tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-197698052024-03-07T21:45:18.358-06:00Bill's ThoughtsBill's Thoughts on the Bible, Theology and American CultureBill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.comBlogger506125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-87827503344418162782019-03-02T13:49:00.000-06:002019-03-02T14:39:21.603-06:00WHITE FRAGILITY<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I recently finished reading the book "White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism" by Robin DiAngelo (2018). I read many books, but every now and then I come across one that I feel is a "must read." This is one such book.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even though the book is labeled as a New York Times Bestseller, I had never heard of it, so when I saw it on a bookstore shelf, I was intrigued. After reading the blurbs on the cover and in the first pages, I was even more so. Being, I suppose, a bit masochistic, I bought the book and took it home to find what was wrong with me. My first surprise on reading a bit was to find that the author is white! (she's not an "angry black woman.") And that fact, I believe adds to the strength of her argument.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ms. DiAngelo, the blurb tells us, has been among other things "a consultant and trainer for more than twenty years on issues of racial and social justice." She has addressed many groups in industry and education on the matter of racial diversity, and her stories of her many experiences and conflicts in this field bring life to the principles she lays down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">She tells the reader that her book is intended for "white progressives;" she defines a white progressive as "any white person who thinks he or she is not racist, or is less racist, or in the 'choir,' or already 'gets it'" (page 5). I feel that I fit somewhere in that broad category, so as I read I braced myself for what was coming.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Before going any further, I suppose I should tell a bit about myself and where I'm coming from. I am a white Evangelical Christian, who considers himself a bit progressive. I spent many years as an instructor in a predominately black Bible College. I was for a time a member of a church whose membership was composed nearly entirely of African Americans. I have felt that racism has divided the church in America and have made much effort to "cross the line." I have also written much about race in this blog (type in "race" at the top). Yet I know I'm not there yet, and the more progress I've made, the farther I feel I need to go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The author doesn't (to my knowledge) give a concise definition of white fragility; rather she describes it: its origins, its many manifestations. We could even say that nearly the entire book is devoted to simply giving us examples.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We who are white are born into privilege; we are, she tells us "insulated from racial stress." When we are confronted in any way concerning our often unconscious superiority feelings, we immediately go on the defensive. We respond with a wide range of emotions, which reinforce and "maintain our dominance within the racial hierarchy." She conceptualizes this process as <u>white fragility</u>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ms. DiAngelo deals with many areas throughout the book. She deals with "White Supremacy." Whites have power and status solely by being white. "Whiteness," she tells us, "rests upon a foundational premise: the definition of whites as the norm or standard for human, and people of color as a deviation from that norm." (p. 25) By seeing ourselves as not "white," but simply human we reinforce the idea of white supremacy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Racism, she feels, is adaptive. We like to believe that it is not as prominent as before the civil rights movement. But we adapt; we rationalize; we use signs and symbols that allow us to discriminate without really saying so. Even the acknowledgement of our white privilege can be simply an excuse for the way things just are.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The fifth chapter begins "This chapter explores what is perhaps the most effective adaptation of racism in recent history: the good/bad binary." Since the Civil Rights Movement we can no longer regard racism as acceptable as it was previously, so we see racism as that which is held by "bad people," and not ourselves. We're told, however, "that the good/bad frame is a false dichotomy. All people hold prejudices, especially across </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">lines in a society deeply by race." (p. 72)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On page 77 she lists what she calls "color-blind statements" which are familiar to most of us, many of which we all (including myself) have used: "I was taught to treat everyone the same," "I don't see color," etc. These are followed by "color-celebrate" statements, which "embrace racial difference." All these are defenses we use to defend ourselves from charges of racism.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I entirely agree with her statement on page 87: "I have found it much more useful to think of myself as on a continuum. Racism is so deeply woven into the fabric of our society that I do not see myself escaping from that continuum in my lifetime." (In fact I have used similar words myself.) We like to point out the sins of the Jim Crow South or the neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville. That comforts us in our own racism.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The author continues to illustrate white fragility through the rest of the book. Her main ways for dealing with it is to recognize it and seek to correct it, even confront it, and to avoid defensiveness when confronted with our racism. She devotes her final chapter to interrupting and repairing racism.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was the chapter on the "good/bad binary" and its pointing out the ubiquity of racism that brought to my mind the biblical/theological teaching on original sin. We are all on a continuum of sinful attitudes and behaviors. We find it easy on ourselves to point out those whose sin is more obvious than ours. We judge others and not ourselves. That's why I would strongly recommend this book to my white Evangelical Christian friends, no matter where on the spectrum they may feel they are. Racism - an aspect of sin - permeates our culture. We who are followers of Christ need to recognize and confess our racial attitudes and to be continually open to correcting and being corrected.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The only real negative that I see in this book is that it could possibly overwhelm a sincere white reader with feelings of guilt, or of fear of committing a faux pas. And rather than leading to more openness about race, it could have a quelling effect and lead in the opposite direction.</span>
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Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-12151275586699448242018-10-25T16:36:00.004-05:002018-10-25T16:36:37.023-05:00RULES OF ENGAGEMENT<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Much has been said about the
divisions in America today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though there
have always been areas of disagreement, it seems as though today we are more
divided than we have been in a long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And it seems that in our present situation(s) everything has boiled down
to politics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of us, myself
included, have lost friends, or at least have to some extent distanced
ourselves from long time acquaintances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is painful, especially when those from whom we have distanced
ourselves are family, or fellow Christians.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Much of the conversation has
gone from dialogue or even debate, to simply name - calling or
pigeonholing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our temptation when called
names or when disagreed with is to either return insult for insult or to
distance ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(It's so easy to
simply hit "unfriend" on our phone or computer that we find it easy
to do the same with real person-to-person relationships.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet we all know that we are losing something
in this process.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">One way that some use to
avoid conflicts is to simply refuse to discuss "religion and
politics." I have heard this recommended much of my life from those who
feel they are taking "the high road."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But these are the issues that actually have meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we avoid all topics that could lead to
controversy, our conversation becomes rather meaningless and we are left with
discussions about movies, TV, sports, food or similar matters - things which
are enjoyable but superficial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(And
discussions of these matters are not themselves free from controversy).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I feel that the issues of
the day need to be discussed, especially by those who claim to be Christians -
followers of Jesus Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But how do we
have discussions when many of us hold passionately to opinions that are
diametrically opposed?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So I felt that I needed to
write out my personal positions underlying my political and ethical
opinions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My thinking is that opinions
are subject to change, but the bases for the opinions should not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or at least they should be <u>very very</u>
difficult to change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These positions, I
feel should be the starting points for dialogue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If my reader(s) and I can agree on these, we
have a chance for agreement on other issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I realize of course that many will not agree with all (or even any) of
these, but at least they will know where I'm coming from.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">* First of all I am a
follower of Jesus Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He through his
death on the cross and his resurrection has guaranteed me eternity with him and
with God . I have committed my life to him as my Savior and Lord (even though I
fail him often).<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">* I believe the Bible is the
inspired Word of God and must be, when correctly interpreted, the standard by
which I judge all matters, personal, ethical and political.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The follower of Christ is a partaker of what
is known as the New Covenant as presented in the portion of the Bible known as
the New Testament and is not bound by the laws given to Israel under the Old
Covenant as elaborated in the Old Testament, although the Old Testament
presents much having to do with God's character and His dealings with
humankind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The New Testament presents us
with many moral and ethical teachings, though all fall under the Law of Love,
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">* Yet I consider myself a
thinker who is liberal as opposed to conservative, in the sense that my
thinking is not bound by tradition or authoritarianism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe that "all truth is God's
truth" and I am open to new thinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I do not believe this is contrary to my faith in the truth of Scripture,
but it does leave me open to new insights and interpretations.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">* I believe that God is
sovereign in all matters, including human government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This does not necessarily however, imply that
He approves of the actions and behavior of various human governments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both the Old Testament and New Testament tell
us that God does hold the nations of the world accountable to certain moral
standards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">* We who are followers of
Christ are citizens of two Kingdoms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
first loyalty must be to the Kingdom of God, although we are also citizens of "the
Kingdom of the world," of which America is a part.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">* The United States of
America is not a "Christian Nation," there is no such thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only nation that could be called
"God's nation" was the Old Testament nation of Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much of our conflict in today's discussion is
due to the confusion of three separate entities:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the USA, the New Testament Church and the Old
Testament nation of Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also we need
to remember that the New Testament gives no standards as to which form of
government or economic system we are to follow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The above are my "rules
of engagement."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reader is free
to disagree with these, but please remember, this is where I'm coming
from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Feel free to challenge these if
you desire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can still have dialogue,
as long as we know and respect one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I can supply Scripture references for the above claims if desired.</span></div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-78309846084101379902018-06-25T15:21:00.006-05:002018-06-25T15:22:33.030-05:00POST-TRUTH<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I've been around a long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my lifetime I've been exposed to many
truth claims, not all of which are true - some by my contemporaries, some by
those considered experts in their field, some by political leaders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Truth telling seems most difficult for those
in the political arena, even, especially for those with political power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We as Americans, as Christians are often
forced to distinguish between genuine facts and propaganda.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And we've heard some doozies from our leaders, even our
Presidents and their spokesmen, many of them outright lies, intended to deceive:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>justifications for wars, break-ins, sexual
scandals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">But our present situation surpasses them all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have a President who tells us in the face
of contradictory evidence, that three million people voted illegally for his
adversary, that the crowds at his inauguration were the greatest ever, that his
predecessor was not born in the USA (wait - he took that one back and blamed
its spread on his opponent).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And those
are just the laughable ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are
many more instances that are much more serious, designed to promote his agenda.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">However, this battle against the truth did not begin with
Donald Trump.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Friends who know I'm a reader, often recommend books to
me, sometimes telling me, "You've <u>got</u> to read ______!"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow those words raise resistance in me,
so I seldom use them myself. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this
book is different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To any and every
Christian leader or thinker I'd say, "You've <u>got</u> to read this
book:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Post Truth!"<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We are in a battle for truth today. Of course, one could
assert that we have always been engaged in this battle - ever since the serpent
asked Eve, "Yea, hath God said ....?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, I believe that we have entered a period in America - and the
world - where we are no longer attempting to ascertain facts, but are simply
selecting assertions that confirm our own prejudices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Truth has become that which we choose it<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The little (172 pages) book <u>Post-Truth</u> by Lee
McIntyre is an attempt to explain "How we arrived in a post-truth era,
when 'alternative facts' replace actual facts, and feelings have more weight
than evidence.'" (back cover blurb)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>McIntyre, we are told, "is a Research Fellow at the Center for
Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University and an Instructor in
Ethics at Harvard Extension School."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The book is a volume in The MIT Essential Knowledge Series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The author informs us, however, that this
book is unique in its topic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
"was born from a sense of regret by those who worry that truth is being
eclipsed" and that it is "impossible to achieve the kind of
dispassionate neutrality that one might expect in an academic book."
(Preface p. XIII)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">He lets the reader know right at the beginning that he is
not seeking a balanced view, which is clearly not possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"To do so would engage in a kind of <u>false
equivalence</u> that is the hallmark of post-truth itself."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He goes on to explain that this challenge to
truth is used "as a mechanism for asserting political dominance," and
thus this book will not "shy away from politics." (p.xiii)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">McIntyre gives us The Oxford English Dictionary's
definition of post-truth as "relating to or denoting circumstances in
which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than
appeals to emotion and personal belief."(page 5) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To understand post-truth we must, of course,
know what truth is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He gives us
Aristotle's as his minimum definition ... "to say of what is that it is,
and of what is not that it is not, is true." (page 7) <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Post-truth is a subversion of truth and it can take many
forms - simple "falsehood," "willful ignorance" and
"lying" which involves the "intent to deceive."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Post-truth, however, goes beyond this to "self-deception
and delusion" where one actually believes one's falsehoods and that this
belief somehow changes the facts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
has created one's own reality simply by believing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The challenge of post-truth is not just to
the knowledge of reality "but to the existence of reality itself." (p.
9, 10)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Facts have become subordinate to
one's opinions, especially political opinions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Though denial of truth has been around since the
beginning, McIntyre sees its recent uptick in the denial of science in recent
years - climate change, vaccine and evolution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He presents the work of the tobacco industry in casting doubt on science
with alternative views as being the pioneering work in science denial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He speaks of "a straight line .... from
the 'tobacco strategy' of the 1950's to today's "controversy over global
warning." (p.27)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The strategy is
not to disprove scientific data but simply to raise doubts about their
accuracy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And of course,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the media have willingly cooperated by
presenting "'both sides of the story' on any 'controversial scientific
issue.'" (p. 33)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus are
implicated in this trend not only the industries who have a financial stake,
but the news media as well.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The author devotes a chapter to "cognitive
bias," its roots and its branches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Cognitive bias is our tendency to accept as true those data which
confirm our preexisting views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
describes our tendency to "social conformity;" to "motivated
reasoning" - "what we hope to be true may color our perception of
what actually is true;" "the backfire effect" - doubling down
when confronted with contradicting data; the "Dunning-Kruger effect" <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- the inability to recognize one's own
ineptitude.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Another chapter is devoted to "the Decline of Traditional
Media." Not only are traditional news - sources losing their readership,
but biased sources are arising to take their place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Talk radio's Rush Limbaugh "set himself
up as a source of truth in opposition to the rest of American media," (p.
