Opus 2024-441: You Can’t Have It Both Ways

First, a disclaimer.  I was a public school teacher at the middle school level for 29 years.  I earned my living, supported my family and lived my life in the environment of the public school.  I was reasonably popular with the students, and for the most part got along well with the faculty.

Having said that I have very little good to say about public schools and public school teachers.  They are warm wonderful caring individuals.  I guess that is a good part.  They are also destroying the next generation because they are so sold out on the woke definitions.  As a group they lack the ability to think.  As an example, we had a group of “consultants” who came in to show us how it was done.  They had required meetings with groups of faculty.  They saw us by departments.  The history department was the last one they saw.  They would lead a discussion, ask a question and write our responses on the board.  One big problem with this is they did not write what we said but what they wanted us to have said.  In our meeting we made no progress because the history department refused to let them put words in our mouth.  Eventually they gave up in disgust.  Later we compared notes and one of the outcomes of the “discussions” was that all of the departments except history agreed to the proposition that 20% should be considered a passing grade.

When you hear that I hope you are shocked.  None of the teachers were paying attention except those in history.  This is an example of the kind of things going on in your neighborhood school.

Why am I beating this dead horse?  It is because while people will admit that schools have problems they keep sending their kids back into the intellectual and moral killing fields.  They admit the brainwashing and send their children off to be adjusted.  Then they wonder why the kids reject the values of the parents.

We home schooled.  We think that is the best way.  We are past the school stage but our grandchildren will also be home schooled.  I invite you to look into it.  If you feel you could not handle it then remind yourself that the schools are not handling it either.  They are just better at camouflage.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-440: Dark Thoughts: Creation Strikes Again

I think of the logic question usually advanced by people who are interested in gotcha, “Could God, make a square circle?”  What we overlook on this is that God does not seem to have been interested in making a perfect circle.  When you look at something like a planet, which we think of is a globe it’s not really a perfect globe.  They tell me it’s more like a pear.  Stars are constantly sending out streams of plasma.  It’s almost like the creative nature of God refuses to be confined to standard recognized shapes.  Aside from the point that the God who established logic would not flout it, I don’t think He would care to try.

I was looking at the trees.  I’ve heard that no two snowflakes are the same.  How much more so that is true for trees.  The laws of physics always seem to have a deeper level.  Chemistry is the same.  The basic building blocks are assumed to be the same but the results always vary.  What does this tell us about the nature of God”

God created the world.  We have the Genesis account.  God knew what He wanted written and the Holy Spirit was managing editor.  I think that perhaps the seven days of creation were presented in such a way so that we would continue to argue about them forever.  That way we would not get too complacent, and to set in our ways.  God wants us to exercise or minds.  That way we are challenged to constantly flex and expand our understanding not only of our universe but of Him.  Theology can help us to understand.  It can also limit our understanding by insisting on putting things in boxes that won’t contain them.  Keep trying, but don’t get too upset that the concepts of God keep busting out.

It may be silly, but as I was looking around and thinking about things to be thankful for I noticed how the branches of the tree were outlined even in the dark.  I couldn’t see the leaves, but I imagined each of them being totally unique.  Yes, they had many things in common.  They might even look the same to the casual observer.  But in His creative genius, God allowed each of them to develop in their own way.  How much more is that true for those of us that are created in His image?

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-439: A Heavy Load

(Deu 9:15 KJV)  So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands.

I am sporadically doing research and study on the Biblical law.  When I see something of interest it jumps out at me.  This passage did that.  I am seeing a lot of indications that the 613 Commandments that the Rabbis and various preachers like to talk about is a fabrication of a theological position more than an article of faith.

What does the Bible mean when it talks about the Law?  There are numerous words used to express variants of the concept such as statutes and testimonies.  I think they are significant but I don’t have a definitive explanation.

What this verse does it points out that at least here the content of the law was a bit shorter than the 613.  I don’t know if it was just the ten commandments but that is more likely than all the laws of kosher and sacrifice.

Why it that?  Notice that Moses was carrying the law engraved on stone with just his two hands.  I don’t know how many pictures you have seen of writing chiseled on stone but there is a serious limit to how small you can carve words.  I would submit that if Moses was carrying the “two tablets of the covenant” it was seriously shorter than what the Rabbis would have considered the law.  It might be the Readers’ Digest version of the law.

