A Nation Divided, a Faith United

 

Depending on who you talk to, the United States of America is either on the verge of collapse and chaos or on the cusp of a new era of effectiveness and glory.

Depending on which political party has captured a person's allegiance, the United States of America is led by either a narcissistic megalomaniac or a genius visionary.

One thing is for sure, though.

The United States of America is NOT united.

But that's not what concerns me today. The issue that brings me to my computer with a heavy heart is that the conflict and division I've just described is not only affecting politics.

There are men and women...people who are doing their best to love Jesus...who have built figurative walls between each other because of what they think about government spending and executive orders.

With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in God’s likeness. Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.

James 3:9-10 CSB

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Truth is...Politicians whither and governments fade away. Entire nations rise and fall. But there is only one name known to mankind by which we must be saved. Only one who has promised and proven to be with us always...even to the end of the age. I pledge to keep the main thing the main thing. I will continue to lift up Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, as each soul's savior, and I look forward to seeing him draw everyone to himself.

Price Per Gallon

 

[Disclaimer: The financial figures that follow were current approximations at the time of writing. Their exact accuracy isn't the point.]

During my two-shifts-a-week at a local convenience store, I hear a lot of people talk about the price of gasoline. It's been hovering one side or the other of $3 a gallon lately and people are always telling me whether the price has gone up or gone down.

I don't have the heart to tell them I don't really care and could you just pay for it without whining.

Not having any way of knowing whether I should think $3 per gallon is a good price or a bad price, I did a little research to find out how much per gallon some other liquids cost:

Milk: $3.79

Coffee Mate: $5.54

Evian Spring Water: $6.40

Soy Sauce: $15.33

Red Bull: $30

Tabasco Sauce: $94.46

But what about liquids that DO something?

Penicillin: $301

Insulin: $9,411

Chanel No. 5 Perfume: $25,600

Thailand Cobra Venom: $152,000

Scorpian Venom: Almost $39 Million

Truth is...The significance of all these things absolutely disappears in comparison to the one liquid that has affected more good in the lives of more people over the course of more time than any other thing.

Jesus: "This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many."

1 John 1:7 "The blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin."

Is This the End?

 

The Saturday morning of the most recent outbreak of violence against Israel, a co-worker asked, "Are you ready for World War III?"

My response was a little more dismissive than it should have been, but I stand by its basic premise:

"You will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come." -Matthew 24:6-8

Since my spiritual awakening in the 1970s, every time something drastic happened in the Middle East, a new load of books would be released talking about how the end was near and how such-and-such ruler or such-and-such military campaign was the fulfillment of certain verses in Daniel or Revelation. And then things would die down and people stopped buying the books until their new editions were released a few years down the road at the next outbreak of violence.

It didn't take long for me to stop getting anxious about "wars and threats of war" in the Middle East.

Adding to my lack of anxiety was a book I read as part of my college class on eschatology. It was titled The Meaning of the Millenium and was authored by four people who held four different convictions about how the world is going to end. They each wrote a short paper supporting their view with Scripture references and charts, and then the other three would write rebuttals "proving" the view false.

There they were, four guys who were way smarter than me, each dedicated to the Bible as the inspired word of God, and each coming to a conclusion directly opposed to the other three. It taught me the depth of the truth of Jesus' words in Matthew 24:36  -  "No one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself."

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Truth is...None of this is meant to say that this latest conflict couldn't possibly be the beginning of the end. It certainly could be. But you know what? I'm not going to worry about it. I'm going to boldly join the Apostle John, praying with his words from Revelation 22:20, "Even so, come Lord Jesus!"

Deadly Debate Corroborates Corruption

Is the current political rancor the worst our country has ever experienced?

Not by a long shot.

Antebellum America had plenty of violence in the political theater. The following is an excerpt from Joanne B. Freeman's book, The Field of Blood.

