http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BobBurney/2007/10/30/a_shocking_%e2%80%9cconfession%e2%80%9d_from_willow_creek_community_church
And Here is a Great one (go to October 2 and watch the video...it's worth it).
http://simsdanny.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
DOES MATTER MATTER?
According to the law of the conservation of mass, usually attributed to Lavoisier, within some problem domain, the amount of mass remains constant--mass is neither created nor destroyed.
There are, theoretically, exceptions in such cases as black holes and or very exotic physics problems. But these have never been either tested or proven.
Even in the case of black holes, the matter entrapped therein is not destroyed, it is simply prevented from exhibiting itself in a currently observable way.
Enough physics?
OK.
What it means is this: every atom that has ever existed in the entire universe is still in the universe.
Even if one accepts the postulate of the so-called "Big Bang Theory."
All of the atoms were there and are still somewhere.
So, in pure science, there would never have been a beginning, for everything that is always has been and will be forever.
Joe...I thought you were finished with the physics, already!
Hey! Give me a break.
What am I...some kind of a scientific writer or something?
Point is, science makes no honest effort to describe, nor is it equipped to handle, the concept of a cosmic beginning, in spite of what it might like you to believe.
If, therefore, you place your trust and faith in science, you will find that there are no ultimate answers there...only descriptions and postulations.
So to understand "beginnings" we must look outside of science.
There are thousands of versions of "beginnings," by every society that ever has been.
There are many religious writings that purport to account for "beginnings," each contradicting, altering and/or sharing ideas with the others.
Except one.
There is one sixty-six volume set of writings that was written over thousands of years, by at least forty different authors of many different ages (not just a bunch of old men), most of whom had no contact with the others, and none of whom had access to the totality of said writings.
Yet their writings include "straight-line" logic about the nature of creation that, when understood in context, are consistant each with the other and weave a picture that could not have been conceived by, let alone enacted by human beings.
Those writings have been assembled into book form in a tome called The Bible.
The writings found therein were chosen precisely because of their continuity of thought and their ability to satisfy the mysterious inner longing of mankind's deepest need: the need to solve the issues of meaning and direction.
In The Bible we find the revelation of the character of the Creator.
Subsequent alleged "revelations" about or, supposedly, by Him reveal absolutely nothing new about His character, and are therefore absolutely frivolous at every level.
In The Bible we find the revelation of the Creator's absolute love for His creation.
Other writings present the Creator as some kind of capricious being whose character is both unknowable and untrustworthy.
In The Bible we find the revelation of the Creator's plan for the redemption of His fallen creation.
In every other writing, the "redemption" of man is arbitrary, and is subject to his ability to behave in a certain creator-pleasing way and to the ever-changing whim of the creator.
The important thing to understand, in order to grasp the meaning of The Bible, is that it is ultimately about, and only about, the Creator, whom we refer to as God.
Although The Bible contains the best philosophy that has ever been penned, it is not a philosophy book.
Although The Bible contains the best history that has ever been written, it is not a history book.
Although The Bible contains the best science that has ever been penned, it is not a science book.
Although The Bible contains the best dietetic information that has ever been written, it is not a dietetic book.
In fact, although it has often been viewed and treated as such, it is not even a book of religion.
Its main character, Jesus, spoke often and loudly against religion, as did the other New Testament writers.
The Bible is God's revelation of HIS character, HIS love of HIS creation and HIS plan for its redemption.
When The Bible speaks of origins, it assumes a point brought into being from timelessness by the Creator, stating, "In the beginning God..."
Note that in so stating, The Bible stands not at all in contradiction of science, rather it describes what is, in complete agreement with the law of the conservation of matter.
For if what is came from nowhere, then it is not.
But if what is was created, then it is.
Since we know empirically that what is, is, we can trust that the Creator of what is can be trusted to accurately communicate to us His "what is."
(This is true even if one comes from a political point of view that believes one can equivocate the meaning of the word "is.")
What we learn from the sufficiency of The Bible is that God's plan for HIS creation's redemption is found in, and only in, the person of Jesus.
Here, by the way, is the plan that The Bible presents:
Every person is a sinner. When a person accepts that, he/she can recognize his/her need to be accepted by the loving, but righteous and just, Creator, which cannot happen in the presence of sin.
The Bible tells us that if we believe that Jesus is God incarnate (in the flesh), that He was executed to pay our sin debt, and that God raised Him from the dead, illustrating that He has power over life and death, we can be gifted with life forever in His presence.
Finally, The Bible encourages us to commit ourselves to the person of Jesus and to unfaltering service to Him.
You can know Him, if you will.
There are, theoretically, exceptions in such cases as black holes and or very exotic physics problems. But these have never been either tested or proven.
Even in the case of black holes, the matter entrapped therein is not destroyed, it is simply prevented from exhibiting itself in a currently observable way.
Enough physics?
OK.
What it means is this: every atom that has ever existed in the entire universe is still in the universe.
Even if one accepts the postulate of the so-called "Big Bang Theory."
All of the atoms were there and are still somewhere.
So, in pure science, there would never have been a beginning, for everything that is always has been and will be forever.
Joe...I thought you were finished with the physics, already!
Hey! Give me a break.
What am I...some kind of a scientific writer or something?
Point is, science makes no honest effort to describe, nor is it equipped to handle, the concept of a cosmic beginning, in spite of what it might like you to believe.
If, therefore, you place your trust and faith in science, you will find that there are no ultimate answers there...only descriptions and postulations.
So to understand "beginnings" we must look outside of science.
There are thousands of versions of "beginnings," by every society that ever has been.
There are many religious writings that purport to account for "beginnings," each contradicting, altering and/or sharing ideas with the others.
Except one.
There is one sixty-six volume set of writings that was written over thousands of years, by at least forty different authors of many different ages (not just a bunch of old men), most of whom had no contact with the others, and none of whom had access to the totality of said writings.
Yet their writings include "straight-line" logic about the nature of creation that, when understood in context, are consistant each with the other and weave a picture that could not have been conceived by, let alone enacted by human beings.
Those writings have been assembled into book form in a tome called The Bible.
The writings found therein were chosen precisely because of their continuity of thought and their ability to satisfy the mysterious inner longing of mankind's deepest need: the need to solve the issues of meaning and direction.
In The Bible we find the revelation of the character of the Creator.
Subsequent alleged "revelations" about or, supposedly, by Him reveal absolutely nothing new about His character, and are therefore absolutely frivolous at every level.
In The Bible we find the revelation of the Creator's absolute love for His creation.
Other writings present the Creator as some kind of capricious being whose character is both unknowable and untrustworthy.
In The Bible we find the revelation of the Creator's plan for the redemption of His fallen creation.
In every other writing, the "redemption" of man is arbitrary, and is subject to his ability to behave in a certain creator-pleasing way and to the ever-changing whim of the creator.
The important thing to understand, in order to grasp the meaning of The Bible, is that it is ultimately about, and only about, the Creator, whom we refer to as God.
Although The Bible contains the best philosophy that has ever been penned, it is not a philosophy book.
Although The Bible contains the best history that has ever been written, it is not a history book.
Although The Bible contains the best science that has ever been penned, it is not a science book.
Although The Bible contains the best dietetic information that has ever been written, it is not a dietetic book.
In fact, although it has often been viewed and treated as such, it is not even a book of religion.
Its main character, Jesus, spoke often and loudly against religion, as did the other New Testament writers.
The Bible is God's revelation of HIS character, HIS love of HIS creation and HIS plan for its redemption.
When The Bible speaks of origins, it assumes a point brought into being from timelessness by the Creator, stating, "In the beginning God..."
Note that in so stating, The Bible stands not at all in contradiction of science, rather it describes what is, in complete agreement with the law of the conservation of matter.
For if what is came from nowhere, then it is not.
But if what is was created, then it is.
Since we know empirically that what is, is, we can trust that the Creator of what is can be trusted to accurately communicate to us His "what is."
(This is true even if one comes from a political point of view that believes one can equivocate the meaning of the word "is.")
What we learn from the sufficiency of The Bible is that God's plan for HIS creation's redemption is found in, and only in, the person of Jesus.
Here, by the way, is the plan that The Bible presents:
Every person is a sinner. When a person accepts that, he/she can recognize his/her need to be accepted by the loving, but righteous and just, Creator, which cannot happen in the presence of sin.
The Bible tells us that if we believe that Jesus is God incarnate (in the flesh), that He was executed to pay our sin debt, and that God raised Him from the dead, illustrating that He has power over life and death, we can be gifted with life forever in His presence.
Finally, The Bible encourages us to commit ourselves to the person of Jesus and to unfaltering service to Him.
You can know Him, if you will.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
COMPARE AND CONTRAST
Water is essential to life.
Too much water is dangerous.
Witness New Orleans.
Fire is almost essential to life.
To much fire is dangerous.
Witness California.
In New Orleans people besieged by Katrina fled to a football stadium for shelter.
While there, they exhibited the baseness of humanity by killing each other, raping each other, fighting with each other, defecating wherever they felt like it, whining to the federal government, crying about how Mommy Washington didn't come running, blaming the president for the disaster itself and otherwise acting like entitled, spoiled brats who wanted others to do for them what they were unwilling to do for themselves.
Then hundreds of them looted their own city, shot up their own infrastructure, rioted in the streets and otherwise acted like barbarians.
Come to think of it...that's just what they are.
In California, the largest evacuation of people in history, people besieged by 400,000 acres of fire, fled to a football stadium for shelter.
While there, and even on their way there, they helped each other, encouraged each other, pulled together, stayed organized, helped feed themselves, established law and order and behaved like civilized people.
As of this writing, there have been only two lootings. The looters were arrested and the prosecutor intends to (think of it) prosecute them.
People whose homes were not ravaged by the fires opened their homes to family, friends, neighbors and even perfect strangers.
My wife's sister, who lives in the affected area, is one who has opened her home to anyone who needs it, and if I know her, she will feed people who need feeding and will give of herself far beyond expectations.
Part of the difference between New Orleans and California is accounted for by the nature of the disasters involved.
But much of it is a difference in the way the respective residents look at life.
In the one case, entitlement, dependence and self-insufficiency are actively taught and encouraged by their political leaders and schools.
In the other, hard work, self-help, neighborliness and helping one's fellow man is the order of the day.
To be fair, some of the politicians in California tried to emulate the politicians in New Orleans.
That's because they were woven from the same cloth.
But the people of California would have none of it.
Personally, I am very sorry for the losses sustained by people in New Orleans and in California.
But I am awed by the differences in how each group responded.
Is there a lesson we might learn from this?
Too much water is dangerous.
Witness New Orleans.
Fire is almost essential to life.
To much fire is dangerous.
Witness California.
In New Orleans people besieged by Katrina fled to a football stadium for shelter.
While there, they exhibited the baseness of humanity by killing each other, raping each other, fighting with each other, defecating wherever they felt like it, whining to the federal government, crying about how Mommy Washington didn't come running, blaming the president for the disaster itself and otherwise acting like entitled, spoiled brats who wanted others to do for them what they were unwilling to do for themselves.
Then hundreds of them looted their own city, shot up their own infrastructure, rioted in the streets and otherwise acted like barbarians.