Is this the final word?  Obviously not.  If God did the carving the font could be very small but it had to be big enough to read.  My printout of the 613 runs to 15 pages of 12 point font.  I have not idea how that would work out on stone.

Just an observation.  Keep thinking.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-438: Piles

As I was sitting in the dark talking to myself, I heard the phrase “Doesn’t matter any more than a hill of beans”.  Now I have beans in my terminology as worthless.  In many cases it would be worthless.  What would you do with a hill of beans?  For most of us city boys, who get our beans out of a can, that is a very perplexing problem.

However, as we face uncertain times, the government seems to be moving against farmers and requiring people to register their chickens, a hill of beans might actually take on great value.  Picture of the starving masses closing in on your backyard where there is a hill of beans.  Of course if they don’t know they need to be soaked overnight they might still go hungry, but the potential is there.

So keep in mind, although your opinion might not matter anymore than a hill of beans, there might be someone out there, whose mind is hungry enough to actually consider what you offer.  The offer might mean the difference between survival and slavery.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-437: Inter or Intra

I am looking at a note I made to myself on April 7, 2011.  That is a long time ago by any measure.  At the time I was listening to podcasts by a preacher named Marc Driscoll.  He was, and still is, a strong voice for the gospel.  His uncompromising voice offended many people.  He was an unapologetic Calvinist.   I have a very low opinion of Calvinistic doctrine.  My thinking is in the Wesleyan tradition.  In spite of that I considered him a brother in Christ.  

Historically the Methodist church has closer positions to where I am at.  The modern United Methodist Church has not only drifted away from Biblical truth but have left a scorched earth behind them.  The church I was raised in seems to be traveling down the same road.  It is a strange feeling when people you disagree with seriously are closer than those you grew up with.

The difference is their attitude toward the Bible and what it teaches.  The Driscoll disagreement is in the family, the Methodists are seeking a divorce.  It is like the difference between intramural and intermural.  One is a sports program within the college.  One dorm might play another in football.  The other is between schools.

I pray that we would develop greater wisdom to see the difference and act like it made a difference.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-436: Cognitive

When I am having an overwhelming urge to be humble, I sometimes think of myself as just a cog in Gods universe.  Everyone knows the cogs are nothing important.  Or at least we think that cogs are not important.  They’re certainly not big.  No one thinks of them as being powerful.  A cog by itself doesn’t change the direction of the wheel.

However, it is a mistake to think that a cog is not important, even vital.  Think of the toy you had where one of the cogs broke off the inner mechanism and it would stop working . There might be some machines where a broken cog will not stop the whole process, but even in those machines, it probably gives a little vibration.  In many devices that use spokes and wheels and levers and such a missing cog can halt the whole movement.  Parts will still budge.  Perhaps levers may still go up and down.  Perhaps, but if the part that is missing is on the drive wheel you go nowhere.

I consider myself a cog.  For all I know you may be a cog.  That doesn’t mean that you don’t have a significant place in the universe.  You may not believe that.  I’m not sure I have accepted totally yet.  But I’m working on it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-435: Living in denial

I’m wondering if people who deny God and make a big deal of denying God have some basic underlying emotional and psychological problems.  I am currently trying to finish up a book by Will Durant called The Story of Philosophy.  In it he works through what he considers to be the major philosophers of our western culture.  It took me a while to get onto his methods, but what he does is immerse himself in the philosopher he’s writing about, and then write as if he is that philosopher.  I used to think he was expressing his own ideas, but I finally realized that this was his way of getting across what they had to say.

In the current batch that I’m reading after a hiatus of a couple years, he gives a biographical sketch in an attempt to try and help us see where these people are coming from.  The three that are standing out to me now are Schopenhauer, Spencer, and Nietzsche.  All of them have major issues in their life.  As a general rule, they seem to be unable to get along with other people.  Their childhoods were a mess.  They are the kind of people you would not want to leave your children with.  Their only claim to fame is that someone thinks their writings were worth reading.

