President George W. Bush Part II

Wow!

You know, this guy DOES sound like a moron when he talks sometimes (much to the delight of those that hate the very air he breathes), but today he said some very deep truths. This one in particular:

"America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one.
From the day of our Founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on
this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they bear the
image of the Maker of Heaven and earth. Across the generations we have
proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a
master, and no one deserves to be a slave. Advancing these ideals is the mission
that created our Nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now
it is the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of
our time."

(emphasis mine)

This is no stupid man for as much as some would have us believe. This guy understands from whence good government springs forth:

"Self-government relies, in the end, on the governing of the self"

I could hear shades of Kennedy launching things like the Peace Corps in parts of it:

"All Americans have witnessed this idealism, and some for the first time. I ask
our youngest citizens to believe the evidence of your eyes. You have seen duty
and allegiance in the determined faces of our soldiers. You have seen that life
is fragile, and evil is real, and courage triumphs. Make the choice to serve in
a cause larger than your wants, larger than yourself - and in your days you will
add not just to the wealth of our country, but to its character"

People will say what they will about this guy today, but this speech will go down as a hinge point in history.

Consensus or Unity? Not Quite Yet

I haven’t posted a daily reading lately, as I was lead off on a rabbit trail regarding APDL. Rabbit trails are allowed in the search for truth. This rabbit trail wound up delivering a truth I sought regarding the posts below on baptism. More on that later. Anyway, I Googled APDL and came up with some criticisms out there. Some echo misgivings I’ve felt tugging at a corner of my mind somewhere, but others are just way over the top. These guys hit a mark in taking issue with Saddleback’s emphasis on “contemporary music” as God loving “cultural variety.” They warn the new Israelites (or “Americans” per David Gelernter) to beware of growing “…bored with God's Word and…” embracing “…a wide variety of cultural and spiritual thrills.” That was foreign gods, Baalism and dancing about the Asherah poles in ancient Israel’s time. Our modern day equivalents could be say… well, I don’t know. Amy Grant?? New Ageism?? Eastern Mysticism? That would be “Multi-Cultural” in general, what we called “Political Correctness” back in the 80s. Idol worship is nothing new however. When Elvis Presley got done with Gospel music, he ran around Hollywood making B-movies and gleefully diddling starlets and co-stars much to the amusement of the whole country. Adapting Christian principles to modern culture is walking a razor’s edge – kids, don’t try this alone at home – is what I can hear Father God whispering in our ear.

Nor does APDL discuss much about an intelligent fear of God’s wrath in another mark Crossroads scores on. The parallels between ancient Israel and America get a little frightening sometimes when one considers what eventually happened to ancient Israel as it drifted towards itself and away from God. While God delights in our discovery of Him, He’s not going to tolerate a whole lot of crap from mature believers that oughta know better by now. Translations can be good or they can be BAD! In my career as an engineer, I’ve had my tech-edited reports come back completely turned upside down in meaning after the tech-editor tried re-writing a difficult technical concept into “plain English.” Some difficult technical concepts are just that and should remain as just that to broaden the reader’s technical depth. Same goes for the Bible. Crossroads points out the postmodernesque nature of some modern Bible translations in dealing with the word “fear” for example. It is quite wise to fear the Lord and His wrath for straying from the course. Any fool should recognize the serious can of whoop-ass waiting for those wanting the plain English version versus the unvarnished truth. That would be one of those nagging tugs I’ve felt from time to time when encountering these new translations. Now I’m waiting for the hip-hop translation and how it will refer to Mary (my Catholic roots exposing themselves here)!! Would she be a “b” or an “h?” Yikes!!

More to come on this....

A Purpose Driven Life - Day 23

“Oh, grow up already!” How many times have we heard that in our lives? From mothers, fathers, (soon to be) ex-girlfriends – hopefully not ex-wives? How difficult it is for men to leave childhood behind. Be it sports, partying, sex, what have you, we tend to not let go of surficial pleasures at expense to everything else. Some men excuse their self-infatuation with sports, for example, by living out old sport fantasies through their sons. “Quality time” between father and son is how it’s spun, but on several notable occasions results in the father making a complete ass of himself with game officials, other parents, etc, in the best ending examples.