Come to think of it...that's just what they are.
In California, the largest evacuation of people in history, people besieged by 400,000 acres of fire, fled to a football stadium for shelter.
While there, and even on their way there, they helped each other, encouraged each other, pulled together, stayed organized, helped feed themselves, established law and order and behaved like civilized people.
As of this writing, there have been only two lootings. The looters were arrested and the prosecutor intends to (think of it) prosecute them.
People whose homes were not ravaged by the fires opened their homes to family, friends, neighbors and even perfect strangers.
My wife's sister, who lives in the affected area, is one who has opened her home to anyone who needs it, and if I know her, she will feed people who need feeding and will give of herself far beyond expectations.
Part of the difference between New Orleans and California is accounted for by the nature of the disasters involved.
But much of it is a difference in the way the respective residents look at life.
In the one case, entitlement, dependence and self-insufficiency are actively taught and encouraged by their political leaders and schools.
In the other, hard work, self-help, neighborliness and helping one's fellow man is the order of the day.
To be fair, some of the politicians in California tried to emulate the politicians in New Orleans.
That's because they were woven from the same cloth.
But the people of California would have none of it.
Personally, I am very sorry for the losses sustained by people in New Orleans and in California.
But I am awed by the differences in how each group responded.
Is there a lesson we might learn from this?
Monday, October 22, 2007
DISCIPLE, DISCIPLE, DISCIPLE
"My" denomination has a ministry that seeks to disciple its members.
This ministry has morphed over the years.
It started out as "BYPU," Baptist Young People's Union.
Then it became "Baptist Training Union"
Not satisfied with that, the name was changed to just "Training Union."
Next it became "Church Training."
Then "Discipleship Training."
And so it goes.
Today, churches kind of call it what they wish. Names like: "Christian Life Institute;" "Institute of Christian Growth;" and others have become common.
Whatever the name, though, the purpose of the ministry is to help Christians grow in their Christian walk by enabling them to assume various roles in ministry, realizing their spiritual gifts.
Lately there has been a move to include discipleship training in Bible study (Sunday School) groups.
This seems enigmatic to me, since doing Bible study is a quasi-intellectual pursuit, while training is a hands-on experience.
In other words Bible study is learning what God has said, is saying and will say, while training is putting what you have learned into practice.
Jesus did both.
He taught his disciples.
He also trained his disciples.
He showed them healings.
Then he let them "do the healing."
(OK, OK, I know...God does the healing...but I have a feeling that you know what I mean.)
I believe this is a good model to follow.
In my own case, I was very blessed to have been a part of a forward thinking discipleship ministry (then called "Training Union.")
I was taught how to present a lesson in front of people by using material provided in our Training Union Quarterly.
Sometimes it was a little stiff and contrived, but it taught me that being in front of people was not as painful as I thought, and that almost anyone could learn to do it (even if not everyone is called TO do it).
I was also taught the basics of leading music in Training Union.
My church Music Director, Jesse Cheek, took time during Training Union to teach whoever wanted to learn about time signatures, tempi, note values, dynamic markings and the like.
After my training, I became the Assistant Church Music Director, and had the joyful, if somewhat terrifying, experience of helping the congregation and choir sing hymns and anthems to God.
The rest, as someone has said, is history...not all of it good, but not all of it bad, either.
God has given me the privilege and responsibility of serving Him ever since.
I yearn to see churches take the business of Discipleship Training seriously...training Bible teachers, Music Leaders, Deacons, hospitality workers, nursery workers, community outreach leaders, etc.
Not just having members sit through "programs," like "Experiencing God," (and they are great), but enabling them to practice doing FOR God with their spiritual gifts.
Just as Jesus discipled His followers, we need to disciple our members.
This ministry has morphed over the years.
It started out as "BYPU," Baptist Young People's Union.
Then it became "Baptist Training Union"
Not satisfied with that, the name was changed to just "Training Union."
Next it became "Church Training."
Then "Discipleship Training."
And so it goes.
Today, churches kind of call it what they wish. Names like: "Christian Life Institute;" "Institute of Christian Growth;" and others have become common.
Whatever the name, though, the purpose of the ministry is to help Christians grow in their Christian walk by enabling them to assume various roles in ministry, realizing their spiritual gifts.
Lately there has been a move to include discipleship training in Bible study (Sunday School) groups.
This seems enigmatic to me, since doing Bible study is a quasi-intellectual pursuit, while training is a hands-on experience.
In other words Bible study is learning what God has said, is saying and will say, while training is putting what you have learned into practice.
Jesus did both.
He taught his disciples.
He also trained his disciples.
He showed them healings.
Then he let them "do the healing."
(OK, OK, I know...God does the healing...but I have a feeling that you know what I mean.)
I believe this is a good model to follow.
In my own case, I was very blessed to have been a part of a forward thinking discipleship ministry (then called "Training Union.")
I was taught how to present a lesson in front of people by using material provided in our Training Union Quarterly.
Sometimes it was a little stiff and contrived, but it taught me that being in front of people was not as painful as I thought, and that almost anyone could learn to do it (even if not everyone is called TO do it).
I was also taught the basics of leading music in Training Union.
My church Music Director, Jesse Cheek, took time during Training Union to teach whoever wanted to learn about time signatures, tempi, note values, dynamic markings and the like.
After my training, I became the Assistant Church Music Director, and had the joyful, if somewhat terrifying, experience of helping the congregation and choir sing hymns and anthems to God.
The rest, as someone has said, is history...not all of it good, but not all of it bad, either.
God has given me the privilege and responsibility of serving Him ever since.
I yearn to see churches take the business of Discipleship Training seriously...training Bible teachers, Music Leaders, Deacons, hospitality workers, nursery workers, community outreach leaders, etc.
Not just having members sit through "programs," like "Experiencing God," (and they are great), but enabling them to practice doing FOR God with their spiritual gifts.
Just as Jesus discipled His followers, we need to disciple our members.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
MINISTERIALY SPEAKING
I am a minister, called into the Gospel Ministry when I was 17 years old.
For those of you wondering, I am 65 years old.
I was officially welcomed into ministry by Stetson Baptist Church in DeLand, Florida in 1962.
I have never been a pastor, but I have been a Minister of Education, Minister of Youth, a Minister of Music and a Minister of Christian Radio.
Let me assure you that a non-pastoral minister is not a "second class" minister.
Your church Worship Leader is a minister. So is your Education Director.
In fact, every one of us Christians is a minister in exactly the same sense that the pastor of the church is a minister.
The venue might be different, but the task is the same: point people toward Jesus, encourage each other in the Body of Christ and build each other up in the Body of Christ.
No doubt there are many so-called "para-church" ministries where you live.
You may have a Right to Life organization in your town.
Be certain of it...it is headed up by a minister (not necessarily a pastor...though it could be...but someone who ministers to the community through the organization).
Maybe there is a "soup kitchen" in your area established and run by a Christian who feels God's call to provide for the needs of the homeless.
I work for a Christian radio station (WJYO, 91.5 Kingdom FM, online at http://www.kingdom.fm/).
Our leader is a Minister of the Gospel.
He is not a pastor.
But think of it this way: between Sunday church services he provides music, Bible study, preaching and community information about local Christian events. That is not even possible for most churches to provide.
The "business" of being a Christian radio minister (or any other kind of minister, for that matter) carries with it awesome responsibilities for harmony in the body, stability, integrity, being above reproach, conducting oneself with kindness, gentleness, patience, love and the other fruits of the Spirit in leadership.
The leader of a Christian ministry must be called into ministry, first and foremost, or else he or she has no business leading a Christian ministry.
If a minister expects his/her ministry to be supported by its constituency, he/she must see to it that the needs of that constituency are being met...not by some ethereal subjective imaginations, but by actual investigation and analysis.
Far too often, what is blamed on the leadership of the Holy Spirit, is nothing more than "I thought of it...I want to do it...it excites me...I am a Christian, therefore it must be God's will."
The result is that the "ministry" struggles to stay afloat and its leader(s) can't figure out why.
Truth be told, money in ministry does not follow good business practices, enthusiasm, or wishful thinking.
Money follows ministry.
If people perceive that they are being ministered to in a significant way, they open their pocketbooks.
If not, the ministry is probably not touching the hearts of enough people to make a difference in their lives.
This might mean that prayerful consideration might be given to seeking out the kind of spiritual and leadership help that those who have gone before, and who are going forth now, can provide.
In other words, killing off self-pride and learning (at conferences, from other leaders of ministries like yours, etc.) from those whose knowledge and experience can help.
Worth thinking about.
For those of you wondering, I am 65 years old.
I was officially welcomed into ministry by Stetson Baptist Church in DeLand, Florida in 1962.
I have never been a pastor, but I have been a Minister of Education, Minister of Youth, a Minister of Music and a Minister of Christian Radio.
Let me assure you that a non-pastoral minister is not a "second class" minister.
Your church Worship Leader is a minister. So is your Education Director.
In fact, every one of us Christians is a minister in exactly the same sense that the pastor of the church is a minister.
The venue might be different, but the task is the same: point people toward Jesus, encourage each other in the Body of Christ and build each other up in the Body of Christ.
No doubt there are many so-called "para-church" ministries where you live.
You may have a Right to Life organization in your town.
Be certain of it...it is headed up by a minister (not necessarily a pastor...though it could be...but someone who ministers to the community through the organization).
Maybe there is a "soup kitchen" in your area established and run by a Christian who feels God's call to provide for the needs of the homeless.
I work for a Christian radio station (WJYO, 91.5 Kingdom FM, online at http://www.kingdom.fm/).
Our leader is a Minister of the Gospel.
He is not a pastor.
But think of it this way: between Sunday church services he provides music, Bible study, preaching and community information about local Christian events. That is not even possible for most churches to provide.
The "business" of being a Christian radio minister (or any other kind of minister, for that matter) carries with it awesome responsibilities for harmony in the body, stability, integrity, being above reproach, conducting oneself with kindness, gentleness, patience, love and the other fruits of the Spirit in leadership.
The leader of a Christian ministry must be called into ministry, first and foremost, or else he or she has no business leading a Christian ministry.
If a minister expects his/her ministry to be supported by its constituency, he/she must see to it that the needs of that constituency are being met...not by some ethereal subjective imaginations, but by actual investigation and analysis.
Far too often, what is blamed on the leadership of the Holy Spirit, is nothing more than "I thought of it...I want to do it...it excites me...I am a Christian, therefore it must be God's will."
The result is that the "ministry" struggles to stay afloat and its leader(s) can't figure out why.
Truth be told, money in ministry does not follow good business practices, enthusiasm, or wishful thinking.
Money follows ministry.
If people perceive that they are being ministered to in a significant way, they open their pocketbooks.
If not, the ministry is probably not touching the hearts of enough people to make a difference in their lives.
This might mean that prayerful consideration might be given to seeking out the kind of spiritual and leadership help that those who have gone before, and who are going forth now, can provide.
In other words, killing off self-pride and learning (at conferences, from other leaders of ministries like yours, etc.) from those whose knowledge and experience can help.
Worth thinking about.