What Durrant has to say reinforces a thought that I had about what is considered classical literature.  I find that just because people tell me something is an awesome reading that will change my view of the world, it doesn’t mean a lot.  I feel that there are certain elites, who get so impressed with their eliteness that they forget that their thoughts are not necessarily significant or coherent.  I think of a joke that I once heard that tells of a polar bear sitting on a block of ice as it floats across the ocean and going to the edge and yelling “Radio”.  Now, the joke is on the people listening.  There is no joke.  There is no humor.  There’s nothing there, but an attempt to manipulate you into laughing at something that has no point.  The joke is on you.  I often think that much of the important classical literature falls into that category.

Read with your mind, turned on.  Assume that your mind is working.  If what you read seems like nonsense then consider the idea of the possibility that it is nonsense.  The only question is, does the person who wrote it realize that it is meaningless or are they as much in the dark as you are.  Have sympathy for those who read this kind of thing and then go, “Oh wow!”

Durant, Will.  The Story of Philosophy.  Garden City, New York:  Garden City Publishing Co., Inc.,  1926.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-434: Literally Figurative

I have trouble with people who insist on interpreting everything in the Bible literally.  I believe that the Bible is inspired.  That is one of those points you can’t prove.  Either you accept it or you don’t.  When we get to other words such as “inerrant” you need a bit of wiggle room to define what you mean.  There are places where you can take the Bible literally.  When it numbers the warriors in the tribe of Judah, I acceept that number.  When John 3:16 say “whoever” I think it means whoever.  On the other hand there are many places that must be looked on as figures of speech or literary devices.  I have already written about God being a chicken.  I might also point out that when Luke says that “all the world should be taxed” he was not making an application of “nothing is certain but death and taxes” he was talking about the known Roman world.

We are to take the Bible literally when the author intends it to be taken literally.  We are to assume that the Holy Spirit has as much literary skill as Shakespeare and is fully capable of using hyperbole and metaphor.

To be honest, much of my problem is that they still get figurative when necessary to “prove” their own system of belief.  I have a friend who is constantly telling me that some great truth of the Old Testament does not apply to me because it was written to the Jews.  In other words the 23rd Psalm has no application to me since I am a Gentile.  Since I love a good argument I will then tell him that the book of Romans does not apply to him since it was clearly addressed to the church in Rome.  As you may guess, he does not live in Rome.  As you may also suspect, he does not agree with me applying his own principles to understanding the Bible when it does not help his case.

What brings this up?  I was thinking about the creation account and the provision God made for food.  Note the verse,

(Gen 1:29 KJV)  And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Don’t get hung up on the KJV use of “meat”.  It just means food.  Do you notice what is lacking?  Not only is bacon not on the list but neither is your favorite steak.  It seems that we were originally crated to be vegetarians, even vegans.  Don’t get mad at me.  God is the one who declared this.  Of course if you keep reading you will notice that the lions and wolves were also to be vegetarian,

(Gen 1:30 KJV)  And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

I don’t know how technical you want to get, but since we are looking at being literal, consider that it refers to “bearing seed”.  If my analysis is correct this means reproducing by spreading seeds.  This might rule out things that grow underground or spread by extending sprouts.

Why do we enjoy a good hamburger today?  Because as a good Bible scholar you have continued to read and came across this revealed to Noah after the flood,

(Gen 9:3 KJV)  Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

Don’t build your theology and values on cherry picked verses understood literally.  We serve a living God who is smarter than the people who disagree with you.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-433: Why Be Consistent?

As I read Will Durant’s The Story of Civilization my gestalt keeps kicking in.  Not only do I have my total remembered knowledge, but also the gestalt of the actual book I’m reading.  I am now, as I write, in his chapter dealing with Israel.  By this time I’m seeing some real arrogance based on ignorance in his writing.

Ignorance and lack of data don’t stop a creative secular historian.  The first section of the book talks about prehistoric man.  We really know very little but that doesn’t stop him from putting together a total culture.  One point that I was thinking about this morning was how one of the early forms of man was credited with using tools.  Those tools were obviously stone, but what was interesting was that the archaeologist claim that the stone was not really worked.  It was not chipped like the later Stone Age artifacts.  All they did was find rocks that seem to fit a certain purpose and use them as tools.  At least that is the story of the archaeologists, and they are sticking with it.