68) exploiting confirmation bias. But even the traditional media have been complicit
by attempting to "tell both sides of the story" and thus "creating
false equivalence" between two sides of an issue even when there were not
really two credible sides." (p. 72)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Chapter 5 is devoted to "Social Media" and
"Fake News."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would seem
that the intelligent reader would be aware of the use of social media to spread
deception, but many users simply click "share" and pass on anything
without critical examination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>McIntyre
devotes much material to the need for critical thinking in this area.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Though throughout most of the book, it is those of the
political right, and especially Donald Trump who are given as examples, the
left is not without excuse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Academia is
also to blame, especially the concept of postmodernism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is in this school of thought that
"the notion of truth itself was now under scrutiny," <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(p. 125)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Truth claims are treated as merely expressions of ideology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In postmodernism, "there is no such
thing as objective truth." (p. 126)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Though the political right in the past was involved in battling postmodernism,
they have evolved into its greatest users.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They have turned an abstract philosophical concept into a weapon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even Intelligent Design creationists have
been guilty of utilizing its thinking.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The final chapter, "Fighting Post-Truth" was
not very encouraging to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though some
strategies are given, most boil down to simply stating the truth in the face of
its enemies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So how do I, how do you the reader, react to the warnings
in this book?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do we who claim to be
followers of the One who claimed to be "The Truth" react to the data
presented here?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">First of all we need to beware of "confirmation bias"
on our part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am afraid that many
Evangelicals are guilty of rejecting any truth claims simply because they
appear to contradict our own rigid set of beliefs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As has been said many times "all truth
is God's truth."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have nothing to
fear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the assertions in this
book are easily verifiable simply by observation of what's happening around us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We need to get out of our bubble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There's more out there for us than
"Christian Radio" and/or Fox News.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Expose yourself to other thinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Read news magazines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watch the
News. Learn to distinguish facts from opinions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Don't be afraid to seek to know the facts about matters even though they
may be threatening.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Become biblically and theologically astute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What are the real moral issues on which we
stand?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have found that many Christians
are guilty of opposing scientific knowledge, not because it contradicts the
Bible, but because it doesn't agree with their political prejudices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[Do you know that there is not <u>one</u>
passage in the Bible that says manmade global warning cannot occur?]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As I said earlier, this is a must read book for the
Christian leader or thinker. It is however, not a "Christian"
book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if secular thinkers actually
believe that we are engaged in a battle for the truth, then we who are
followers of the Truth should be careful which side we are on.</span></div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-46697977908052020992018-06-23T13:25:00.004-05:002018-06-23T13:30:17.521-05:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">CUT
OFF?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I received the following question on a facebook post a
while back:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"I'm listening to the
Bible on audible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What does it mean when
someone is cut off from their people in Leviticus?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it like a social shun and ejection or
their exclusion from God's "people" or something else?"<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My reply was "I think that 'cut off' could mean any
of the things you mentioned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I
need to dig a big deeper though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'll
get back with you later."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Then someone else added, "Now I'm curious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do share your research please."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My reply, "When I get to it."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Well here we are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Actually this is one of those expressions in the Bible that's quite
troubling, so I suspect that I've ignored its meaning for that reason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, after doing a bit of study I'm still not
sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still feel that the meanings may
vary according to context.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Hebrew word is KARAT and its simplest meaning is
"cut."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The meaning of
"cut off" is usually clear from the context.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When used literally the meaning is obvious.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Exodus 4:25:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"And Zipporah took a knife and <u>cut off</u> her son's foreskin
...."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1 Samuel 17:51:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"And David ran up and stood over the Philistine (Goliath), grasped
his sword, pulled it from its sheath and killed him and <u>cut off </u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>his head with it."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">However, when used metaphorically the exact meaning is
hard to determine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few passages
clearly speak of capital punishment.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Exodus 31:14:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"You shall keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The one who profanes it shall be put to
death; whoever does work on it, that soul shall be <u>cut off</u> from among
his people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Leviticus 20:2, 3:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"Any one ... who gives an of his children to Molech shall be put to
death ...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I myself will set my face
against that man and will <u>cut him off </u>from among his
people..."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of chapter 20 seems
to equate cutting off with capital punishment, especially in the areas of
idolatry and sexual taboos.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There are many passages that appear to refer to exclusion
from the covenant community for failing to take part in the prescribed rituals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Genesis 17:14: failure to be circumcised.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Exodus 12:15, 19:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>failure to properly celebrate the Passover.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Exodus 30:33, 38:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>using the holy perfume for personal use.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Leviticus 7:20, 21, 25, 27; 18:29; 19:8; 22:3:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ritual uncleanness, eating non-kosher food.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We could go on and on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The word is used 100s of times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While I would like to believe that its normal metaphorical meaning is exclusion
or shunning or excommunication, I have a strong suspicion that it may usually
refer to capital punishment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We don't
like to admit it but the Mosaic Law was extremely harsh, some would even say
cruel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However as we read the rest of
the Old Testament we come to realize that these laws were often ignored and not
regularly enforced; they were frequently broken or ignored, without penalty.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Mosaic Law (Exodus - Deuteronomy) was given for many
reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While many parts of it are
there to demonstrate the holiness of God and the requirements for approaching
him, I believe that much of it was simply given (as laws are today) to regulate
the behavior of sinful (though redeemed) people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">But this Law is not given to regulate the behavior of
these who know Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Jeremiah
promised, God has set aside the Old Covenant with its laws and given a New
Covenant in which He writes His laws on the hearts of His people - including
even us non-Israelites.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Mosaic Law was also given to show us our lost
condition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It pronounced a curse on
those who fail to follow it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as the
Apostle Paul said in Galatians 3:13:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a
curse for us."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Read all of
Galatians 3:10-14.)</span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-35776088048740991052018-05-15T15:18:00.001-05:002018-05-19T11:02:56.559-05:00MISPLACED ALLEGIANCE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The American embassy in Israel has been moved
from Tel Aviv - where many nations still have theirs - to Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though many students of American foreign policy
believe this to be an unwise move, many feel that this was the right thing to
do and has been too long in coming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
nation of Israel claims Jerusalem to be its capital, though many Palestinians
claim East Jerusalem is, or at least should be their capital - the capital of
the Arab West Bank.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Our President claims that this move will
ultimately lead to peace in the Middle East, without (of course) specifying how
this is to occur.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr. Trump is lauded as
a hero in Israel, with great ceremonies commending this move by America and its
President.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Speakers in these ceremonies
include prominent "Evangelical" preachers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile the conflict between Israel and its
neighbors seems more volatile, while deadly demonstrations by Palestinians are
carried on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Of course the
"deadly" applies to the Palestinians, not the Israelis - 50+
Palestinians dead and innumerable wounded.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Many in the American Evangelical community
are rejoicing in this action, some seem almost giddy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why is this?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">A large number of Evangelical Christians hold
to a theological system known as Dispensationalism, even though many who hold
this position may never have heard the word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Dispensationalists take pride in "rightly dividing the Word of
Truth," in noting the distinctions made in the Scriptures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To some extent this is an excellent way to
interpret the Scriptures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But sometimes
Dispensationalists make distinctions where the Bible is not that clear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they also at times carry those
distinctions to illogical conclusions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Dispensationalists distinguish (as do many
Christians) between God's Old Covenant people and His New Covenant people,
between the nation of Israel of the Old Testament and the Church of the New,
between Judaism and Christianity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
do not however see the Church (Christianity) as a continuation of God's promises,
expanded to include both Jews and non Jews who believe in Christ. They seem to
ignore Paul's words, "So then, know this; that those who are of faith,
these are sons of Abraham" (Galatians 3:7).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Dispensationalists see Israel as a people set
aside until the end times when God will again deal with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"And so all Israel will be saved, as it
is written, 'The Deliverer will come from Zion to turn away ungodliness from
Jacob'" (Romans 11:26; Isaiah 59:20).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And many see the birth of the present (secular) nation of Israel in
1948, and the following events <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>as the
fulfillment of biblical prophecy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>According to Dispensationalist eschatology (the doctrine of last things)
the nation of Israel, scattered for millennia, must be back in their land and
undergo seven years of "Great Tribulation" before Jesus returns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The recent move is seen as one more step in
that direction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And this eschatology has led some (not all)
Dispensationalists to a strange devotion and commitment to a foreign
nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some even refer to themselves as
"Christian Zionists."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many
American Dispensationalists appear to place their loyalty to Israel above their
loyalty to their own country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The nation
of Israel is regarded not simply as an American ally in the Middle East, nor
even as the homeland of a people who have been homeless for 2,000 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Israel in the land is regarded by them as the
fulfillment of prophecy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To disregard Israel
is considered to be akin to heresy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And so many Dispensationalists and other
Evangelicals demand that the U. S. government support Israel both financially
and militarily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A great part of the pro-Israel
lobby is in fact, not Jewish but "Christian."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are even "Christian"
organizations that support Israel and even promote the sending of Jews back to
the land.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">But why is this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though I no longer consider myself a Dispensationalist,
even when I thought I was one I had second thoughts on this position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Israel's return to the land <u>is</u> a
fulfillment of prophecy - and I'm not sure it is - then God is the principle
Actor in this drama.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does He need the
help of well-meaning American Evangelicals?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Why should we rejoice over this nation?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Why should we seek to protect it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Do we expect to prevent the "Great Tribulation"? Or are we actually hoping to bring it on?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">When the New Testament was being written, the
land of Judea, at that time a Roman province with similar boundaries, was going
through political turmoil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their
conflicts led to a revolt against their Roman overlords, ultimately leading to
the destruction of Jerusalem and the deportation of the Jewish people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus prophesied these occurrences, and some
think the Book of Revelation may also speak of these.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet nowhere are Christians of that day urged
to support Israel financially or militarily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact the Biblical writers Paul and Peter urge submission to the very
government that would soon destroy their homeland.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The New Testament is clear as to what our obligations
as followers of Christ are to our fellow human beings:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we are to love them as we love ourselves; we
are to "go and disciple all the nations."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Distinctions are not made as to which people
or which nations deserve our concern.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Peter says that we - the church - are "a
holy nation, a people for His own possession."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is this "nation" to which our
allegiance belongs.</span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-46681823554406037342018-05-03T15:09:00.000-05:002018-05-03T15:09:58.837-05:00A HIGHER LOYALTY<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"Standing
in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic
from both sides." - Margaret Thatcher (quoted on page 158)<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It
seems that no one knows how to understand James Comey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is castigated by those on both sides of
the political divide and by many in between.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hillary Clinton blames him for her loss of the election; Donald Trump
calls him a "slimeball."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
yet when he appears in interviews on TV, (and he's had a lot of them) he seems
earnest and sincere.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">James
Comey is probably best known as the 6'-8" director of the FBI, who was
fired in May of 2017 by President Donald Trump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was appointed to that position by Barack Obama, and had previously
served as Deputy Attorney General under George W. Bush, and before that as
assistant U. S. Attorney and U. S. Attorney for the Southern District of New
York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has had a long history of
service, although many only know of him from his appearances on the TV news
programs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">After
it seemed Comey had receded to the background of the news cycle, he began
reappearing, promoting the release of his book, <u>A Higher Loyalty - Truth,
Lies and Leadership</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He appeared in
interviews by many of the TV newspersons as well as some of the late night
comics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reactions by the interviewers
were mixed, generally relaxed, though some almost sounded prosecutorial and
Stephen Colbert's seemed actually congenial.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">But
many of the critical comments on his book were almost malicious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was called "bitchy;" it "torches
what's left of his own reputation."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Comey "surrenders the high ground," he "descends to Trump's
level" [as if that were possible]; he lets "Trump, once again get the
better of him;" he lowers himself to Trump's "sordid level;"
"showing that his judgment is flawed."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All these, coming from the print media, both left
and right seemed to contradict our early impressions of Comey as reasonable,
honest and sincere.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">So
of course, Uni and I had to read his book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And we somehow did not come away with the same impressions that the news
commentators did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book in a sense,
defies categorization - it is a memoir; it is an apologetic; it is a treatise
on personal ethics; and of course it has much to say about our political
situation in America, while attempting to be apolitical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a book, as the author lets us know,
about <u>truth</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Comey lets us know
the inadequacy he feels in writing a book about "ethical leadership,"
but feels that truth is under fire in America today and that this is "a
time when examination of ethical leadership would be useful."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He tells us "... there is a higher loyalty
in all of our lives...The higher loyalty is to lasting values, most important
the truth."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
early chapters are well-written, fascinating reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Comey relates many details of his childhood,
youth and college experiences that he apparently believes have brought him to
where he is today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bullied as a child
(he was not an early bloomer), threatened with a gun by a burglar; taking part
in bullying himself in college; all these actions making an impression that
would last.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He tells of those who
mentored or had an early influence on him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One who apparently made an impact on him was a grocer named Harry
Howell, of whom he said, "Looking back, even after working for presidents
and other prominent leaders in and outside government, I still think Harry
Howell was one of the finest bosses I have ever had." (page 34).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quite a statement considering the many other
well known figures mentioned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">While
the book is filled with many examples of positive leadership style, there are
also a few who serve as bad examples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The mafia leaders he dealt with as Assistant U. S. Attorney, whose
leadership style was based on personal loyalty, the mafia killers whom he dealt
with who could justify their actions and appear to be otherwise normal people,
of whom he commented, "Evil has an ordinary face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It laughs, it cries, it deflects, it
rationalizes, it makes great pasta." (page 27).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Then
there was the influence of his wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"But the person who taught me the most about leadership is my wife,
Patrice." (page 43).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He tells of
their struggles with the early death of their son and of Patrice's campaign for
early testing for Group B streptococcus which had killed him, and of the wisdom
in dealing with God and suffering that she had taught James.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Which
brought up to us James Comey's faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Uni
said, "He must be a Christian ... or at least he talks and acts like a
Christian ought to."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We spent much
time and conversation on this topic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Religion
was his second major as a college undergraduate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He quotes Reinhold Niebuhr and Martin
Luther.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The paragraph on "God's
role in human history" on page 47 reflects deep thought on God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">One
could read this book superficially, simply as a series of episodes of adventure
in the crime fighting profession.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
like the casual "name-dropping" and the roles he played in many
national political crises.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His clash
with some of President Bush's people, even his confrontation with the President
himself, where he quoted Martin Luther, "Here I stand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can do no other." (page 96).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Yet
James Comey did his best to avoid politics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His concern was always "to do the right thing."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He speaks as one totally committed to truth
and justice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"I don't care about
politics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don't care about
expediency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don't care about
friendship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I care about doing the right
thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I would never be part of
something that I believe to be fundamentally wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, obviously we all make policy
judgments where people disagree, but I will do the right thing." (page
94), an excerpt from his confirmation hearing was taped by his wife to the
refrigerator door.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We
also get the idea that he had a great amount of respect for both President Bush,
under whom he served as Deputy Attorney General and President Obama,.who appointed
him as FBI Director.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He seemed to
actually like them both and wanted them to succeed, while at the same time
avoiding politics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Of
course, nearly the entire second half of the volume is taken up with matters
that are still discussed in the daily news:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hillary Clinton's e-mail investigation, the Russian influence on the
2016 election and of course his relations with, and firing by Donald
Trump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose that this was the main
reason many purchased this book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
pundits of course homed in on this part of Comey's story and then criticized as
mentioned above, also complaing that the book adds nothing to our knowledge of
the current soap opera in Washington.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">However,
as for Uni and me, our motives for reading were not those of the pundits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We both felt that here was a man with whom we
could empathize, a man who sought to always "do the right thing" even
at personal cost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We felt that with all
the lies and self-serving that accompany the current series of scandals, here
was one man who stood above the crowd (and not just physically).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Yes,
his remarks about Donald Trump are harsh, but nowhere do they descend to the level
of that man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His warnings to America are
not sour-grapes or the angry reactions of his firing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We agree with him that "Donald Trump's
presidency threatens much of what is good in this nation," and that the
adulation of "so-called conservative commentators, including some faith leaders
... strikes me (and us) as both hypocritical and morally wrong."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(page 25).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We
believe that one reason there is so much criticism of James Comey is that very
few of his critics, right or left, have ever met a man who is totally committed
to "do the right thing," who believes in **a "higher
loyalty."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so they attack his
person, and even worse, his motives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Attacking a person's motives rather than his actions is wrong<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>headed and seems to us to show that there are
no greater criticisms to levy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We're
not saying that James Comey is beyond criticism. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He may do something in the future to greatly
disappoint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this book presents a man
who is exemplary in both his motives and behavior, a man who is humble enough
to examine himself - and he is much more honest in his self-evaluation than his
critics.</span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-55525400227211208102018-04-17T11:52:00.003-05:002018-04-17T11:52:48.030-05:00MY 500TH POST<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
have been blogging for over twelve years and it seemed to me that number 500
should be something special; but since no particular topic came to mind, I'll
just post some rambling thoughts.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
keep a hard copy of every post, and save them in 3-ring notebooks of 100 each.
