I worship a Rational God

     When people look at many of the Old Testament laws they normally have one of two views. One side views them as odd relics of an ancient people long ago that can be ignored and even laughed at. The other views them as a way to garner Gods favor by dutifully following his rules and getting "blessings" in return for their "good behavior" like some sort of cosmic vending machine.

    To me, both of these views could not be more wrong.

     I don't look at God as some irrational being who comes up with irrational rules just to see if we are willing to follow them and then hand out little pats on the head in return.  I don't see God's laws as just random ramblings of an ancient God.   They have meaning and purpose to his people and the blessing is in direct correlation to the doing of them.  Like a parent who pushes their children to do well in school and they are "blessed" with good paying careers, so also many of God's laws have built in blessings for those who follow them.  

     As I wrote in a previous blog, some of God's laws were meant only for the Jewish people to keep them separate and distinct from the other heathen cultures that surrounded them and threatened to assimilate them into their way of living and take them off their course to bring the Messiah to save the world.   Other laws, were meant to bring blessings to them

     Take for example the Jewish law to "not cook the goat in the milk of the mother" (Exodus 23:19).  This is one of the most misunderstood and laughed at laws by unbelievers (just check any Reddit comment section on religion and you are bound to find this one brought up).  This law has nothing to do with meat sauces.  Any farmer will tell you a mother goat will wean her baby when it reaches a certain size.   So why does God care about this?  This verse appears in a section dealing with the three annual sacrifice festivals and essentially he is telling them to not sacrifice a young goat that is not yet weaned.  Why should God care about this?   First of all, he wants them to sacrifice an animal that they have spent time and energy raising and not just a baby goat that has just been born.   He wants them to have stock in the sacrifice.   Secondly, these sacrifices were eaten by the people during these festivals and so a larger/older goat would feed a larger group of people present at the festival.   If it were not for this requirement we as sinful human beings would be bringing in little baby goats and calves to sacrifice to meet the requirement but not meet the needs of others.  

    Take another example of where God tells his people give the land a Sabbath rest.  In Leviticus 25:3-5 he says,

³ For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. ⁴ But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. ⁵ Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest.

     Is there some magic to the number seven?  Is God just wanting to test their obedience to him?   I don't think so in the least.  By requiring this he forces them to refresh the land and thus insure they have an abundance at harvest time by not over stressing the land. Leaving the land fallow for a year would re-energize the land and put much needed Nitrogen back into the soil and make better crops in the following years.   Today, farmers do this all the time (crop rotation) because science has shown it to be beneficial.  In ancient times they had no way of knowing this, but God knew it because he created it.   Here again the blessing is built right into the law and it is a direct byproduct of obeying God and not a handout from him for obedience.  

    A final example is God's requirement to the Jews to forgive the debts of their fellow Jews every 7 years and all debts every 25 years. Imagine the benefit to the people that would never be burdened with debts covering multiple decades and generations.  Imagine how their gentile neighbors would feel about them seeing their debts forgiven.   Debts would be kept short in length (why have a 10 year loan when you know you will have to end it after 7 years), and people would be happy to do business with you in return.  

Likewise you also would not get yourself strapped with heavy loans that would enslave you and your children for years to come and you would become "debt free" every seven years.   Today, many financial advisors see the wisdom in this approach and counsel their customers to work towards becoming debt free as well.     

     In all of these cases we see God blessing his people not by some voodoo magic or a pat on the head by following his laws.  Instead many of these laws have built-in blessing inside of them.  Similarly, many of these laws that non-believers scoff at can be seen to be truly rational in nature when you take the time to understand them and read into them what God is trying to do.    

  He, in effect, blesses them by giving them his law and they receive his blessing by doing what it says.   

   So how do these apply to me today now that we have refrigerators and many of us are not farmers etc.?

   Let's take a look at the calf-in-mothers-milk law.   Granted, yes we do have freezers today and we can store large quantities of food for days, weeks, months and even years to come.   Does this mean we can ignore this one?   Not really.   Maybe we need to take a look at our investments and not just look at them for ways to "take care of ourselves" but also to take care of others in our families and communities.   We sometimes short-cut our investments because "it's enough for us" so maybe we should see the bigger picture.   For example, do you sell a stock early because it's better for you rather than hang on to it a little longer and pay a smaller capital gains tax?   If you paid a smaller tax you could give more of the proceeds to charity instead.  

   What about the giving the land a rest law?   Two ways you could apply this in your life.   One is to give yourself a rest.  How many of us can't stop working even on Sunday?   Always too much to do and then we wonder why we are tired all the time.    Another is to look at our investments.   Do you have all your eggs in one basket?   Maybe you should divide it up and give each investment a "rest" by putting it into a CD for a year.   

   Finally what about the 7-year-debt-free law?   Maybe tell yourself that you will never take a loan longer than 7 years (or 10 since most banks do so in 5 year increments).    This would force you to save up a substantial amount of money for a down payment and pay off your debts quickly.   It would also secure a lower interest rate most of the time as the bank is on the hook for a shorter period with less risk.   Being debt free would free you up to help others around you as well.

   In conclusion, God's laws are not irrational ramblings of an ancient mystical god for a people who are not like us.   They are rational and helpful.  They are there to promote a better life and a better community for all.  

Words to my daughter on her graduation from college

    Congratulations!! You’ve made it!   9 years of elementary school.  4 years of high school and now 5 years of college are complete.  No more sweating out classes and papers.   No more trying to figure out class schedules and figuring out which courses to take.  The course work is all complete and now you are a graduate. It’s a time of celebration of what you’ve accomplished and anticipation of what lays ahead for you.  I wanted to share with you something that was handed down to me when I was young that has helped me.