On one memorable occasion in Washington in 1857, three nativist gangs -- the Plug Uglies, the Chunkers, and the Rip-Raps -- joined forces to terrorize immigrants casting votes, causing a riot. When the panicked mayor called in the Marines, the three gangs hauled a cannon into play, though they never fired it. By the time the brawl subsided, several people had been killed. State legislatures also erupted into uproars from time to time. In 1857, there was an all­ out row in the Illinois legislature featuring "considerable wrestling, knocking over chairs, desks, inkstands, men, and things generally." In 1858, state assemblies in both New York and Massachusetts dissolved into fisticuffs. "[T]here was a most heavenly time in the House for an hour or two," gushed a New York Times reporter about the Boston out­break. It "would have made a sensation even in Congress." The Arkan­sas House deserves special mention. In 1837, when a representative insulted the Speaker during debate, the Speaker stepped down from his platform, bowie knife in hand, and killed him. Expelled and tried for murder, he was acquitted for excusable homicide and reelected, only to pull his knife on another legislator during debate, though this time the sound of colleagues cocking pistols stopped him cold.

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Truth is...The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out. But I, God, search the heart and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be. (Jeremiah 17:9-10 The Message)

Add to the Beauty

Funny how one word can change a person's whole perspective.

I was reading Paul's letter to Titus and started focusing on the ninth and tenth verses of chapter two:

Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

I knew better than to get hung up on the whole "slaves" thing. I knew that indentured servanthood in the first century shouldn't be confused with images of kidnapped Africans on an auction block.

What caught my attention was that last phrase that spoke to WHY anyone should live in a particular way: "so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive."

That's a nice enough thought as expressed by the NIV translators, but how is it stated in other versions?

The Message says "adding luster to the teaching of our Savior God," more-strongly implying that I can actually be an asset to the gospel...not just a beneficiary of it.

And then I read the Amplified Bible:

...so that in everything they may be an ornament and do credit to the teaching [which is] from and about God our Savior.

The word ornament really caught my eye.

It's one thing to think that my honorable and upright behavior can make the teachings of God more attractive. It's another thing to realize that I am one small part of a beautiful Christmas tree; impressive enough on my own, but when viewed in the context of the whole tree...stunning.

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Truth is...There are plenty of examples of ugly ornaments hanging around today. So much so that many people characterize Christianity as being hateful and anti-this or anti-that. In the face of that, we are called to be model employees, honorable citizens, and helpful neighbors. Together, we can add to the beautiful attractiveness of God's love, poured out on us through the Holy Spirit and demonstrated by Christ's sacrifice.

For a musical exploration of this thought, listen to Sara Groves' "Add to the Beauty" by clicking here.

Three-Way Church Swap

Three churches in Western Dakota County, Minnesota, recently went through an amazing three-way location swap that could not have come about without the direct leading of Yahweh.

It's an amazing story, and if you've got 7:48, I'd like to tell it to you.

https://youtu.be/g18AnErrh2Y

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Truth is...This would never have happened if it were up to humans alone. God's fingerprints are all over this and I can't wait to see what's coming down the road.

Some Trust In Chariots...

We've been close to a nuclear World War III more often than you would like to think.

For instance:

1. On the evening of October 25, 1962, at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, an air force sentry at a military base near Duluth, Minnesota "spotted someone climbing the base fence, shot at the figure, and sounded the sabotage alarm." As alarms at airfields all over the region were sounded, at Volk Field, Wisconsin, the wrong alarm, the one signaling nuclear war (the "P.S., we mean it, this is not a drill" alarm) went off, and pilots scrambled and headed down the runway, being stopped only at the last second by the post commander. The "intruder" was a bear.

2. Also in the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis, only two days later, October 27, 1962, on the same day that an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over Cuba: At this point, Soviet submarines were being subjected to depth charges to make them rise to the surface (we were unaware they had nuclear weapons aboard). Despite strict orders not to use their nuclear torpedoes absent authorization from Moscow, the three Soviet officers aboard Foxtrot submarine B-59 had decided to use theirs if under attack and unable to reach Moscow but only if all three officers agreed. They were, in fact, unable to reach Moscow, and in the end, one officer, Vasili Alexandrovich Arkipov, finally made the fateful decision not to start WWIII.

3. In 1983, U.S.-NATO military maneuvers in Europe, called "Able Archer 83," were interpreted for a time by the Soviets as the prelude to a -- not so good -- full-scale nuclear attack.