So this one will fill up my fifth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
first four notebooks took about two years each to fill up, but this last one
took four years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's not that I have
run out of stuff to say, it's just that much of what I have to say I've said
before and I feel that I'm boring enough without repeating myself too
much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus, often when I think I need to
speak up on a matter, I find that someone else has already written an article
saying it better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">If
there are any out there who have been reading this blog regularly over the
yearsthey may feel that my thinking has changed in many matters, but as I
re-read my old posts I feel that I have been reasonably consistent (although
there are a few posts I feel need correcting or updating and a few need to be
thrown out.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel rather that my
thinking has sharpened in many ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm
only 81 years old and still learning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Writing does have that effect on ones thinking, or as Sir Francis Bacon
said:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Reading maketh a full man;
conference a ready man; and writing an exact man."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Though
I have undoubtedly failed many times, I have attempted to keep my thinking and
writing within a Biblical/Christian world view and I am open to correction
whenever I appear to stray from this goal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I also have attempted to think with a "liberal" mind, by which
I mean a mind open to new truths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I
believe strongly that there is such a thing as truth and that "All truth
is God's truth." (Though I can't find an original source for that quote.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
believe that ethics, morals and politics have been changing within American
culture, sometimes for the worse, sometimes for the better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And sad to say, ethics, morals and politics
have also been changing within the church, at times going right along with those
of the culture around us, at other times in a reactionary fashion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This, I suppose has not been happening only
in my last 12 years of blogging, nor in the years of my lifetime, but since the
beginning of the human race.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"If
you see something, say something" is a current exhortation. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>Well
I suppose that much of what I write on this blog is just that; when I see
something that I feel requires me to speak, I must speak.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
have found quite a few would agree with my thoughts and quite a few would
disagree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still welcome any
comments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few requests for those who
disagree:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>- If you are a Christian please make
sure of where your disagreements come from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Are they compatible with a Biblical/Christian worldview? It's very
difficult to resolve matters when we are starting from different points.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>- Please avoid ad hominem arguments
and please avoid trying to put me in a box and please don't think you've proven
anything because you've called me names. ("You think that way because
you're a ...!")<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I've lately been
accused of being a "liberal blowhard," a "Marxist," an
"American-bashing historical revisionist," "delusional" and
a few more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Actually
I take some comfort when disagreements and criticisms degenerate into name
calling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I figure I must be saying
something right when these are the only arguments that can be mustered.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
welcome any suggestions for further posts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of course, then I'll have a buy a new 3-ring binder.</span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-71082224527208109152018-04-07T13:47:00.001-05:002018-04-07T13:47:19.501-05:00THE STRUGGLE TO SHAPE AMERICA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">That's
the subtitle of the 600+ page book that I finally finished reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The full title is <u>The Evangelicals - The
Struggle to Shape America</u> by Frances FitzGerald.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though the book was at times tedious (to me)
it is a book well worth reading for anyone concerned about where the Church in
America is at present.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">As
I have long considered myself an Evangelical Christian, I felt that this book
was a necessary read, especially as the title seems to be almost an oxymoron, and
in itself, I believe, is illustrative of the false dilemma that the evangelical
church finds itself in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
author, we are told, "is a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, the National
Book Award and the Bancroft Prize, among others."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is a prolific author of a number of
non-fiction works, though this is the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>first I've read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is now on my
list of authors for future reads.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Ms.
FitzGerald does not (to my knowledge) herself claim to be an Evangelical though
she has written extensively on the subject.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is what attracted me to her book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I strongly believe that we Evangelicals desperately need to get outside
of our box and see how we are perceived by others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book should not be a threat to the
fearful, as she attempts to be objective and even appears to be mildly
sympathetic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The photo on the jacket of
her sitting casually in her blue jeans before a wall of books is, I'm sure,
designed to put the reader at ease: she is erudite, but relaxed and non
threatening.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In
her introduction, she tells us "This book is not a taxonomy or attempt to
describe the entirety of evangelical life, but rather a history of the white
evangelical movements necessary to understand the Christian right and its opponents
that have emerged in recent years" (page 5).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my opinion, she has accomplished her
purpose well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Ms.
FitzGerald is quite thorough in covering the movement in America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She begins her narrative with accounts of
what are known as "The Great Awakenings" of the 18th and early 19th centuries,
and moves on to the growth of the revivalist churches<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- Methodists and Baptists - and the movement
away from the older, historical denominations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From there to the divisions over slavery in the antebellum period, then
to the revivalism and the liberal/conservative divides of the late 19th
century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These movements - the first two
American centuries - are covered quite briefly before she moves to the 20th
century, which period occupies the remaining chapters of the book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
first half of the 20th century - the period preceding the Second World War is,
as the first two centuries, covered in a bit hastier fashion, serving as an important
prelude to the post war activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is however in this period we see the Fundamentalist/Modernist conflict and the
great divisions in the church<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- the
early Pentecostal movement and the founding of smaller separatist
Fundamentalist groups as well as their colleges and seminaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course the Scopes' "Monkey
Trial" is seen as a significant marker, Darwinian evolution and German
"higher criticism" being seen as factors contributing to the
conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">After
WW2 the narrative slows down and becomes more detailed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is here that Ms. FitzGerald seems to see
the beginnings of modern Evangelicalism:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>the Billy Graham crusades, the National Association of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Evangelicals, Christianity Today magazine and
other periodicals, a movement away from the rigid Fundamentalism of earlier years,
yet without abandoning its theological distinctives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Though
much of the prewar history was familiar to me, it is postwar history that seized
my attention as more personal; I found much in these pages that I could relate
to, having lived through the period covered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I suppose I would call myself<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a
"seeker" during those early postwar years, and then a convert in the
middle <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'50s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was involved in a Fundamentalist <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>church for 11 years, then having escaped that
, a Bible church which was less combative, less legalistic, but still holding
the same theology.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Two
major, seemingly incompatible, schools of thought had effects on Evangelicalism
in those years and still do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
theologies have, to a great extent spread into most of Evangelical thinking,
and are held in different variations, even <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by many who would never claim the labels:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">-<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dispensationalism, which had its beginnings
in the early 19th century, has been around so long that its teachings are
accepted by many is essential to Evangelicalsm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Briefly Dispensationalism holds that God has dealt in different manners
with different groups during various "dispensations."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are presently in the "dispensation of
grace" or the Church Age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However
God has set aside the nation of Israel, to be dealt with in a future
"Great Tribulation" {Ms. FitzGerald mistakenly adds an s to the word)
immediately preceding Christ's "premillennial" return. This is the
form of Evangelicalism with which I am most familiar, having spent most of my
life as a Dispensationalist.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">-
Reconstructionism<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(also known as
Dominionism) holds that God's Law, given to the Nation of Israel, is actually
meant for all nations to be subject to and the task of the church is to somehow
bring this about, leading to the Millennium - 1,000 years of peace at the end
of which Christ will return.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It
would seem obvious that these two schools of thought should be incompatible,
Dispensationalism seeing the situation as inevitably getting worse and worse
and Reconstructionism seeing it as having the potential for getting better and
better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet it seems to me that elements
of both are held by much of Evangelicalism, leading to a sort of schizophrenic
theology and thus to a schizophrenic politics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
last half of the book is involved with the growth of actions of the Christian
right and the interesting cast of characters that we all know so well:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Franklin Graham
and James Dobson, as well as brief narratives of lesser but colorful
characters, such as Jim and Tammy Fae Baker, Jimmy Swaggart and other
televangelists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She also deals here with
the fact that many Evangelicals have disagreed strongly with the views and
actions of the Christian Right:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ron
Sider, Jim Wallis, Gregory Boyd and others who are often regarded as
progressives, though I believe they are simply striving to be more biblical in
their ethical and political views.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
must confess that I have been naive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Though I have always attempted to keep myself somewhat aloof from the
Christian right, I have found many, perhaps most of my Christian friends and
family sympathetic with their views and so I have tried to not become too
outspoken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had been unaware of how
great was the constant meddling of these people in the affairs of state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had thought that what I read in the news
magazines and heard on TV a bit exaggerated, that their picture of Evangelicalism
was a stretch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We're not really like
that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we are!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The massive quantity of data is all there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
Christian right has lost its way; the political power that was gained during
the G. W. Bush years has drained away any spiritual power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Evangelicalism has lost its Evangel - its
good news!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are too busy trying to do
as the subtitle says:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>struggling to
shape America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christ and His commission
have been left behind!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
highly recommend this book to any who want to understand how we, the
Evangelical church in American got to the sad state we are in today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">My
two major criticisms:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">-
Ms. FitzGerald has underestimated the power of racism in America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though she mentions its influence
throughout, I feel she hasn't considered how powerfully it has affected much of
the thinking and many of the actions of the right.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">-
She doesn't devote anywhere near the space to the Obama years and what follows
as I would have liked (another 100 pages?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I believe that the politics of today have been greatly affected by the
theology and racism of the Right - both religious and other.</span></div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-8127057728917566682018-03-28T13:23:00.001-05:002018-03-28T13:23:18.098-05:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">A NEW COMMANDMENT<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Meditations on the Cross, 13<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"A
new commandment I'm giving you<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- that
you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you love one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By this all will know that you are my
disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34, 35)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">These
words of Jesus, spoken to his 11 disciples in the upper room on the eve of his
crucifixion, are often quoted and have been paraphrased, even put to
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(We sang them often during the
70s.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what was Jesus referring to
when he said, " ... as I have loved you"?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our thoughts usually go to the cross when we
think of the greatness of his love - but these words were spoken before he went
to the cross!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus
had previously often quoted Leviticus 19:18 which he referred to as the Second
Great Commandment: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By "neighbor" of course, he was
alluding to anyone who might have need of love, i.e. our fellow human beings,
but in this "New Commandment" he was narrowing the field to "one
another," by which he means his hearers' fellow disciples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he has raised the standard of love
from<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>one's normal self-love to the love <u>he</u>
had shown them..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
believe that John (who refers to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus
loved"), the author of this story and an eyewitness to the events, gives
us some clues in the preceding narrative.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">John
tells us that at this point in time, at what is usually referred to as "the
Last Supper," Jesus had full knowledge of what was going to happen to him
within a few short hours. He<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>knew
"that his hour had come that he would depart from this world to the Father
... the devil already having put into the heart of Judas the son of Simon
Iscariot that he would betray him ... that the Father had given all things into
his hand, and that he had come from God and was going to God ..."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(13:1-3) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet, though all these matters, good and
bad, were occupying his mind, "... having loved his own who were in the
world, he loved them to the end!" (13:1)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
then Jesus performed a strange act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
"... got up from supper and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>laid
aside his garments, and taking a towel, tied it around himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he put water into the wash basin and began
to wash the feet of the disciples and to wipe them off with the towel which was
wrapped around him."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I'd
suppose that every eye was fixed on Jesus, as he went from one reclining man to
the next, speaking strange things to one of them, Simon Peter, but otherwise
silent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Washing the feet of the dinner
guests was an act usually performed by a servant, or (I'm told) if no servant
were available, by each dinner guest on the next guest to arrive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But no one had done so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps as they entered they had been engaged
in deep conversation; perhaps they had been at this time even involved in the
dispute mentioned by Luke in his account (Luke 22:24ff) "as to which one