    As you know, when I grew up in I mowed lawns for spending money.  One of my customers was a retired Lutheran pastor named Pastor Zimmerman.  He was a wonderful person to talk to and for me he was a surrogate grandfather as he went to seminary with my grandfather who was also was a Lutheran Pastor and had passed away before I was born.  He always invited me in after for lemonade and ginger-snap cookies after I was done.  When I graduated from high school and was moving on to college I decided to hand over my lawn business to someone else as I would not have time to do it.  On my last time with him he gave me some grandfatherly advice.  He said to me

"You probably played on the monkey bars at school as a child, and the challenge was to get from one side to the other without falling.  The trick to getting across is not losing your momentum as you swing and the best way to do this is to let go of the previous rung as soon as you grab hold of the next rung.   If you hesitate and hold on too long you will be stuck between the two rungs and will lose all of your forward momentum.  You can still get across but now you will have to exert a lot of energy to swing to the next rung.  Life is like that.  We are moving from one rung to the next in life and we need to let go of the past behind us."

    He went on to share a Bible verse with me that I have always kept mindful of.  It is from Philippians 3:13-14
"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind me and straining toward what is ahead.  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus"

   As you swing from this rung to the next that lays ahead of you reach-grab-and-let-go.    That doesn’t mean we forget the people we have worked with or spent time with?  Of course not.  It means we take them with us in our heart and in our memories  but we must leave all our decisions, mistakes and hurts behind us.  We can look at the past with fondness and learn from your mistakes, but we cannot stay here.  We must move on to the next rung and the rung after that.   Press on for the goal God has set before you.  Keep moving knowing God is there to dust you off and help you get back on if you fall.

   We are very proud of you!  You’re on to the next rung in life and moving forward!
 

Hillary's "Horton Hears a Who" moment

   This weekend Hillary Clinton was on "Meet the Press" and was asked about the constitutional rights of the unborn.   Here was her response:

Well, under our laws currently, that is not something that exists. The unborn person doesn’t have constitutional rights. Now, that doesn’t mean that we don’t do everything we possibly can in the vast majority of instances to, you know, help a mother who is carrying a child and wants to make sure that child will be healthy, to have appropriate medical support. It doesn’t mean that you don’t do everything possible to try to fulfill your obligations. But it does not include sacrificing the woman’s right to make decisions.

    Here we have a very interesting comment in which she agrees with the Pro-Life side that the fetus (as so many Pro-Choice/Abortion advocates like to call it) is a "person".   This wording may seem unimportant but it couldn't be more starker.  This may be the first time Hillary may have used those exact words in her entire life.   I don't know if its because she's getting older and wiser or just older and starting to slip.   Whatever the reason it's important to note.

    Next she says that "the unborn person" has no constitutional rights.    Now, let me ask you this.  When have we heard these arguments before?   Well, of course, the Republicans fight with the Democrats of 1860 over the rights of slaves is one place.   The argument over whether or not these racially different people were even human at all and whether they deserved the same rights as citizens.   The arguments are the same, its just the adjectives are changed from "slave" to "unborn" and the year from 1860 to 2016.

    Often the argument has been about the viability of the child outside the womb as to whether or not it should be granted "human status".   But that is merely a result of science and resources.   Even a fully developed baby of 9 months or even a year-old is not technically viable outside the womb to care for itself either.  Does that mean its death is not covered by the Constitution either?   What about a child living in an iron-lung machine.   Technically its life is completely dependent on a machine and people willing and able to pay for the care and energy to run that machine.   Does his life become less Constitutionally Viable?  Do they become UN-human?

     The real truth is that for the Democrats it's not about Constitutional Rights at all.  They haven't cared about the Constitution for over 50 years so why should they start now.   The real issue is that the "thing in the womb" doesn't vote (yet) and is a mistake that someone wants to erase like a wrong answer on a test.   Quietly.  Anonymously.   Without regret.   But as I have written before, a conscience is a terrible thing to waste and it has a tendency to creep back up on you later in life.   Many women have come out about how they have battled for years after their abortion with depression, drug abuse and failed relationships from their choice to abort.     These are facts that often the left doesn't want to face.   Like the tiny non-humans murdered in this procedure they are inconsequential in the grand scheme of votes and money.

    But let's not lay all the blame at the feet of people like Hillary either.    We as a society have been complacent as well.   For too many people the issue of abortion is tragically viewed as a form of welfare reduction.   There are those on the right who also silently view abortion as a way to reduce federal welfare spending.   They view these lives only as a drag on society and an added burden on the taxpaying citizen.   To them, better 6 million babies are aborted than to add possibly 6 million babies each year to the welfare roles.  Too often though this stems from such an apathetic view of humanity and its ability to adapt and change.   Ask yourself this simple question: if abortion was made illegal, would not people who are engaging in non-procreation sexual activities (i.e. sex outside of marriage) find alternative ways to have their cake and eat it too?   Would they not use one or two of the myriad of ways to prevent conception?   Of course they would.  

    The problem is that no one wants the responsibility.   Not the mother, who thought sex would solidify a relationship as good as a wedding only to find out it doesn't.   Not the father/sperm-donor who only wanted a few minutes of fun and wasn't the least interested in raising a child let alone staying with the mother any longer than past breakfast.   Not the feminist who would rather teach that women should use sex like men use sex in order to achieve some level of male equality.     Not the politician, like Hillary, who only wants votes and sees that it's easier to pander to promising a painless world without repercussions for ones behaviors and actions than to tell the truth to the people they represent.  

