"But as for the cowardly . . . their lot shall be the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8).
The Bible places a lot of importance on courage as a virtue. It takes courage to live out our faith in Christ. Unfortunately, there are many Christians who buckle under peer-pressure and go along rather than stand up for Jesus, thinking that going-along to get-along is safer. It is not. I read an interesting quote by Henry Kissenger in the Jewish World Review a couple of weeks ago that I thought needed to be shared with my vast reading audience, "In Crises, the most daring course is often the safest." Do something daring for the Lord when the odds are against you!!
Grace&Courage,
Tom
Monday, April 30, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
SHERYL, CAN I HAVE JUST ONE SQUARE, PLEEEZ?!?
"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed" (2 Peter 3:10).
Climatologist, environmentalist and entertainer, Sheryl Crow has pontificated that we should all use just one square of toilet paper, we've got to save those trees to make oxygen, you know. If any of you Seinfeld fans remember, Elain Bennis needed just one square and Seinfeld's date couldn't even spare a square! Thank you, Sheryl, for allowing us "little people" a square! I'm pretty sure that Sheryl Crow is pretty much like Al Gore, talking the talk but not walking the walk.
We have plenty of trees. America is more forested now than it was prior to settling the frontier. When my great grandfather claimed the homestead that I currently farm, in 1871, the only trees on the prairie were along the creeks and rivers. Their first house was sod. Now the prairie is overgrown with trees, so much so that the Department of Natural Resources pays us to cut them down. We just did a prairie burn last week and burned up quite a few live cedar trees. Believe me, there is plenty of timber for toilet paper, and to produce oxygen; grass does it better anyway!
The great worry is that there is such a carbon dioxide build up in our atmosphere that it is causing "global warming." There is great concern that we won't be able to breath or that all the heat will cause us to die. To me it is interesting that just a month ago I sat in a meeting of farmers and agronomists talking about how to increase corn yields. One absolutely proven method of increasing production is to make sure the corn gets more CO2!! You do that by tilling the soil with a cultivator. More CO2 is a good thing. We can grow more corn to feed the world! Global warming is a good thing because more land will be available for growing food for the world. Global warming is a good thing because we will run our furnaces less, but with all the new-found affluence, we will run air-conditioners more so that will cancel each other out.
There is a day coming that will begin just like any other day--there will be no sign. Things will be going along as they always have. Despite all that Al Gore and Sheryl Crow have done there will be global warming that has never been seen before--the earth will dissolve with a fervent heat. Are you ready?!?
By the way, if Sheryl only uses one square we might have some insight on why she and Lance broke up.
Grace&Peace,
Tom
Climatologist, environmentalist and entertainer, Sheryl Crow has pontificated that we should all use just one square of toilet paper, we've got to save those trees to make oxygen, you know. If any of you Seinfeld fans remember, Elain Bennis needed just one square and Seinfeld's date couldn't even spare a square! Thank you, Sheryl, for allowing us "little people" a square! I'm pretty sure that Sheryl Crow is pretty much like Al Gore, talking the talk but not walking the walk.
We have plenty of trees. America is more forested now than it was prior to settling the frontier. When my great grandfather claimed the homestead that I currently farm, in 1871, the only trees on the prairie were along the creeks and rivers. Their first house was sod. Now the prairie is overgrown with trees, so much so that the Department of Natural Resources pays us to cut them down. We just did a prairie burn last week and burned up quite a few live cedar trees. Believe me, there is plenty of timber for toilet paper, and to produce oxygen; grass does it better anyway!
The great worry is that there is such a carbon dioxide build up in our atmosphere that it is causing "global warming." There is great concern that we won't be able to breath or that all the heat will cause us to die. To me it is interesting that just a month ago I sat in a meeting of farmers and agronomists talking about how to increase corn yields. One absolutely proven method of increasing production is to make sure the corn gets more CO2!! You do that by tilling the soil with a cultivator. More CO2 is a good thing. We can grow more corn to feed the world! Global warming is a good thing because more land will be available for growing food for the world. Global warming is a good thing because we will run our furnaces less, but with all the new-found affluence, we will run air-conditioners more so that will cancel each other out.
There is a day coming that will begin just like any other day--there will be no sign. Things will be going along as they always have. Despite all that Al Gore and Sheryl Crow have done there will be global warming that has never been seen before--the earth will dissolve with a fervent heat. Are you ready?!?
By the way, if Sheryl only uses one square we might have some insight on why she and Lance broke up.
Grace&Peace,
Tom
Friday, April 20, 2007
A PITHY PONDERING
"It is easier to train a wild horse than to resurrect a dead one" (unknown).
Grace&Peace,
Tom
Grace&Peace,
Tom
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
THE ONE YOU FEED
"Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24-25).