of them was the greatest."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
would imagine some consternation and confusion among these twelve men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all they were disciples of the man who
recently had ridden into Jerusalem and was hailed by the crowds as "The
King of Israel."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was the Rabbi
they had followed for three years, the one they referred to as Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And here he was - naked on his knees on the
floor, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>performing the act of a common
slave!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">John
continues his narrative, telling of Jesus confrontation with Peter, the brief
discourse on washing one anothers' feet, the prediction of Judas' betrayal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then the chapter comes to a climax in the
words quoted at the beginning of this post.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus'
words and actions are loaded with symbolism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Everything he does has significance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Leaving aside his discourse on foot washing (a later post?) we see him
in a sense, acting out a parable of his incarnation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Philippians (2:6-8) tells his readers in a
beautiful piece of poetry of the preincarnate Christ:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>"Who being God in form<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>did not consider equality with God
something to be clung to<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>but emptied himself, taking the form
of a slave,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>becoming in the likeness of humans<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>and being found in outward form as a
man,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the
point of death<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>- even death on a cross."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This
I believe, is what Jesus was illustrating for them - and for us - by his
actions. He had laid aside his garments at the table, as he had done at his
incarnation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had taken the role of a
slave, there in the upper room, as he had in Bethlehem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as he would do on the cross the next day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
though some may disagree, I believe that there on the floor in the upper room
Jesus was totally naked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nakedness in
the Bible in some sense symbolizes shame Genesis 3 tells us that it was when
Adam and Eve sinned that they first realized their own nakedness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was Jesus in his nakedness identifying
himself with that pair in their nakedness and shame?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
the next day in Golgotha he would hang naked as the soldiers gambled over his
clothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the final stage in
his obedience, his shame, his humiliation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
yes, he took on himself not only the shame, but also the guilt of those men in
the upper room; and he took on our shame and guilt as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
he makes a demand of us, of all who have taken advantage of his grace by placing
our faith in him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are to love one
another as he has loved us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That's quite
a demand. Are we willing to "empty" ourselves, to face humiliation,
to bare ourselves to one another (though not literally), for the sake of our
brothers and sisters in Christ?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">[Of
course this isn't the end of the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>See:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u><a href="http://billball.blogspot.com/search?q=What%27s+in+a+Name%3F" target="_blank">What's in a Name</a></u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">] </span></span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-68315623982997135222018-02-21T10:33:00.001-06:002018-02-21T10:33:41.880-06:00SQUIRREL ANSWERS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span><span><div class="aHl">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">A Sunday School teacher posed the following question to her class of children:</span></span></div>
<div class="ii gt " id=":da">
<div class="a3s aXjCH m161b59d149d3e663" id=":db">
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span> </span>"I'm thinking of something that is furry, has four legs and a bushy tail and collects nuts for the winter. What is it?</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span> </span>Hands shot up immediately.<span> </span>"Jesus!" shouted one little girl.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span> </span>"Jesus?" said the teacher.<span> </span>"Why did you say Jesus?"</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span> </span>"Well," was the reply.<span> </span>"It sounded like a squirrel but this is Sunday School, so I knew the answer was Jesus!"</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">I believe that this little tale is the source of the occasional usage of the expression "Squirrel Answers" by my daughter Sherry, with whom I am in frequent communication.<span> </span>While I felt I agreed with her usage, I also felt I need a more concise definition.<span> </span>However, Mr. Webster was of no help and<span> </span>when I<span> </span>googled it, all I got was pictures of little creatures and statements regarding them. I didn't think that this was what Sherry was referring to so I texted her for her definition .</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Her reply: "That's a hard one.<span> </span>I use squirrel answer because otherwise I have to give a whole paragraph.<span> </span>LOL."</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">"I guess basically it's when somebody gives you a trite, by the book answer to a complex, and often personal question.<span> </span>It is an answer meant to stop the conversation so it is quite often judgmental in nature."</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">"For instance you say that you're having a hard time dealing with the suffering in the world and they quote a Bible verse.<span> </span>Or you say that gun control is a complex issue and they chastise you for causing strife."</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">After further thought she continued:<span> </span>"However, based on the jokes that that comes from (apparently a reference to the above story) I think it's when people give you the spiritual answer they're expected to give you - with little regard to whether it's true or not."</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Not concise, but pretty clear.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">We're all used to hearing evasive answers from politicians and other public figures:</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span> </span>"Is it true that you called the president an idiot?"</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span> </span>"I will not lower myself to answering a question like that!"</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">But it is sad when Christians who are<span> </span>supposed to have an answer for everyone who asks, can only give canned, evasive answers or out-of-context Bible verses.<span> </span>I'm not sure why this is done, but I believe squirrel answers are symptoms of more serious problems.<span> </span>If I may speculate on some of the sources.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">First I believe that some, as the little girl in the story, assume that this is what we're supposed to do.<span> </span>As children we are taught to memorize Bible verses, usually with no regard to context.<span> </span>This continues into adult life.<span> </span>Many Bible even have tables printed, listing various needs or problems, each followed by an appropriate (?) verse or verses.<span> </span>We assume that "there's a verse for every problem" (as I have actually been told), that maturity includes a knowledge of the right verse for every situation and that all the questioner needs is to find the right verse.<span> </span>But the Bible is not a magic book full of magic verses.<span> </span>It's a complex book that deals with many moral issues in various contexts.<span> </span>It demands thought!</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">The above types of squirrel answers may not necessarily be judgmental but often are, and whether or not, will be perceived as such.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span>Another source of these answers (related to the one above) is that the answerer believes he/she has attained a greater knowledge than the questioner and again all that is needed are the appropriate words or cliches, which are to be accepted without question.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">But I suspect that one of the main reasons for squirrel answers is a lack of faith, a fear that shows up when questions are raised for which there appear to be no obvious answers.<span> </span>I suspect that some Christians have a faith which can be easily shaken by sincere questions.<span> </span>A pious canned answer can be a protection against such questions.<span> </span>It can also put the questioner on the defensive.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">But a faith in the truth and authority of Scripture, a faith in a God who is sovereign, has no need to fear questions for which the answer is not clear or is not known.<span> </span>The follower of Christ has no need for fear but should take every question as an opportunity for growth in faith.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">I read somewhere of a graffiti slogan sprayed on a wall, "Jesus is the answer!"<span> </span>Below it was<span> </span>sprayed in a different hand, "What was the question?"</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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<div class="a3s aXjCH m161b59d149d3e663" id=":db">
<div dir="ltr">
(By the way: the little girl in this story was not Sherry.)</div>
</div>
</div>
</span><div class="ii gt " id=":da">
<div class="a3s aXjCH m161b59d149d3e663" id=":db">
<div dir="ltr">
</div>
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Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-45228501968153409932018-02-09T13:46:00.001-06:002018-02-09T13:53:47.740-06:00IS CHURCH BORING?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">"Men
it's a sin to bore people with the Word of God!"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">These were the words growled to a class of potential
preachers by Haddon Robinson, our homiletics professor at Dallas Theological
Seminary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haddon was undoubtedly one of
the best preachers I have ever heard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His voice was gravelly and he seemed to have a snarl when he spoke due
to a slight disfigurement which made his mouth a bit off center.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We all held a bit of fear, even reverence for this man,
and we took his words of warning seriously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of course later, after we'd graduated and entered into our ministries,
we forgot them <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and proceeded to bore
people with the Word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I must confess
that I was among those who disobeyed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We were required to attend chapel services every day and
most of the times we went willingly, as we were fed with messages and sermons
by some of the greatest theologians and preachers in the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After over forty years I barely remember<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>3 or 4 of the 500+ chapel messages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I do remember the singing!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Richard Seume was the seminary Chaplain and
he felt that was his ministry to teach us how to worship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He introduced us to the grand old hymns of
the faith:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charles Wesley's "And
Can it Be?"; "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name" (the "Diadem"
tune) and so many others. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After more
than 40 years I still get chills as I recall 700 students and faculty - mostly
men - belting the hymns out with gusto, some singing melody, while others sang
their parts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe Dr. Seume felt
too, that it was a sin to bore people with their worship of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as with Haddon's warnings, we went out
and forgot.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Today we search for "relevance." <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We've left behind those dusty old hymns and
those biblically based sermons (of course with a nod to some Scriptural passages).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We give people "inspiring"
sermons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We sing songs that have few
words and yet are easily forgotten - "seven-eleven songs" someone has
labeled them - seven words repeated eleven times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And in this attempt to be relevant, I believe we have made
Christianity irrelevant - and boring!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We're afraid to seriously address theological issues because we're
afraid we'll frighten or bore our congregations. We're afraid to speak on the
moral issues confronting us, possibly because they've been pre-empted by the
political parties and we don't want to sound political.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We don't sing those majestic hymns; we don't sing
theological hymns; we don't sing hymns that might arouse emotions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We have become "the bland leaders of the
bland."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I retired from full-time ministry a decade ago and have
now become one of those who fill up the pews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Though I confess that I often find church services boring, I also recognize
that in those years of ministry I was a contributor to that sort of boredom in
my congregation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forgive us - forgive me
- Lord for that sin that Haddon warned us of.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And forgive me dear reader, for<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>my curmudgeonly rant.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I do feel better now!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-624831052393056262017-11-18T14:55:00.004-06:002017-11-26T18:42:08.441-06:00IN DEFENSE OF A NAME<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">"But if you are called an Evangelical Christian and
boast in God ... being confident of yourself</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those in darkness, an instructor
of the foolish, a teacher of infants, having a form of knowledge and of the
truth in the Bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You then who teach
the other, don't you teach yourself?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
who preach not to steal, do you steal?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You who say don't commit adultery, do you commit adultery?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For God's name is slandered among the
unbelievers because of you ..."</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">- Paul the Apostle
(Romans 2:17-24 - I changed a few words.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">An
accused pedophile is a candidate for a Senate seat from the state of Alabama.
Numerous women have come forth with allegations of his attempted relations with
them when he was in his thirties and they were teenagers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are told that he was banned from the local
mall around the same time, because of his coming on to teenage girls.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Many
of his constituents are defending him in various ways, besides blaming the
liberal news media, the Democrats and the establishment Republicans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple of the weirder defenses are:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>"Mary was a teenager and Joseph
was an adult carpenter, so what he (the would-be senator) did was no
different."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(There is no mention of
Joseph's age in the Bible, nor any mention of his being a carpenter at that time;
and he didn't have sex with her till they were married and she had given birth
to Jesus.)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>"This man is being 'persecuted
like Jesus Christ.'"<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Of
course. the late night comics are having a great time with this and even the
more serious newspersons seem to have problems keeping from rolling their
eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, whether comics or
newspersons, whether of the left or right, all refer to him and his supporters
as "Evangelical Christians."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This
title of course is nothing new in the public discourse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Evangelical Christian" is
understood to be a voting bloc of the extreme right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They stand for "values,"
"family values" and extreme moralism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They are opposed to gay marriage (actually anything to do with
homosexual behavior), abortion and birth control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They want to "bring America back to
God."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are often seen (by
friend or foe alike) as angry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They feel
they are being persecuted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Wait
a minute!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I object!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have for many years considered myself an
Evangelical Christian and I take exception to the accepted descriptions
above!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not want to be identified
with these.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know that some who once
would have referred to themselves as Evangelical Christians, have dropped the
name, and I confess that I have been tempted to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's difficult having to explain that I'm not
one of those guys.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">So
I believe we need to look at the history of these two words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First the word "Christian."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This word is only used three times in the New
Testament.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it is not a name taken on
themselves by the followers of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
first usage is in Acts 11:26:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>" ...