    But keep on talking Hillary.   I hope you listen to one of your interviews and hear how ridiculous your reasoning really sounds.   I think there is still hope for you.

I can do it on my own!

    Recently I decided to get back in shape as I was over 50 pounds overweight. My size 36 jeans were almost too small now and I needed size 38 instead.  I still remember my wife bringing me to the Eddie Bauer store in the mall to try on some new slacks and shirts.  I decided to give size 36 one more try and went into the changing room knowing in the back of my mind that they were not going to fit but thought maybe, just maybe, they were a large 36.   So I put them on and could barely button them up.   There I stood in front of the large mirrors and tried to pull my gut in, but finally just said to myself, "No John!  Just let it go"  and so I relaxed and my gut pushed out and the pants clearly were not going to fit and I was a hideous site to see.   I couldn't pretend anymore.   I was obese.  I handed them back to my wife through the door and said, "I need size 38 now"  and she without saying a word handed my the size 38 slacks I needed.

    That moment was life changing for me.  I had to change.  I started to workout every day (sometimes 2 times a day) and the weight slowly began to come off.  Of course I decided to do it all on my own.  I played lots of sports in grade school and high school as a youth.  I knew how you have to work hard and do lots of running to burn calories.    I have always prided myself on being self-sufficient.  In my work I could take on most jobs without any help.   Even at home I could get through most home projects without too much help from friends or neighbors.  But I soon learned that much of my knowledge on weight-loss was outdated and I need to not only address exercise but also my diet and eating habits.  My wife helped me with that as well.  She too was in need of losing weight and when we joined a new gym she signed up for a Team Weightloss class to help her get going and what she learned in the class "spilled over" to me as well and helped me lose more weight.  In the end I've lost the 50 pounds and I am in better shape then ever.  In the exercise business they refer to this as "transformation".

     It's interesting that in life we all too often don't want help.   Maybe it's our American Spirit or something that says "I can do it on my own!".  This attitude isn't just with work or at the gym but is also in our spiritual lives.   We brazenly say,

"Don't worry God!  I can do it on my own!   I've got this!  "

    He must chuckle inside like an fitness coach looking at an obese person who hasn't exercised in years  who is trying to do it all on their own.   How silly we must look to him as we think to ourselves that we can fix our sin and the evil inside of us.   He quietly tells us, "Let me help you!" but we resist until we finally have to face ourselves in the mirror of his law and say, "Let it go!" 

    In the Gospel of John, we read about Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman.  She was getting water from a deep well in the middle of the hot afternoon.   She was not a well liked woman in the community as she was divorced 4 times and her current "husband" wasn't her legal husband.  She had figured out a way to do it herself.  She would get the water in the middle of the hot afternoon so she wouldn't have to endure the lectures and hateful looks of the other women.  Like the obese person who as found the perfect time to go to the gym to exercise so no one can see them (including no trainers).   Her solution was like theirs, "self-imposed social isolation".   But Jesus is like that trainer who won't go away.  He comes up to her and talks to her.   He knows her situation fully and he reaches out to her with the truth, that he is the Messiah and he wants to have a living relationship with her.   She has her "Let it go!" moment and runs off to the local town to call all the people out to the well to meet Jesus. 

    Jesus reaches out to us each day on the Cross and says "Let it go!  I've got this!"  we just need to surrender and listen to his word and let him transform us from the inside with the help of his Holy Spirit.

Thy Will Be Done!

    These are probably 4 of the most difficult words to utter in the Lord's Prayer.  In these words we completely surrender our desires and goals to that which God's desires and goals for us.  Jesus prayed a similar petition on Good Friday in the garden of Gethsemane.  He prayed, "Father if it is your will to take this cup from me, but not my will but your will be done".   Shortly after praying this Jesus gets his answer.   The mob is in the garden and they are there to arrest him.  Jesus knew all the pain of the scourging , beatings and crucifixion  that awaited him but yet he prayed "your will be done".   He surrenders himself to the crowd and then to the Sanhedrin and later to Pontius Pilate himself. Ultimately he surrenders his will to the cross as the soldiers nail him to it.  At any moment he could summon a legion of angels to rescue him but he doesn't.   He could yell "Damn you all" and in a moment his enemies would be thrown into hell, but he doesn't.

    We often pray this petition with our fingers crossed and hoping that God doesn't take it too seriously with us or that he goes easy on us.  But that is not always the case.   As I have written in some previous blogs, God's will is to save as many people as he can.   That is his ULTIMATE WILL.  But to do so often  requires pain and suffering.   CS Lewis once wrote

"Pain is God's megaphone to a deaf world"

   We don't listen too well when the times are good.   We are too busy doing our own thing and thinking that THIS is our heaven and it will all keep going on as it always has.   Pain shakes us to our core.  It focuses the mind in ways that enjoyment can't.   I challenge you to put a small tack in the bottom of your shoe and try to walk around for a day.  It will drive you mad!