He attributes the use of tools by these early “humans” as something they learn from watching animals.  I think we’ve all seen videos of otters laying on their back with some kind of shell creature on their belly and pounding on it with a rock.  There are birds that use sticks for prying bugs out of cracks.  In modern times, we have beavers that build houses and dams.  Evidently the early man was supposed to have learned this from watching the animals.

This brings up two questions.  First, where do the animals learn to use tools?  OK, Mr. Dr. PhD, answer the question.  Who taught animals to use tools?  Could it be that your willingness to define tools in such a broad description makes it possible for anything to be a tool in the case of animals?  Could it be your desire to discredit the idea of God himself teaching them some of these things makes it necessary for you to plug in your imagination instead of turn on your intellect?  There’s no question that all of these scholars are intelligent.  There’s no question they have incredible imaginations.  What they’re missing is the basics assumptions.

Second, and this is not my original observation, how come the animals untold millions of years later are not advance beyond using a stone to break an oyster or a stick to dig a bettle out of a hole?  How come the nests are no more complex today than they were amazing years ago?  Animals have not progressed.  Yet man has.

I will continue reading for the entertainment value and in case my blood pressure gets so low I need something to fume about.  I also hope that there will be something valid enough to say I have learned.

Durant, Will.  The Story of Civilization:  Part 1, Our Oriental Heritage.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 1954.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-432: Jumpstart

I just came through a session of gaslighting.  It’s something I am becoming more aware of, and recognizing it is helping me to deal with life.  I am very susceptible to gaslighting.  It comes from a willingness to see myself as the problem and a lifetime of trying to figure out what I did wrong.  Without minimizing my mistakes I am coming to understand that many of my “mistakes” are simply attempts by other people to gaslight me, or control me.

As I was thinking about that, my mind went, as it often does, to how this relates to God, whom He is, what are His attributes and how He deals with us.  I had a hard time accepting the idea that God might gaslight people.  It just doesn’t seem like something He would need to do.  So I moved on

From there I went to thinking about how we come up with these new terms.  You might know the source of the term “gaslight.  But I thought of the other terms that we like to throw around such as ADD which evolved into ADHD.  It wasn’t enough to say hyperactive, or hard time  concentrating.  We needed some lingo, we needed some kind of a scientific sounding designation so the common people feel like they need an expert.  I seems if you can think up a new acronym, then it’s an open door to government money.  I had a school psychologist who was doing a presentation on autism, and during that he admitted that much of the rising autism is caused by expanding the definition, and one of the reasons they would expand the definition is it will put more children under their umbrella.  The more children under your umbrella the more federal money you got.  You see how that works?

These terms don’t really have much use if they are as simple as gaslighting.  That’s another word for passive aggressive.  Which is another extension of manic depression.  All we really need to do is say that person is trying to manipulate you.  But it gives us a springboard to jump off in our understanding.  It gives us a new word so that we don’t have to go back and explain everything up to that point.  Did you notice how I didn’t explain gaslighting to you?

So some of this jargon has value.  It helps us to jumpstart conversations.  It means we don’t have to go back and start at zero.  We don’t need to explain where we are on abortion if we say we are a Democrat.  Being a Calvinist, if you will admit it, lets people know where you stand on a whole host of issues.  We might be able to start at 50%.  Of course there’s always the danger that we have different definitions but life is full of adventure.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-431: Results May Vary

One of the memes that I enjoy and I found myself sharing with people recently is the one that goes along the lines of “Welcome to Texas.  Remember you are a refugee, not a missionary.”

I got to thinking about this in terms of missionaries going out to spread the gospel.  At one time most were from England and the United States.  It made me think of a phrase which I believe is from Kipling, about the White Man’s Burden.  They didn’t just go to spread the gospel, they also went to spread a culture.

Many different strong cultures have been bent on conquest and then try to implant their system on the conquered people.  It doesn’t always work out the way you expect.  I think of China having the Mongol invade, take over and set up their own dynasties.  I’m sure they thought they were going to reform the Chinese.  What happened in time was the Mongol became Chinese.  Those outside could not tell the difference.

We see a similar conquest going on as the Muslim masses overwhelm Europe.  Certain groups are very mild and reasonable when they are weak.  When they get the power, look out.  We see this with the Muslims.  There have been times when the Catholic church was that way.  The United States is a current target of the cultural jihad of Mecca.  In Texas alert people have been fighting the implementation of sharia law for years.  The word is the final bill that was passed had been watered down significantly but at least something was passed.  I understand there are cities where the call to prayer is broadcast five times a day.  The conquest is in progress.