I remember the movie “North Dallas Forty” with Nick Nolte as the suffering character and G.D. Spraidlin as the Tom Landry knock-off. Tom musta been a real religious nut according to this script - that incidentally replayed several times in different movies with Nolte as the same oppressed character in a variety of different careers and situations. A "Deep Actor" is something I don’t believe Nolte has ever been accused of. Anyway, the Landry character’s mischaracterization of Paul’s chapter on love (“I thought as a child…” etc.) was either ignorant of Paul’s meaning or could of cared less. Either way that quote from Paul has stuck with me always – “I put childish ways behind me.” Ouch. I’m not a nerd that avoids sports, but I have found that men’s league are often partially populated by men that are… weeelll… “Maturity Challenged” to put it lightly. The partial population got to be too much after awhile, so I stick with my wee morning 24-Hour workouts nowadaze. Not exactly community building, but there is something to said for sanity.

Sex also brings all sorts of destructive results to men and those around him if it is not understood in its biblical context - humans (a man and a woman, that is) valuing each other in a deeply intimate way. This post would never end diving into that well.

To sum up, in many ways men in particular refuse to grow up. My walk with Christ is so much more than it was even just a year ago. The rewards have been many, but I still feel the tug of “childish ways.” With God resetting the auto-pilot ever so slightly and steadily, those tugs are getting easier to resist. Thank my Lord for the grace You've shown me in that struggle.

A Purpose Driven Life - Day 22

Becoming like Christ. Yeah, right, uh-huh. It’s been said the more Paul discovered the character of Christ the more he realized how far he still had to go. And a long ways he had already traveled – from killer to preacher. Many today expect in some earth-shattering event, the Holy Spirit will come crashing into their lives with trumpets blaring, drums pounding, cymbals crashing, cabs honking, etc.

That was not so in my experience. The Holy Spirit has approached me numerous times in a “whisper” as Warren points out with 1 Kings. He has been subtle and steady. But to be as Christ? Not in this life. The Dark One promised that (Godhood) to Eve and then Adam. There are many faiths today that still feed from that apple. I won’t name them. They know who they are if they’re being totally honest. But it’s a lie. What is also a lie is that a good Christian life will deliver earthly comforts – guaranteed. Show me where in the Bible it says that. Job would say, “Whaddaya been smokin’?!?!” We gave up full time comfort when we bit into that apple. Strife builds character that we will take to heaven; so accept every hardship as a promise of that great reward.

Nor is it true that acceptance of Christ delivers immediate Christ-like character. Sin is a persistent thing and requires time and obedience to lower to a dull roar anyway. You’ll never be rid of it in this life, otherwise who needs Christ? Sin is easy to succumb to (more character building in resisting it), and our culture today encourages such laziness. No one really enjoys growing up and accepting more responsibility at the immediate moment – so easy to stay a child – but God is molding you to be an adult. Take the challenge. It’s worth it.

A Purpose Driven Life - Day 21

I’ve been remiss in reading this most excellent book daily as the prescription goes. Therefore I’ll begin posting my musings and analyses of the chapters on a daily basis to keep myself on task. I’m on Day 21 so rather than start over; I’ll run full circle back to Day 1 after Day 40. Day 21 may be the longest post as it struck several chords in me. Here goes:

APDL –21

Unity??? Oye! In this culture of bilious rhetoric, a.k.a. ad-hominem arguments, Unity is a tough hill to take – many casualties. However, in every obstacle or barriers presents new opportunities to true leaders. Today’s cultural strife gives mature Christians an advantage in presenting how adults behave as adults. Today’s culture has whole brigades of people out there waiting to be offended by somebody or something. But there is a wider majority of the Michael Moore/Howard Dean/Dan Rather weary public yearning for something true to believe in. What an opportunity for Christians to present true unity in spirit!!

Now as Warren warns us, unity does not mean uniformity. Or “robotic” as the smugger of the anti-religious would gloat. No, Christians are not perfect, nor cookie cutter copies of each other (how boring!), nor are they “red-state bible thumping apes.” Mature Christians are thoughtful, caring, intelligent and very different people. The same critics are often unrealistic as well. They search futilely for the ideal world pot-of-gold. A Christian community is often far from ideal being populated by sinners, but to base criticism on failure to achieve the ideal is juvenile. Presidential wannabe Howard Dean in divorcing his church over a bike path displayed for all to see the depth of his beliefs. Adult Christians understand the impossibility of actually achieving the ideal but know to reach for something less than that is complacency. Complacency eventually leads to failure and ruin. Bill Gates didn’t get to be who he is by saying DOS 6.0 is plenty good. No less should we accept in our spiritual life.