and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a formation of the name
"Christ" and meant something like "followers of
Christ."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before this they had never
had the label pinned on them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The church
in Antioch was the first church with a large number of Gentiles (non-Jews) and
the label was apparently given by non-believing Gentiles to this new
group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may have been a name of
contempt, or at least disdain like the term "Jesus-freak" back in the
1970s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
second time we encounter this word is in Acts 26:28.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The apostle Paul had been imprisoned for over
two years with no clear charges made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Finally he had made an appeal to the supreme court of his day, to Caesar
himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Porcius Festus, the Roman governor
scheduled a hearing to determine his actions and called in Herod Agrippa II to
aid him in his determination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul in
making his case and giving his testimony began to preach the death and
resurrection of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though Festus
accused Paul of being crazy, Paul pressed his case to Agrippa (who of course
claimed Jewish ties.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"King
Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
know that you do."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Agrippa
replied to Paul, "In a short time you will persuade me to become a
Christian" (Acts 26:27, 28). Again, this may have been a contemptuous use
of the word. Agrippa couldn't<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>escape the
logic of Paul's argument and so, as many do today, resorted to sarcasm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
third use of the word is in 1 Peter. Peter in this letter is urging his readers
to "Keep your behavior excellent (or beautiful) among the Gentiles"
(2:12a).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He admits that "they
slander you as evildoers" (2:12b).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And then he tells them, "if you are reviled for the name of Christ,
you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By no means let any of you suffer as a
murderer, or thief, or evil-doer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone
suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him
glorify God" (4:14-16).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
label was apparently used derogatorily by those outside the faith in New
Testament times and continued to be used that way for some time; to be a
Christian was even considered a crime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All this changed with the legalization of the faith by Constantine and somewhere
the word Christian became a word used with pride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we fast forward a thousand years or so, we
find that the word had become an adjective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All Europe had become "Christian," if only in the cultural
sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today much of the world,
including America considers itself Christian.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
what about the word "Evangelical"?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Well the earliest use I know of is from the 16th century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was originally used of the followers of
Martin Luther and then spread to the other Reformers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seems to have been essentially synonymous
with "Protestant."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the
roots of the word go way back before the word Christian, even before the
Christian era.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is derived from the
Greek word euaggelion, which means, simply "good news" and is found
around 75 times in the New Testament.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Also used in the New Testament are the words euaggelizomai, "to
tell or proclaim the good news" and euaggelistes, "a bearer (or
preacher) of "good news."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(By
the way our English word "gospel" - god spell has the same meaning.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Though
the word "evangelical," like the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">word
"Christian" has become more of a cultural term in Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the United States it has kept much of its
original flavor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">My
Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition defines evangelical in a
number of ways, but I believe the following definitions describe how we have
historically understood ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"Evangelical:</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1) of, relating to, or being in agreement
with the Christian gospel esp. as it is presented in the four Gospels. 3)
emphasizing salvation by faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ through
personal conversion, the authority of Scripture, and the importance of
preaching as contrasted with ritual."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">There
is no mention of a voting bloc, or of anything political.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm sure the 12th Edition will correct that
oversight?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">So
I will continue to refer to myself as an Evangelical Christian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I will use it in the sense given
above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am a Christian - a disciple - a
follower - of Jesus Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am an
Evangelical - one who has been saved by faith in the atoning death of Jesus
Christ and who believes in the authority of Scripture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">To
my friends and others on the right:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Please make sure your Evangelicalism has to do with your faith in Christ
and your desire to live by the authority of Scripture and not with your
Pharisaic moralism or right wing politics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Please try to live your lives by the example of Christ and the leading
of the Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when you fail please
don't make excuses, don't hesitate to repent and confess your sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And please don't accuse your accusers; don't
play the martyr!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
to my friends and others on the left:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Please recognize that there are many Evangelical Christians who attempt
to live as Christ would have them live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And when you see or hear of some who call themselves Evangelical
Christians but fail to live up to Christ's example, remember that we, like you,
are still imperfect sinners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when
you see some who are behaving in open hypocrisy , if you must label them as
Evangelical Christians, at least put quotation marks around the label!</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-88383559493178539132017-11-02T15:16:00.000-05:002017-11-02T15:17:13.401-05:00THOUGHTS ON RACE BY AN OLD WHITE GUY<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Nine
years ago, on November 3, 2008, the United States elected our first African
American President, Barack Obama.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Uni
and I were overwhelmed with excitement that Tuesday evening as we watched the
acceptance speech of the man we had voted for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We had been ministering across racial lines for years and had felt that
in our own small way we had made some contribution toward what was then known
as "racial reconciliation."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We felt that Barack Obama's election was a great step forward for our
nation and the church in America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
soon found out that we were overly optimistic in our assessment; in <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fact we found out the very next evening as we
attended our (all white) church's Wednesday evening service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We
had mixed emotions over the negative comments we heard; our joy became mixed
with grief and anger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What we had seen
as something beautiful was perceived by many in my (white Christian) circle as
something ugly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By Friday I had
assembled my thoughts enough to publish the following post which I am here
republishing in its entirety:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">IS GOD STILL ON THE THRONE?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Back in 1960,
I was a fairly young believer and attending what I regarded then as a
Bible-preaching church. It was an election year, my first in which I’d get to
vote for president. The Democrat candidate, Senator John F. Kennedy, a Roman
Catholic was running against Richard M. Nixon, a Quaker and well-known
Communist hunter.<br />
<br />
Meetings were held at various churches, fundamentalist and others, including
the one I attended, denouncing the evils of Catholicism and foretelling the
horrible dangers that would befall our Protestant nation if Kennedy were
elected. Not only was He Catholic, but also a liberal!<br />
<br />
Rumors were circulated by mail and tract (I wonder what would have happened if
we’d had the Internet).<br />
<br />
Well, of course, all of us true believers voted against this horrible evil, but
to no avail. Kennedy won! Fear struck our hearts! America was doomed! But few,
if any, of our fears were realized.<br />
<br />
When Barack Obama was campaigning for election, rumors were spread, only now we
have the Internet.<br />
-- He’s a secret Muslim.<br />
-- He’s an Arab.<br />
-- He “pals around with terrorists.”<br />
-- He’s not even an American.<br />
-- He’s going to promote gay marriage.<br />
-- He’s going to take our guns away.<br />
-- And, of course, he’s the anti-Christ!<br />
</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
And a few truths:<br />
-- He’s a liberal (so were the signers of our Declaration of Independence).<br />
-- He’s black (actually, he’s mixed-race)!<br />
-- His middle name is Hussein.<br />
<br />
The evening that Obama gave his acceptance speech huge crowds gathered in
cities across the nation. Uni and I were moved to tears when we saw the images
on our TV screen. Blacks and whites embracing; tears rolling down the cheeks of
older black people.<br />
<br />
A half-century after the Civil Rights Movement, after the demise of Jim Crow
(our American version of apartheid), an African-American was elected President
of the USA. We felt it was a great moment in the history of our nation, a
demonstration that “all men (really) are created equal.” It was truly
historical. Here was a moment all Americans, whether Democrat or Republican,
whether black or white, no matter whom they’d voted for, could celebrate.<br />
<br />
But such was not the case. Instead, we were told by our Christian friends (and
others) that the reactions we witnessed were the same sort of reactions that
the anti-Christ will get when he appears; that America may no longer be a
“Christian nation” (whatever that is!). A friend of mine was told that the
second coming must be near because of this.<br />
<br />
This strange mixture of fear, eschatological zeal, far-right politics, and I
believe, downright racism is unbecoming to those who name the name of Christ.<br />
<br />
And even those who claim that they are not afraid say something like, “Well, we
have to remember, God is still on the throne.” Apparently though in their
thinking, the throne is wobbling and God is barely hanging on!<br />
<br />
Our God is Sovereign! He reigns! He sets up rulers and takes them down. He has
a purpose in setting up Barack Obama. Perhaps the church through this will
learn a little more tolerance, as some of us did 48 years ago.<br />
</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
Bill Ball<br />
11/7/2008</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Knowing
that very few of my friends and acquaintances read my blog, I felt that I
needed to get these thoughts out to as many as I could, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>so I e-mailed it to everyone in my address
book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
waited in fear and apprehension for the replies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though only a small number replied, I felt
relieved when I read them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very few were
hostile;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>some expressed agreement; </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">some
even seemed to share my feelings; most of them expressed what I at the time optimistically
considered "qualified agreement" (See:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://billball.blogspot.com/search?q=YES+HE+IS" target="_blank">YES HE IS</a></b>.) I now feel that I was incorrect in this assessment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, as I re-read these replies I
understand most of them as attempts (sincere or insincere) to be irenic or
conciliatory, perhaps out of respect (or pity?) for me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
believe that the last nine years have demonstrated that my early optimism was
misdirected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have made little, if
any, progress toward racial reconciliation in America and in the church; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in fact I fear that we've actually gone
backward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">For
the eight years of Barack Obama's presidency we saw animosity toward him
running high, and I strongly believe that much, if not most of it was racially
motivated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why else would congressional
leaders state that their goal was to see him fail?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why were there so many conspiracy and
"birther" theories?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why the
increase in the number of racially motivated and white supremacist hate groups
- the Klan, the neo-nazis?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
the situation has not improved since Barack Obama left office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Racism now seems to have become official
American policy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>White supremacist
groups are more open and even accepted. And the church at best looks the other
way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Many
of my white Christian (and other) friends will sincerely deny that all of these
people and actions are or were racially motivated. Perhaps some weren't, though
I suspect that many people are simply refusing to look inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We fear what we may find.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Uni
and I are brokenhearted!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And please do
not accuse me of being "political."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is not simply a matter of politics, but a matter of right and
wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's a matter of the church being
the church, of actually loving our neighbors.</span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-14460453565859276502017-10-21T13:21:00.000-05:002017-10-21T13:21:13.524-05:00WOMEN, MEN AND JESUS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It
seems that lately we are being regularly subjected to reports of sexual
misbehavior of prominent men. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Women are
becoming more and more open to relating tales of sexual abuse by men,
especially those in authority or power over them (These are only the latest.):<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A network executive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> A
network commentator - one who has often spoken with "indignation" of
the misbehavior of others.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A beloved comedian - one who has in
the past been held up as an example of "family values."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A movie mogul.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The President of the United States -
who has boasted of sexually assaulting women and calls it simply "locker
room talk."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And, of course, various lesser
personalities - politicians, preachers, coaches.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Sadly,
while women are seemingly becoming bolder and more open to tell - even to bring
lawsuits - this masculine behavior itself is nothing new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can remember hearing boasts from my high
school acquaintances and fellow office workers. We tend to accept this behavior
as "just the way things are."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">But
while this may be "the way things are," it's not the way things <u>should
be</u>! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when it gets close to home,
when we hear or read reports even from those women dear to us, then perhaps
it's time for us men to examine our own attitudes as well as our behavior
toward the "opposite sex." Are we behaving as though we lived in a
patriarchal society. Do we condescend? Do we regard women as somehow simply
there for our own pleasure and convenience? How should we behave toward women? What
is the proper Christian view on a man's treatment of women?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I've
been leading two Bible studies at our church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One is a study of the family in the Book of Genesis, which I've
entitled, "Dysfunctional Family Values."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We've been looking at man/woman and family
relationships in this book and find the characters just as broken as those of
today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I've studied and taught this book
before, but this time I was hit with the frequency of the appearance of tragic
(abused?) female figures:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hagar, the Egyptian slave girl,
forced to have sex with the aged Abraham and to become the "surrogate
mother" of his child, only to be rejected and driven away into the desert.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Leah, the unattractive older sister
forced unloved into a polygamous relationship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Dinah, the 11th of 13 siblings and
only girl. Raped and then given in marriage (apparently without her consent) by
her brothers who then slaughter her husband and all his family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Tamar, who lost two husbands and
then resorted to prostitution, and after being impregnated by her own
father-in-law, threatened with death for becoming pregnant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
again we tend to accept these stories as "just the way things
are."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, the society of
those days was patriarchal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">But
my other Bible study is in the Gospel of John.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is here we find the One who treats women with respect and dignity, at
times revealing truths about Himself to them that He had not even revealed to
the 12 men in His inner circle:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Samaritan woman he meets at the
well - a woman considered by Jews as of an inferior race and a false religion -
a woman who had apparently been bounced from one man to the next and was
currently on her sixth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides breaking
tradition by talking to her, Jesus asks to drink from her water jar, breaking
taboo after taboo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is to this woman
he reveals that the worship of God is a spiritual matter not to be confined to
a particular location. And He told her that God was seeking such worshippers.
God was seeking her!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The woman caught in adultery,
brought to Jesus as a test case. After silencing and sending off her accusers
("Let the one without sin cast the first stone.") He turns to her and
asks "Where are your accusers?" and sends her off with assurance that
He does not accuse her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Mary and Martha whose brother
Lazarus, Jesus raises from the dead. It is to Martha he makes the amazing
claim, "I am the Resurrection and the life; the one who believes in me will
live even if she dies..." Then he personalizes it with, "Do you
believe this?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Later it is Martha's sister Mary who
anoints His feet with expensive perfume. And Jesus defends her action to Judas
and the others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>His own mother Mary, for whom He
takes concern even while dying on the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And, of course, Mary Magdalene, the
first person to whom he appeared after his resurrection in a tender moving
scene.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
don't believe we men need a book or a list of rules telling us how to relate to
women. I believe we simply need to follow Jesus' example, to ask, "What
would Jesus do?" - and then do it!</span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-73571103598197205872017-10-10T15:53:00.001-05:002017-10-11T10:37:40.030-05:00FANTASYLAND<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Kurt
Andersen, the author of <u>Fantasyland - How American Went Haywire</u> appears
to believe he's put his finger on why we in America think and behave the
strange way we do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I first started
reading the book, however, I had mixed feelings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I felt that this book brought out some
accurate analyses of American culture, I also felt like I was sitting around
with an old curmudgeon who was mainly complaining about America's slippery
slide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt that the book would be
best subtitled, "A Cynic's Guide to American History."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, as I continued I found it a
fascinating read and felt compelled to carry on through its 400 plus pages.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Kurt
Andersen has impressive credentials:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a
novelist, a contributor to <u>The New York Times</u> and <u>Vanity Fair</u>, a
host on Public Radio and many others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
is well-known as a cultural critic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Andersen claims somewhere to be an agnostic and has a low view of Christianity,
which he feels is based on fantasy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This, I feel, is actually rather encouraging, because if a book such as
this were written by a Christian, it would probably be ignored by most, except
for the Pat Robertson types.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
thesis of the book is pretty clear and is brought out in the title:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we in America live in a fantasy world and
have been moving in that direction since the beginning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interestingly, though our modern situation
with a president who treats his office as that of a reality show host and who
appears to have little understanding of truth is the epitome of
"fantasyland," this is not where the author begins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, he lets us know that he began his
studies and writing long before the Trump era.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">He
credits (or blames) the beginnings of this slide with Martin Luther and the
Protestant Reformation (hence the subtitle "a 500 year history").<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By making "belief in the Bible's
supernatural stories, especially those concerning Jesus ... the only
prerequisite for being a good Christian," Luther started people on a
course of believing whatever they chose to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"The footings for Fantasyland had been cast." (page 17)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
settlers of America come next; they are of two kinds:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the gold-seekers and the heaven-on-earth-seekers,
i.e. the Puritans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both believed a
fantasy; one group believed the fantasy that wealth for the pickings was to be
found in America; the other that some sort of Millennial Kingdom could be built
here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And both were wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
so we continue through the history of our nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Credit is given to those of our Founding
Fathers who were "reality based," such as Franklin, Washington and
Jefferson. The Enlightenment is not seen as a step in the right direction;
rather it "gave license to the freedom of <u>all</u> thought ... the
absurd and untrue, as well as, the sensible and true:"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Great Awakening religious revival is a
step backward into fantasy and led to even greater fantasies, such as Mormonism
and the other weird religious movements of the early 19th century.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