On a more local level the liberals fleeing places like California seem to think that the reason socialism didn’t work was because they were running out of other people’s money.  If you live in one of the free states beware of liberals coming to share your resources.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-430: If God Took a Selfie

How do you picture God?  Traditionally, I think people imagine of Him sitting on a throne with a flowing beard and a lot of white hair.  You’ve seen the paintings.  When Isaiah comes into his presence in chapter 6, you get a picture of this majestic figure looking down on you from his great throne.  I have a little different view.

I tend to think of God as leaning over a banister and looking down to check out what’s going on downstairs.  I picture Him, giving just enough attention to make sure nothing goes wrong.  I don’t see Him staring at me or consumed with my activities.  After all, He is God and has other things to do.  He cares.  He watches.  He is aware of what is going on in my life.  He also created me in his image and I believe that involves free will.

I don’t think of God as being the helicopter parent, hovering over me all the time making sure that every boo-boo is kissed and every tear is wiped away.  I see Him as a parent who wants to raise a responsible, motivated, focused adult.  He doesn’t want perpetual adolescence or childhood.

So I think there is a sense in which God is not in my face all the time.  I know He’s there if I need Him.  Define need as a real momentary support not a perpetual crutch.  He gave us free will.  He asked us to come and reason with Him, but He doesn’t want us whining every time we stub our toe.  I think He often tells us to “Walk it off”.

How much does the picture correlate with reality?  Only time will tell.  You may have a totally different picture and I am good with that.  I think God is good with that too.  Keep in mind the comment He made to Moses that we can’t see His glory or we would be consumed.  I’ll take him watching over the banister, thank you, at least for now.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-429: To…From…

I continue my study and meditation on the law given to Moses in the Old Testament.  Actually, it’s bigger than that because it goes back to the first chapter of Genesis and continues on to the law’s fulfillment in Jesus as the Messiah.

What is in my mind is that the law was not given to vindicate God, or to improve His image.  The law was given to benefit mankind.  It was specifically delivered to the Jews to mold thim as a people and to be passed on to the rest of the world.  The law was for us to make our lives better.

It may not seem that way to you.  It may seem confining.  To be honest there are points where it seems a bit silly and picky to me.  But I have this conviction that God has a reason for everything He does, and even imagine the command not to plant a tree in the temple courtyard has significance for us today.  Just because we don’t understand it doesn’t mean it isn’t a good idea to follow it.  Think of all the things that your parents told you not to do and you just had to try.  We had a bush in our yard.  I had walked over it and around it many times.  If I had known that was full of prickers, I would have told you to stay away from it.  If you insisted on sitting in the middle of it, you would experience what my grandson went through as we spent a long time pulling the tiny little needles out of him.

I still have a long way to go in studying the law.  I imagine I will repeat things quite a bit.  I am convinced that God is on our side or as I think Abraham Lincoln said, we should be on his side, and everything He does is designed to make that more likely.

So I study the law. I am trying to learn to love the law the way David did.  I also want to make sure that I don’t misuse the law the way Paul was so concerned about in the New Testament.

The journey continues.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-428: Values

A quote comes to mind from a movie I used to show to the kids at school about the Battle of the Alamo.  It has William Travis, making a statement, “There are many things in life that are worth living for, but they’re only a few that are worth dying for.  Liberty is one of those.”

Our liberty has two foundations.  First come the ideas.  When you read the Declaration of Independence and Constitution you are instructed in some basic concepts.  It is necessary for us to believe in those principles.  The other side of the coin depends on people willing to die for those principles.  While we still have people willing to risk their lives I am not sure that we have leaders that believe in the principles.

Stories like this are valuable because they reinforce in dramatic form ideas we should embrace.  It might be a problem though to be sure that the actual events happened as repeated.  Since no one survived on the Texas side in the Battle of the Alamo, we would have to say that the story and this quote are probably either myth or legend.  That, of course, does not take away from the power or the truth behind the statement.

