prayer in our home since then. There is a reason for this. In the preface Arthur Bennett, the editor, wrote that in the prayers...New England Presbyterians and Congregationalists were at one with English Dissenters and Anglican evangelicals in a close-knit union that transcended differences in worship, discipline and polity, and that they spoke the same spiritual language, shared the same code of values, adopted the same attitude towards the Christian religion, and breathed out the same God-centered aspirations in a manner that makes it impossible to distinguish the voice of the conformist from that of the non-conformist. 
         This book has become a trusted friend who reminds me every day, who I am, what I have been saved from and whose strength keeps me. These prayers, and prayers of this nature should also transcend the doctrinal and the political differences of Christians in America today. Every dinner time, I read the prayer that the book opens to. The following is tonight's prayer, very typical of the book and of those from a stronger church period:


Man A Nothing


I am a shell full of dust,
but animated with an invisible rational soul
and made anew by an unseen power of grace;
Yet I am no rare object of valuable price,
but one that has nothing and is nothing,
although chosen of thee from eternity,
given to Christ, and born again;
I am deeply convinced
of the evil and misery of a sinful state,
of the vanity of creatures,
but also of the sufficiency of Christ.
When thou wouldst guide me I control myself'
When thou wouldst be sovereign I rule myself.
When thou wouldst take care of me I suffice myself.
When I should depend on thy providings I supply myself,
When I should submit to thy providence I follow my will,
When I should study, love, honor, trust thee, I serve myself;
I fault and correct thy laws to suit myself,
Instead of thee I look to man's approbation, and am by nature an idolater.
Lord, it is my chief design to bring my heart back to thee.
Convince me that I cannot be my own God, or make myself happy,
nor my own Christ to restore my joy,
nor my own Spirit to teach, guide, rule me.
Help me to see that grace does this by providential affliction,
for when my credit is good thou dost cast me lower,
when riches are my idol thou dost wing them away,
when pleasure is my all thou dost turn it into bitterness.
Take away my roving eye, curious ear, greedy appetite, lustful heart;
show me that none of these things
can heal a wounded conscience,
or support a tottering frame,
or uphold a departing spirit.
then take me to the cross
and leave me there.