on it goes from P. T. Barnum and the snake-oil salesmen to the California gold
rush and on into the 20th century, the Fundamentalist movement and so on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hippy movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Always underlying much of his history are his
digs at the "fantasies" of Christianity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's a discouraging history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The red scare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The plethora of conspiracy theories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The economic bubbles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even liberal intellectuals with their
post-modernism making truth optional and personal, subjective rather than
objective.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Then
there are the Hollywood versions of Fantasyland:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Disneyland and all its imitators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The X-files.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Though these make no claims to reality, we are less and less able to tell
where reality leaves off and fantasy begins.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
we finally end up in Trump's America, dominated by "alternative
facts" and "fake news" and Fox News.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An America where "truthiness" is
more pleasing than truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">So
how do we Christians take this book?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
suppose many, even most of my fellow believers will either ignore this book,
write it off as the rantings of an agnostic curmudgeon or resent it as one more
attack on the faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For sure, like many
unbelievers, Andersen at times shows little knowledge of the Christianity he
attacks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yes, he himself appears to
have his own fantasy bubble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As one
reviewer said, he suffers, in short, from "the fantasy of the intellectual
that of all the rival systems competing for our attention, his alone is
reality-based."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(James Bowman in <u>The
Weekly Standard</u> quoted in The Week, 9/22/17).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And yet I believe that this is an important book for any
Christian communicator, for a number of reasons, the first being, as Robert
Burns said long ago, "to see oursels as others see us."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this should lead to confession of our
complicity in the decline in thinking in America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Andersen sees any belief in the supernatural
as fantasy thinking and while we may not be able to prove him wrong to his
satisfaction, we can at least attempt to rid ourselves of the fantasies that
cling to us: imaginary miracles, supposed signs of the second coming, reading
all disasters as signs of God's judgment, the prosperity gospel, seeking
solutions to our moral problems in immoral political leaders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At times (most times?) we who consider
ourselves orthodox appear just as loony as the rest.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Also
- though unwittingly - Andersen's book illustrates some truths that are essential
to our understanding of the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>faith:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the doctrine of original sin ("the only
doctrine of Christianity that is empirically verifiable."), as well as
humankind's propensity toward religious and superstitious error.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or as the Apostle Paul said, "they
(humankind) became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were
darkened."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Romans 1:21)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
this book teaches us the danger of uncritical thinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of all people, we who are committed to the
One who claimed to be the Truth, should also be committed to discerning the
truth in every claim and to not be eager to follow the path to Fantasyland.</span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-58518398568259662092017-10-05T14:51:00.003-05:002017-10-05T14:51:30.148-05:00PROPHETS AND KINGS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">When
I first read the story of Micaiah and Ahab in the Bible many years ago, I could
hardly believe what I was reading - not because it sounded too fantastic or
unbelievable, but because it made me laugh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Would God record a story so hilarious in His Word?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently so.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Micaiah
the prophet is only mentioned in one story in the Old Testament, but for some
reason his story is told twice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's
recorded in First Kings, chapter 22, verses 1-28 and in Second Chronicles,
chapter 18, verses 1-27.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both versions
are essentially the same, with small variations in the details.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read them both.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Though
I still enjoy this story as a favorite, still see the humor and irony in it,
and still see its relevance, I have found it even more relevant to our present
situation in America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the reader will
bear with me I'll try to tell it in my own words.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
nation of Israel had been divided into two separate kingdoms, both populated by
the LORD's covenant people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The northern
kingdom still bore the name Israel, but had begun with an apostate religion,
while the southern kingdom named Judah, had held on to the worship of the LORD,
at least outwardly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As our story begins,
the kings of the two kingdoms had come together for some kind of conference,
Ahab of Israel and Jehoshaphat of Judah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We are told elsewhere something of what these two kings were like.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"Indeed
there never was anyone like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of
the LORD, at the instigation of his wife Jezebel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He acted very abominably in chasing after
idols ..." (1 Kings 21:25, 26)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"Jehoshaphat
... walked in all the way of his father Asa and did not turn aside from it,
doing what was right in the sight of the LORD." (1 Kings 22:42, 43)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Though
these two were clearly poles apart in their morals and religious beliefs their
kingdoms had been united by the marriage of Jehoshaphat's son with Ahab's
daughter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Anyway
at this conference, Ahab made a huge feast at which he attempted to persuade Jehoshaphat
to unite with him to go to war with Aram (present day Syria) at a place called
Ramoth-Gilead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jehoshaphat was in
agreement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"I'm with you; my people
are as your people."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Jehoshaphat
wasn't quite ready; he said, "let's inquire for a word from the
LORD."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">So
we're told that Ahab brought in about 400 of his prophets to give their opinions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And of course, as religious leaders often do
when given political prominence, these sycophantic soothsayers sucked up to
this narcissistic king.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he asked,
"Should I go up to battle or should I refrain?" they all of course
immediately assured him of victory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Interestingly, at first they did not use the name of the LORD (Yahweh)
but said, "the Lord (Adonai) will give victory," or "God will
give victory."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Were they a bit
afraid to cite the LORD as their source.?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Jehoshaphat
seems to have been unimpressed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"Wait a minute, isn't there a prophet of the LORD that we can
inquire of?"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently he was able
to see through these phonies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"Well
yeah" said Ahab, "there's one more, but I hate him cause he never
prophesies anything good about me, only evil" ("fake news?") His
name is Micaiah Ben Imlah."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Jehoshaphat
said, "Please don't say that your majesty!"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">So
Ahab called an officer to fetch Micaiah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He knew where to find him; was he already in jail?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
officer told Micaiah that everyone was speaking favorable (flattering?) things
to the king and that if he knows what's good for him he'll do the same. Micaiah
simply answers, "What the LORD gives me is what I'll speak."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Meanwhile
the 400 were going through their acts, reassuring Ahab that victory was
his.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One change - they began to use the
name of the LORD for their assurances.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">So
Micaiah, contrary to what Ahab was expecting, lays it on thick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Ahab asks him to give his opinion he
says, "Go up to battle; you'll succeed because the LORD will give you
victory!"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But though his
"prophecy" agreed with all the others, Ahab was not pleased!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"How
many times do I have to tell you to speak only the truth in the name of the
LORD?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Catch
22!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The king wants the truth!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The king wants you to say nice things!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How does one do both?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This sounds so -well - modern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Truth is that which I want to hear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Truth is that which reinforces my
prejudices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Truth is that which pumps up
my ego.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet Ahab apparently knew
that all his prophets were lying to him except this one lone man standing in
front of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he didn't care.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
story goes on. Micaiah then cuts loose with an account of his vision of the
LORD and how the LORD is using Ahab's prophets to deceive him so that he would
die in battle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A heated dialog follows:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ahab, Micaiah and one of the other
"prophets."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally Ahab has
Micaiah thrown in jail on bread and water ... "until I return
safely."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Micaiah's
final words were, "If you return safely then the LORD hasn't spoken by
me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listen all you people!"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
story goes on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ahab, though attempting
to keep safe by making Jehoshaphat his decoy, is killed in battle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We're not told what happened to Micaiah;
apparently he spent the rest of his days in jail on bread and water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Though
the story still strikes me as humorous, with a clown king who wants both truth
and flattery at the same time when this is utterly impossible, it also is one
of the best examples of a follower of the LORD who is unafraid to speak truth
to power (albeit with a bit of sarcasm).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">When
I read stories in the Bible - or anywhere else - I often picture the characters
as people I know or know of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I must
confess that my picture of king Ahab looks a lot like Donald Trump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And some of the prophets look a lot like the
prominent "Christian" leaders who gather around him<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We
have a president whose concept of truth, like Ahab's is that which feeds his
ego.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And sadly he has many
"prophets" performing for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He has an advisory circle of preachers and televangelists who have
apparently no effect on his <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ethics or
morals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some still tell us to "give
him a chance;" some assure us that he's God's man; more and more excuses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Are
there no Micaiahs around?</span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-83296021964562593472017-09-29T13:20:00.002-05:002017-09-29T13:43:21.501-05:00SOME THOUGHTS ON HONORING THE FLAG<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">For
years Uni and I lived in a two-story townhouse in Houston.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From an upstairs' window we could look down
on the street behind us which was filled with neat single story homes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the yard directly behind us was a large
American flag flying from a tall pole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It flew day and night, rain or shine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When we first moved in, the flag looked brand new - bright red, white
and blue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as the years passed, the
flag grew worn and frayed around the edges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then it began to turn gray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Pieces of it seemed to disappear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After more years all we could see was a worn gray rag flying from the
pole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It grew smaller and smaller until
one day it was gone.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In
the mall the other morning, we saw a pleasant looking middle-aged lady carrying
an umbrella that looked like an American flag, stars and stripes and all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was wet and dripping from the rain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We
see people today wearing garments that appear to be made from American
flags.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even shorts, so they can sit on
Old Glory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We see flags waved in TV
commercials, especially preceding national holidays, which seem to be becoming
nothing more than opportunities for sales.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
suppose all these folks believe they are patriotic, honoring and respecting our
flag by displaying it boldly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are
they?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don't believe so!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was taught as a child and later as a Marine
Reserve, that the American flag is to be treated with respect, even reverence.
There used to be rules for its proper display.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
then there are those who display a Confederate battle flag boldly, sometimes
right alongside Old Glory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Displaying a
flag that represents a traitorous rebellion against the United States does not
seem to me to be honoring the flag.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
again these folks feel that they are patriotic. Are they?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Some
- mostly African American - NFL players have refused to stand while the
National Anthem is being played; some kneeled; some simply sat on the
bench.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They said that they were doing
this to protest injustice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of their
white teammates have joined them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
these people were immediately condemned as dishonoring the flag, often by those
same persons who had dishonored the flag in the ways mentioned above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were even called SOBs by our President
who said they should be fired!.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
suspect that this sort of righteous indignation is not only pure hypocrisy, but
it is fueled by racism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The men who
kneeled were not dishonoring the flag but demanding the "liberty and
justice for all" that that flag stands for.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I
believe the flag is to be respected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
still stand for the National Anthem, but I also believe that those who kneel
have every right to do so; in fact, I believe they are honoring the flag much
more than those who treat it as a rag or an article of clothing, or an
umbrella.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose that someday I may
find myself kneeling with them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">But
while the American flag is to be respected and honored, it is honored for what
it stands for, not as a salute to "the military" as many
contend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nor is the flag to be treated
as an object of worship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It should have
no place in a church sanctuary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It should
not be wrapped around the cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
believe that when we confuse our Christianity with some sort of display of
"patriotism" we are committing blasphemy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus
demanded that we love Him over every other human relationship (Matthew
10:37).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would think that includes our
country and its flag.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He demanded that
we take up our cross and follow Him (verse 38).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He didn't tell us to take up our flag.</span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-12223506839091789472017-09-25T16:00:00.002-05:002017-09-25T16:00:28.433-05:00I SAW IT ON TV!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">As I watched television Sunday afternoon and evening, I was struck by
how much the various and diverse programs seemed to strike a common theme.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">First, there were the news and sports broadcasts and especially the scenes
of NFL players kneeling or locking arms as the National Anthem was played, accompanied
by the rants and name calling by our President , who claimed that any SOB who
did not honor the flag should be fired (apparently forgetting that Melania more
than once had to push him to place his hand over his heart as the National
Anthem was played). Many athletes and even team owners shot back.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Then I watched "60 Minutes."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In one segment Oprah Winfrey had gathered 14 people to discuss our
President and their thoughts on how he was doing in office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seven of these had voted for Trump and seven
had voted against him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though there was
a bit of civility, especially at first, it didn't take long before the
discussion grew pretty heated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oprah
seemed amazed! It seemed to me that she<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>must have been of the conviction that if we could just get folks
together to air their opinions we would somehow achieve some sort of
unity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such was not the case!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, we were later given the assurance
that some of the participants continued to stay in touch with each other.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Then I watched the 6th episode of the PBS series on the Vietnam War,
entitled "Things Begin to Fall Apart."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This one was about events in the first half
of the year 1968. The news coverage of the horrible violence and bloodshed of
the two Tet offensives was changing the thinking of the American people and
opposition to the War was growing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>General Westmoreland, whose solution to the conflict was simply to send
in more and more troops, was relieved of his command.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>President Johnson was in a quandary as to the
solution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He of course blamed the
divisions in America over the War on negative press coverage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Sound familiar?)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The saying in the 1960's and '70's was, "America is more divided
now than at any time since the Civil War!" The saying in 2017 is,
"America is more divided now than at any time since the Civil War!" I
don't know which "now" <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>saying
is more correct; the divisions and divisiveness in our nation are hard to
quantify.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">During the First World War (the "War to End all Wars"), this
phrase was coined, "The first casualty, when war comes is truth"
(Senator Hiram Johnson).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I've seen this
in the wars that were fought in my lifetime, including the current ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But while war may trigger bigger and bolder
untruths, we now live in an age when truth seems to be no longer relevant, when
"truth" is whatever anyone wants it to be, when "truth" and
"opinion" are synonyms.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Oprah's - or anyone's - desire for "unity" is an impossible
dream as long as people hold to their own versions of what is true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could see her amazement, almost hear her
bafflement as she questioned her panel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Some of the participants seemed to have little regard for facts; their
opinions and feelings had become truth for them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">And we have a President who makes up "facts" and even
contradicts himself in the same sentence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I believe Mark Shields, the political commentator hit it right, "I
mean, it was said that George Washington was the president who could never tell
a lie, and Richard Nixon was the president who could never tell the truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Donald Trump is truly the president who can't
tell the difference."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And not only
is he "truth-challenged," he spouts out hateful racist and misogynist
remarks, and calls people whom he doesn't like or who threaten his ego by
derogatory labels.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Yes, untruth and divisiveness have always been with us; America has
always been divided, but today we have these traits and actions promoted as
virtues by many - from the President on down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even Lyndon Johnson agonized over the divisions in our country; Donald
Trump revels in them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">What I've been saying is nothing new; it's been said before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have no solution for the problems in our
nation, nor does anyone else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I
believe that we who know and claim to follow Jesus Christ are hit with a great
challenge - the challenge to really be "a city on a hill," to be
"the Light of the world."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We need to pull ourselves away from political parties and cease
identifying ourselves with them or with certain political viewpoints.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to cease giving our allegiance to a
man - to stop defending and endorsing the indefensible rants and actions of
Donald Trump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to seek to
ascertain what is really truth - the facts - not simply to accept as truth
whatever agrees with our personal feelings and prejudices.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Above all, we must seek to live as followers of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must seek to build our behavior on the
standards of the New Covenant as revealed in the Bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must seek to build our ethics and our
politics on Biblical standards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must
be different.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Will this bring about unity? It can! Not unity of the people of America,