4. On January 25, 1995, technicians at the Olengrosk early warning radar facility detected an unidentified ballistic missile over Norway which appeared to be heading for Russia. Because the missile was manufactured in the United States, its "signature trail" was therefor identified by Russian computers as hostile and apparently fired from a U.S. submarine in the Arctic Sea, even though it was actually only a Norwegian research rocket researching the Northern Lights. President Yeltsin's "nuclear briefcase" was activated and Russian missile submarines ordered to battle stations. Finally, with three minutes to spare, the missile was correctly identified. Happily, for the human race, this incident took place at a time when Yeltsin was President and not earlier (or subsequent) presidents.


But this is the mere tip of the iceberg of close calls known to experts. There have been literally hundreds of false alerts of a nuclear attack in this country alone, triggered by such things as a flock of geese, the rising of the moon, the sun's reflection on a cloud, a strong solar storm, and space debris re-entering the atmosphere. And of course, there have been who knows how many similar or worse incidents in other countries. (From World Peace Through Law, by James Taylor Ranney)

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Truth is...if history teaches us anything, we should know by now that mankind is capable of horrific, and horrifically short-sighted, acts of aggression. Our hope for peaceful coexistence can't reside in the strength of our armaments to deter, or the openness of our hearts to live and let live.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. (Psalm 20:7 NIV)

Pearls Before Swine Speaks Truth

I'm pretty sure I've never before tapped into Stephan Pastis' comic strip, Pearls Before Swine, for any kind of life lesson, but this past Sunday's strip, I believe, may have touched on something a lot of people are feeling.

It begins with the sweetest, most innocent character in the cast, Pig, as he is bombarded with current events.

Then, we see Pig's unique reaction.

But it's the final panel that plops us right in the middle of SadButTrueVille.

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Truth is...No doubt, plenty of us wish we had a balloon that would float us away from turmoil and conflict. The hard truth is, we have to BE the change we'd like to see. I can be part of the solution, or I can be part of the problem.

(Now, let's discuss that pig snout on the front of Goat's face.)

Taking a Knee

According to every sports-related movie I've ever seen  -  and when it comes to sports, watching movies is the only experience I have to go on  -  to "take a knee" means to gather around the coach and listen up because he's about to lay some important words on you.

Of course, for the past several weeks, the idea of football players taking a knee carries a totally different meaning.

For those on one side, it is a form of silent protest against the inequality and injustice that exists within the borders of "the land of the free and the home of the brave". For those on another side, it is a disgusting show of disrespect for those who have fought and died for the star-spangled banner that is our nation's flag.

For me, taking a knee is something completely different.

• It is the first step in retrieving one of Beloved's earrings from under the bedroom dresser.
• It is a necessary posture to get eye-to-eye with my grandchildren; either to let them know I love them or to let them climb onto my back.
• It is a sign of humility before the almighty Creator God.

If I were to kneel in protest of anything it would also be completely different.

• I would kneel to protest my lack of kneeling to pray.
• I would bend my knee to protest the bending of my will toward the things of this world instead of the things of God.
• I would collapse in grief to protest the sickness of human hearts and the greatness of my own selfishness, greed, and gluttony.
• I would lay spread eagle on the ground in utter amazement at the One who sacrificed all so I could be free from sin's stranglehold.

Truth is...my life could do with a little more of that kind of humility, amazement, and life-changing grief.

Thoughts and Prayers???

If you've been around Truth is... for a while, you know I try to keep things positive as much as possible.

Today, it might be a struggle to live up to that precedent, but I'll give it a shot.

Most-notably with the recent weather-related emergencies in Texas, but also widespread across the social media landscape, there have been uncountable uses of variations on the theme "Our thoughts and prayers are with you."

• We're thinking of you!
• We would appreciate any positive thoughts you could send our way.
• Our thoughts and prayers go out for...

Let's look at each of these specific examples:

We're thinking of you  -  This seems to be a non-religious synonym for "We're praying for you"...meant to be an encouragement to the person hearing it. But why would it be an encouragement? If we don't believe in the power of prayer to affect change, what possible use would it be to think about a person and their negative situation? Wouldn't it be better to say "You've crossed my mind and I'm on my way over"?

