The Greatest Act of Valor

   The other night I was channel surfing and was looking for something good on TV.  I came across a movie on TBS called "Act of Valor".  I had seen the movie in the theaters already several years ago and even though the movie was almost over I decided to watch it anyway.

    When I selected the movie, the scene I caught was the final scene where the Navy SEALS are driving into a Mexican stronghold. The terrorists were thought to be planning their entry into the US through a tunnel.  As the men fought there way through the buildings , a man drops a hand-grenade from above them.  The SEAL in the back of the group, a Lt Anglo, sees the grenade and realizes he is the only person to know it's there.  He yells "GRENADE!" and then proceeds to throw himself onto it and prevents the explosion from hurting anyone else.  Because of his selfless act of valor his men were able to continue their mission and prevent the terrorists from fulfilling their plans.

   The scene ends with sight of blood running out from under Lt Anglo's body onto the ground and him shutting his eyes in death.

   In similar fashion, Jesus saw the 'live-grenade' of God's wrath against sin and our love of sin.  We are like those other men who were oblivious to the presence of the explosive waiting to go off.  Jesus, like the soldier in the movie, didn't hesitate and threw himself on that wrath by willfully allowing evil men to condemn him to the cross in our place.   He took the full impact of that wrath on himself and once that wrath was expelled it no longer posed any danger to us who deserved it so much.

   Why did he do this?

    Jesus said,

"No greater LOVE can a man have than to lay down his life for his friends!"

    He loves you right now!
 
    Not after you respond to his love!
    Not after you reach a certain level of goodness! 
    Not after you  can wrap your mind around why or how!

    He simply wants us to receive his love and follow him.

     But unlike the soldier in the story, Jesus story doesn't end here.  We don't follow a dead person.  We follow Jesus who was raised from the grave as "proof" that God has accepted his payment for our sins.  He is with us today as we make our way through this life.  He is with us to help us to complete the mission the Father first sent him and now sends us as well.

Going to war with God

     Sometimes in war countries will use subterfuge and trickery to make it look like they have a larger army than they really do in order scare off would-be invaders.   Take for example in World War II when the Allies were planning the D day invasion.   They needed to keep Hitler guessing as to where they were going to invade from and so they needed to make it look like we were mounting an invasion in the northern part of England.   Because metal was already scarce, the military couldn’t afford to just put tanks and planes out in an open field and not use them.   So the employed the help of Hollywood.  They were able to create inflatable tanks, airplanes, trucks, jeeps, armored personnel carriers and much more that looked very real even when you were standing just a few hundred yards from it.  This fooled Hitlers spies  and reconnaissance planes and helped give us an edge on D day.

     In Luke 14:25-31 Jesus says,

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ 

31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

   Here Jesus uses the example of a king who is being invaded by another king who has twice as many soldiers as he does.   He reasons that if he doesn't think his smaller army can hold down the castle, that he should surrender and come to peace with the other king.    In most modern Bibles today, this story will come under the section of "The Cost of being a Disciple".   These titles were not in the original texts of the authors, but were put in by biblical scholars to help the reader understand what is being said.    While it is true Jesus is being brutally honest with the people around him that being his disciple might cost them their very lives,  I don't think Jesus' words here are directed at those who have decided to follow him.  Instead, I think his words are directed at those who have NOT decided to follow him or were on the fence.   Jesus is reasoning with the people and getting them to take a census of their lives much like the king in his story.    I think he’s giving them a rational look at the situation that they face.  In reality, mankind has joined Satan's war against God.   Jesus is showing them the reality of the situation and the other king (God) has a much larger army than you and it’s not even close.  You’re going to be going up against this king and you better take a good look at your situation and decide whether not you can do it or not.   God is coming with all of your sins in tow behind him to condemn you.  Now take a good look at your so-called good works that you’re so proud of and then match them up against the host of sins.  Do you have it in you to fight that fight?  Jesus presses for them to send an ambassador to negotiate the terms peace before it's too late! 

    But the good news that we have is that our king from the other side already knows that our military is just full of hot air that there’s nothing there.   They’re much like the inflatable trucks, planes and tanks the Allies used in WW2.   He knows our resources are completely decimated and we will lose.   So he sends his own envoy, Jesus Christ, to not just negotiate peace but to win our peace for us. God does not want to be at war with man he wants to be at peace.

Glass half empty or full?

     Most people are familiar with the question about how they view a glass of water filled like that shown below

    Do you see it has half FULL?                                              Or do you see it as half EMPTY?

    The answer to that question dictates whether you are more of an OPTIMIST or a PESSIMIST.