but of Christ's church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will we all
agree politically?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's doubtful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we should be able to discuss our
differences and together seek to bring them under the Lordship of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And maybe others "will see your good
works and glorify your Father in Heaven" and we might become agents of
change.</span></span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-26339072791801480982017-09-20T12:38:00.002-05:002017-09-20T12:39:45.099-05:00HILLBILLY ELEGY<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">This book came out last year at about the
same time the book <span id="goog_2088468682"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><a href="http://billball.blogspot.com/2016/10/white-trash.html" target="_blank">White Trash<span id="goog_2088468683"></span></a></u></b> came out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The authors were
interviewed on the various news and talk programs on TV. Both received about
the same amount of public exposure and both books seem to be about similar
topics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the book <u>White Trash</u>
was about twice as thick (at the same price) as the other, as well as appearing
to be the scholarly one, I chose it over the other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I recently found a used copy of <u>Hillbilly
Elegy</u> at the Half-Price book store, so I purchased it and Uni and I read it
together. (I confess I had to look up "elegy."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Webster defines it as "a song or poem
expressing sorrow or lamentation especially for one who is dead.")</span></span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><u><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Hillbilly Elegy</span></u><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">, subtitled <u>A Memoir of a Family and
Culture in Crisis</u> was written by a young man named J. D. Vance, an
ex-marine, a Yale Law School graduate and "a principal at a leading
Silicon Valley investment firm." This is, as the title tells us, a
memoir.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The author tells us of life
growing up in rust belt Ohio in a lower middle class <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>family with deep roots in the hills of
Kentucky, from where his grandparents had migrated after WWII. Obviously, Vance
has lived out "the American Dream;" he has risen above his raisings;
and yet they are still with him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Though his family's account is filled with
tales of alcoholism, drug abuse, physical abuse, poverty, family breakups and
struggles, it is not much different, I believe, from that of many families in
America today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And though the book was a
real page-turner and well-written, Uni and I both wondered as we read, why is
this book so popular; why is it still a best-seller when the other book mentioned
above seems to have fallen from public view?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This question was on our minds all through the reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I have some idea.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">As we were reading the stories of the family
and families in the book, Uni and I were brought back to our own extended
families and those among whom we grew up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We began to realize that either of us could have written similar
stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Often we would stop reading to
tell or re-tell stories of our own pasts which were quite similar to
Vance's.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We may not have had such a
colorful background nor have risen quite so far, but we share much in common
with the author.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">It's tempting here to do a bit of comparison,
to relate some tales of the pains as well as the blessings of our own family
backgrounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'll resist, although a
search through previous posts on this blog would reveal quite a bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm sure that any who read this post could
also come up with similar tales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
fact, what impressed me was the ordinariness of Vance's story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Which brings me back to my question: why does
this book continue to be a best-seller? Why is it a best-seller at all?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe that the answer is that people who
read books like this have no (or little) real idea about how people like
Vance's family live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They know nothing
about the lower-middle class and their struggles and problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To those who have "made it" or who are
of the second <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or third generation of
those who escaped the "hillbilly" life, this is like reading of an
alien country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had to read about it
through the eyes of one of their own, one who had "made it."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Vance's struggles are very much like those
of many of us or at least of those we know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He tells of his own anguish as he's bounced from family to family, of
his struggles to fit in and not ever feeling like he has, of his "Mamaw"
- his one anchor in all the turmoil, of his dabblings in Christianity. (We can
only hope he continues in this quest.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He pauses occasionally in his story telling to offer brief analyses and
criticisms of the plight of rust-belt families.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He seems to be still trying to put it all together, as many of his
readers are probably still trying to do.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">I believe that while the book will be
informative for those readers who have never been exposed to this sort of life,
it will also be cathartic for those of us who find ourselves in these pages.</span></span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-86841820942073119712017-09-18T12:16:00.003-05:002017-09-18T12:23:02.785-05:00SOMETHING HAPPENED<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It
has been encouraging to turn on the TV news lately; we see scenes of acts of
kindness and sometimes great heroism being performed by ordinary people in
Texas and Louisiana after the hurricanes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>People of all colors and religions doing amazing things for one another
with no regard for their differences. But then if we continue watching we also
see looting, reports of scams, people trying to make a profit off the misery of
their neighbors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then we are once
again returned to the horrors of wars and genocide and "ethnic
cleansing."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What's going on
here?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can human beings be capable of
such contradictory behavior?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And
we talk and we talk: and we talk: TV news persons, social media, everyone has
an opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But though we may pay
attention to all the current opinions, we might find some wisdom in the
writings of a 17th century thinker.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Blaise Pascal (1623-1662),
well-known French scientist, mathematician and philosopher, was also a devout
Christian. His best-known work was his <strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Pensėes</span></strong>,
a volume of loosely strung together meditions on God and man. In his
observations on man, he wrote: “What sort of freak then is man! How novel, how
monstrous, how chaotic, how paradoxical, how prodigious! Judge of all things,
feeble earthworm, repository of truth, sink of doubt and error, glory and
refuse of the universe! . . . Is it not as clear as day that man’s condition is
dual? The point is that if man had never been corrupted, he would, in his
innocence, confidently enjoy both truth and felicity, and, if man had never
been anything but corrupt, he would have no idea either of truth or bliss. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>. . . <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we have an idea of happiness but we cannot
attain it. We perceive an image of the truth and possess nothing but falsehood,
being equally incapable of absolute ignorance and certain knowledge; …” He then
goes on to say, “ … so obvious is it that we once enjoyed a degree of
perfection from which we have unhappily fallen.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Pascal was a Jansenist, a
member of a Roman Catholic sect which was highly suspect in the Church because
its teachings seemed a bit too close to the Calvinistic Protestantism of his
day. As a Jansenist, he held a high view of the Scripture. The above
observations, though they show clear rational thinking and a knowledge of human
psychology, obviously are colored by his knowledge of the Word.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Pascal understood. He
understood the truth of Genesis 3. I believe we must go to this chapter of the
Bible and the one preceding to really get a handle on what’s wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story in Genesis 3 begins in a garden, an
apparently perfect garden. Genesis 1:31, says that all that God had made “was
very good.” In this garden God placed the man that He had created (Genesis 2:7,
8), also apparently perfect and then created a woman as “a helper suitable to”
him, also apparently perfect. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were
God-like beings, created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26, 27).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">So the stage is set: a
perfect couple in a perfect location, all the food you want to eat; a cushy
job. Naked with no shame. It just doesn’t get any better than this. Problem:
there’s one prohibition. They were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil (Genesis 2:17), or penalty of death.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">So what happened? The serpent
tempts the woman. (We’re told elsewhere that this serpent is none other than
Satan himself, a fallen being: Revelation 12:9). The woman takes the fruit of
the forbidden tree, hands it to her man (who the Hebrew text says was “with
her”), he eats it, and suddenly everything goes wrong.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Now I don’t believe this was
some sort of magic tree. They gained knowledge of good and evil by disobeying.
It was simply a test case. God had put them in a perfect environment. God
apparently wanted the willing obedience of the man and woman. He gave them the
freedom of choice to obey or disobey. And they disobeyed.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">We see the results of the
fall immediately: Guilt – a broken relationship with God and with each other;
shame; attempts to cover the shame; and excuses.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Paul tells us in Romans 5:12,
that through this act, sin (guilt) and death entered the human race. So when we
look at man today we see, as Pascal did “that man’s condition is dual.” We see
great acts of love, courage and heroism. We see horrible acts of hatred,
cowardice and murder. Sometimes by the same person.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">And we waste a lot of time
and energy trying to shift the blame, just like the first man and the first
woman. “The woman YOU gave to be with me – she gave it to me and I ate”
(Genesis 3:12). “The serpent deceived me and I ate” (Genesis 3:13). We make
ourselves (metaphorical) loin coverings of leaves to hide our nakedness
(Genesis 3:17) and never do take the blame or responsibility. Sound familiar?
Turn on your TV news broadcasts and/or talk radio and you’ll hear more of the
same.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">But the beautiful thing is
that God Himself takes care of our guilt and our shame. In the Genesis’ story
we read that “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and
covered them.” And He’s done the same for us and our guilt and shame. “He made
Him who knew no sin (Christ) to be sin (a sin offering) on our behalf, so that
we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 9;">Bill Ball</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 9;"> adapted from What Happened, 4/20/2007</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-73162729460111265952017-08-24T12:05:00.000-05:002017-08-24T21:42:15.796-05:00IS HATE THE PROBLEM?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"></span></b><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">"And He found in the temple those
selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And He made a whip out of cords and drove
them all out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And He poured out the coins of the
money-changers and overturned their tables.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And He said to those selling the pigeons, 'Take these things out of
here!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stop making My Father's house into
a shopping mall!'<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And His disciples
remembered that it is written, 'Zeal for your house will consume me!'"
John 2:14-17.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">John records this incident as occurring
early in Jesus' ministry; the other Gospels record a similar event taking place
in Jesus' final week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, Matthew
tells us He accused the money-changers of making the temple "a den of
thieves."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">It doesn't take a great amount of
imagination to visualize this scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Cattle and sheep running in all directions, confused merchants
attempting to keep their animals from running away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can hear the mooing and baaing and the
money rattling all over the floor; it's a smelly, noisy, chaotic mess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in the middle of it all is Jesus,
violently swinging His scourge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is He
angry?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow we can't picture Him as
not angry; fire is in His eyes, His voice is raised to a shout.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">There are times when even the Savior seems
out of control in His anger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this
was not the only incident.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Saturday, August 12, 2017, the
"Alt-right" held a rally in Charlottesville, VA. Various reasons were
given for this rally, the ostensible reason being to protest the taking down of
a confederate statue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the real
motive was clear: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it was an opportunity
for neo-Nazis and the KKK, along with other right-wing hate groups to have a
show of force.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Others gathered to protest the rally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The climax came when one of the
"Alt-rights" drove his car into a crowd of those who were protesting
them, killing a young woman and seriously injuring many more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had he not slammed into another car we can
only assume he would have continued on his deadly mission.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Politicians, pundits and preachers
immediately began to speak out on the incident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our President waited a while, then spoke out, placing the blame on
"many sides."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later he spoke
out again, in anger, although his anger was directed mostly at the reporters
who questioned him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Many more voices have since spoken out, some
criticizing the President for his failure to distance himself from the
far-right, but most speaking against "hate"; many also talked about
the need for our nation to "come together," whatever that means.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">But is "hate" really the problem?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Webster (11th Collegiate Dictionary) defines
hates as "(n) 1a: intense hostility or aversion usually from fear, anger,
or sense of injury.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>b: extreme dislike
or antipathy:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>LOATHING (vt) 1:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to feel extreme enmity toward. 2: to have a
strong aversion to: find very distasteful."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">We all have felt or expressed hate in some
form or another, even if only by the milder definition ("I hate
broccoli."), although there are many things or actions we probably hate by
the stronger definition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So why do we
say that "hate" is the problem?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">The Bible speaks of hate well over 100
times, often with variations that appear contradictory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It even speaks of God Himself hating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don't plan to go there, but there are a few
passages that relate to God's people and their responsibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here are a few:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Leviticus
19:17.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"You shall not hate your
brother in your heart ... "<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Psalm
97:10.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Hate evil, you who love the
LORD."<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Amos
5:15.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Hate evil, love good, and
establish justice ... "<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Matthew
5:43, 44.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"You've heard that it was
said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy;' but I say to you,
love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..."<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>1
John 2:9 (also see 2:11; 3:15; 4:20)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"Whoever
says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness."<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">If I may summarize - maybe oversimplifying a
bit - we who claim to be followers of Christ have no business hating any other
human being! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are to love them all -
even those who have it in for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
yet we are to hate evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have no
business tolerating it!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Was Jesus acting out of hate when He drove
out the money-changers?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe He
was:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>hate for evil; hate for the
defilement of His Father's house; hate for the greed that was taking advantage
of the needs of pilgrims.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">So back to Charlottesville.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes there was hate on both sides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we can't just decide that both sides were
equally in the wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can't simply
say that love equals tolerance of evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One side represented a horrible evil:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nazism, the Ku Klux Clan, as well as other groups of the same kind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These groups have a history, not of hate in
the abstract, but of violent acts of evil:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>gas-chambers, mass-murder, lynching:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>genocide in Europe and attempted genocide in the USA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Should we hate the evil these groups stand for?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Were those who were protesting these groups
equally responsible?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did they hate?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Undoubtedly some transferred their hatred of evil over to hatred of
evil-doers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is the Alt-Right that
advocates racism and terrorism; it was one of their group who committed an act
of terrorism that day!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">We who claim to follow Christ cannot put the
blame only on an abstract "hate."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We must not simply promote a "love" that refuses to recognize
genuine evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must speak out against
the evil that is being promoted, not only at Charlottesville, but all over our
nation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Remember Niemoller's words. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(See blog:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">NIEMOLLER FOR TODAY </b>- 12/3/16)</span></span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-64217106039183174672017-05-10T14:09:00.001-05:002018-01-23T14:34:04.981-06:00ILLEGAL PEOPLE?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Are those
who enter (or remain) in our country without proper documentation "illegals"?
Are they criminals?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are they unworthy of
compassion, even though they may have arrived here seeking refuge from
persecution, war or poverty?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently
many Americans, including those who claim to be followers of Jesus, believe so.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">On a
previous post (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://billball.blogspot.com/2017/03/a-child-of-immigrants.html" target="_blank">A Child of Immigrants</a></b>) - I argued that most of us Americans are "children of
immigrants" as I myself am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pointed
out that some of my ancestors may have been refugees and that those who had
arrived in the 17th century did so "without official clearance from the
residents who had preceded them ... "<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The only
comment I received was "Like the liberal blowhard of the lame stream
media, you have missed the point ...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
issue is illegal immigration ..."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">I replied
rather tackily that I considered being identified as a "liberal
blowhard" was a compliment and then forgot the comment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Later I
have had second thoughts and I realize that while I had retorted to a perceived
slam against me, I had ignored what my reader was saying about the perceived
danger of "illegal immigration."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So I feel I need to say more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">There are
many in America who have entered this country "illegally."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are quite a few who have entered legally
but have stayed beyond the permitted time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This may include students, tourists, those who visit for business
reasons and so forth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These would also
be included among the "illegals."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then there are many who have permanent visas, green cards or other legal
papers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add to these the many refugees
who seek refuge here - again through legal channels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our present administration is seeking both to
rid our nation of those perceived to be illegals (especially brown, Spanish
speaking ones) and to keep out those who are attempting to enter legally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we're told that the majority of Americans
applaud these actions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">I don't
know about the person who commented on my previous post, but there are many
nativists who don't distinguish between those who have entered legally and
those who entered illegally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">I suspect
that the problem which many perceive is not a problem having to do with whether
or not certain persons hold a particular piece of paper, but a problem having
to do with the outward appearances of those persons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their skin is darker than mine; they talk
funny; they wear strange head coverings or clothing; they worship differently -
maybe they even worship different gods!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">As I have
mentioned in that previous post, my mother came to this country as a child,
from Austria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While her parents retained
much of their old world culture and German accents, Mom became pretty
well-integrated as an American.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She left
behind much of what would distinguish her (except that in her speech she'd
occasionally revert to a different word order than English).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day I heard her complain angrily,
"There are too many foreigners coming into this country!"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">"Mom!"