We would appreciate any positive thoughts you could send our way  -  Apparently, the speaker isn't comfortable asking for prayers, but has faith that people thinking positive thoughts about them will be of some use. And if "positive thoughts" is politically-correct code for "prayers", why send them toward anyone other than God?

Our thoughts and prayers go out for...  -  I really don't get this. If I'm going to pray for someone, I'm going to pray for them: ask the Lord of all creation to intervene on their behalf. How does additionally sending "thoughts" into the ether have any bearing on what may or may not happen?

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Truth is...for Christ followers, prayers are powerful tools for making the world a better place. For non-believers, who think that prayers are nothing more than wishful thinking, wishful thinking is all they can offer. And for both groups, linking those thoughts or prayers to actual involvement where the rubber meets the road is the best of both worlds. 

Criticizing Critics

Speaking of the television series Blue Bloods, and we were doing just that just two weeks ago, an episode Beloved and I watched recently included the oldest grandchild of NYC's police commissioner encouraging her grandpa by reading the following manly-man quote from Teddy Roosevelt.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Truth is...in these days when people posture and complain and protest at the drop of a hat; when we think we know the facts of a matter when as a matter of fact we have only been reading a Twitter feed; when The Freedom of Speech is defended only for those who agree with me; it seems this quote is as timeless as it is tough.

A Day in the Life

The 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has been making a few waves in pop culture recently. Detractors will want to say it's just a Baby Boomers thing...a desperate grasp for relevance in a culture increasingly dominated by Millennials and beyond.

Maybe so, but I've got video evidence that it's a little more than that.

Thanks to editor Tom Compagnoni and the Australian arm of Huffington Post, the following 50 Covers... video suggests it's not just old codgers that appreciate creative composing and performing...and music can bridge a lot of gaps that many would say are insurmountable.

https://youtu.be/uuwnIEwhF0g

Truth is...there's not necessarily anything to be excited about in the lyrical content of A Day in the Life, but this video is a testimony that the world is not as divided and hateful and "us vs. them" as a browsing of headlines would suggest. People of all ages, nationalities, genders, economic standings, and political opinions are more alike than they are different. And if a fifty-year-old song can help point that out, then crank up the turntable, because I'd love to turrrrrrn youuuuuuuu oooooooon.

How Scriptural IS Your Nativity Scene?

A San Diego-based company is getting a lot of press...and a lot of flak...concerning its 2016 creation of a Nativity set designed as if Jesus were born to a Millennial couple in 2016. The wise men are on Segways, bearing gifts from Amazon Prime. A shepherd is posting the event on Instagram. The "100% Organic" cow is eating gluten-free feed.

And at the center of it all, in a solar-paneled stable, are the new parents, sipping a Starbucks and taking selfies.

Not surprisingly, there are two equal and opposite reactions to this product. Some think it's hilarious and they're buying the sets as fast as they can be produced. Others think it's sacrilegious and are condemning it loud and long.

But before anybody gets out the tar and feathers, maybe we should stop and consider...just how Scriptural (or not) are the "traditional" Nativity scenes (which have only been around for about 700 years or so)?

It's nothing new to mention that the Bible does not specify the number of wise men, just the number of gifts. And it's probably good to remind ourselves that there's no Scriptural precedent for having the wise men and the shepherds visiting the baby at the same time.

But how about that meeting place? Why have it all take place in a stable?

Presumably, because of Luke 2:7, which in the King James translation says, "And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes,and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."

We read that and in our minds we think, "No vacancy at the local motel; a manger is a feeding trough for animals; that adds up to Mary and Joseph being in a stable, right?"

Not necessarily.

There are some other factors to put into our mental equation:

• Bethlehem was Joseph's ancestral home. (That's why they were going there to register with the government.) He had family there.
• Extending hospitality to family members was (and is) very important in the Semitic culture.

Joseph and Mary would be staying with family, not in some generic "inn". And that makes the NIV's alternate translation of the word "inn" more likely: "...there was no guest room available for them."

"But wait a minute!" you interject. "If they were at a relative's house, what's the deal with laying the baby in a manger?"

Good question...and here's what I think is a good answer.