    I think a great economic collapse is coming our way.   We know that we can't debt our way to economic stability.   The bills will eventually come due and we will all have to pay the price for our indulgences.  I think God will work tremendously when that day comes.  Some are hoping it comes later rather than sooner.   I am quite the opposite.   I want to see people flee their idols of money, wealth and power and run towards a loving God wanting to spare them.   For I see a hopeless generation seeking meaning but not finding any that is only too arrogant to acknowledge how wrong and blind they are.  Sad to say this, but many of these people are in the church as well.   They look at God's word as some sort of heavenly "vending machine" that if we say the right things, do the right actions, vote the right way God will smile upon us and give us peace, security and a full stomach.  They perform rituals like "Washington Prayer Breakfasts" and other pseudo-religious actions in hopes to get God to grant our country favor in his eyes.   Yes we as individuals are called to pray for our leaders and those in power but God does not deign for us to from Super-PACs to accomplish his will. God already knows what he is going to do.   He just wants us to ask for it to be done among us and through us as well.

    As with our economy, so also, many people are looking at this upcoming election with fear and anxiousness.  Some are asking "How did our country slide from past presidents like Washington, Lincoln, Kennedy, Reagan to a choice between Hillary (a untrustworthy liar and hypocrite) and Trump (an obnoxious self-absorbed con-man)?"  I can assure you that after this election (as with all events in our world) "Gods will" will be done.  Whether it's Hillary or Trump, "God's will" will be done to allow him to reach as many people as possible.  I sometimes think God is like a great business man who must change tactics and strategies to keep his business moving forward.   He cannot keep using the same methods but must adapt to maximize his profits.  God's profits in his world is OUR SOULS which he has redeemed.   Maybe all God wanted from the U.S. was for us to invent the Internet so he can reach even more people in places too difficult by any other means.  Who knows.  But then again maybe God is not done with us yet either.

   But in the end all we can say as his followers is: "Thy will be done Lord.  Thy will be done!"

Karl Marx was right

   I don't like to quote socialist/communists like Karl Marx but even a broken clock is right two times every day and so is Karl Marx.

    Marx once referred to the religion as the "opiate of the masses".    His view was that religion (Christianity in particular) was responsible for the masses not getting angry and mounting a massive revolt against the upper class and rulers.   With words like,

• "Blessed are the poor for they shall inherit the earth" 
• "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall see God!" 
• "Money is the root of all kinds of evil"
• "Forgive as you have been forgiven"
• "Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and give unto God that which is God's"

      How can you get a group like that to stage a revolt?   But it's not so much a drug of religion that keeps people from revolting, but the understanding that this world is passing away and a much better one is on its way.   Like a guy driving an old clunker is not going to get too upset when it breaks down because his new BMW is being delivered and on its way.   You have a different perspective because of your faith in God.

    As I watch this election it seems to me that as our country becomes less and less Christian (and I include so-called Christians that are more concerned with their worldly wealth than with heavenly wealth) we see people becoming increasingly angry towards one another.   Everything seems to hinge on the "next election" and whether or not "their guy (or girl) gets into the White House".   No matter what after this election I can tell you this:  HALF the country will be angry and the other HALF will be elated.  One half will call the other illegitimate and the other half will be called bitter haters.  Recently I saw a story about a guy who video taped himself running over TRUMP signs on the side of the road.   He was caught by the police and he said he thought it was his "moral duty" to run over the signs.   REALLY SIR?   MORAL DUTY??  My guess he hasn't darkened the doorway of a church in his entire life (at least I hope not).  Personally I would like to see someone put their sign in front of a boulder or brick wall and see him plow his vehicle into it just to teach him a lesson in "morals".   At a TRUMP rally a man sucker punched a black man who was disruptive and was being removed by security.    Why did you have to do that??    Others have jumped on stage and hijacked a candidates microphone and taken over their speaking engagement.  Was it their "moral duty" as well?

    George Washington referred to religion as the necessary "third leg" of a 3-legged stool for Democracy to work.  In recent decades people have been taking a saw to that third leg and now it's almost gone completely and our democracy is teetering on collapse (something these leg cutters want to happen).   Each President who has taken office for the first time has paid homage to our countries ability to peacefully transition control from one leader to the next without violence (sometimes referred to as a "peaceful coup").   This "peaceful coup" is based entirely on our religious beliefs that no government provided to man is without God's will.   That's a hard concept for many (even Christians like myself) to get behind.   How can you support what we might see as an illegitimate government or leader?  

    Let's see how Jesus handles an unjust political system.  First we see Jesus himself put himself 100% in control of the government as he is taken in the night to a Jewish court called the Sanhedrin and even though it is against their own law to try someone at night he allows it to go on.   He then is sent to Pilate and allows his ruling to be decided by an angry mob rather than a just judge.  He goes to his death as it is the Father's will.  When he's on the cross in agony he summons enough energy to stand up on the nails in his feat/ankles and say "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do".   Even after he raises from the dead he doesn't tell his disciples to get even with the Romans for his wrongful death.   He moves on like it's nothing.

    In the book of Acts, we see Peter, Paul and other disciples thrown into prison as well in much the same way.   They are unjustly scourged  to teach them a lesson and they are overjoyed by God allowing them to suffer for the faith as well.   They didn't yell obscenities back at their jailers or floggers and tell them "You just wait until the power pendulum swings back our way and WE are in control!".  No, instead they sang hymns in prison knowing tomorrow they may die a horrible death on a cross like Jesus did.

    Sadly, too many Christian leaders have thrown their collars into the ring with a variety of political parties and leaders today as well.  They too have taught their followers that it's time to "take back your country".   Well last I read, taking anything is paramount to stealing.  Are we doing God's work or are we fighting against him?   Are we too focused on the things of this world and not focused on the things of God?   Paul says,

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms"

    We should be spending our time praying that God's word would be effectual in the people's heart and not wasting our time praying for God to get our "guy/girl" into the White House.   We should be praying for our children's hearts and minds to not be contaminated by this worlds view on God and not be praying Hillary goes to jail (even though she deserves too).    We should be praying for Hillary and Obama that God may reach them too (even if we think their heart is too hard to listen).  We should be praying that God's will should be done and not our will.