Monday, October 08, 2007
MY FAVORITE MESSAGE OF ALL TIME
BY S.M. LOCKRIDGE
My King
My King was born King.
The Bible says my King is a seven-way king.
He's the King of the Jews; that's a racial king....He's the King of Israel; that's a national King....He's the King of Righteousness....He's the King of the Ages.....He's the King of Heaven....He's the King of Glory....He's the King of kings, and He's the Lord of lords.
He's the King of the Jews; that's a racial king....He's the King of Israel; that's a national King....He's the King of Righteousness....He's the King of the Ages.....He's the King of Heaven....He's the King of Glory....He's the King of kings, and He's the Lord of lords.
That's my King.
Well....I wonder, if you know Him?
David said, "The Heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork."
My King is a sovereign King.
No means of measure can define His limitless love. No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supplies. No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessings.
He's enduringly strong....He's entirely sincere....He's eternally steadfast....He's immortally graceful....He's imperially powerful....He's impartially merciful!
Do you know Him?
He's the greatest phenomenon that ever crossed the horizon of this world.
He's God's Son....He's a sinner's Saviour....He's the centerpiece of civilization....He stands alone in Himself....He's august....He's unique....He's unparalleled....He's unprecedented.... He’s Supreme…He’s preeminent…He's the loftiest idea in literature....He's the highest personality in philosophy....He's the supreme problem in higher criticism....He's the fundamental doctrine of true theology....He's the cardinal necessity for spiritual religion....He's the miracle of the age.... He's the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him....He’s the only one qualified to be an all sufficient Saviour...... I wonder if you know Him today?
He's the only one able to supply all of our needs simultaneously…He supplies strength for the weak....He's available for the tempted and the tried....He sympathizes and He saves....He strengthens and sustains....He guards and He guides....He heals the sick....He cleanses lepers....He forgives sinners....He discharges debtors....He delivers captives....He defends the feeble....He blesses the young....He serves the unfortunate....He regards the aged....He rewards the diligent....and He beautifies the meek.
Is that the King you know today?
Well, my King is the key to knowledge....He's the wellspring to wisdom....He's the doorway of deliverance....He's the pathway of peace....He's the roadway of righteousness ....He's the highway of holiness....He's the gateway of glory....... He’s the master of the mighty…He’s the captain of the conquerors…He’s the head of the heros…He’s the leader of the legislators…He’s the overseer of the overcomers…He’s the governor of governors…He’s the Prince of princes…He’s the King of kings…and He’s the Lord of lords.
Do you know Him?
His office is manifold....His promise is sure....His light is matchless....His goodness is limitless....His mercy is everlasting....His love never changes....His word is enough....His grace is sufficient....His reign is righteous....and His yoke is easy, and his burden is light.
I wish I could describe Him to you, but He's indescribable....He's incomprehensible....He's invincible....He's irresistible.
The heavens of Heaven cannot contain Him…let alone a man explain Him.
You can't get Him out of your mind....You can't get Him off of your hands....You can't out live Him, and you can't live without Him.
You can't get Him out of your mind....You can't get Him off of your hands....You can't out live Him, and you can't live without Him.
The Pharisees couldn't stand Him, but they found out they couldn't stop Him....Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him....The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree....Herod couldn't kill Him....Death couldn't handle Him, and the grave couldn't hold Him.
That's my King.
He always has been…and He always will be…He had no predecessor…He’ll have no successor…There was nobody before Him…and there’ll be nobody after Him. You can’t impeach Him…and He’s not going to resign.
He always has been…and He always will be…He had no predecessor…He’ll have no successor…There was nobody before Him…and there’ll be nobody after Him. You can’t impeach Him…and He’s not going to resign.
"Thine is the Kingdom....and the Power....and the Glory...."
All the power belongs to my King.
You may talk about black power, white power, green power…but it’s God’s power.
Thine is the power…and the glory!
Thine is the power…and the glory!
We’re trying to get prestige and honor and glory for ourselves, but the glory is all His.
Yes, Thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory forever and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever and ever, and ever…How long is that? And ever...and ever... and ever, and ever… and when you get through with all the forevers, then.... AMEN!
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
What Did I Do When I Accepted Him?
I was sixteen years old when I accepted Christ as my personal Lord and Savior.
Not everything I believed about Him at that time was correct.
Over the years a lot has been revealed to me that I did not know when I was first saved.
But I did know that this person, Jesus, came from God, lived a perfect life, taught many things, and loved me enough to die for me.
Let me tell you about the process of my salvation, because it is the same for anyone who comes to Him.
Along the way I will quote Scripture verses, which is not my normal pattern, but which, in this instance, confirms what went on in my life when taken in the context of Scripture as a whole.
1. I recognized sin in my personal life.
Romans 3:23 tells me that I am not unique in this. Everybody who ever has lived, is living now and who ever will live has sinned (which means missing the perfect mark God has set, and failing to be in the center of His will every moment of one's life).
2. I developed a "Godly sorrow" for my sin.
John the Baptist had been put in prison. Jesus, we are told in Mark 1:15, went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, saying, "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news."
Repentance is not just being sorry that we are guilty of sinning, it is recognizing that sin grieves God and therefore we are sorry enough about our sin that we turn from it to Him through Christ.
3. I faced Christ’s claims on my life.
His Word tells us that God's will is that everybody be saved, that none should perish (II Peter 3:9).
Furthermore, He said that He loved me so much that He gave Jesus, God incarnate, so that if I would believe in Him and His finished work, I would be saved.
4. I believed God raised Jesus, who had been crucified, from the dead.
Romans 10:9 tells us that if we confess with our mouths "Jesus is Lord," and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead, we will be saved.
5. I placed my faith in Him and His finished work at the cross.
At the "end" He cried out from the cross, "It is finished," and thereby proclaimed that everything necessary to fulfill the work of salvation had been done once for all time.
We are saved by the grace of God, through our faith in Christ's work, not our own, according to Ephesians 2:8 & 9.
6. Finally, I committed to live my life in His service, whatever that entailed.
I have not done that as well as I ought, but with every passing day He enables me to be better at it than I was the day before...at least on those days when I manage to give up my selfish desires and yield myself to Him.
He has never failed me.
I have failed Him often...much more often than I should.
But when I fail Him, He is both faithful and just to forgive me, to pick me up and to reassure me of my right standing with Him for all of eternity.
Since He has set the highest possible standard, and since He has seen fit to fulfill it by the power of His Holy Spirit, and not by my might or power, how could I neglect so great a salvation?
He has protected me from the superstitious, non-sensical mumbo-jumbo that permeates so much of what passes for Christianity today.
He has never "micro-managed" my life, but has lain out eternal principles that, as I learned and followed them, have stood in good stead unfailingly.
(On the other hand, when I have strayed from those principles, I have suffered their inevitable consequences.)
He has taught me that His Word can be trusted to reveal to me His character, to reiterate His love for me and to remind me of the great plan of salvation He has provided.
Sometimes He has calmed the storms in my life.
Sometimes He has calmed me.
Either way, I have learned that the apostle Paul was right when he told us that, for him, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
I claim that for myself, too.
My prayer is that you have, or will, come to know the Creator of all that is, Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Not everything I believed about Him at that time was correct.
Over the years a lot has been revealed to me that I did not know when I was first saved.
But I did know that this person, Jesus, came from God, lived a perfect life, taught many things, and loved me enough to die for me.
Let me tell you about the process of my salvation, because it is the same for anyone who comes to Him.
Along the way I will quote Scripture verses, which is not my normal pattern, but which, in this instance, confirms what went on in my life when taken in the context of Scripture as a whole.
1. I recognized sin in my personal life.
Romans 3:23 tells me that I am not unique in this. Everybody who ever has lived, is living now and who ever will live has sinned (which means missing the perfect mark God has set, and failing to be in the center of His will every moment of one's life).
2. I developed a "Godly sorrow" for my sin.
John the Baptist had been put in prison. Jesus, we are told in Mark 1:15, went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, saying, "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news."
Repentance is not just being sorry that we are guilty of sinning, it is recognizing that sin grieves God and therefore we are sorry enough about our sin that we turn from it to Him through Christ.
3. I faced Christ’s claims on my life.
His Word tells us that God's will is that everybody be saved, that none should perish (II Peter 3:9).
Furthermore, He said that He loved me so much that He gave Jesus, God incarnate, so that if I would believe in Him and His finished work, I would be saved.
4. I believed God raised Jesus, who had been crucified, from the dead.
Romans 10:9 tells us that if we confess with our mouths "Jesus is Lord," and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead, we will be saved.
5. I placed my faith in Him and His finished work at the cross.
At the "end" He cried out from the cross, "It is finished," and thereby proclaimed that everything necessary to fulfill the work of salvation had been done once for all time.
We are saved by the grace of God, through our faith in Christ's work, not our own, according to Ephesians 2:8 & 9.
6. Finally, I committed to live my life in His service, whatever that entailed.
I have not done that as well as I ought, but with every passing day He enables me to be better at it than I was the day before...at least on those days when I manage to give up my selfish desires and yield myself to Him.
He has never failed me.
I have failed Him often...much more often than I should.
But when I fail Him, He is both faithful and just to forgive me, to pick me up and to reassure me of my right standing with Him for all of eternity.
Since He has set the highest possible standard, and since He has seen fit to fulfill it by the power of His Holy Spirit, and not by my might or power, how could I neglect so great a salvation?
He has protected me from the superstitious, non-sensical mumbo-jumbo that permeates so much of what passes for Christianity today.
He has never "micro-managed" my life, but has lain out eternal principles that, as I learned and followed them, have stood in good stead unfailingly.
(On the other hand, when I have strayed from those principles, I have suffered their inevitable consequences.)
He has taught me that His Word can be trusted to reveal to me His character, to reiterate His love for me and to remind me of the great plan of salvation He has provided.
Sometimes He has calmed the storms in my life.
Sometimes He has calmed me.
Either way, I have learned that the apostle Paul was right when he told us that, for him, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
I claim that for myself, too.
My prayer is that you have, or will, come to know the Creator of all that is, Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
THE PHONEY BALONEY JESUS
I met Jesus when I was a teenager.
Every day with Him is sweeter than the day before.
But I am sick and tired of the phoney baloney Jesus being preached by so many in our country.
I just watched a very well known television "preacher" hold a "share-a-thon" on TV.
This guy was extoling the benefits of giving to his "ministry."
He proclaimed how God would not fail to bless those who gave.
He then proceeded to have several "testimonies" from some who gave thousands and reaped tens of thousands.
The next story was of an old woman in Bangladesh, or some such poverty stricken country, who rode a rickety old bicycle to collect thrown away food left-overs to feed her family.
In their benevolence, his ministry, helped by your wonderful giving, bought her a new bicycle with which to travel about picking up her scraps of food.
Oh...and they sent her some rice, too.
My question is, "Why didn't they just encourage her to scrimp and save up $5.00 to send to his ministry?"
She would have become rich practically overnight...probably sleeping in the king's palace!
Maybe they could have sent her some real balogna, instead of the phoney baloney tripe they regularly preach.
Every day with Him is sweeter than the day before.