Yesterday I spent the day at North American Baptist Seminary in beautiful Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I attended the annual Hiller Lectureship dedicated to pastoral care and counseling. The speaker was Dr. Frederick DiBlasio, who serves as a professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland. Dr. Diblasio has pioneered in the clinical use of forgivness, having researched the use and effectiveness of forgivness in marriage and family therapy. As Christians, it should be no surprise to us that forgivness is an effective intervention in family therapy, but Christians, themselves, are amazingly unforgiving, holding on to their "righteous anger."
Dr. DiBlasio, himself, is a committed Christian. He spoke briefly about the warfare that goes on in each of us between the flesh and the Spirit. He framed it as a father talking to his son about the battle between the flesh and the Spirit. The son asks his father, "What side wins?" The Father replies, "the one you feed." What side are you feeding?
Grace&Peace,
Tom
Yesterday I spent the day at North American Baptist Seminary in beautiful Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I attended the annual Hiller Lectureship dedicated to pastoral care and counseling. The speaker was Dr. Frederick DiBlasio, who serves as a professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland. Dr. Diblasio has pioneered in the clinical use of forgivness, having researched the use and effectiveness of forgivness in marriage and family therapy. As Christians, it should be no surprise to us that forgivness is an effective intervention in family therapy, but Christians, themselves, are amazingly unforgiving, holding on to their "righteous anger."
Dr. DiBlasio, himself, is a committed Christian. He spoke briefly about the warfare that goes on in each of us between the flesh and the Spirit. He framed it as a father talking to his son about the battle between the flesh and the Spirit. The son asks his father, "What side wins?" The Father replies, "the one you feed." What side are you feeding?
Grace&Peace,
Tom
Friday, April 13, 2007
COMPASSIONATE REPLY TO HUSKER RED
"What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?' As I live, says the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel!" (Ezekiel 18:2-3).
There, there Husker, it is going to be alright. I know it is Friday the 13th and having that bowl of crabby flakes for breakfast didn't help a lot either. I know you have a problem with making human relationships too complex and difficult. Still, even though it is helpful to show those who are hurting that you care, it does make a difference how you show them. By sympathizing with them one tends to freeze the problem in place. It is a form of enabling--agreeing that one is entitled to feel and act the way they do because, "If you had been through what I have been through you would feel and act the way I do." Sympathy makes victims, and God will have none of that, but compassion results in making responsible people, ". . .we are more that conquerors through him who loved us" (Romans 8:37).
Thankyou, HR for your comment because you expressed the thoughts of many. A compassionate person will take the time to try to understand another's feelings from their perspective. Armed with this understanding the compassionate one will act in ways that are more likely to bring about an aleviation or solution to the problem. God has not acted toward us in sympathy, but He has acted in compassion for us, giving us what is needed to meet our deepest need.
Grace&Peace,
Tom
There, there Husker, it is going to be alright. I know it is Friday the 13th and having that bowl of crabby flakes for breakfast didn't help a lot either. I know you have a problem with making human relationships too complex and difficult. Still, even though it is helpful to show those who are hurting that you care, it does make a difference how you show them. By sympathizing with them one tends to freeze the problem in place. It is a form of enabling--agreeing that one is entitled to feel and act the way they do because, "If you had been through what I have been through you would feel and act the way I do." Sympathy makes victims, and God will have none of that, but compassion results in making responsible people, ". . .we are more that conquerors through him who loved us" (Romans 8:37).
Thankyou, HR for your comment because you expressed the thoughts of many. A compassionate person will take the time to try to understand another's feelings from their perspective. Armed with this understanding the compassionate one will act in ways that are more likely to bring about an aleviation or solution to the problem. God has not acted toward us in sympathy, but He has acted in compassion for us, giving us what is needed to meet our deepest need.
Grace&Peace,
Tom
Saturday, April 07, 2007
AMAZING GRACE
America's most recognized and loved hymn is AMAZING GRACE, written by John Newton. When Newton was just 11, his mother died. His father took him off to sea to be with him. On a visit back at home, the British Navy impounded young Newton and impressed him into service. He escaped from the Navy, only to be impounded again. This time, however, the Navy traded him to a slave trader. That is how Newton became involved in the slave trade and other immoralities. He was eventually imprisoned, and the rescued by a friend of his father.
In 1748, he boarded the Greyhound headed for home, but encountered a terrible storm on the way. After 27 days of being lost at sea, the crew finally sighted land. This experience drove Newton back to the faith he learned from his mother. He became a preacher of the gospel and for the next 59 years would preach it faithfully. At age 82, near death,almost blind, and with fading memory, he spoke these words: "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things.
I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior."