    Let me put it this way....

    If God can reach 10 times more people with the Gospel when times are tough and money is scarce, then shouldn't we be OK with an economic collapse?   Too many Christians today want only God's blessings on them so they can have it easy.   They fear sin taking over our country because God might take his blessing (ie - protection from bad times) from them even though Jesus has already paid for all of those sins on the cross and the only sin left unpaid is unbelief in him.   If God does take his "blessing" from us it isn't to punish a long list of abominations but instead to wake up this world and drive them to their knees to repent and be saved.

    So what do you pray for when you watch the news?   Are you hinging all of your hope and faith on this years election?   If Hillary gets elected will you feel God has abandoned you?   Will you be angry at God and go off and sulk in a cave like Elijah?   Or will you move on to what God wants you to do next?

   I myself used to get angry listening to the news and frustrated with how the Obama administration is trying to transform our country into a socialist cesspool.  I spent hours reading news stories and watching Fox News.   I would send articles to friends on Facebook and wait for their replies.  In 2012 I was elated when the GOP regained the Senate but later dismayed as still nothing seemed to get done and Obama continued to move forward with Executive Orders.    I waited with anticipation the rulings from the Supreme Court on gay-marriage and also on ObamaCare, only to have my hopes dashed by their ridiculous rulings in which Roberts seemed to contort himself like a yoga-master to make the rulings fit the Constitution in some way.

    I came to peace when I read Jesus words,

"All authority has been give to me in heaven and in earth".   

      Those words showed me that those sitting in Washington DC are not the real rulers of this world.   Christ rules and is allowing these charlatans to fill in until he comes again.  So what if Hillary gets into the White House!   Let her have her few years of fame.  So what if the GOP collapses into a pile of crap!   God still rules and this "temporary tent" will be replaced some day.   No longer do I worry about this "next election" or if people will forget their Constitutional rights and fall to tyranny.   As for me and my house, nothing changes, we will serve the Lord.  Though we may be scoffed at and ridiculed and treated like dirt.   It's okay.  And I have good company in that view as well.   As Paul writes,

As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

    This doesn't mean that I stop writing blogs or I stop looking for leaders who are good and honorable.    But I can stop fretting over what will happen if things continue to deteriorate. I will let the "opiate" of God's love and forgiveness guide me and not fall victim to the unholy angry masses who surround me. 

Watered down beer

   I personally love a strong tasting beer.  To me, if I am going to shovel out $8 or more for an 8 pack of beer, I want something that has some taste to it.  My brothers-in-law are just the opposite of me and both are fans of Bud Light which to me is tantamount to water dyed to look like beer.   One thing nice about a strong beer is that if it's too strong, you can always water it down a little on your own whereas a weak beer you have no way to make it stronger.

   The same goes for politics.  You can always water down your brand but it's virtually impossible to make it stronger.   That is what is essentially happening to the GOP this year with the addition of Trump in the race.   He has brought with him a large assortment of "independents" to the GOP to vote for him.   While the GOP has been trying to expand their tent in recent years, this expansion has weakened the brand considerably like adding water to your beer.

   I have never understood people who choose to not to choose sides.  To me they are nothing but a bunch of cowards who don't know their own mind or values.  Whenever I hear a person proudly pronounce to the world "Oh.  I'm an independent!",  I would want to say to them,  "You mean you don't care about your country at all??".  At least with Libertarians, you've made a choice for a third party, but independents isn't a party at all.  It has no values, no core, no platform and no candidates.   Personally I thing the GOP should require ALL primaries to be closed-primaries.  After all, do you really want a bunch of fence-sitting-cowards to be allowed to choose your parties candidate? 

   Oh I can hear the independents who might be reading this now saying, "Who's he to call me a coward!  I just don't agree with everything the GOP stands for and so I choose to be an independent".  Well, do some research on all the parties available to you: Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green, Socialist, Communist.  At least ONE of them must appeal to you at least 60,70% or more.  I don't even agree with everything the Libertarians stand for but I do agree with about 80%. 

   I think the reason the term independent appeals to so many is 2 reasons.  One, they don't have to commit.  Like the guy who would rather live with his girl-friend and get the sex for free, independents don't want to commit to anything.  They feel that somehow they can avoid any confrontation by staying out of the fight altogether.   The second reason is they can never lose (of course they never win either).   No matter who gets into the White House in November their person didn't lose, because they didn't have a horse in the race to begin with.  They therefore save their pride and their little egos (what little they have) from being crushed. 

    So now the GOP will have to live with watered-down-beer this election.   They will have to probably march into November behind a spray-tanned con-man with no values and no plans other than to "Make America Great Again!".   The media is already queuing up their endless in-depth investigations into Trumps fake university, fake investments, over-exaggerated wealth, past marriages, past sins against women and other minorities.  They will pummel Trump like a pinata at a birthday party for a class of  8 year-old boys with ADD and hyped up on soda and candy.   

