On Broken Bones and God's Work

Last Wednesday, I got a free ride to the Emergency Room. It happened like this. My wife (and BFF) and I were taking down the screen porch we put on our back porch for summer (yes, we were late). I tripped over one of the posts that hold the awning up. I landed on my ankle, which had folded under me - and I heard the POP.

I'm the sort of guy who seldom goes to doctors or hospitals. This time I knew I had to go. It was broken. This was confirmed by the X-rays, so I was wrapped up and told to go to the orthopedic doctor for a cast or to decide if I need surgery. Cast it is. No surgery.

While we were in the ER, we had several opportunities to share the love of God with patients and the triage nurse. When you're in a wheelchair, I guess you are less frightening to other patients.

The nurse noticed that Sandra and I were having a good time, despite the pain. She said she seldom sees people laughing there and then she asked how we could be so happy! So we told her.

God is good. I don't know what else He has to teach me during this time. I'm still in pain and I have to have the cast on for at least a month (with ski season starting NOW). But, I'm ready for His lessons.

Giving Thanks

It's a harsh world sometimes. Recent events in the news have made it seem even more so. War is still raging. There have been several public shooting incidents in the past week. The Health care debacle continues. The recession has been declared to be over, but the pain remains.

But praise be to God, there is much for which to be thankful. In this month in which we contemplate those things for which we are thankful, let's forget about the material things for just a bit and concentrate on much higher issues.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Peter 1:2)

Sandra and I always had our girls write thank you notes whenever they received a gift of any kind. This was good handwriting practice and a good vehicle for us to discuss with them the topic of thankfulness. Those of us who are Christians have much to be thankful for. The verse above mentions two of the more important reasons to be thankful.

The first is Grace. Grace is the “channel” through which salvation flows to undeserving sinners. Only God controls this remote! Ephesians 2:8-9 read this way: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast.” Salvation from the consequences of our own sinfulness comes by grace. It’s a gift. It’s unearnable. As a result, we can have Peace.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility… He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. (Ephesians 2:13-14; 17-18).

Peace, in the Biblical context, means “wholeness,” “completeness.” By the work of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, we can have access to the father – for all eternity. We will be made complete by being made one with the Father who is our creator – and who loves us.

Thanksgiving Day has become a ritual for us. Football, turkey, pumpkin cheesecake, family and friends can all be part of the mix. There is nothing wrong with any of that. Enjoy it all (and don’t tell my doctor about the cheesecake). But if you are a Christian, you have special reasons to celebrate, on Thanksgiving Day and every day. You can be thankful for the Grace and Peace extended by Jesus Christ, the savior, who alone has made you righteous.

If I Were Emperor...

I have become less and less interested in politics in the last couple of presidential cycles. I guess it would be more accurate to say I have been dismayed at the quality of candidates we’ve had. Then I realize that we get the candidates we deserve.

God is in control.

But there are days, like yesterday, when I say things like, “That wouldn’t be a problem if I was King – or Emperor.” Believe me folks, neither you nor I really wish that were true.

But what if….

If I were Emperor…

• We would not be dependent on foreign oil. We would drill on our own land, being careful, of course, not to be destructive. Why is it, I wonder, that compassionate liberals find it wrong to disturb the tundra to drill for oil in our own nation, but thinks it’s OK to drill in other lands.
• English would be the official language of the land. I don’t have a problem with people speaking whatever language they want, but in order to do business, we should speak the same language. As I travel to other countries I find nearly everybody speaking English or wanting to learn. Not Here (unless I was Emperor).
• We would not be moving toward a planned economy. We would actually learn from the history of the Soviet Union that planned economies do not work. We would recognize that all the former Warsaw Pact nations are striving after capitalism.
• Illegal immigration would go away. I understand that people still want to come to this country for its many benefits. This Emperor would make sure that they do it legally. All benefits of any kind would be cut off to those who sneak into our country. I recognize that there would be hardships. Compassion would be part of the formula, but….
• We would have a flat tax of some sort. We would get rid of the thousands (maybe millions) of pages of tax law, and the IRS.
• We would rid ourselves of much of the bureaucracy which exists in government at all levels. The Education Department would be the first to go.
• Recognizing that strong fences make good neighbors, I would fund the Department of Defense adequately.
• I would either fight the war in Afghanistan to win – or get out. We should have learned in VietNam that you cannot fight a war half-heartedly.
• I would separate church and state. This means that I would not interfere with the religious beliefs of the people unless they constituted a danger to the nation. Remember, I’m the Emperor and I decide what constitutes danger. I would not allow foot washing stations to be built in public places (like airports and schools) at public expense, while denying manger scenes.
• I would review all government policies having to do with health care. Maybe if the government got out of the way, health care would be more affordable. Did I mention no free health care for illegals?