But I am sick and tired of the phoney baloney Jesus being preached by so many in our country.
I just watched a very well known television "preacher" hold a "share-a-thon" on TV.
This guy was extoling the benefits of giving to his "ministry."
He proclaimed how God would not fail to bless those who gave.
He then proceeded to have several "testimonies" from some who gave thousands and reaped tens of thousands.
The next story was of an old woman in Bangladesh, or some such poverty stricken country, who rode a rickety old bicycle to collect thrown away food left-overs to feed her family.
In their benevolence, his ministry, helped by your wonderful giving, bought her a new bicycle with which to travel about picking up her scraps of food.
Oh...and they sent her some rice, too.
My question is, "Why didn't they just encourage her to scrimp and save up $5.00 to send to his ministry?"
She would have become rich practically overnight...probably sleeping in the king's palace!
Maybe they could have sent her some real balogna, instead of the phoney baloney tripe they regularly preach.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
PREACH THE BIBLE?
In my survey of Southwest Florida's fastest growing, most "influential" churches, I have found some common threads.
As a church grows, there is a feeling of disconnect among its members if an effort has not been made to "cut it off at the pass," that is, to provide a connect among the members.
For most of the "successful" churches in our area this has meant an emphasis on relatively small ministry groups led by either "professional" or lay leaders.
Some have kept the framework of Sunday School as the basis of their small group ministry, others have used a variation of the Home Church idea.
Either way, it is the intimacy of the small group that has enabled the members to maintain the feeling of connectivity to one another.
Another common thread is the style of preaching.
Among the larger, growing churches in Southwest Florida, none is using a specifically or exclusively "seeker friendly" approach, although they all incorporate some aspects thereof.
The noticeable characteristic of their preaching is the preaching of the gospel..."gospel" meaning not just Biblical truth, but the Truth of Jesus Christ and His life, death, burial and resurrection for the remission of sin.
They do not emphasize "social ills," such as abortion, pre-marital sex, divorce, drug use, etc., although everyone of them is quick to point out their counter-productive consequences.
They do not specialize in "innovative" worship services, though every one uses a certain dose of same, such as drama, overhead projection, live instruments, etc.
The growing, "successful" churches have concluded that discipling cannot be done from the pulpit, because, by nature, discipling requires action and interaction on the part of individuals, not just listening.
What they seem to have "discovered" is, like Paul, the deep, deep yearning of people to have the spiritual darkness of their hearts filled with the hope of the Gospel of Christ.
Furthermore, they have found that those who have been saved never tire of hearing the "old, old story" over and over again.
The result is that 40 to 45 of 52 Sunday morning sermons preached each year in the simi-mega-churches in Southwest Florida are gospel messages that clearly lay out the plan of salvation and invite people to respond to it.
This is in keeping with what the Word of God instructs.
(Where some pastors got the idea that they have to prepare sermons on 52 different topics per year is beyond me. I would guess that it was taught to them in the sometimes arrogant, elitist and superficially intellectual environment of seminary or Bible college.)
Below are the Biblical references to "preach" or "preaching."
Look at them closely and then draw a conclusion about what the Bible says is to be preached.
Count how many of the references make direct reference to preaching THE GOSPEL.
Mt 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mt 10:7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mt 10:27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
Mt 11:1 And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.
Mr 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
Mr 1:38 And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.
Mr 3:14 And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,
Mr 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Lu 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Lu 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Lu 4:43 And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.
Lu 9:2 And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.
Lu 9:60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
Ac 5:42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
Ac 10:42 And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
Ac 14:15 And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:
Ac 15:21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.
Ac 16:6 Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,
Ac 16:10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.
Ac 17:3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
Ro 1:15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
Ro 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
Ro 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Ro 15:20 Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation:
1Co 1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
1Co 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
1Co 9:14 Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.
1Co 9:16 For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!
1Co 9:18 What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.
1Co 15:11 Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.
2Co 2:12 Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord,
2Co 4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
2Co 10:16 To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand.
Ga 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Ga 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Ga 1:16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
Ga 2:2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.
Ga 5:11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.
Eph 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Php 1:15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:
Php 1:16 The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
2Ti 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
Re 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
As a church grows, there is a feeling of disconnect among its members if an effort has not been made to "cut it off at the pass," that is, to provide a connect among the members.
For most of the "successful" churches in our area this has meant an emphasis on relatively small ministry groups led by either "professional" or lay leaders.
Some have kept the framework of Sunday School as the basis of their small group ministry, others have used a variation of the Home Church idea.
Either way, it is the intimacy of the small group that has enabled the members to maintain the feeling of connectivity to one another.
Another common thread is the style of preaching.
Among the larger, growing churches in Southwest Florida, none is using a specifically or exclusively "seeker friendly" approach, although they all incorporate some aspects thereof.
The noticeable characteristic of their preaching is the preaching of the gospel..."gospel" meaning not just Biblical truth, but the Truth of Jesus Christ and His life, death, burial and resurrection for the remission of sin.
They do not emphasize "social ills," such as abortion, pre-marital sex, divorce, drug use, etc., although everyone of them is quick to point out their counter-productive consequences.
They do not specialize in "innovative" worship services, though every one uses a certain dose of same, such as drama, overhead projection, live instruments, etc.
The growing, "successful" churches have concluded that discipling cannot be done from the pulpit, because, by nature, discipling requires action and interaction on the part of individuals, not just listening.
What they seem to have "discovered" is, like Paul, the deep, deep yearning of people to have the spiritual darkness of their hearts filled with the hope of the Gospel of Christ.
Furthermore, they have found that those who have been saved never tire of hearing the "old, old story" over and over again.
The result is that 40 to 45 of 52 Sunday morning sermons preached each year in the simi-mega-churches in Southwest Florida are gospel messages that clearly lay out the plan of salvation and invite people to respond to it.
This is in keeping with what the Word of God instructs.
(Where some pastors got the idea that they have to prepare sermons on 52 different topics per year is beyond me. I would guess that it was taught to them in the sometimes arrogant, elitist and superficially intellectual environment of seminary or Bible college.)
Below are the Biblical references to "preach" or "preaching."
Look at them closely and then draw a conclusion about what the Bible says is to be preached.
Count how many of the references make direct reference to preaching THE GOSPEL.
Mt 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mt 10:7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mt 10:27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
Mt 11:1 And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.
Mr 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
Mr 1:38 And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.
Mr 3:14 And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,
Mr 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Lu 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Lu 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Lu 4:43 And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.
Lu 9:2 And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.
Lu 9:60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
Ac 5:42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
Ac 10:42 And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
Ac 14:15 And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:
Ac 15:21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.
Ac 16:6 Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,
Ac 16:10 And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.
Ac 17:3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
Ro 1:15 So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
Ro 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
Ro 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Ro 15:20 Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation:
1Co 1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
1Co 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
1Co 9:14 Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.
1Co 9:16 For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!
1Co 9:18 What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.
1Co 15:11 Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.
2Co 2:12 Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord,
2Co 4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
2Co 10:16 To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand.
Ga 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Ga 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Ga 1:16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
Ga 2:2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.
Ga 5:11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.
Eph 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Php 1:15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:
Php 1:16 The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
2Ti 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
Re 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
MIX BUSINESS WITH PLEASURE?
Should a church or Christian ministry be a business?
Well, first of all, in the eyes of the state and federal governments, churches and Christian ministries are businesses.
Contrary to popular belief, churches pay taxes.
In most states, churches (and most 501C3 non-profit ministries) don't pay sales taxes, and they don't pay federal income taxes themselves (but they do withhold taxes from certain employee paychecks), but they do pay other taxes and assessments.
But my real question revolves around the often stated belief that churches or Christian ministries should adopt and observe "good business practices."
(For the purposes of this post, I shall hitherto forth use the term "ministry" to include churches and para church organizations operating in the name of Jesus for the purpose of filling a community or world-wide need.)
One could use Scripture to try to make that determination...you know: "count the costs," etc.
But then where does faith fit in?
The answer lies in what church members believe the ministry really is.
If the ministry is a group that sees itself as a sort of "holy club," with regular meetings about how to behave and do good things, then there is no particular reason not to act in a totally businesslike manner.
But if the ministry is a body of called out believers in a resurrected Lord with whom they have both a personal and a corporate relationship, then it dare not think of itself as a business.
Let me see whether I can create a clearer understanding of the nature of churches and Christian ministries, as compared with businesses.
A business is an entity whose purpose it is to exchange goods and services for some particular gain...monetary or otherwise.
It is a direct quid-pro-quo relationship.
I do this for you; you give me this in return.
For instance, a commercial radio station says to an advertiser, "You give me "X" amount of money and I'll produce a spot for you that will entice listeners to buy your goods and services, and that spot will air "Y" number of times per day.
A Christian radio station, on the other hand (one of those para church ministries) can, both by law and by ethical standards, only ask a business to support it and air what the FCC calls "business acknowledgements."
It is prohibited by law from issuing a "call to action" (asking the listener to do something...like "call such-and-such a number"), airing an "enticement to buy" (giving the listener some reason to purchase from that business as opposed to some other business), or using descriptive, qualitative phrases ("the best Quadrapones in Southwest Florida").
As a ministry, it should not want to do such things anyway.
A ministry is characterized by giving, not getting.
The role of the ministry, church or para church, is to give, and give, and give some more, and leave it up to God to provide.
Ministries are about reconciliation, encouraging one another in the body of Christ and building one another up in the body of Christ.
Ministries are about thinking of others as better than yourself.
That doesn't mean that ministries should not ask for or receive money...they should.
The money that comes to a ministry should be a response from those benefiting from the ministry and from those who believe in the ministry and want to see it continue.
Money (and other blessings) follows ministry.
If a ministry's constituency believes it receives a benefit from the ministry, or sees the value of the ministry as a benefit to someone believed to need the ministry, it will have the support it needs..
If a ministry is not being supported, guess what...it is not being perceived as an important ministry by its constituency.
The real answer is: A ministry (including a church) dare not think of itself as a business. As soon as it does, it risks alienating its base and going afoul of the law.
Furthermore, it risks substituting business practices for faith.
Here's the deal.
If a ministry wants to do something, and it is God's will that it be done, God will provide the way for it to get done in His power.
If a ministry wants to do something and it is NOT God's will, it will never receive the blessing from doing it that it would have if it had waited to discover God's will.
For instance, if a church wants to build a new facility but it is not God's will, the building, if it gets built at all, will never fully serve its intended purpose and may require "pulling teeth" to get it done.
If a church knows that God wants a new facility built and proceeds on faith that He will provide, stand back...there is no power on earth that can prevent it from being done.
That may not be good business, but it is excellent faith.
Faith pleases God.
Nothing else does.
Well, first of all, in the eyes of the state and federal governments, churches and Christian ministries are businesses.
Contrary to popular belief, churches pay taxes.
In most states, churches (and most 501C3 non-profit ministries) don't pay sales taxes, and they don't pay federal income taxes themselves (but they do withhold taxes from certain employee paychecks), but they do pay other taxes and assessments.
But my real question revolves around the often stated belief that churches or Christian ministries should adopt and observe "good business practices."