    The question for the GOP is this.  Is it worth it?   Maybe their only option is to broker a better candidate and hope all the "independents" that came in for Trump will stay home on November and not vote for Hillary.   I can't say if that will happen or not.  It's a big gamble

Choosing the lesser of 2 evils .... or not

     Back in 1987 I was working in Massachusetts and I was on a company softball league of other fellow engineers.   Even though I grew playing sports, sadly that was not the case for many of my peers on the team.  We decided on a team name called : None of the Above.   To illustrate its meaning our shirts were printed with a check-off-list of items related to the question at the top that said

     "Our team can: "

• Hit
• Catch
• Pitch
• Run
• None of the Above

     You can guess which item on the list had a check mark next to it.

     On Facebook a friend named Barbara posted, "We must select the lesser of 2 evils" to which I responded, "Would you vote for Hitler if the only other choice was Stalin?".   Their answer was simply "No".  Of course no one is calling Trump Hitler or Hillary Stalin but it goes to show you that not all choices are simply between the lesser of 2 evils and sometimes it's none-of-the-above.

    As a Christian, some often make you feel like "not-voting" or "voting for a 3rd party" is some sort of mortal and unforgivable sin.   Back in 1992, a fairly large group of disaffected voters cast their vote for an outsider by the name of  Ross Perot who had caught the eye of many Republicans for his "no-nonsense-approach" to government spending.   As this split the GOP vote, it allowed Bill Clinton to come into the White House with a dismal 42% of the vote.   And the same might happen again, only instead of the vote being split between 2 people it could be split between Trump and that other outsider candidate called "none of the above".    But if you recall, from the 1992 election what happened was of not much consequence.   We are still here.  The world still spins on its axis and God still reigns.

    People get their necks all out of joint on this issue.   They almost turn purple in the face when they say "Do you want Hillary to roll into office?", like as if the world is going to end.   Of course I don't want Hillary in office, but I won't sacrifice my morals and faith to do that.   I will still vote, but it will probably be a write-in for Ted Cruz instead.    How have we gone from George Washington, who tried as hard as he could be be ethical, moral and straight with the American people to voting for a man who lies, cheats, calls people stupid, ugly, liars, dumb, and says he can't remember asking God for forgiveness for anything.  

     Jesus said, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and earth".   The political system here is just a temporary system until God comes to make all things right.   The Constitution did not come down from Mount Sinai with the 10 commandments.   It's a man-made invention and an attempt to bring a just system to help us get along.  I personally think its the best one we have going so far that allows the most personal freedom, but not everyone likes freedom (sad).  God will still reign on his throne and will still accomplish his goals for our world somehow, even if Hillary becomes POTUS.  The people of Israel were often frustrated in trying to understand God's will for them.  They wanted to return back to the good old years of King David or King Solomon, but they were constantly under other peoples control.  First it was Alexander the Great and then later it was the Roman Empire.   They tried everything they could to fix the situation, but nothing seemed to change.   Yet it was through the Greek and Roman Empires that God brought the Messiah.   These empires made it possible and also easier to spread the gospel to millions of more people.   God's will was accomplished.

     Maybe our desire for a new "Reagan" is much like their need for a new "King David".   It's a selfish desire and a short-sighted goal and not in keeping with God's will at this time.

    And really, isn't God's will what it's really about in the end?

Do you ignore bad information on purpose?

   Several years ago I remember reading an article that said humans are programmed to ignore information that is severely traumatizing.  This is referred to as "intentional blindness".   An example of this was a case when an airplane mid-flight had an engine catch fire and was forced to return to the airport.   While no one was hurt, many people on the side of the plane where the engine was reported looking out the planes window and seeing nothing wrong despite flames clearly seen coming out the back of the engine.   Some theorize its the brains own coping mechanism to handle stressful situations.  

    We all do it to some level.   Parents do it when their son or daughter is not doing well at school and they pull away from the family and become reclusive.   We tell ourselves "it's just a phase" or "normal teenage rebellion", when in reality they are skipping school,  getting caught with drugs and becoming an addict.   Eventually something happens that forces the parent out of their intentional blindness to wake them up and get them back to what is really going on.   Hopefully before it's too late.

    I have also seen this intentional blindness in the news lately.   Recently Wall Street has been crumbling under the fall of global oil prices.   Normally the fall of oil would be a cause of celebration on Wall Street as it would mean lower gas prices and therefore more money for Americans to spend as well as lower energy costs for corporations which would lead to larger profits.    But today we live in an upside down world.   The fall in oil prices is from a fall in demand for oil which means we are seeing the advent of a global recession.   The reason is simple.  Oil is so needed for a growing economy (energy, chemicals, plastics etc.) that if the demand is down it means that the economy is slowing and therefore Wall Street falls.   So what is Wall Streets answer?   Have these countries cut their production and bring oil prices back up (law of supply and demand says prices rise either when demand increases or supply falls).     Is the recession over?  No.  It's just covered up the problem.   Demand is still down and the recession continues.  But for Wall Street they pretend its all fine now and the stock market "rallies" on the news.   This also shows that Wall Street is no longer connected to Main-Street.    Where as in the past lower gas prices was a good thing and higher gas prices was a bad thing, now it just doesn't matter at all what happens to us as a nation.   Wall Streets rules have no bearing on how things go in the real world at all.   It's all just a game to them.   But their game is short sighted.   Had they let oil prices continue to fall, we would be better off.   Families would have more disposable income.  Small businesses would have more profits to hire more people.   Profits would go up.  Un-employment would go down.   Wall Street would eventually see REAL profits come back (not just ones on paper) and would have real good news to celebrate.