This is a partial list. What would be on your list?

Our Great Leader

Saw this video today and thought that I would share it. This seems like the sort of thing that went along with "Soviet Realism," and the "cult of personality." After watching the video, I suggest that you follow the links and read some of the history.

As always, comments are welcome and encouraged.

Book Recommendation

This not so much a book review as a recommendation; a great, big, rousing recommendation!

The book is Raising Real Men: Surviving, Teaching and Appreciating Boys, by Hal and Melanie Young. Sandra and I do not have sons. We never did. Nor do we any longer have children to raise. But we loved this book.

It's solid; it's funny; it's practical. They give examples, anecdotes, and strategies, as well as lists of resources. Sandra read it to me in two sittings.

I recommend that you buy this book, and buy one to give to your pastor. Pastor: you really do need to read this book. It is deep in insight and will help you minister to families - whether they homeschool or not; whether they have sons or not.

The book will be available in late October, but pre-orders are being taken now. Go here to order.

Big Brother Really is Watching

In several conversations recently the concept of purchasing an automated highway toll system for one's car has come up. These are the little automated devices you put in the car and then you don't have to wait in line to pay tolls. The toll amount is deducted from your prepaid account. The real discussion, of course had to do with whether or not this device allows the government (or anyone else) to track our movements. The response from many folks has been, "Oh they already know plenty about me."

Now a new method has been found that can allow the government to dig even deeper. Its name is "Cash for Clunkers." Innocuous sounding, right. The government is merely trying to help jump start the auto industry and help us get new and better cars. Allow me to introduce you to this video.

Yeah, I know, It's Glenn Beck. But listen (it's only four minutes). The verbiage they read on this video is from the government website. If you go onto this website and ignore the warnings, your computer becomes government property. Everything in it and every activity conducted on it becomes theirs. Watch the video!

That Orwell dude knew his stuff, didn't he.

Comments?

Danger! Danger!

Science "Czar" Wants to Sterilize, Abort, Create "Planetary Regime."

John Holdren, the learned Professor fro Hahvahd, who is the choice of BHO to be his top science advisor is a nut case - and a dangerous one at that.

Here are a few of his suggestions as to how to rid the US of the undesirables (meaning those on the homeland security and MIAC lists of potential terrorists, I assume. Certainly not the intellectual elites):

"[a]dding a sterilant to drinking water or staple foods is a suggestion that seems to horrify people more than most proposals for involuntary fertility control," such an approach would have to "meet some rather stiff requirements; … be uniformly effective; … free of dangerous or unpleasant side effects;" and pass both PETA and AARP muster by having "no effect on members of the opposite sex, children, old people, pets, or livestock."

Czar Holdren further postulates that "a comprehensive Planetary Regime could control the development, administration, conservation, and distribution of all natural resources, renewable or nonrenewable. The Planetary Regime might be given responsibility for determining the optimum population for the world and for each region and for arbitrating various countries' shares within their regional limits."

He concludes that "sterilizing women after their second or third child" may be more practical than sterilizing men, and proposes a "long-term sterilizing capsule that could be implanted under the skin" at puberty and then "might be removable, with official permission, for a limited number of births.

"Why should the law not be able to prevent a person from having more than two children?" he asks, suggesting "that compulsory population-control laws, even including laws requiring compulsory abortion, could be sustained under the existing Constitution. [N]either the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution mentions a right to reproduce," observes the learned professor.

Friends, this sounds like a combination of China's "One Child Policy" (which I dub the "No Child Left" Policy), with Hitler's extermination policies, 1984, and Eugenics. Maybe there are a few other bad movements to which we can compare it.

One thing I can tell you. It is not Godly. Children are a gift from God, and we are all made in God's image. Extermination of the unwanted is not a new desire. It has been going on, in many forms, for millenia. Now, the President of the US - and, for the moment, leader of the free world - has appointed as a top advisor an elitist, Godless, Harvard Don to oversee the destruction of human beings.

Christians, pray and work against Barack Obama and all his appointees. They are anti-God and abnti-Christian.