     It's all about how we perceive something.  There is no right or wrong answer here.  Both are simultaneously correct in their own right.   We don't know what makes one person more optimistic than another person.  In our world we need BOTH kinds of people to balance things out.   We need the pessimist to tell us to save our money because we don't know what tomorrow will bring.  Maybe a job loss or an injury/sickness or maybe even death.   We also need the optimist to use and spend our money because what is life if all we do is hoard our money and never enjoy it.

     When we view God's word,  the same optimist/pessimist views are often applied without us even knowing it.  I think that most people who study the Bible already know at some level they are sinners and in need of forgiveness.   We carry this view with us as we read the Bible and sometimes miss out on what God is really telling us.

    Take for example this verse from Leviticus 19:2

‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.    

   How does that make you feel when you read those words?

   Does it strike some level of fear into your hearts?

   Maybe it makes you feel a bit uneasy maybe even angry because it seems to be an achievable demand by God upon you.   Me??  Holy?

    But when we look at these words in context of the Bible these words seem less like a demand and more of a declaration by God on us.    Take for example, Genesis 1:1,  "Let there BE LIGHT, and there was light".    God calls for light to be created and it is.  Another example is when Jesus calms the storm

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves,  

 “Quiet! Be still!”Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” 

     Jesus words to the wind have effect.   When Jesus speaks, things happen.  His words change things immediately.   In another story, Jesus heals a man with leprosy (Luke 5)

12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy.[b] When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.

     Jesus words of "Be clean!" changes the man immediately.  No fancy incantation or magic words.   Reality is what Jesus says it is!

     Yet Jesus, being the very Word of God, is the same person speaking the words of Leviticus 19:2 to us.  To me, God's words of "Be Holy" are not so much a demand but more of HIM declaring US to be Holy.   What God speaks happens.   We are HOLY because God declares us HOLY.    God can only do this because he will be the one picking up the tab of all of our sins on the cross.

    Prayer: Thank you God for declaring me HOLY in your sight and changing my life forever.

Social-Super-Fluidity

    In Physics there is a phenomenon called "super-fluidity" in which atoms stop behaving like individual particles and start moving in concert with their neighbors.   For this to happen two things must occur:

1. The particles must be super-cooled to their liquid state so to put them near their neighboring particles and stay in their ground state.
2. The particles must be indistinguishable from each other even if they swap  sub-atomic particles.   

    An example of this is liquid Helium.  It is a perfect atom because it has 2 protons, 2 neutrons and 2 electrons with a filled outer shell.   Two atoms of Helium could exchange any particle and no one would know a difference.  When super-cooled to a liquid state their locations become "blurred" and they essentially stop being individual particles but begin to operate in unison.   They essentially lose their individual identity and become entangled with the identity of their neighbors.  Therefore if one particle moves in a certain direction there is a good probability that a neighboring particle will move in that same direction.   If you were to take a little bit of the liquid helium and pull it out of the container the whole container will follow it over the edge and onto the floor.

   In society the same can happen for us as people too.  When we lose our sense of being "individuals" we tend to move in the same direction as those around us.  Our identity becomes entangled with their identity and we stop thinking for ourselves.  We may even think we are moving in the right direction but we can't really tell because we are caught up in the moment and can't see distant future.  This is why you have to be very careful of the movements you allow yourself to be "entangled" in and let other people do the "thinking for you".

   Take for example the school teachers in Nazi Germany.  They were caught up in a movement that were told was "good for Germany".  They stopped thinking for themselves and lost their identity as individuals in exchange for being German.  In their desire to be like everyone else that they merely repeated what they were told and trained school children to think and do the same.  It was their loss of individuality that led them to implementing the atrocious and vile beliefs of Nazism.   When we watch movies today that attempt to show the views taught to children in the German schools we often cringe in horror as we witness teachers programming their students in genocide and racism.  We think to ourselves, "How could they do this?"  ,"What were they thinking?" or "How could they be so blind?"

   Today, in America, much could be said about what is taught in our schools today.  Say what you want, but no one knows the long lasting effects of our education social programs.  We, like the German teachers, are caught up in there moment and the here-and-now.   We can't see that our behavior and views may be caught up in "social-super-fluidity".   We all like to think we are acting on our own accord and as individuals,  but we become entangled with society and lose our perspective.  We let others do the thinking for us.  It could be politicians, leaders, writers, entertainers or even other teachers.

   This is also the error of defining yourself by what class/race/heritage you belong to.  When we identify as belonging to  X-race or Y-race and not the Human-race you exchange some of your own individuality for the racial, sexual, gender or even political sub-class you desire to belong to.  You stop determining your own path and let others dictate your steps for you.  Like those helium atoms that lose their identity you also lose yourself as well and move with the group and do things you as an individual would not do.