    This intentional blindness is not limited to the stock brokers on Wall Street either.   Recently I was talking to another co-worker about how the technology world is headed for a cliff when it can no longer continue doubling the number of transistors on a chip every 2 years.   I wrote in a former piece about how the transistors are so small now that the width of the transistor is so small that the number of silicon atoms it takes to make one is in the low double digits now (about 40).  In order to cut the size by half would mean we would have to go down to 20,10,5,2,1 (5 more doubles) and most feel you can't go past 10 atoms with any amount of reliability.     Faced with this FACT, my co-worker simply shrugged and said, "Oh I am sure they will figure out a way" and moved on.   He is not alone. Most people in my field don't want to face this immutable fact either and are making no plans for their future.   I have been in the business for 30 years and I have lived through 15 "doublings" but most kids coming out of college now with computer engineering degrees will only see 1-2 more doublings.   Then what?    Cross that bridge when it comes?  

      The same happened when I first started work in 1986.  My first job was at a company called Data General in Westboro Massachusetts.   It was an off-shoot of Digital Corporation and made deep-freezer sized computers called "mini-computers" (mini because they were smaller than large IBM main-frames).   To those at Data General mini-computers were all the rage and new small micro-computers were scoffed at.   How could these little computers take on the large takes these mini-computers could do?   To them, mini-computers were always going to be around and most of the workers there continued their work like all was well.   But we all know now mini-computers became out-dated dinosaurs of the technology world.   They just could not compete.    Those at the top of the company became victims of their own intentional blindness. 

    Where do you allow yourself to be intentionally blinded to the facts?   At home?  At work?  Our political system?   Our financial system?   Knowing this, what changes would you make?   Like those on the airplane who shut their windows and pretended all was fine with the engines, maybe they would have started preparing for a crash landing or alerting others to what the problem was.   

God has never been on America's side

   As I've grown older (I am now 51 as I write this) my attitude of God and Country has changed.   When I was younger I grew up in the Cold War days in which many Christians felt that a war of good verses evil was taking place between Communist Russia and the USA.   We watched the Olympics as a competition between God and Satan taking place on a human arena.   It was all very black and white.

   Today the war between the US and Russia still flares up with Putin moving into the Ukraine and his support for the leader of Syria.   New threats have also emerged with the rise of ISIS and many other anti-Jewish and anti-Christian religious coalitions that threaten our freedoms and our lives around  the world.  Many feel the US should stand up to these threats and in doing so believe God is on our side in our decisions. 

   That is how I too used to think.

    But now I don't think God is on our side.  God is on God's side and he will do as he will to save as many as he can for eternity.   Take for example the story of Jonah , the reluctant prophet.  During his life, Israel was under attack of the Assyrians and they had taken away 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel as slaves, never to be heard from again.   Yet God wanted to save an Assyrian city by the name of Nineveh.   Jonah had other thoughts on the matter.   He ran away on a boat headed as far west as it could take him and it took a whale to bring him back.   Why?  Not because he didn't think it worth going.  No.  Because he knew God would save Nineveh and spare them the destruction.  Jonah wanted nothing to do with it.  God was on Israel's side, how could he do this?   Answer, because he loves them.   God had a plan and he was going to make it happen no matter what Jonah thought on the matter.

    We also, look at ISIS as they call for our destruction and rape, pillage and murder innocent Christians and other people they don't agree with.   We, like Jonah, want God to obliterate them and send them to hell for all the evil they have brought to this world.  But God calls us to love them and pray for them and return good for evil.   We must somehow try to seem them as people trapped by Satan and used as pawns.  We must look beyond the physical as Paul says, "We don't fight against flesh and blood, but against the powers and principalities in the heavenly realms".   God has a plan to ultimately destroy the evil in the world, but now he must see to it that as many people can be saved as possible. I am not saying we don't use our worldly military force to squash evil where it exists in this world and threatens our existence. No, we need to stand up to evil whenever and wherever we can.  But it cannot be our only response.  We must pray for the people in these countries that God's word and Gospel can reach them too.  

    I see God using this present evil to show the world that it cannot hide in ignorance of pretending that evil does not exist anymore.   It cannot pretend that somehow we created an inoculation against it and eradicated like Polio or Small Pox.   It's still here and you must decide which side you are on.   Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Osama Bin Laden,  Al Qaeda, ISIS, the list goes on of people and groups that God has allowed to rise up and show us that sin and evil persist and man is not impervious to their plans as you might think.    Evil is not a pre-1900 issue, but is a 2016 and beyond issue.   

    Next, we must stop thinking that somehow God's support of us can be bought by performing the right kinds of deeds or electing the right kind of leaders.   I cringe whenever I hear a Christian leader in the media make the plea to "Put God back into America", like as if he is a misplaced item on a shelf.   God uses who he wills for his purpose.   Did God use the Roman Empire?  Of course he did.  Even though the Jews prayed constantly for Rome to be removed from their country and restore the kingdom to David's line God had other better plans.

   One good thing I see of ISIS is it has caused the media to take a closer look at Islam and Christianity.   Recently I saw a piece that did a fair comparison contrast between the two religions and the differences could not be more stark.    Would this have ever happened without ISIS?  Probably not.  Most would go on their merry and ignorant path of "All religions are the same" but now they could not do that anymore.   Something was different and it needed to be looked at closer. Maybe those people doing their research into these differences will be brought to faith in Christ.   Maybe people on the religious fence will finally choose a side to be on.   Maybe those who would never had cracked a bible in the past will finally read some passages and see Jesus beyond the TV sitcom references.   Maybe those in Europe who thought religion issues were non-issues who now see their culture being transformed by the massive influx of people from the Middle East will need to return to their religious roots and take a stand against this slow invasion of their lands.