Now you know why he wrote, "Amazing grace! How sweet the sound! That saved a wretch like me!" Any one who has a conscience and honestly evaluates her internal and external behavior will feel wretched, understanding how far short she has fallen in meeting the demands of love and holiness.
There is a paradox here too, because it is in this wretchedness that we find true self-esteem. We a not a piece of human debris! We are a person created in the image of God whom God loves so much that He made a sacrifice beyond the scope of our understanding and imagination. This side of Heaven it will never be completely understood, but the cross assures us of our great value to God.
"But God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
Grace&Peace,
Tom
In 1748, he boarded the Greyhound headed for home, but encountered a terrible storm on the way. After 27 days of being lost at sea, the crew finally sighted land. This experience drove Newton back to the faith he learned from his mother. He became a preacher of the gospel and for the next 59 years would preach it faithfully. At age 82, near death,almost blind, and with fading memory, he spoke these words: "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things.
I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior."
Now you know why he wrote, "Amazing grace! How sweet the sound! That saved a wretch like me!" Any one who has a conscience and honestly evaluates her internal and external behavior will feel wretched, understanding how far short she has fallen in meeting the demands of love and holiness.
There is a paradox here too, because it is in this wretchedness that we find true self-esteem. We a not a piece of human debris! We are a person created in the image of God whom God loves so much that He made a sacrifice beyond the scope of our understanding and imagination. This side of Heaven it will never be completely understood, but the cross assures us of our great value to God.
"But God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
Grace&Peace,
Tom
Thursday, April 05, 2007
YOU MIGHT BE A LIBERAL IF. . .
"A wise man will hear and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels" (Proverbs 1:5).
If you have ever had a question about whether you are a liberal or conservative consider the following:
1. You might be a liberal if you are against capital punishment, but support abortion on demand.
2. You might be a liberal if you believe businesses create oppression and governments create prosperity.
3. You might be a liberal if you believe tha guns in the hands of law-abiding Americans are more of a threat than nuclear weapons technology in the hands of the Chinese, North Koreans and Iran.
4. You might be a liberal if you believe there was no art before Federal funding.
5. You might be a liberal if you believe global temperatures are less affected by cyclical documented changes in the earth's climate and more affected by soccer moms driving SUV's and burping cows.
6. You might be a liberal if you believe gender roles are artificial but being homosexual is natural.
7. You might be a liberal if you believe that the AIDS virus is spread by lack of Federal funding.
8. You might be a liberal if that the government school system that cannot teach our children how to read is some how competent enough to teach them about sex.
9. You might be a liberal if you believe that hunters do not care about nature, but activists who haven't been outside San Francisco do.
10. You might be a liberal if you believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.
11. You might be a liberal if you believe that Mel Gibson spent $25 million of his own money to make THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST for financial gain only.
12. You might be a liberal if you believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.
13. You might be a liberal if you believe that taxes are too low and ATM fees are too high.
14. You might be a liberal if you believe that Margaret Sanger and Gloria Steinem are more important to American history that Thomas Jefferson, Robert E. Lee, Thomas Edison and Alexand Graham Bell.
15. You might be a liberal if you believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides are not.
16. You might be a liberal if you believe that Hillary Clinton is normal and a very nice person.
17. You might be a liberal if you believe that the only reason that socialism has failed every where and every time it has been tried is because the right people have not been in charge.
18. You might be a liberal if you believe that conservatives telling the truth belong in jail and a liars, frauds and sex offenders belong in congress and the White House.
19. You might be a liberal if you belive that funding provided by the Chinese and Saudi governments to the Democrat Party is somehow in the best interest of the United States.
20. You might be a liberal if you believe that homosexual parades displaying drag, transvestites and beastiality should be constitutionally protected, but that manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal.
21. You might be a liberal if you believe that it's OK to give Federal workers the day off on Christmas Day, but it is no OK to say "Merry Christmas."
22. You might be a liberal if you believe that this post is part of a "vast, right-wing conspiracy,"
though it was adapted from a contribution from a dear friend.
Grace&Peace,
Tom
If you have ever had a question about whether you are a liberal or conservative consider the following:
1. You might be a liberal if you are against capital punishment, but support abortion on demand.
2. You might be a liberal if you believe businesses create oppression and governments create prosperity.
3. You might be a liberal if you believe tha guns in the hands of law-abiding Americans are more of a threat than nuclear weapons technology in the hands of the Chinese, North Koreans and Iran.
4. You might be a liberal if you believe there was no art before Federal funding.
5. You might be a liberal if you believe global temperatures are less affected by cyclical documented changes in the earth's climate and more affected by soccer moms driving SUV's and burping cows.