(For the purposes of this post, I shall hitherto forth use the term "ministry" to include churches and para church organizations operating in the name of Jesus for the purpose of filling a community or world-wide need.)
One could use Scripture to try to make that determination...you know: "count the costs," etc.
But then where does faith fit in?
The answer lies in what church members believe the ministry really is.
If the ministry is a group that sees itself as a sort of "holy club," with regular meetings about how to behave and do good things, then there is no particular reason not to act in a totally businesslike manner.
But if the ministry is a body of called out believers in a resurrected Lord with whom they have both a personal and a corporate relationship, then it dare not think of itself as a business.
Let me see whether I can create a clearer understanding of the nature of churches and Christian ministries, as compared with businesses.
A business is an entity whose purpose it is to exchange goods and services for some particular gain...monetary or otherwise.
It is a direct quid-pro-quo relationship.
I do this for you; you give me this in return.
For instance, a commercial radio station says to an advertiser, "You give me "X" amount of money and I'll produce a spot for you that will entice listeners to buy your goods and services, and that spot will air "Y" number of times per day.
A Christian radio station, on the other hand (one of those para church ministries) can, both by law and by ethical standards, only ask a business to support it and air what the FCC calls "business acknowledgements."
It is prohibited by law from issuing a "call to action" (asking the listener to do something...like "call such-and-such a number"), airing an "enticement to buy" (giving the listener some reason to purchase from that business as opposed to some other business), or using descriptive, qualitative phrases ("the best Quadrapones in Southwest Florida").
As a ministry, it should not want to do such things anyway.
A ministry is characterized by giving, not getting.
The role of the ministry, church or para church, is to give, and give, and give some more, and leave it up to God to provide.
Ministries are about reconciliation, encouraging one another in the body of Christ and building one another up in the body of Christ.
Ministries are about thinking of others as better than yourself.
That doesn't mean that ministries should not ask for or receive money...they should.
The money that comes to a ministry should be a response from those benefiting from the ministry and from those who believe in the ministry and want to see it continue.
Money (and other blessings) follows ministry.
If a ministry's constituency believes it receives a benefit from the ministry, or sees the value of the ministry as a benefit to someone believed to need the ministry, it will have the support it needs..
If a ministry is not being supported, guess what...it is not being perceived as an important ministry by its constituency.
The real answer is: A ministry (including a church) dare not think of itself as a business. As soon as it does, it risks alienating its base and going afoul of the law.
Furthermore, it risks substituting business practices for faith.
Here's the deal.
If a ministry wants to do something, and it is God's will that it be done, God will provide the way for it to get done in His power.
If a ministry wants to do something and it is NOT God's will, it will never receive the blessing from doing it that it would have if it had waited to discover God's will.
For instance, if a church wants to build a new facility but it is not God's will, the building, if it gets built at all, will never fully serve its intended purpose and may require "pulling teeth" to get it done.
If a church knows that God wants a new facility built and proceeds on faith that He will provide, stand back...there is no power on earth that can prevent it from being done.
That may not be good business, but it is excellent faith.
Faith pleases God.
Nothing else does.
Friday, September 07, 2007
NEW MEANING TO THE PHRASE
TO BRUSH UP ON YOUR TECHNIQUE.
My wife posted the following on her site:
Do you think my husband noticed!
I washed my husband's shirts. He had left GUM in the pockets.
If for some reason you wash
clothes with gum in the
pockets, like my husband did, spray
hairspray on the spot when the clothes are still wet.
Then use your husband's toothbrush
to brush off of the clothes.
Next re-wash the clothes.
Last! Put the toothbrush back were you got it!
Works great!!
To which I reply:
Yu-u-u-u-c-k!
I sure am glad I bought a new toothbrush today!
ADDENDUM:
I suddenly feel the need to clean our toilet. Wonder where I can find a brush.
My wife posted the following on her site:
Do you think my husband noticed!
I washed my husband's shirts. He had left GUM in the pockets.
If for some reason you wash
clothes with gum in the
pockets, like my husband did, spray
hairspray on the spot when the clothes are still wet.
Then use your husband's toothbrush
to brush off of the clothes.
Next re-wash the clothes.
Last! Put the toothbrush back were you got it!
Works great!!
To which I reply:
Yu-u-u-u-c-k!
I sure am glad I bought a new toothbrush today!
ADDENDUM:
I suddenly feel the need to clean our toilet. Wonder where I can find a brush.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
DOES OPPORTUNITY KNOCK?
Note: The following post is not intended to be spiritual in nature. In the broadest sense it is, but it is really about what you can do if you want to.
I am not a good reader.
Not that I can't read.
In fact, I took speed reading courses.
I read best when I am reading really fast.
But I don't enjoy reading because I have to focus really hard to get it done.
It has gotten worse over the years.
I reverse letters, words and even sentences and have to strain to untangle them.
I think one could reasonably say that I am lysdexic.
But I have read.
I have read many things that were not particularly "good" reading, in the sense of holding my interest.
Among them: Plato and Aristotle (boring); Shakespeare (undecipherable); Frued (a real nut-case); Spencer (a bad behaviorist); Bunyan (John, not Paul); and other assorted works as assigned by professors who thought they knew what I needed to read.
Two things I enjoy reading over and over are The Bible and The Constitution of the United States of America.
I have read the Bible through completely five times and am now on my sixth trip through.
The Consitution is not as long (or as edifying) as The Bible, but it is full of things I think every person who pretends to be a citizen of this land should know.
Now that you think this post is about reading, dyslexia, The Bible or the Constitution, I will reveal its true purpose: Opportunity.
This country, with all of its short-comings, which are many, is still the land of opportunity like no other.
Any person can become whatever he or she wants to become, if he or she is willing to do what it takes to do it.
Some people wallow in their self-induced misery and never do what they want to do.
Their bad.
Not the system's bad...theirs.
"But some people can't get a job!" I hear you cry out.
Nonsense.
Absolute, utter, total, complete nonsense.
"But what about those who can't work because of some physical limitation?" you object.
Why don't you go tell that to American physicist, Nobel Prize winner Steven Hocking?
"Well, sure! If I had an IQ of 350 (or whatever his is), I could overcome my handicaps, too."
Balder-ever-lovin-blue-eyed dash!
If Steven Hocking had chosen to let his handicap dictate his life circumstance, he would be one of les miserables, too.
Any American, oriental, hispanic, black, caucasian or whatever, has the opportunity to be whatever he/she wants to be, if he or she is willing to do what it takes to be what he/she wants to be.
There are black hospital administrators in this county who were born into poverty.
There are hispanic holders of high office in this land.
There are oriental business magnates.
See, here's the thing...somewhere we are failing to teach our children that the greatest value this nation has to offer is not multi-culturalism, it is not a government established welfare program, it is simply this: Opportunity.
Here's how it works:
1. Get your mind off of yourself and start focusing on how you can help others.
Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar says, "You can get anything you want out of life if you will help enough other people get what they want out of life."
2. Get a basic education and learn to read.
Don't just graduate from high school...learn what was taught to you in grades K - 12. (Sadly, in Florida, where I live, 30% of graduating seniors can't read their own diplomas!)
If you can read, you can learn anything.
If you cannot read you are severely limited in what you can accomplish.
But you can learn to read.
3. Learn to communicate in the language common to the majority of people with whom you will have the opportunity to work...that's English. Rightly or wrongly, that's English.
You have the right to talk any way you want to, but the ability to forsake the cultural bounds of dialect will ensure that you can communicate with those you need to to accomplish what you want to accomplish.
4. If you seek a professional or vocational career, get higher education in that field.
Dreaming, "I'd like to be an astronaut," won't do you any good if you don't learn to fly, or do math, or science or whatever field holds your interest.
Is it easy in this country to be whatever you want to be?
Nope.
It's hard.
Real hard.
You have to discipline yourself to put your nose to the grind-stone and work gut-wrenchingly hard.
But the opportunity is there if you'll take it.
In a populationally mixed class of elementary students, when the teacher steps to the front of the class and teaches 2 + 2 = 4, there is not one single student of normal intelligence, regardless of race, ethnicity, economic level or whatever, who does not have the opportunity to learn that.
Some will learn quickly, some slowly.
Some will learn easily, some with great difficulty.
Every one will have the opportunity to learn.
And that, after all, is what this country is about: Opportunity.
The Constitution guarantees every citizen (emphasis: citizen) life, liberty, the right to own property and a plethora of other rights that will enable anyone to take advantage of the opportunities offered by this unique nation.
What our government, leaders, and our teachers need to be emphasizing is opportunism.
I am not a good reader.
Not that I can't read.
In fact, I took speed reading courses.
I read best when I am reading really fast.
But I don't enjoy reading because I have to focus really hard to get it done.
It has gotten worse over the years.
I reverse letters, words and even sentences and have to strain to untangle them.
I think one could reasonably say that I am lysdexic.
But I have read.
I have read many things that were not particularly "good" reading, in the sense of holding my interest.
Among them: Plato and Aristotle (boring); Shakespeare (undecipherable); Frued (a real nut-case); Spencer (a bad behaviorist); Bunyan (John, not Paul); and other assorted works as assigned by professors who thought they knew what I needed to read.
Two things I enjoy reading over and over are The Bible and The Constitution of the United States of America.
I have read the Bible through completely five times and am now on my sixth trip through.
The Consitution is not as long (or as edifying) as The Bible, but it is full of things I think every person who pretends to be a citizen of this land should know.
Now that you think this post is about reading, dyslexia, The Bible or the Constitution, I will reveal its true purpose: Opportunity.
This country, with all of its short-comings, which are many, is still the land of opportunity like no other.
Any person can become whatever he or she wants to become, if he or she is willing to do what it takes to do it.
Some people wallow in their self-induced misery and never do what they want to do.
Their bad.
Not the system's bad...theirs.
"But some people can't get a job!" I hear you cry out.
Nonsense.
Absolute, utter, total, complete nonsense.
"But what about those who can't work because of some physical limitation?" you object.
Why don't you go tell that to American physicist, Nobel Prize winner Steven Hocking?
"Well, sure! If I had an IQ of 350 (or whatever his is), I could overcome my handicaps, too."
Balder-ever-lovin-blue-eyed dash!
If Steven Hocking had chosen to let his handicap dictate his life circumstance, he would be one of les miserables, too.
Any American, oriental, hispanic, black, caucasian or whatever, has the opportunity to be whatever he/she wants to be, if he or she is willing to do what it takes to be what he/she wants to be.
There are black hospital administrators in this county who were born into poverty.
There are hispanic holders of high office in this land.
There are oriental business magnates.
See, here's the thing...somewhere we are failing to teach our children that the greatest value this nation has to offer is not multi-culturalism, it is not a government established welfare program, it is simply this: Opportunity.
Here's how it works:
1. Get your mind off of yourself and start focusing on how you can help others.
Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar says, "You can get anything you want out of life if you will help enough other people get what they want out of life."
2. Get a basic education and learn to read.
Don't just graduate from high school...learn what was taught to you in grades K - 12. (Sadly, in Florida, where I live, 30% of graduating seniors can't read their own diplomas!)
If you can read, you can learn anything.