    Whatever the case may be, God's will is being done and his goal for us and all of humanity is being fulfilled.

Faith: Where's the boundary?

   The world is full of invisible boundaries that are hard to define.   We like to draw borders and boundaries.   Some boundaries are easy, like rivers, mountains, or oceans.  This is my side and that is your side.   Boundaries help us simplify our world.  I don't have to fix everyone's problems, I just have to fix our problems.   I can take care of my side of the fence in my backyard without worrying about your side of the fence.

    But not all borders are easily identified.  Take for example where is the boundary of our solar system.   When I was a kid we were all taught that Pluto was the last of the 9 planets in our solar system.  So to many, that defined the end of our solar system.  Simple right?  Then Pluto got demoted from a planet to planet-like object.   Did the boundary move in to Neptune then? No.  It just changed our definition of a planet.   Some scientists thought the edge of our solar system goes out to the Heliosphere, which is the point at which our solar wind from our sun meats the incoming solar wind from other systems and changes direction.    But even now there are speculations that is not correct as there is mathematically proven theories that there may well be a Neptune sized planet circling the sun way past this that could be the cause of comets from the far regions of space to enter our system every several thousand years or so.

    So where does our solar system end and the rest of the galaxy begin?  No one really knows and there does not seem to be definable boundary to point to either.

   Another one of those invisible boundaries is where is the boundary between personal faith and public policy.   Where does my faith-sphere end and the public-sphere begin?   Does it end when I leave my church or Christian school?   What about in my house or on my front lawn?   What about my cars bumper?   What about my time at work?   Does it cease to exist in these realms?

    This question is as old as time itself.   In ancient Rome,  the public was expected to show their allegiance to the emperor by coming to the city square and lighting a candle and saying "Caesar is god!".   Today some get their heads all out of joint over just the use of "God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, but here you were asked to say the leader is God himself!   Imagine today having to say "Obama is god!".  Would that be appalling to almost everyone in our country?   This was an issue with the early Christians.   This statement of faith went in direct opposition to their core beliefs.   But by their non-conformity, they placed themselves in a perilous place as many considered them to be "traitors" to the empire and worthy of death.

     In Israel, the Jews also took issue with the worship of the emperor.   Ancient Romans had on their coin "To the Divine Augustus" which called Augustus a god.   Jews took issue with this and often refused to use the Roman coin because it made them break the 1st command (Thou shalt not have any gods before me).  When Jesus was asked if they should pay taxes to Caesar (this was before the Rome gave them the new coins) Jesus asked for a coin and asked "Whose image is this and whose coin is this?"   and the crowd answered "Caesars", to which Jesus said, "Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and to God that which is God's".   Meaning,  Caesar minted the coin and therefore owns what is printed on it.   You did not mint it therefore you are not held responsible for what it says.  We are to give to God and others what God demands.

    Does Jesus give us a definable border?   Not exactly.   In some ways I think Jesus is telling us "There are no clear answers here. You figure it out for yourselves".

    Today in our country no one is going to prison for their faith (yet) and no one is being thrown into a den of lions for anyone's viewing pleasure, but some are being forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to a government for their non-conformity of paying homage to gay marriage.  To these brave people their faith was not left at the doorway of the church.   They were not the bigots others in the media have made them out to be.  Instead they have reached out to the gay community with love and respect to show them that their decision has nothing to do with "hating gays" but instead not wanting to make a confession that was in direct conflict with their faith.   This invisible boundary is like the Heliosphere  mentioned earlier where the solar wind pushing out from our sun meets the solar wind of other stars pushing in.   To them, making a gay-wedding cake was a confession about marriage that was not in keeping with their biblical faith that marriage is only between a man and a woman and is no different than lighting a candle and saying "Caesar is god!" or minting the coin that calls the emperor a god.

    Today the external solar-wind is strong and seeks to subdue those of faith with large fines and court ordered "re-education classes" and regular government reviews on their progress.   These cases may well be the proving grounds for other cases that may arise in the future.  If people of faith must subdue their beliefs when in conflict with the state, then there may be no boundary left from which to fight or resist.   

    To be fair, there have been times when the faith wind blew too strong and extended farther than what it should have.   This happens whenever a group, no matter how noble, comes to power as the majority.    We want to make our own little heaven on earth rather than wait for the real one that is to come.   We wrongly imprisoned and put into mental hospitals the homosexuals and labelled them deviants so we didn't have to interact with them.   We ostracized divorced woman and treated them shabbily along with woman who were victims of domestic abuse or rape.   These were wrong.  We shut the doors to these people and cut them off from any conversation we might have with them in the future.

    To some extent, faith is personal.  Some have it.  Some don't.   We just have to let them go.   Take for example, Jesus interaction with a "rich young ruler" who wants to go to heaven but doesn't want to sell all his possessions and follow Jesus as he was requested.   The gospel writer says, "at this the mans face fell and he walked away sad because he had great wealth".    Did Jesus order him to be beaten or punished?   No.  Did he call him names?  No.  Did he beg for the man to come back? No.  He simply let him go and kept open the communication channels if the person in the future wanted to change his mind.
 
    We must be the same way in the dealings with those who have no faith or are opposed to how we believe.   Disagree but love them anyway.

     In the end I think we must all agree that there is no defined boundary or border to say, "this far you can go and no further".  The "winds of change" will strengthen and weaken over time and the boundary will move and someone will always be unhappy with where  it is located.