I replied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"How can you say that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You were a 'foreigner' once yourself."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">I could see
and hear her anger rising as she replied, "You know what I mean!"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Unfortunately
I did know what she meant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She meant
what many of our indignant complainers of today mean, "There are too many
brown-skinned, strange talking heathen coming into America."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">I think
it's time we white native born "Christian" Americans wake up to the fact that our
indignation against these people may be based not on concern for their legal status,
but on our own racial and religious bigotry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">But now we
don't have to call them by those racial or ethnic slurs (that say more about
those who use them than about those of whom they are used), we can simply call
them "illegals" and self-righteously demand that our government do
something about them and applaud when this happens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Leviticus
19:33-34:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"When a stranger sojourns
with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You shall treat the stranger who sojourns
with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you
were strangers in the land of Egypt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
am the LORD your God."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">This
passage does not distinguish whether the "stranger" is
"legal" or "illegal." </span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-6894833941822907692017-05-01T13:41:00.001-05:002017-05-01T13:46:06.249-05:00PRAY FOR OUR PRESIDENT, 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">A few years back I published a post entitled
<strong><a href="http://billball.blogspot.com/2010/07/pray-for-our-president.html" target="_blank">PRAY FOR OUR PRESIDENT?</a></strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course our President at the time was Barack Obama, a man whom I
greatly admired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I complained in that
post about the fact that many of my friends - even those who claimed to be followers
of Jesus - expressed so much negativity, even hatred, toward him, much of it
based on false rumors and conspiracy theories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I felt, and still feel that the attitude held by many toward this man
was totally incompatible with their professions of Christianity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">But now the situation has changed with our
new President, Donald Trump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His
detractors need no rumors or conspiracy theories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is a man who openly expresses his hatred
toward other races and religions, toward any who oppose him and toward the news
media; a man who has openly boasted of his groping of women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And many of those who opposed Barack Obama
are happily supportive of Donald Trump.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">So now the shoe is on the other foot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I now find my attitudes toward our President
totally negative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I feel these attitudes
are justified and I make no apologies or excuses, I feel that I need to follow
my own advice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I ask my readers to
do the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I am reproducing the
exhortation Uni and I had on that previous post:</span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">We have a suggestion:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">“I exhort then first of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>all</u></b> for entreaties, prayers, intercessions to be made for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>all</u></b> persons, for kings and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>all</u></b> those who are in authority,
in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>all</u></b> godliness and dignity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is good and acceptable in the presence of God our Savior, who wants
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>all</u></b> persons to be saved and
to come into knowledge of the truth” </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">(1 Timothy 2:1-4).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Pau’s exhortation to Timothy seems pretty
clear and straightforward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also seems
pretty all-inclusive (the word “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">all</b>”
appears 5 times in these 4 verses.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">We are to pray for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>everyone</u></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
doesn’t appear to be any exception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now
I don’t believe we are expected to simply say “God bless everybody” just before
we eat or crawl into bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are to pray
for all whom we have opportunity to know, or whose needs we know of.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">And we are to pray not just general prayers,
but to intercede, to plead with God on behalf of these persons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The third word for prayer in this passage, I
have translated “intercessions” because it is related to a verb translated
“intercede.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are told in Romans 8:26,
27 that the Spirit intercedes for us, and in Romans 8:34 that Christ
intercedes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this passage, however, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>we</u></b> are to be the interceders.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">More specifically, we are to do this “for
kings and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>all</u></b> those in
authority.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the reason is given “in
order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could it be any clearer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We don’t pray for our leaders for their
benefit alone, but also for our benefit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">But then Paul gives a further reason – the
reason why a tranquil and quiet life is to be desired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is pleasing to God, because He wants
everyone to be saved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wants those in
authority to be saved, of course, but He also wants them to promote peace
because apparently a peaceful environment is more conducive to evangelism.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Elsewhere in the New Testament we’re given
other responsibilities toward human authority that we have as citizens of two
kingdoms:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pay taxes, submit to laws,
honor those in authority (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13, 17).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">But here we are told to pray for them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">And there are no qualifiers given.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We aren’t told to pray only for those of a
certain political party or only for those who take a particular stand on some
piece of legislation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re not even
told to pray only for the “good” ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The authorities of the Roman Empire in which Paul’s readers lived were
those who were already beginning to persecute them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a few years Paul himself would be beheaded
by the very authority he prayed for.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">So, how should we intercede for our President?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What should we pray for?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">First
of all, that he and his family might be genuine believers in Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">That
his life would be totally committed to Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">That he
would be a man of integrity.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">That he
would have wisdom for the decisions he must make.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">That he
would seek peace and justice for America and in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">That
God will protect him and his family from those who wish them harm.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">That
the Christian community would pray for him.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">Donald Trump desperately needs our prayers! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial";">(We have President Trump and his family listed first on our daily prayer
list. Uni)</span></span><br />
<div align="right" class="MsoHeader" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "arial";"> </span></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-10580602018458307712017-04-22T14:08:00.003-05:002017-04-22T14:08:39.715-05:00JESUS' ROUGH EDGES<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I believe we usually read
our Bibles too piously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We treat the
stories as though they were stiff morality tales with little if any human
drama.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We seem to especially do this
with the stories of Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We read the
stories of His actions, we read His great teachings, but I feel we often fail
to see His very real humanity, particularly as seen in His emotions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we read of His anger or sorrow, even His
joy, we tend to think of these as the qualities of a deity and not as the
emotions of a very real human being.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Uni and I were struck with
his humanity the other morning during our reading of Matthew's Gospel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An old story we'd read many times, but somehow
we felt His emotions more in this reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The story is found in chapters 21-24 of Matthew's Gospel.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Jesus had entered the
Jerusalem temple courtyard not long after His triumphal entry into the city and
He was confronted by various groups with challenges as to His authority:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the chief priests, the scribes and elders -
perhaps the whole Sanhedrin; then the Pharisees with the Herodians (a
sycophantic political party); then the Sadducees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of these attempting to stump Him or find
something with which to accuse Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then
the questions about the greatest commandment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We can almost feel His impatience growing as He carefully answers, sometimes
with a rebuke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then He turns the tables on
them and hits them with a question they can't answer:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>how can the Messiah be both David's son and
David's Lord?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course they can't
answer without conceding that the Messiah is both because He is God
incarnate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are stumped!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matthew tells us "no one was able to
answer Him a word, neither did anyone question Him anymore from that day
forward."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Matthew 22:46)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And then it's Jesus' turn to
really let loose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He begins His tirade
slowly and carefully at first, with a warning to both the crowds and His disciples,
about the scribes and Pharisees - those expert teachers of the Law of Moses and
its accumulated traditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
essentially tells his hearers, "Do as they say, but not as they do -
they're a bunch of hypocrites!"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then He turns to the scribes and Pharisees themselves and really blasts
them!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He calls them every name in the
book:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"hypocrites, blind guides,
sons of Hell, sons of murderers, snakes, brood of vipers!"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can feel the buildup of rage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can see the anger flashing in His eyes as
He tells them that "all the guilt of all the blood of righteous persons
murdered on earth" will be avenged on <u>them</u>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Matthew 23:35)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Pause for a moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why was Jesus taking out His rage on these
people? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He knew He was going to be
crucified; He had already spoken of it a number of times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the leaders of the plot to murder Him
were the chief priests, most of whom belonged to another party, the party of
the Sadducees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would be those priests
who would conspire with the Romans in His death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why didn't Jesus let His rage fall on
them?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was Jesus mistaken in His
foresight of His crucifixion? No.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I suspect it was because
Jesus was "theologically" more in tune with the Pharisaic party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps He felt the priestly party was too
far gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the Pharisees were those
who were perceived as the spiritual leaders and teachers of Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were closer to the truth and thus Jesus
held them more accountable.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">But immediately after this
blistering tirade, we see what appears to be a total shift in Jesus'
emotions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After pronouncing His judgment,
"Amen!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm telling you all, all
these things will come upon this generation!" (Matthew 23:36), His rage
turns into deep sorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps the
thought of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and of His people - the destruction
that He had just foretold - had hit Him with unquenchable grief.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">"O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, the one who murders the prophets and stones those sent to her!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How often I've wanted to gather your children
together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you didn't want me
to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look, your house is left to you
desolate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For I'm telling you, you won't
see me again until you say, 'blessed is the One who comes in the Name of the
Lord!'"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Matthew 27:37-39)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The tears of rage have
become tears of sorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thought Matthew
doesn't mention Jesus' weeping here, Luke tells us that He had wept over the
city and uttered a similar lament as He approached it, on His triumphal entry.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Matthew omits the story of
the widow's offering that Mark and Luke tell us occurs next (Mark 12:41-44;
Luke 21:1-4) but we can imagine the deep emotion still quivering in Him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">At this point Jesus leaves
the temple precincts and we're told that His disciples point out to Him the
beauty of the temple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Were they
attempting to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>calm their Lord who was
still trembling with a mixture of anger and grief?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Were they afraid?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story continues with Jesus detailed
predictions of the future destruction of Jerusalem.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I suspect that many of us
are uncomfortable, even afraid, when we consider Jesus as filled with rage or
sorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He appears to have let His
emotions take control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That doesn't fit
with our picture of "gentle Jesus, meek and mild" or of a
halo-wearing, medieval- English- speaking saint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He's too much like us!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">But wasn't Jesus like
us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Didn't the Second Person of the
Trinity become human like we are?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes,
we're told that He was "without sin."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But we're not told that he was without emotion or without human
weakness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We want a nice Jesus, not one
who flies off the handle or bursts into tears, not one with rough edges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We want a two dimensional Jesus, not one as
human as we are.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">But there are some problems
with our bland picture of Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First,
it's not one that's in agreement with the facts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read the Gospels "again for the first
time" (old corn-flakes' commercial).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You'll see a Jesus that defies our stereotypes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Secondly, if we picture
Jesus incorrectly, what does that do to our Christian life?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we are to be imitators of Christ, if we
are to do what Jesus would do, we need to get to know Him better as a human
being and live as He did or would.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
may need to stop seeing the Christian life as just being nice and be unafraid
to embarrass ourselves.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When was the last time you
got angry and spoke out about hypocrisy or injustice?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When was the last time you wept over those
you loved - your family - your neighbors - your country - your church - who
were suffering the consequences of their own rejection of the truth?</span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19769805.post-14240392800189484882017-03-04T15:32:00.000-06:002017-05-10T14:07:46.032-05:00A CHILD OF IMMIGRANTS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"They're bringing drugs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They're bringing crime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They're rapists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And some, I assume, are good people."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Donald Trump, 6/16/2015<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"I have ordered the Department of
Homeland Security<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to create an office to
serve American Victims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The office is
called VOICE - Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are providing a voice to those who have
been ignored by our media and silenced by special interests."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Donald Trump, 2/27/2017<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"Our progress in degeneracy appears to
me to be pretty rapid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a nation, we
began by declaring that "all men are created equal."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We now practically read it "all men are
created equal, except negroes."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
the "Know-Nothings get control it will read "all men are created
equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When it comes to this I should prefer
emigrating to some country, where they make no pretense of loving liberty - to
Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base
alloy of hypocrisy. Abraham Lincoln, 8/24/1855.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Abraham Lincoln could not have known about
the "progress in degeneracy" of our day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And though the particular groups he was speaking
of may have changed somewhat (though not completely), the
"degeneracy" is still progressing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We have elected as our president a man who freely preaches racism and
xenophobia in a manner no president has in my lifetime and who has attempted to
block the entry of immigrants in various ways.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And when in his speech to congress Donald
Trump advocated an office to particularly discriminate against immigrants as a
criminal group, his groupies, of course were elated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But sadly the media - whom he had already
labeled as "fake news" and "the enemy of the American
people" - simply spoke of his speech as "more presidential."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one seemed to give a ____ about his making
xenophobia a national priority and creating an office to promote it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Why aren't we angry?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why aren't American Christians speaking
out?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why aren't our political leaders
of both parties speaking out?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am a
child of immigrants; most Americans (<u>all</u> the white ones) are, unless
they are immigrants themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why
don't these pronouncements bother us?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">My mother came to this country as a child
with her parents and older siblings, from Austria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her parents - my grandparents - got here just
before the First World War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a few
years America would be at war with their native land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Were they refugees, fleeing war?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don't know, but I suspect so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">My father's family came to America from
England in the 1600's.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suspect they
were Puritans, as they settled in Massachusetts and almost all had biblical
names.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(There were also names like,
Thankful, Mercy and Deliverance.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
Puritans they would have been fleeing their homeland for religious
reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, of course, they would have
landed on our shores without official clearance from the residents who had
preceded them thousands of years earlier.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">So what right have I as a child of immigrants
to cheer the closing of our borders and the stigmatizing of immigrants?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">As a follower of Jesus, how should I look at
this question?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe that a look at
the biblical story shows a long history of immigrants and refugees<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We could go back to the first book of the
Bible, the Book of Genesis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There we
find the story of Abraham, called by God to leave his home in Ur and go to the
land of Canaan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when there he fled
to Egypt because of famine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rest of
the Book is filled with tales of flight by Abraham and his son Isaac, then
Jacob, then Joseph - the whole family of Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then there is the story of Ruth, a
refugee from her homeland to Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
on and on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Old Testament is one
continuous narrative of flight and migration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And then we read in the Gospel of Matthew of
Jesus, the Son of God, who himself became a refugee from the murderous campaign
of Herod the Great.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">" ... an angel of the Lord appeared to
Joseph in a dream and said, 'Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to
Egypt and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the
child to destroy him.'<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Joseph got up
and took the child and his mother by night and took off for Egypt, and he
stayed there until Herod's death."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Matthew 2:13-15<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">But it's not only the stories about
immigrants in the Bible that we need to look at - it's the commands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over and over in the Old Testament we find
commands aimed at the Israelites regarding the "stranger" or alien
(some translations use the word "immigrant.")<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"You shall not wrong a stranger or
oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Exodus 22:20; 23:9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"When a stranger resides with you in
your land, you shall not wrong him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you
shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am the LORD your God."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leviticus 19:33, 34<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Over and over the prophets rant against
Israel's oppression of "the stranger" along with her other sins that
brought judgment on the nation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">And when Jesus foretells His return as the
Son of Man to judge the nations, it is not their sexual misbehavior or their
violence which make up the criteria for judgment, but their treatment or
mistreatment of certain groups:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the
hungry, the thirsty, the <u>stranger</u>, the naked, the sick, and the
prisoner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matthew 25:31-46<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Add to all this, the fact that we who follow
Jesus Christ are addressed as "aliens and strangers" (1 Peter 1:1; 2:11).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While we may or may not be citizens of this
land," our citizenship is in Heaven, from where we are eagerly expecting a
Savior - the Lord Jesus Christ!" (Philippians 3:20)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How can we not identify with those others who
are also "aliens and strangers?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">So we who are both Americans and followers of
Jesus, should be appalled at the "progress in degeneracy" our nation
is following.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things will probably get
worse before they get better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to
speak out and do our part to welcome "the stranger" even though we
may be going against official policy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"We must obey God rather than
man."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Acts 5:29</span></div>
</div>
Bill Ballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13573859102823530876noreply@blogger.com3