If you cannot read you are severely limited in what you can accomplish.
But you can learn to read.
3. Learn to communicate in the language common to the majority of people with whom you will have the opportunity to work...that's English. Rightly or wrongly, that's English.
You have the right to talk any way you want to, but the ability to forsake the cultural bounds of dialect will ensure that you can communicate with those you need to to accomplish what you want to accomplish.
4. If you seek a professional or vocational career, get higher education in that field.
Dreaming, "I'd like to be an astronaut," won't do you any good if you don't learn to fly, or do math, or science or whatever field holds your interest.
Is it easy in this country to be whatever you want to be?
Nope.
It's hard.
Real hard.
You have to discipline yourself to put your nose to the grind-stone and work gut-wrenchingly hard.
But the opportunity is there if you'll take it.
In a populationally mixed class of elementary students, when the teacher steps to the front of the class and teaches 2 + 2 = 4, there is not one single student of normal intelligence, regardless of race, ethnicity, economic level or whatever, who does not have the opportunity to learn that.
Some will learn quickly, some slowly.
Some will learn easily, some with great difficulty.
Every one will have the opportunity to learn.
And that, after all, is what this country is about: Opportunity.
The Constitution guarantees every citizen (emphasis: citizen) life, liberty, the right to own property and a plethora of other rights that will enable anyone to take advantage of the opportunities offered by this unique nation.
What our government, leaders, and our teachers need to be emphasizing is opportunism.
Monday, September 03, 2007
HAPPY LABOR DAY?
What makes a happy Labor day, anyway?
Do you give Labor Day gifts?
Was there a great military battle we won, worthy of celebration?
Maybe it has some Religious or Christian significance.
No, no and no.
"Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country," said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. "
All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Or else they are in observance of some religious event.
Labor Day...is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation."
Labor Day is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.
On June 28th, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.
Did you know, though, that by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and is supposed to be dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement?
In the end, Labor Day is a secular holiday (which, since holiday is a contraction of Holy Day, may be an oxymoron), and is directly tied to neither patriotism nor faith.
That being said, one principle of Scripture is that we give our very best as slaves (read: employees) remembering that our work is unto the Lord, and not to men.
So, HAPPY LABOR DAY! And may all the picnics you attend be filling, may the speeches you endure be short, and if you are off today, be safe, get some rest and tomorrow...get to work!
Above all, remain in Christ.
That will make it a happy Labor Day, indeed.
Do you give Labor Day gifts?
Was there a great military battle we won, worthy of celebration?
Maybe it has some Religious or Christian significance.
No, no and no.
"Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country," said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. "
All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Or else they are in observance of some religious event.
Labor Day...is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation."
Labor Day is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.
On June 28th, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.
Did you know, though, that by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and is supposed to be dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement?
In the end, Labor Day is a secular holiday (which, since holiday is a contraction of Holy Day, may be an oxymoron), and is directly tied to neither patriotism nor faith.
That being said, one principle of Scripture is that we give our very best as slaves (read: employees) remembering that our work is unto the Lord, and not to men.
So, HAPPY LABOR DAY! And may all the picnics you attend be filling, may the speeches you endure be short, and if you are off today, be safe, get some rest and tomorrow...get to work!
Above all, remain in Christ.
That will make it a happy Labor Day, indeed.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
HOW PLEASING ARE YOU?
People who think they can please God by right behavior do not know big and how perfect God is.
Obedience to the Law is a good thing, but don’t be deceived into thinking that obedience to the Law will either save or help save you.
When Jesus said "…when you obey my commands…" He was not talking about obedience to the law of Moses or the Ten Commandments.
He was very clear: His commands are to love God with all of your heart, mind soul and strength and your neighbor as yourself.
Here is the message of the gospel, "…if you confess with your mouth Jesus is (as) Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved."
This the only possible conclusion to draw if (and only if) you understand Scripture in its context of entirety.
Sure, you can put verses together to say what you think they should say, but doing so dooms you to miss the point of the Word.
Since the Bible is God’s revelation of His character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption, we must interpret it thusly.
Whatever you are reading in His Word, you must answer the following questions about it:
1. What does it further reveal about the character of God that is consistant with the rest of the Bible?
2. What does it further reveal about His love for His creation?
3. What does it further reveal about His plan for its redemption?
Whatever you are reading in some "further revelation testament" must also answer the same questions.
See, if it just reiterates what we already know about the character of God, then it is unnecessary and so could not possibly be the "further" Word of God.
If it attempts to reveal "more" about His love for His creation, it could not possibly be the "further" Word of God, because then what He has already revealed would have to be either wrong or incomplete…and God is neither of those.
If it attempts to reveal "more" about His plan for our redemption, it could not possibly be the "further" Word of God, because when Jesus cried with a loud voice, "It is finished," He was proclaiming once and for all that everything necessary for mankind’s redemption was complete.
With all of this in mind, why don’t you stop "trying" to please God by forcing your behavior to conform to some artificial inkling of what is right or wrong, and instead begin to love Him with all of your heart, mind soul and strength?
Exercise your faith in His finished work at Calvary.
If you do, don’t worry. You will please Him.
If you don’t, don’t worry, you can’t please Him, for without faith it is impossible to please God.
Obedience to the Law is a good thing, but don’t be deceived into thinking that obedience to the Law will either save or help save you.
When Jesus said "…when you obey my commands…" He was not talking about obedience to the law of Moses or the Ten Commandments.
He was very clear: His commands are to love God with all of your heart, mind soul and strength and your neighbor as yourself.
Here is the message of the gospel, "…if you confess with your mouth Jesus is (as) Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved."
This the only possible conclusion to draw if (and only if) you understand Scripture in its context of entirety.
Sure, you can put verses together to say what you think they should say, but doing so dooms you to miss the point of the Word.
Since the Bible is God’s revelation of His character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption, we must interpret it thusly.
Whatever you are reading in His Word, you must answer the following questions about it:
1. What does it further reveal about the character of God that is consistant with the rest of the Bible?
2. What does it further reveal about His love for His creation?
3. What does it further reveal about His plan for its redemption?
Whatever you are reading in some "further revelation testament" must also answer the same questions.
See, if it just reiterates what we already know about the character of God, then it is unnecessary and so could not possibly be the "further" Word of God.
If it attempts to reveal "more" about His love for His creation, it could not possibly be the "further" Word of God, because then what He has already revealed would have to be either wrong or incomplete…and God is neither of those.
If it attempts to reveal "more" about His plan for our redemption, it could not possibly be the "further" Word of God, because when Jesus cried with a loud voice, "It is finished," He was proclaiming once and for all that everything necessary for mankind’s redemption was complete.
With all of this in mind, why don’t you stop "trying" to please God by forcing your behavior to conform to some artificial inkling of what is right or wrong, and instead begin to love Him with all of your heart, mind soul and strength?
Exercise your faith in His finished work at Calvary.
If you do, don’t worry. You will please Him.
If you don’t, don’t worry, you can’t please Him, for without faith it is impossible to please God.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
CREATION
The Bible proclaims: "In the beginning God created..."
Science proclaims: "In the beginning gaseous cloud and 'Big Bang'."
One is right.
One is wrong.
Let's start with "...gaseous cloud and 'Big Bang'."
Of what was the gaseous cloud supposedly made?
Trillions to the trillionth power of atoms forming molecules of gaseous material.
Each atom was (and is) made up of one or more proton(s), neutron(s) and electron(s).
Each of these is made up of such things as nucleons, quarks and other assorted atomia, some of which have not yet been discovered.
So...where are nucleons, quarks, protons, neutrons and electrons supposed to have come from?
Scientific answer: They were a part of the big gaseous cloud that just was.
That, dearly beloved, is a statement of extrodinary faith.
Once upon a time, the big gaseous cloud exploded.
Its atoms and molecules shot out into "space" in infinite randomness.
By chance, many were able, even as they accelerated outward from some nebulous center, to combine to form some sort of clusters, which, by "natural attraction" drew other atoms and molecules to them.
By chance, some of those clusters grew into large enough bodies to begin attracting greater numbers of atoms and molecules.
By chance, some of those atoms and molecules clustered in the right proportions to form pre-creative starites, planetitess, asteroidites, cometites, moonites and other cosmic entities, each of which was composed of various combinations of elements from the periodic table.
By chance, some of those pre-creative starites, planetites, etc., attracted just the right atoms and molecules to have just the right proportions of elements to form gasses and solids in the right percentages to become actual stars, etc.
By chance, some of those stars attracted some of those clumps of planetites to them at just the right distance to orbit around them.
By chance, some of those planetites became planets.
By chance, some of those planets held water, oxygen, nitrogen, and other rudimentary elements, to begin the process of "forming life."
By chance, the right proportions of elements combined to form elemental organelles (the structures which carry out specialized reactions within cells, which, of course, "died" because they did not have what they needed for sustanance, ie: the rest of the cell.
By chance, those same elements came together often enough to evenually create a eukaryotic cell with which to surround the organelles which kept forming (for some unexplained reason).
By chance, the eukaryotic cells developed the other things they needed to form sustainable "life," such as: mitochondria; rough endoplasmic reticula; nucleii; plasmic membrane, nucleolus; nuclear envelopes; chromatin; ribosomes; smoothe endoplasmic reticula; cillia; golgi apparatus; micro tubules; centrioles; peroxisomes; lysosomes; microfillaments; and other assorted biological requirements.
By chance, the eukaryotic cells also developed deoxyribonucleic acid, which contained the instructions for the cells to develop into whatever they were going to develop into and to continue manufacturing the right combinations and proportions of the other material to continue existing.
By chance, the deoxyribonucleic aced (DNA) was able to enter related nucleic acid (RNA), to instruct molecules to synthesize proteins or to construct ribosomes and spliceosomes.
By chance, these cells were able to divide, thus replicating themselves.
Sort of reads like a scientific version of Hebrews 11, doesn't it?
Picture a canon loaded with an unimaginably large and complex Erector Set (remember those?).
Shoot the pieces out.
How many of you believe the Erector Set would come together to form a replica of the Empire State Building?
Yet, scientists would have us believe that a process infinitely more intricate took place, the end result of which was you, me and our universe.
Right.
Now, it seems to be the nature of humans to contemplate our origins, whether by "natural processes" or by a Creator.
I wonder where that nature came from?
It seems to me that the most complex entity in the universe, besides the universe itself, the human brain, made up of the second most complex entity in the universe, the eukaryotic cell, speak loudly and clearly for a Creator.
Add to that the existence of the eukaroytic cell's little sister, the prokaryotic cell, and you have a life constituancy that defies imagination.
In the end, I think it makes infititely more sense to accept, "In the beginning God created..."
Science proclaims: "In the beginning gaseous cloud and 'Big Bang'."
One is right.
One is wrong.
Let's start with "...gaseous cloud and 'Big Bang'."
Of what was the gaseous cloud supposedly made?
Trillions to the trillionth power of atoms forming molecules of gaseous material.
Each atom was (and is) made up of one or more proton(s), neutron(s) and electron(s).
Each of these is made up of such things as nucleons, quarks and other assorted atomia, some of which have not yet been discovered.