   It's like what my mom would tell me about hanging out with my friends late at night.  She would tell me that the IQ of the group goes DOWN as you add more people to the group and the later it gets into the night.   In a way she was right.  As we join ourselves with other people we each think someone else is doing the "thinking" when in fact NO ONE is thinking.  We all hope someone else will hold the group back from doing "stupid stuff"  ( I don't have to list them here... we've all done them) when in fact NO ONE is holding the group back.   Each of you abdicated the ownership of your individuality to the group and as my mother would say, "became group-stupid".

   I, personally, think we should fight ALL social movements in our schools whether they come from the left or the right.   In either case we stand the chance of losing our individuality and run the risk of moving society in a direction we will later regret.    I think this was much what the framers of our Constitution feared would happen.  They saw the atrocities of the  French Revolution and did everything in their power to prevent it from happening here.  They put the highest value on us as individuals and sought to instill in us pride in being such.

Agnosticism makes ZERO sense

   Often Atheists get caught with the absurdity of their views and are forced to concede that there "may be a God" and fall back into a deeper trench called Agnosticism. They concede that the world is too complex to have evolved 100% on its own and that at some point the universe must start with nothing and become something.  But in order to stay on the thrones of their own kingdoms they entrench themselves into an even more absurd view of the universe that God may have created this world but has no care of concern for it at all.

   I am reminded of a doctor named Dr. Amen who is a medical doctor who specializes in neurology and psychiatry.  He was treating a woman who as dealing with depression and was a 60 year-old widow.   She told him, "No one will want to be with a 60-year-old woman like me".  He confronted her assertion, saying "Really?  There are 6 billion people on the planet and not ONE man out there would want to spend their life with you?".   She realized how wrong that assertion was and decided to change her assertion to, "There must be as least ONE person out there who would like to spend their life with a 60-year-old woman".  From there she moved to "There is someone out there for me!".

  You see, the probability of there being ZERO men out there for her was ZERO PERCENT.  It changed her outlook completely.

  The same can be said for the Agnostic.  The agnostic may think they have created a spiritual "safe space" for themselves when in reality they have opened themselves up for God to work in their lives.   Using the same method as Dr. Amen, one must confront the Agnostic with their rational that "God doesn't care at all about his creation".   Really?  God cares ZERO about his creation?  What is the probability that God cares ZERO about his creation?  Answer: ZERO PERCENT.    So God DOES care about the universe... he cares about you therefore since you are part of that creation.  Now the question become "HOW MUCH DOES HE CARE?"

   How do you measure if someone cares for you?  Often we use their behavior as a sign of their feeling for us.  If they want to spend time with us we say they care some for us.  But we know that time alone is not enough.  Just because a person spends time conversing with us does not mean they "care for us" for it may be they like spending time with us because it fills a hole in their lives.  People who work in soup-kitchens often find themselves there because working their makes them feel better about themselves and not because the people they find there are of better communication or enjoyment.  But spending time is a way we can quantify some small level of concern or love for us.

   The next way we measure their concern for us is how far they come to be with us.  If our neighbor next door comes over to say "hi" that has a different value to us than a friend to spends money on a plane ride and the spends 6 hours sitting in cramped conditions and forgoes time spent elsewhere to be with us.  How often have we said, "I can't believe they traveled all the way out here to be with ME!".

  Right after distance we use cost to measure ones concern and love for us.  Granted we do make allowances for those who don't have as much to spend such as relatives who have limited savings to pull from to make the trip to see us.   But we look at how these people compensate for their lack of funds or how they utilize what they have to let us know they love us.  It could be a card, a gift or a simple letter or phone call.   We measure these in cost of not just money but "time" (there's that time factor again) but also "effort".   Those who are poorer use their effort to show their love.  Have you ever received a hand-made-gift?  A gift that took some simple ordinary and inexpensive materials and turned them into something unique and special?

  These then are the measuring sticks for determining if someone cares for you: Time, Effort and Cost.

   So how do we measure God's care and concern for us?

   Let's look at TIME.   God began his journey with Adam several thousand years ago.  He later furthered his time with man through Abraham some 4000 years ago.  From Abraham he worked with prophets and kings to let us know he was there for us and had a plan for us.  Then at the completion of time he sent his son Jesus to spend REAL-TIME with us here on earth.   He has been with us ever since too.  Jesus said, "I will not leave you as orphans but will send the Holy Spirit to be with you and comfort you".   He is still here!