According to my Adult Bible Fellowship (aka Sunday School) teacher, who got his info from N. T. Wright's Luke for Everyone, a standard house in first century Palestine would have two rooms: the main room where all the cooking and living took place, and a guest room/sleeping area where the family was always prepared to accept guests and offer hospitality. Also likely was the existence of a kind of lean-to along the outside of a wall of the main room that served as shelter for any animals a family might have. And in that wall would be an opening or two that the sheltered horse or mule or whatever could stick its head through to eat hay or feed from the manger that was on the INSIDE of the wall of the main room.

So here's how it could have all gone down...

Joseph and the very pregnant Mary arrive at Joseph's relative's house and are welcomed to stay in the main room, as the guest room is already filled because of the massive influx of people coming to register with the government. Mary delivers her baby (Jesus), wraps him up, and lays him in the only available cradle: a feeding trough.

An extra point in this interpretation's favor is that it eliminates the need for Mary and Joseph to purchase a house and live in Bethlehem for two years before the wise men show up.

Truth is...this isn't going to change anyone's life, unless it causes someone to be a little less judgmental and self-righteous. And in that case...have yourself a merry little Christmas!

That's My King!

Voting booths vanish. Ballots are blotted out. Opinion polls and expert analyses are absolutely inconsequential...compared to a certain Galilean carpenter.

I wish I could describe Him to you (like Dr. S. M. Lockridge does)...

Truth is...no matter who wins today's election, Jesus is still my King.

Making Memories

The entertainment industry recently lost not only a prolific instigator of laughter, but by all accounts a genuinely kind-hearted fellow...Garry Marshall.

From writing episodes of hits like The Lucy Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show in the 60's, through having his finger in what seemed like every ABC sitcom in the 70's (The Odd Couple, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy), to directing, and often writing, a string of successful films in the 80's and beyond (Beaches, Pretty Woman, The Other Sister, Runaway Bride...), Garry Marshall launched careers, propelled people to stardom, and taught a generation (or two) how to laugh without ridiculing or pandering.

Anne Hathaway became a star being directed by Marshall in The Princess Diaries. In her written remarks upon his death, she quotes Marshall's words to her before filming began:

“You never know if a movie is going to be a hit or not. The only thing you can control is the memories you make when shooting it. So, let’s make some good memories.”

Truth is...the same thing can be said about almost any earthly endeavor or even about life itself. The importance of the destination dims if there is no joy in the journey. So get out there and live a memorable life!  

Who Hit the Self-Destruct Button?

You've heard the frantic and/or depressed declarations, haven't you?

"The world has gone crazy."

"These are the end times."

"I don't feel safe driving to the store anymore."

First of all, as heartfelt and desperate as some of these kind of statements may be, 2016 is not the first time they've been said. Every time some faction strikes out against another in the Middle East, 12 new books are published about end-time prophecy (boldly flying in the face of Jesus' words in Matthew 24:6, "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come."). Every new generation seems to throw away the values of the old one. Each election cycle stirs up fears of how the country will be ruined if The Other Guy (or Gal) gets more votes. I'm old enough to remember how "the whole world [was] watching" as 10,000 protesters and 23,000 Chicago police and National Guardsmen violently interacted at the 1968 Democratic convention.

Second of all, there is a distinct possibility of good coming from all this bad. Yes, I'm serious. If nothing else, isn't it possible for the current unrest to break through the personal barriers to faith that some people have erected and lead them to see that, left to our own devices, we will surely destroy ourselves? Won't some be enabled to open their eyes and see that, indeed, the world needs Jesus?

When we share the love of Jesus

See each other as He sees us

Then His love will see us through 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UZVMv37K0s

Truth is...Some will look at current events and see the absence of God. Some will see the retaliation of God. Some will predict the soon return of God's Son. Me? I see our need for God. In any case, could there be a better time to do some reflecting on how a person ought to live and who a person ought to follow?

Chaos and Truth

I do not know what goes on in a person's mind that could possibly lead them to open fire in an Orlando club, killing 49 individuals and shattering the lives of hundreds.

I do not know what societal forces or religious interpretations or particular balance of personal rights and Federal regulations to start blaming.

I do not know an awful lot.

But there are a few things of which I am most assuredly certain.

I know Jesus loves each patron of Orlando's Pulse club and gave His life for their sin.