So...where are nucleons, quarks, protons, neutrons and electrons supposed to have come from?
Scientific answer: They were a part of the big gaseous cloud that just was.
That, dearly beloved, is a statement of extrodinary faith.
Once upon a time, the big gaseous cloud exploded.
Its atoms and molecules shot out into "space" in infinite randomness.
By chance, many were able, even as they accelerated outward from some nebulous center, to combine to form some sort of clusters, which, by "natural attraction" drew other atoms and molecules to them.
By chance, some of those clusters grew into large enough bodies to begin attracting greater numbers of atoms and molecules.
By chance, some of those atoms and molecules clustered in the right proportions to form pre-creative starites, planetitess, asteroidites, cometites, moonites and other cosmic entities, each of which was composed of various combinations of elements from the periodic table.
By chance, some of those pre-creative starites, planetites, etc., attracted just the right atoms and molecules to have just the right proportions of elements to form gasses and solids in the right percentages to become actual stars, etc.
By chance, some of those stars attracted some of those clumps of planetites to them at just the right distance to orbit around them.
By chance, some of those planetites became planets.
By chance, some of those planets held water, oxygen, nitrogen, and other rudimentary elements, to begin the process of "forming life."
By chance, the right proportions of elements combined to form elemental organelles (the structures which carry out specialized reactions within cells, which, of course, "died" because they did not have what they needed for sustanance, ie: the rest of the cell.
By chance, those same elements came together often enough to evenually create a eukaryotic cell with which to surround the organelles which kept forming (for some unexplained reason).
By chance, the eukaryotic cells developed the other things they needed to form sustainable "life," such as: mitochondria; rough endoplasmic reticula; nucleii; plasmic membrane, nucleolus; nuclear envelopes; chromatin; ribosomes; smoothe endoplasmic reticula; cillia; golgi apparatus; micro tubules; centrioles; peroxisomes; lysosomes; microfillaments; and other assorted biological requirements.
By chance, the eukaryotic cells also developed deoxyribonucleic acid, which contained the instructions for the cells to develop into whatever they were going to develop into and to continue manufacturing the right combinations and proportions of the other material to continue existing.
By chance, the deoxyribonucleic aced (DNA) was able to enter related nucleic acid (RNA), to instruct molecules to synthesize proteins or to construct ribosomes and spliceosomes.
By chance, these cells were able to divide, thus replicating themselves.
Sort of reads like a scientific version of Hebrews 11, doesn't it?
Picture a canon loaded with an unimaginably large and complex Erector Set (remember those?).
Shoot the pieces out.
How many of you believe the Erector Set would come together to form a replica of the Empire State Building?
Yet, scientists would have us believe that a process infinitely more intricate took place, the end result of which was you, me and our universe.
Right.
Now, it seems to be the nature of humans to contemplate our origins, whether by "natural processes" or by a Creator.
I wonder where that nature came from?
It seems to me that the most complex entity in the universe, besides the universe itself, the human brain, made up of the second most complex entity in the universe, the eukaryotic cell, speak loudly and clearly for a Creator.
Add to that the existence of the eukaroytic cell's little sister, the prokaryotic cell, and you have a life constituancy that defies imagination.
In the end, I think it makes infititely more sense to accept, "In the beginning God created..."
Saturday, August 11, 2007
GOOD GOD!
My wife was chatting in a "Christian" chat-room with a person who purported to have asked God for a certain job which he did not get.
His attitude was that if God did not give him the job he prayed for, there was little reason to pray, 'cause God doesn't answer his prayers.
In the book of James we read, "You have not because you ask amiss." (James 4:3)
In other words, you ask with the wrong motive...to get your way.
News flash! It is not your way that counts.
The only way that counts for anything at all is THE WAY, who is Jesus.
It is a question of submission to His will.
"But if I submit to His will, I will not get what I want," I hear you object.
Wrong.
If you submit to His will, then you will want what He wants for you and will therefore get what you want, since it is what He wants.
"But...but...I want MY way."
OK. Have it your way.
You'll never be either satisfied or happy.
Have it God's way and you'll never be dissatisfied or unhappy.
Your choice.
He has written, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)
That is not a promise of riches in the worldly sense. It is a promise that God wants what's good for you, not what's bad for you.
If God is God (supreme...the Creator...omnipotent...omnicient...omnipresent...the boss of all that is), then I want what He knows is good for me, in place of what I think would be good for me.
I either trust Him or I don't.
There is no such thing as, "I trust God, but..."
If I put the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (who is Jesus) first, then He will provide for me the wherewithal to have what He knows I need. (see the verses before and after Matthew 7:33)
"But the job I wanted and did not get would have made me happy."
NO.
The job God wants for you will make you happy.
Want to be happy?
Submit.
"But submitting would mean giving up my wants, desires and way!"
Right!
You're beginning to catch on!
The Bible is packed jam full of examples of people who found their joy in giving up self desire and giving up to God.
Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Joshua, Daniel, Mary, Peter, Paul (not to be confused with Peter, Paul and Mary), John, et. al. are just some of the people who found enriched freedom in submission.
You can too.
Or not.
Choose.
His attitude was that if God did not give him the job he prayed for, there was little reason to pray, 'cause God doesn't answer his prayers.
In the book of James we read, "You have not because you ask amiss." (James 4:3)
In other words, you ask with the wrong motive...to get your way.
News flash! It is not your way that counts.
The only way that counts for anything at all is THE WAY, who is Jesus.
It is a question of submission to His will.
"But if I submit to His will, I will not get what I want," I hear you object.
Wrong.
If you submit to His will, then you will want what He wants for you and will therefore get what you want, since it is what He wants.
"But...but...I want MY way."
OK. Have it your way.
You'll never be either satisfied or happy.
Have it God's way and you'll never be dissatisfied or unhappy.
Your choice.
He has written, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)
That is not a promise of riches in the worldly sense. It is a promise that God wants what's good for you, not what's bad for you.
If God is God (supreme...the Creator...omnipotent...omnicient...omnipresent...the boss of all that is), then I want what He knows is good for me, in place of what I think would be good for me.
I either trust Him or I don't.
There is no such thing as, "I trust God, but..."
If I put the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (who is Jesus) first, then He will provide for me the wherewithal to have what He knows I need. (see the verses before and after Matthew 7:33)
"But the job I wanted and did not get would have made me happy."
NO.
The job God wants for you will make you happy.
Want to be happy?
Submit.
"But submitting would mean giving up my wants, desires and way!"
Right!
You're beginning to catch on!
The Bible is packed jam full of examples of people who found their joy in giving up self desire and giving up to God.
Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Joshua, Daniel, Mary, Peter, Paul (not to be confused with Peter, Paul and Mary), John, et. al. are just some of the people who found enriched freedom in submission.
You can too.
Or not.
Choose.
Friday, August 10, 2007
RIDICULOUS!
Tooling along the Six Mile Cypress Raceway, on my way home from the studios of the Christian radio station at which I work (heard online at www.kingdom.fm), I heard a discussion with an author who has written a "satire" about current politicians.
The characters in the book being discussed included George Bush, Barack Obama, Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, First Husband wannabe, Bill Clinton and an assortment of other quasi leaders in the world.
The foibles and follies of each were pointed out in sweeping scenarios of ridiculousness.
Trouble is, it is not satire.
Two generations of Americans (and I suspect other world citizens) have lost sight of what constitutes satire.
This is largely due to the TV program, Saturday Night Live.
SNL referred to what it did as satire, so the TV public assumed that they knew what satire is.
They don't.
What they engaged in was (and is) ridicule.
Ridicule is not satire.
Ridicule is a valid form of humor (sometimes), but it is not satire.
Satire, in its classical historical sense, is misdirection.
It is using characters to expose the preposterousness of the government or other entity.
Gulliver's Travels, for instance, purported to be a children's adventure story.
And it is a very compelling children's adventure story.
It is also four mini-novels about the British government.
Not only that, there is a topic that runs through all the four novels.
It is that the human race often takes things for granted not considering that there could be some one or something getting hurt.
Do you know what each of the characters represent?
Who are the Lilliputians, the Brumbidangs, the Laputas and the Yahoo's (ever wonder where that characterization came from...as in: What a Yahoo!)?
Do you know who are represented in Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass?
Who was the Walrus?
Who was the White Rabbit?
What about the Cheshire Cat?
What governmentally induced dangers were represented in the stories?
That's the point.
You (probably) don't know.
Neither did those at which the books were pointed.
Both Jonathan Swift and Lewis Carroll found a way to poke fun at both government and society through misdirection, without getting in trouble over it at a time when "free speech" was only a figment of most people's imaginations.
So, look. Ridicule is OK and has its place.
But please, please, please don't call it "satire."
If we must call "ridicule" "satire," then we will have to come up with another word for "satire."
I must go.
As the White Rabbit said:
"I'm late! I'm late...for a very important date!
"No time to say, 'Hello,' good by.
"I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!"
The characters in the book being discussed included George Bush, Barack Obama, Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, First Husband wannabe, Bill Clinton and an assortment of other quasi leaders in the world.
The foibles and follies of each were pointed out in sweeping scenarios of ridiculousness.
Trouble is, it is not satire.
Two generations of Americans (and I suspect other world citizens) have lost sight of what constitutes satire.
This is largely due to the TV program, Saturday Night Live.
SNL referred to what it did as satire, so the TV public assumed that they knew what satire is.
They don't.
What they engaged in was (and is) ridicule.
Ridicule is not satire.
Ridicule is a valid form of humor (sometimes), but it is not satire.
Satire, in its classical historical sense, is misdirection.
It is using characters to expose the preposterousness of the government or other entity.
Gulliver's Travels, for instance, purported to be a children's adventure story.
And it is a very compelling children's adventure story.
It is also four mini-novels about the British government.
Not only that, there is a topic that runs through all the four novels.
It is that the human race often takes things for granted not considering that there could be some one or something getting hurt.
Do you know what each of the characters represent?
Who are the Lilliputians, the Brumbidangs, the Laputas and the Yahoo's (ever wonder where that characterization came from...as in: What a Yahoo!)?
Do you know who are represented in Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass?
Who was the Walrus?
Who was the White Rabbit?
What about the Cheshire Cat?
What governmentally induced dangers were represented in the stories?
That's the point.
You (probably) don't know.
Neither did those at which the books were pointed.
Both Jonathan Swift and Lewis Carroll found a way to poke fun at both government and society through misdirection, without getting in trouble over it at a time when "free speech" was only a figment of most people's imaginations.
So, look. Ridicule is OK and has its place.
But please, please, please don't call it "satire."
If we must call "ridicule" "satire," then we will have to come up with another word for "satire."
I must go.
As the White Rabbit said:
"I'm late! I'm late...for a very important date!
"No time to say, 'Hello,' good by.
"I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!"
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
CONTROL FREAKS
Should a Christian dance?
Should a Christian smoke?
Should a Christian go to movies?
Should a Christian run around with strange women (or men...as the case may be)?
These are some of the heart-wrenching questions being asked when I was first introduced to Jesus.
We all thought that there was some kind of check-list that God kept to decide whether or not to strike us with lightning (or to just give us a good jolt from the wall socket).
