who gets along?

Believers are not plugged into the same circuits as unbelievers. In the competition in the early days of PCs and Macs, never the twain could meet. Windows software and Apple software did not speak to 'each' other. And even today all programs are not compatible with each other by a long shot. So unbelievers can get along with each other pretty well, while they find us difficult to be comfortable with, not easy to get along with.

John 15
18 If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.
19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.

from Pharoah to Judges to Presidents...

Judges 2:
7 So the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD which He had done for Israel.

8 Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died when he was one hundred and ten years old.
9 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.

10 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel.

Psalm 48:
12 Walk about Zion,
And go all around her.
Count her towers;

13 Mark well her bulwarks;
Consider her palaces;
That you may tell it to the generation following.

14 For this is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide
Even to death.
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

This cycle of forgetfulness seems to be a part of the human condition, our Fall-damaged minds are subject to forgetfulness, as individuals, as we age and also collectively as cultures.

Another Biblical example comes in Exodus.

Exodus 1:
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
9 And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we;
10 come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.”
11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens.
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.


This very same cycle of forgetfulness has overtaken our own country. Listening to lectures from the Great Courses of The Teaching Company on American History, American Political Cycles and other courses about our country, I realize with a heavy heart that "there arose a new president over the United States, who does not know Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, the Adamses, Hamilton, Madison or the other founding fathers, nor the founding documents..."

Forward to the Past (heh)

DOW Jones Industrial Averages ~~

~~ February 13, 1997 ~~ 7,022.44

~~ October 9, 2007 ~~ 14,164.53

~~ February 17, 2009 ~~ 200PM ~~ 7,579.37

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven
Matthew 6:19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

You Cannot Serve God and Riches
Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

Do Not Worry
Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
Bible Gateway

I need... (read want!)

A Letter From a Granddad

Guess you heard that 68% of the youth vote went to Obama. My granddaughter called this morning to tell me she was one of them.

I replied with this e-mail:

Dear Granddaughter,

The election of Obama comes down to this. Your grandmother and I, your mother, and other productive, wage-earning tax payers will have their taxes increased and that means less income left over.

Less income means we will have to cut back on basic purchases, gifts and handouts. That includes firing the Hispanic lady who cleans our house twice a month. She just lost her job. We can't afford her anymore.

What is the economic effect of Obama's election on you personally? Over the years, your grandmother and I have given you thousands of dollars in food, housing, cash, clothing, gifts, etc. By your vote, you have chosen another family over ours for help.

So in the future, if you need assistance with your rent, money for gas, tires for your car, someone to bring you lunch, etc. ... call 202-456-1111 . That's the telephone number for the Office of the President of the United States . I'm sure Mr. Obama will be happy to send a check from his personal or business accounts, as we have, or leave cash in an envelope taped to his front door for you, as we have.

It's like this. Those who vote for the President of the United States should consider what the impact of an election will be on the nation as a whole and not just be concerned with what they can get for themselves (welfare, stimulus checks, etc.). What Obama voters don't seem to realize is that the government's money comes from taxes collected from tax paying families.

Raising taxes on productive people means they will have less money to spend on their families.

Congratulations on your choice. For future reference, you might attempt to add up all you've received from us, your mom, Mike's parents and others and compare it to what you expect to get over the next four years from Mr. Obama.

To congratulate Mr. Obama and to make sure you're on the list for handouts, write to:

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington , DC 20500

Love you, but call the number listed above when you need help.

Granddad

Surrending to the Culture

In the Nov. 17 post (on this blogsite), the book, "Loving God with All Your Mind" by Gene Edward Veith, Jr. was mentioned and a quote from the book was included. And now Mr. Veith has a very thought-provoking column, Truth & Consequenses, in the Nov. TableTalk issue (published by Ligonier Ministries) considering where the Church in the West is headed and gives this observation:
"Even though biblical christianity must resist cultural conformity, many American churches have actually embraced cultural conformity as a strategy for church growth. They do not see that surrending to the culture means instead the disappearance of the church. That the current American culture is swallowing up the church - effacing its doctrines, ignoring its morality, and erasing its history - is precisely why the churches of the Third World see us as in need of their help.
Christianity is a missionary religion. Europeans learned the gospel from missionaries just as the Africans did. Evangelized Europeans and their American forebears would then send missionaries themselves, and now we are coming around full circle.
But we would do well to think of ourselves in the same way we used to think about the lost people of the mission field. We have beome the new heathen. We Americans are the ones now in thrall to primitive superstitions, such as believing in the power of positive thinking and having faith in ourselves. We are the ones held back by a materialistic worldview that has little conception of the supernatural. We are the ones with the brutal customs, such as aborting our infamts, neglecting our children, and abandoning and sometimes authanizing our elders. We have simple, pounding music, and we are uneducated about the realities outside of our tribe. With our limited mind-set, we have trouble grasping the truth of Scripture.
But the grace of God brings the light of Jesus Christ into heathen darkness - even into our heathen darkness." (emphasis mine)
How can we Christians, especially at this Holy time of our Christian calendar, keep from surrending to the culture? How can we proclaim that Jesus is the reason for this season? How can we make that difference that will direct others to follow the star that leads to the Christ? By letting the grace of God shine through our lives and letting the light of Jesus Christ shine into this heathen darkness! Hallelujah! What a Savior!!

ESL??

I am so accustomed to using the letters, ESL, that I neglected to include the meaning:
English as a Second Language.