But it’s so easy to pick apart another’s shortcomings or to gossip. A wise friend once said to me, “The easiest thing in the world to be is a cynic.” While cynics may make excellent movie reviewers or political pundits, they produce very little of value. Least of all in a Christian community. So where does one draw the line between “constructive criticism” and “devouring one another?” Situations like this often give life to human emotions best kept in the cage, so this is a tough question. One that only God can answer I’ll venture. Best to go to God with a prayer for tongue guidance - or tongue tying failing that.

As today’s culture preaches, leaders are suspect. There’s always a palm being greased or a self-interest being ill-“rottenly” gained so sez post-modernism. Being a leader today sux to use a word. Nearly every part of it is thankless. So why be surprised when those you think would make great leaders politely decline the nomination? That may explain why “flip-floppers” manning a “Desk of a Thousand Indecisions” seemingly populate most leadership positions today. This is why true leaders, when found, are the most deserving of prayer rather than scorn, especially when they are wrong. Prayer will deliver truth to a true leader who needs his eyes opened. Scorn delivers only more scorn. God does not scorn so it has no value to Him. By these means, we are delivered the leadership we have asked for – those who will lie for our vote and those who won’t. Praying for good leaders who make wrong decisions to find the truth is in our own best interest as well as theirs. That’s why Paul exhorted us to submit to the authorities. Let God apply the correction where needed. That will deliver unity.

Tsunami!

My God. Well, I'll say that anyway.

"The carnage is incomprehensible," George Bush observed. To say the least. The intensity of human misery and suffering has not been seen like this in a long time. There are those (smug?) postmodernists and other secularists who say this is proof of a non-existant God, or at best, a vicious one as found here. Please. To pin this on God is lunacy, or at best, ignorance.

If we're to point fingers as to how this monsterous loss of life could have been prevented, let's look in the mirror first. There's no stopping earthquakes at least not today. Perhaps there will some day. Afterall, who 200-years ago would have imagined the intense power available in the unseen and unknown atom? I won't attempt to predict the future other than to say it will be more bizarre then we can dream of today.

But how to prevent this magnitude of death? Why would God allow that to happen? The answer is, He didn't. We did. For how long have we humans known about the dangerous places of the Earth? Krakatoa ring any bells with anyone? Same general part of the Earth and pretty much exactly the same place geologically speaking. In the Pacific Ocean, there are tsunami warning centers and ocean floor sensors intended to prevent exactly this type of calamity. Hawaii, Japan, and elsewhere are wired to the gills watching for this monster from the deep. The Indian Ocean has no such system. And why is that? Why is that when Man has known for a long, long time how dangerous the eastern part of the Indian Ocean can be. The animals in Sumatra, India, etc. were smarter than us for the love of God. The Earth shook as it was designed to do, and the animals ran for the hills. Humans greeted the shaking with indifference at worst (warned no one), morbid curiousity at best (out come the camcorders). Knowing the dangers of this part of our home, why do we allow such risk Guardian, the UN, the EU, and yes, the USA?

As we left Eden to "subdue the Earth," how good a job have we done in that respect? That word "subdue" has never implied an easy task. In fact the very word itself implies God knew what misery was waiting for us this side of Eden now that we "knew it all." What teenagers we can be sometimes. Reading the Guardian's rage reminded me of things I've heard from my teenagers or made me remember the stupid things that flew out of my own mouth not so long ago. This is just another misery of our choosing, Guardian. A lot of people dropped the ball on preventing, or at least minimizing, the human toll this particular natural act wrought. Nature isn't cruel, it just is. Humans carelessly ignoring Nature and the dangers it can bring IS CRUEL. The only consolation is perhaps there won't be a next time. I say perhaps because Krakatoa declared how dangerous the area was and yet we choose to still live there without much regard for the consequences. You want to rage against someone for all the death this earthquake brought, start with the UN and work your way down the chain of nations that either knew or should have known the danger that waited for us deep beneath the waves. Put that rage to good use, lobby for a tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean, and stop acting the fool.

Revelations says God promises a New Earth and a New Heaven free from this kind of sorrow wait for us. Until then, suck it up and deal with what we choose for ourselves. For the immediate moment go here to help. But stop pointing that silly finger unless it's at us. Blaming God is cowardice at worst, laziness at best.