But it was more than that.
Our parents, teachers, Sunday School leaders and pastors used these issues to help us "keep in line."
This still goes on today.
I could not count the number of times I have had well-meaning (I guess) Christians quote some scripture or other in an attempt to prove or disprove what I (or someone else) should or should not be doing.
Partly that's because I can't count all that high.
But mostly it's because most people think Christianity is about the old control game.
So, before I stray too far from topic, let me make this clear:
The Bible is not a guide book by which we can discover the behaviors that will please God.
Some of you are now reeling and stumbling backward with shock.
Get over it.
The Bible is God's revelation of His character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption.
Notice the underlined "His"es.
The Bible is not even about you.
It is about God and His intervention in history.
"What!!?" I hear you exclaiming, "I thought the Bible was God's guidebook...the "operator's manual" for human living.
Nope.
Before you go off half cocked, let me assure you that it contains the best guidance that has ever been conceived.
But it is not a guide-book.
Nor is it a history book.
Now it contains the best history that has ever been written.
But it is not a history book.
Neither is is a science book.
Whenever science and the Bible contradict one another, you can be certain that it is science, not the Bible, that is wrong.
The Bible is not a psychology book.
Yet its author, who created both the brain and the mind, knows more about the psychology of the human mind than all the psychologists who ever have lived, are living now or ever will live.
Follow the Bible's guidance...you'll never go wrong.
Learn from the Bible's history...you'll be enriched.
Accept the Bible's description of the material universe...you'll grow in faith.
Trust the Bible's understanding of human nature...you'll be humbled.
But know that you know that the Bible is about God.
It is about His love for His creation.
It is about His plan for its salvation through the death burrial and resurrection of His incarnate self, Jesus, the Christ.
When this is internalized in you, you will never have to worry about the legalistic following of this rule or that.
It will be enough to have entered into a personal relationship with Him.
When that happens, you will not want to steal, kill, hate, worry, fornicate, covet, lie, cheat, or engage in any other behavior that would detract from the moment-by-moment joy of walking hand-in-hand with Him and His great love.
When you are focused on Him, you will not be able to focus on anything or anyone else.
You will never feel the need to control someone else, and you will never fear that someone else might be able to control you.
You will find God's grace in every circumstance, good or bad, and will be able to have an eternal attitude of gratitude, praise and wonder.
The next time you study God's Word, remember who it's about.
Draw closer to Him.
Should a Christian smoke?
Should a Christian go to movies?
Should a Christian run around with strange women (or men...as the case may be)?
These are some of the heart-wrenching questions being asked when I was first introduced to Jesus.
We all thought that there was some kind of check-list that God kept to decide whether or not to strike us with lightning (or to just give us a good jolt from the wall socket).
But it was more than that.
Our parents, teachers, Sunday School leaders and pastors used these issues to help us "keep in line."
This still goes on today.
I could not count the number of times I have had well-meaning (I guess) Christians quote some scripture or other in an attempt to prove or disprove what I (or someone else) should or should not be doing.
Partly that's because I can't count all that high.
But mostly it's because most people think Christianity is about the old control game.
So, before I stray too far from topic, let me make this clear:
The Bible is not a guide book by which we can discover the behaviors that will please God.
Some of you are now reeling and stumbling backward with shock.
Get over it.
The Bible is God's revelation of His character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption.
Notice the underlined "His"es.
The Bible is not even about you.
It is about God and His intervention in history.
"What!!?" I hear you exclaiming, "I thought the Bible was God's guidebook...the "operator's manual" for human living.
Nope.
Before you go off half cocked, let me assure you that it contains the best guidance that has ever been conceived.
But it is not a guide-book.
Nor is it a history book.
Now it contains the best history that has ever been written.
But it is not a history book.
Neither is is a science book.
Whenever science and the Bible contradict one another, you can be certain that it is science, not the Bible, that is wrong.
The Bible is not a psychology book.
Yet its author, who created both the brain and the mind, knows more about the psychology of the human mind than all the psychologists who ever have lived, are living now or ever will live.
Follow the Bible's guidance...you'll never go wrong.
Learn from the Bible's history...you'll be enriched.
Accept the Bible's description of the material universe...you'll grow in faith.
Trust the Bible's understanding of human nature...you'll be humbled.
But know that you know that the Bible is about God.
It is about His love for His creation.
It is about His plan for its salvation through the death burrial and resurrection of His incarnate self, Jesus, the Christ.
When this is internalized in you, you will never have to worry about the legalistic following of this rule or that.
It will be enough to have entered into a personal relationship with Him.
When that happens, you will not want to steal, kill, hate, worry, fornicate, covet, lie, cheat, or engage in any other behavior that would detract from the moment-by-moment joy of walking hand-in-hand with Him and His great love.
When you are focused on Him, you will not be able to focus on anything or anyone else.
You will never feel the need to control someone else, and you will never fear that someone else might be able to control you.
You will find God's grace in every circumstance, good or bad, and will be able to have an eternal attitude of gratitude, praise and wonder.
The next time you study God's Word, remember who it's about.
Draw closer to Him.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
And now Let's Play THE BLAME GAME!!!
A bridge fell.
People were on it.
That is a tragedy.
We pray for the family members who lost loved ones.
It was not George Bush's fault.
As much as it pains me so say so, it was not Bill Clinton's fault.
Maintaining roads is up to states, counties and municipalities.
It will cause you some distress to know that the federal government is not your mommy.
It is not their job to take care of you.
It is not their job to provide you with health care.
It is not their job to feed you.
It is not their job to rescue you from the elements.
It is not their job to control your daily non-criminal behavior.
It is not their job to educate you.
(That's right. Schools used to be run by the church in this country. Then they were run by local governments. [Those were the schools that educated the people who put us on the moon...notice we haven't been back?]. In the early 70s they started becoming federal government schools)
It is the federal government's job:
1. to unite us
2. to see that justice prevails in the courts
3. to keep us peaceful
4. to defend us from those who would harm us
5. to promote our enthusiasm (called "the general welfare"... which has nothing to do with government hand-outs)
6. to protect the blessings of our freedom.
Life, liberty and personal property (not the pursuit of happiness...that's the Declaration of Independence) are guaranteed by The Constitution of the United States of America.
Your freedom to fuss at the government is guaranteed.
Your freedom to worship anytime, anywhere is guaranteed.
Your freedom write whatever you want is guaranteed (think blogs).
Your freedom to own a weapon is guaranteed.
Etc. (Check out The Constitution of the United States of America for more of your freedoms.)
Although The Constitution of the United States of America is a living, breathing document, it lives and breathes slowly...by the amendment process, not by the judicial process.
We can change it, but it has been made a very arduous procedure...on purpose.
So when tragedies happen, resist the urge to point the finger at the feds.
Do what you can to help.
Pray for the families affected.
Send money.
But don't blame the government.
When you blame the government for that which is not their responsibility, you embolden them to think that it IS their responsibility, and they then seek more control.
Trust me.
You don't want the federal government to have more control over your life.
They aren't very good at it.
If "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely," then you don't want to give Washington more power.
In fact, you should do what you can to help take back much of the power you have ceded to them in the past.
If you don't do it while it can be done peacefully, you will have to do it by force later.
If you don't, there will come a day when you will be ruled by despots who will take away every freedom you have.
They will think for you.
They will control you.
They will tell you what job you must have.
They will tell you what you must study to have that job.
They will tell you what to drive.
They will tell you what to eat.
They will tell you what to wear.
And if you disobey them, or if they just dislike you, they will torture you, cut off your fingers and toes or simply cut off you head.
Don't believe it?
Check out both current events and history.
Both prove it.
Is that what you want?
So who do you blame?
People were on it.
That is a tragedy.
We pray for the family members who lost loved ones.
It was not George Bush's fault.
As much as it pains me so say so, it was not Bill Clinton's fault.
Maintaining roads is up to states, counties and municipalities.
It will cause you some distress to know that the federal government is not your mommy.
It is not their job to take care of you.
It is not their job to provide you with health care.
It is not their job to feed you.
It is not their job to rescue you from the elements.
It is not their job to control your daily non-criminal behavior.
It is not their job to educate you.
(That's right. Schools used to be run by the church in this country. Then they were run by local governments. [Those were the schools that educated the people who put us on the moon...notice we haven't been back?]. In the early 70s they started becoming federal government schools)
It is the federal government's job:
1. to unite us
2. to see that justice prevails in the courts
3. to keep us peaceful
4. to defend us from those who would harm us
5. to promote our enthusiasm (called "the general welfare"... which has nothing to do with government hand-outs)
6. to protect the blessings of our freedom.
Life, liberty and personal property (not the pursuit of happiness...that's the Declaration of Independence) are guaranteed by The Constitution of the United States of America.
Your freedom to fuss at the government is guaranteed.
Your freedom to worship anytime, anywhere is guaranteed.
Your freedom write whatever you want is guaranteed (think blogs).
Your freedom to own a weapon is guaranteed.
Etc. (Check out The Constitution of the United States of America for more of your freedoms.)
Although The Constitution of the United States of America is a living, breathing document, it lives and breathes slowly...by the amendment process, not by the judicial process.
We can change it, but it has been made a very arduous procedure...on purpose.
So when tragedies happen, resist the urge to point the finger at the feds.
Do what you can to help.
Pray for the families affected.
Send money.
But don't blame the government.
When you blame the government for that which is not their responsibility, you embolden them to think that it IS their responsibility, and they then seek more control.
Trust me.
You don't want the federal government to have more control over your life.
They aren't very good at it.
If "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely," then you don't want to give Washington more power.
In fact, you should do what you can to help take back much of the power you have ceded to them in the past.
If you don't do it while it can be done peacefully, you will have to do it by force later.
If you don't, there will come a day when you will be ruled by despots who will take away every freedom you have.
They will think for you.
They will control you.
They will tell you what job you must have.
They will tell you what you must study to have that job.
They will tell you what to drive.
They will tell you what to eat.
They will tell you what to wear.
And if you disobey them, or if they just dislike you, they will torture you, cut off your fingers and toes or simply cut off you head.
Don't believe it?
Check out both current events and history.
Both prove it.
Is that what you want?
So who do you blame?
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
A NEW CHEMICAL ELEMENT
Someone sent this to me.
So, naturally, I thought I would pass it along to you.
I was right...I would.
Recent hurricanes and gasoline prices are proof of the existence of a new chemical element.
Research has led to the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science.
The new element, Governmentium(Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.
These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.
Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact.
A minute amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second, to take from four days to four years to complete.
Governmentium has a normal half life of 2- 6 years. It does not decay, but instead undergoes reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.
In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.
This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration.
This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.
When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium(Ad), an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium, since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.
So, naturally, I thought I would pass it along to you.
I was right...I would.
Recent hurricanes and gasoline prices are proof of the existence of a new chemical element.
Research has led to the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science.
The new element, Governmentium(Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.
These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.
Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact.
A minute amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second, to take from four days to four years to complete.
Governmentium has a normal half life of 2- 6 years. It does not decay, but instead undergoes reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.
In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.
This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration.
This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.
When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium(Ad), an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium, since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