   Next let's look at EFFORT.   Jesus left everything in heaven to be with us.  Like that good friend that leaves everything to take a plane to fly a far distance just to be with you, God left everything behind to be with YOU.   But let's not also forget all the effort God put into place to get Jesus to earth.  He worked through Abraham and the Jewish people through thousands us years of backsliding and unfaithfulness to him by worshiping other gods. He protected them from constant annihilation and destruction both physically (attacks by Assyrians, Philistines, Hittites, Babylonians, Greeks and Romans) and spiritually (inter-marriage with other cultures that would have erased their faith in God and keeping his promises).

   Finally there is COST.  Jesus said, "No greater love is this, that a man should lay his life down for his friends!".  The price God would ultimately pay for us would be his own Son.  Abraham was once tested by God to sacrifice his own son on an alter.  This story was not just to show us Abraham's faith in God to save Isaac (he was promised by God that through Isaac Abraham would be made the father of a large nation) but also as a fore-shadow of the price God was willing to pay for his people.  Jesus allowed himself to suffer immensely to be with you forever.  The purpose of the cross is for God to demonstrate the SIZE of his LOVE for us.  Like the person, who looks at the gift and tries to estimate how much it cost you to buy or to make, we also look at the cross and evaluate it for it's cost and worth.  God reserved the most horrible form of death (a method so cruel it is not used anywhere in the world today) for his Son to show us the full depth and height of his love.

   So given these measurements, what Agnostic can say "God cares nothing for his creation" ?  Like that 60-year-old widow they must relent and acknowledge that there is zero chance God cares zero for them.  From there we must acknowledge the ridiculousness of our arguments and accept the TRUTH that God does love his creation fully. 

No! It's not caused by Global Warming...

   Recently Governor Brown gave a speech at a news conference on the Camp Fire in California.  Here he spent much of his time placing the blame for the fire on Global Warming and used his speech to instill fear into us to get on board his agenda to control the climate.

   But sorry Mr Brown... the disastrous blaze in Northern California know as the "Camp Fire" was not caused by Global Warming.  The problem isn't a mysterious Boogie-man you try to use to push your agenda.

   The problem was caused by 3 main agents:

1)  Environmentalists
2)  Unions
3)  Lawyers

First the Environmentalists.   These people put pressure on California back in the 70's to end the clear-cutting of timber.   This has caused the over-growth of trees in our state and because our forestry service has done it's job of stopping the smaller fires, the uncut timber has become a ticking time-fire-bomb.   Trees do not last forever.   They, like everything else, die naturally and when they do they carpet the forest floor with dead and dry wood.  This wood, if not removed will pile up and become extremely flammable.   Once started, there is no stopping it.

The Unions played their part in this fiasco because over the years PG&E lineman have become overpaid.  Simple linemen can earn over $200K per year and a high voltage lineman can earn over $300K.    They also have large fully-funded pensions that include full medical and dental for life and also a 401K on the side that PG&E matches dollar for dollar.   These unions have forced PG&E to cut back on staff and have made it too expensive for them to replace their dying infrastructure. These power lines (some of which were only meant to be "temporary" ) are now falling apart.   These power line provide the "spark" to light the ticking-fire-bomb in our state.  We are foolish to think that all these high voltage lines can just live on forever.   They will eventually crumble and light more and more dangerous fires.   As proof that PG&E knows this is the problem, they have set up plans to shut off the power during certain conditions of high humidity and WIND.   That is the only solution PG&E has to address the problem.  It is CHEAPER for them to lose money by shutting of the power (can't charge people for power you didn't deliver) than it is to FIX their aging equipment.

Finally we have the lawyers.  All these disasters are followed by huge lawsuits levied against PG&E by the insurance companies.  Because they don't want to be held holding the bag on these burnt homes they go after PG&E to offset the cost.  But in the end, that leaves PG&E with even LESS money to fund fixing the problem.   This becomes a perfect storm in which everyone will be hurt in the end. 

California will continue to see increasing amounts of catastrophic fires in the coming years if this is not addressed.  The answer to the problem is not moving to Solar Panels.  The answer is two pronged.

First we must allow the timber industry to clear cut again.  This will remove the old growth and also provide fire-breaks that will stop future fires from ravaging uncontrolled.   We cannot continue to allow them to grow unchecked.  Before modern fire control, mother nature took care of it by periodically cleaning up the forests.   But now we don't let that happen.   Clear-cutting is our best alternative.  The wood in our forests will be used for something, we might as well put it to some GOOD use.   Right now it's only use is to devastate our citizens and fill our skies with smoke.

Next, we have to get PG&E to improve and update their aging lines.   Because of the current situation and how much it needs to be done quickly, the Governor should call out the National Guard to work along side of PG&E to assist in getting this much needed work done quickly and cheaply.