I know Jesus loves the shooter and gave His life for his sin.

I know Jesus loves each member of the LGBT community and gave His life for their sin.

I know Jesus loves each homophobe and gave His life for their sin.

I know Jesus loves each pervert, prostitute, preacher, pacifist, NRA enthusiast, Islamic extremist, Christian fundamentalist, racist, terrorist, and any other "ist" you can conjure.

Jesus loves them all...and died for them all...and weeps for them all...

...and calls each to repentance and a life of holiness.

• Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin. (John 8:11 NIV)
• If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15 NASB)

Truth is...I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him. (2 Timothy 1:12 NIV)

P.S.
The song featured in this previous post is particularly poignant right now. http://deweytruth.blogspot.com/2012/05/breathe-deep.html 

Political Prayers

In the interest of not letting evil triumph by being a good person who does nothing, I have taken a few opportunities on Facebook recently to decry the state of American politics. I have expressed shock and disgust at the level of support Donald Trump’s campaign to become the Republican nominee for President has garnered. I have called out the childishness of Senators who refuse to do their Constitutional duty of vetting the President’s nominee for Supreme Court Justice.

More privately, I have been quite clear about my opinion of Hillary Clinton’s level of truth-bending and Senator Sanders’ morally-honorable but fiscally-shaky economic ideals.

It is time for me to stop griping about these folks and start praying for them instead...

Lord God, bring honor and glory to yourself by bringing about amazing changes.

Speak to Donald Trump. If he has ears to hear, let him hear the Holy Spirit whisper how The Art of the Deal is not a close second to the Bible in terms of being A Great Book. Convict him about paying lip-service to Christianity while demonstrating an allegiance to Pride and Vulgarity. Humble his heart by showing him your greatness.

Speak to Hillary Clinton. If she has ears to hear, let her hear the Holy Spirit whisper how there are more important things than being The First Woman President of the USA and that even if it was that important, the ends do not justify the means. Teach her that truth matters more than the advancement of her personal agenda. Humble her heart by showing her your greatness.

Speak to Bernie Sanders and Ted Kruz and Senator Mitch McConnell. If they have ears to hear, let them hear the Holy Spirit whisper how your love has motivated every great thing you’ve ever done on behalf of mankind. Not laws. Not power. Not one-upmanship. Show them that true revolution involves the changing of human hearts more than the changing of systems or house majorities. Humble their hearts by showing them your greatness.

Truth is...Father God, I need you to speak to me. If I have ears to hear, let me hear the Holy Spirit whisper how the world’s hope does not reside in Washington D.C. Heal me from my own Pride and Vulgarity and Deceit and Attempts To Control. Grant me wisdom. Humble my heart by showing me your greatness.

I Am A Refugee

It started out as a misunderstanding of where a couple tickets were telling a couple people to sit at a sporting event, and ended up being a viral blog post about racism, terrorism, and fear.

And the most surprising aspect of it all was the verbal challenge being used as an accusatory weapon: "Are you a refugee?!?"

Hmmm...let me think about that.

Refugee, noun...a person who has fled from some danger or problem.

I have certainly tried my best to avoid problems like personal conflicts or unappetizing meals, but what about important problems? And what about actually fleeing?

Truth is...my biggest problem - separation from Yahweh because of my bent toward sin - has absolutely caused me to flee. I have run into the welcoming arms of Jesus. And the deeper truth, as Jesus illustrated in his story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), God didn't stand around waiting for me. He took the initiative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPen1jQrlhU

Back to Mayberry...Please

With the - literally - explosive week that has just gone by in West, Texas and Boston, Massachusetts, any number of people are reacting in any number of ways...some constructive and helpful, others maybe not.

While the following video, shared on Facebook by who-knows-at-this-point, certainly falls in the "maybe not" category...it offers no solutions, and is just a longing for things to be different than the way they are...it still strikes a chord within me.

With apologies to, and sympathy for, those unfamiliar with The Andy Griffith Show, here are the Bellamy Brothers:

Truth is...even when the show first aired (1960-1968), it was an expression of longing for a type of society that was rapidly dying. Little wonder the show and the song cause a case of nostalgia. Still...we all could use a lot more Mayberry and a lot less Jersey Shore.