6. You might be a liberal if you believe gender roles are artificial but being homosexual is natural.
7. You might be a liberal if you believe that the AIDS virus is spread by lack of Federal funding.
8. You might be a liberal if that the government school system that cannot teach our children how to read is some how competent enough to teach them about sex.
9. You might be a liberal if you believe that hunters do not care about nature, but activists who haven't been outside San Francisco do.
10. You might be a liberal if you believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.
11. You might be a liberal if you believe that Mel Gibson spent $25 million of his own money to make THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST for financial gain only.
12. You might be a liberal if you believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution.
13. You might be a liberal if you believe that taxes are too low and ATM fees are too high.
14. You might be a liberal if you believe that Margaret Sanger and Gloria Steinem are more important to American history that Thomas Jefferson, Robert E. Lee, Thomas Edison and Alexand Graham Bell.
15. You might be a liberal if you believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides are not.
16. You might be a liberal if you believe that Hillary Clinton is normal and a very nice person.
17. You might be a liberal if you believe that the only reason that socialism has failed every where and every time it has been tried is because the right people have not been in charge.
18. You might be a liberal if you believe that conservatives telling the truth belong in jail and a liars, frauds and sex offenders belong in congress and the White House.
19. You might be a liberal if you belive that funding provided by the Chinese and Saudi governments to the Democrat Party is somehow in the best interest of the United States.
20. You might be a liberal if you believe that homosexual parades displaying drag, transvestites and beastiality should be constitutionally protected, but that manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal.
21. You might be a liberal if you believe that it's OK to give Federal workers the day off on Christmas Day, but it is no OK to say "Merry Christmas."
22. You might be a liberal if you believe that this post is part of a "vast, right-wing conspiracy,"
though it was adapted from a contribution from a dear friend.
Grace&Peace,
Tom
Monday, April 02, 2007
THE BONES OF JESUS?
Apparently, the ossuaries of Jesus and his family have been found. I doubt that the timing for the release of this story was coincidental, being released during the Easter season for maximum exposure and maximum profits for the Discovery Channel.
Arguably, the greatest evidence for the truth of the Christian faith is that it exists at all. From day one, Pentecost, 29 A.D. at Jerusalem, the bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth was preached as being foundational to the faith. It was consistently preached that way, as Paul would later say, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile..." Both friend and foe alike knew the location of the tomb of Jesus. At the first public preaching of the faith, which was heard by thousands of people, the foes could have extinguished the faith by producing the body, but they could not. This accounts for the explosive growth of the faith in the very place where Jesus was crucified.
If Christ has not risen one has to contend with the unlikely scenario that the disciples perpetrated a fraud. It takes about a year for bones to be prepared for an ossuary, so they had to be very secretive about what they were doing. Then it was these same disciples who were perpetrating the fraud that suffered torture and died to defend its truth. People die for false beliefs all the time, suicide bombers are evidence of that. However, people are extremely unlikely to die to defend the truth of a fraud they are perpetrating. James, Jude and each of the apostles of Jesus, suffered torture unto death without recanting the Easter story!
There is no question that the Christian hope is audacious, but it is not delusional! It is founded on the solid truth that Jesus Christ has risen. Whose ever bones are in the ossuary, they are not the bones of Jesus of Nazareth, as the name would have been inscribed on the ossuary of a Galilean.
So, now, have a joyful Easter!!!
Grace&Peace,
Tom
Arguably, the greatest evidence for the truth of the Christian faith is that it exists at all. From day one, Pentecost, 29 A.D. at Jerusalem, the bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth was preached as being foundational to the faith. It was consistently preached that way, as Paul would later say, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile..." Both friend and foe alike knew the location of the tomb of Jesus. At the first public preaching of the faith, which was heard by thousands of people, the foes could have extinguished the faith by producing the body, but they could not. This accounts for the explosive growth of the faith in the very place where Jesus was crucified.
If Christ has not risen one has to contend with the unlikely scenario that the disciples perpetrated a fraud. It takes about a year for bones to be prepared for an ossuary, so they had to be very secretive about what they were doing. Then it was these same disciples who were perpetrating the fraud that suffered torture and died to defend its truth. People die for false beliefs all the time, suicide bombers are evidence of that. However, people are extremely unlikely to die to defend the truth of a fraud they are perpetrating. James, Jude and each of the apostles of Jesus, suffered torture unto death without recanting the Easter story!
There is no question that the Christian hope is audacious, but it is not delusional! It is founded on the solid truth that Jesus Christ has risen. Whose ever bones are in the ossuary, they are not the bones of Jesus of Nazareth, as the name would have been inscribed on the ossuary of a Galilean.
So, now, have a joyful Easter!!!
Grace&Peace,
Tom
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