Take something most people are familiar with, the parable of the prodigal son.  One of the questions I ask when teaching on this parable is, “Is this an event that Jesus knew about or is it a story made up to teach a principle?”  For some people this is an important question.  My position is that a position is irrelevant.  The truth being taught does not depend on whether the events are fact or fiction.  The point is, did you understand the principle being taught?  If Jesus was teaching history then the precision of the details might matter.  Since He was teaching about the love of God the Father there are many things that are irrelevant.  It doesn’t matter the date.  The location is immaterial.  The gender of the child could be changed.  It could be about a prodigal daughter in New York City during the 21st century.  The basic truth would not change.

What are you willing to die for?  Your cat?  Your collection of match books?  Your children?  Those are relatively easy.  What about more abstract things like your freedom of speech?  How would you respond if the marshals showed up and nailed your church doors shut?  How about the government ignoring the third Amendment?  Don’t know what the third Amendment is about?  You are in good company.  It was a problem in 1776.  It may be an issue tomorrow.

After you decide what you would die for it might be a good time to consider if you are living for them now.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-427: Another Chapter

Every once in a while, I ask myself why I am writing in a blog.  I have pondered it before and will no doubt do so again.  In reality very few people read anything I write.  A good part of that is because what I write is not as brilliant as I think it is.  My humor is not as funny as I think it is.  My insights are not as sharp.

Yet, I continue to write.  Why?

Because I must.  That doesn’t justify all the time I spend on it.  Now that I’m retired I have more time but I’m not sure I’m turning out anything more worthwhile than it was before.  In reality that is not the key factor.  Bloggers like myself write for the same reason that down through history people have written volumes of poetry that no one has ever looked at.  There are millions of songs that have been sung in the privacy of the home or in the vain hopes provided by a small venue.  Everyone wonders if they will be the next Emily Dickinson.

Everyone is a philosopher, know it or not.  If you look at it through the right eyes, that means that everyone is a poet.  They are poets who don’t write poetry.  Their poetry is expressed in other ways.  I would imagine that a sculptor who carved out things that only bring joy to himself, would fit into that category also.  You can go to craft fairs and look at the product of this enthusiasm.  You can visit art studios and see what some people think of as art.  Who am I to argue?  I write things that I would I think are worth reading.

I think everyone who writes has this fantasy that some future archaeologists dig up with what they have written, and develop a theory of civilization based on their hangups.  Consider it our kind of science fiction.  It may be fiction, but it’s our fiction.

On the positive side, it is a personal discipline that is good for me.  It helps me to keep my mind sharp.  It forces me to pay attention to the world around me and to think critically about what I see.

I guess most of them are selfish motives, but they are selfish motives that don’t do you any damage, I hope.  That is, unless you disagree with me.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-426: Lessons in History and Current Events

As we watch the regime change in Syria under the onslaught of unhappy citizens I asked myself could it happened here?  We have watched a central government quickly crumble under the attack of several different militia groups.  Is this the kind of thing that the deep state elitists of America are worried about?  Do they really think that this is possible?

Actually, they are trying to make it happen by destroying the liberties that we have guaranteed in the first and second amendment.  They are trying to make us a sectarian, Balkanized conglomeration.  

Take, for instance the first amendment.  Notice the first thing mention there is not freedom of speech or freedom of the press, but the limitation on the government starting a state religion or hindering anybody from practicing freely the religion of their choice.  That’s really what the whole first amendment is about and also the second amendment.  This document was written by people who remember their history and remembered how the government of England tried to control its people by controlling their religion.

Our Founders saw through this and saw that we needed as a group to be able to worship as we chose, not as we were told.  If you look at what’s happening in Syria, you find that one of the major differences in the groups is their religious affiliation.  The deposed dictator, Assad, belong to a minor sect of Islam.  Then you have the Russians, who up until recently were officially atheists.  And you have representatives of Iran, who are Shiite Muslim, and the supporters of Turkey which I assume is Sunni.  The battle may be over political power, but the roots are in their insistence that their form of religion is superior.

Somehow, I don’t see the Baptist and the Methodist going to war over the perseverance of the saints.  I don’t see Pentecostals going after Lutherans because they have a different view of spiritual gifts.  Sure the Anabaptists were once hunted and killed, but not in this country.  One of the side effects of saying the government can’t enforce a specific religion is that it teaches us to allow other people to exercise their beliefs without hindrance.  It makes us a tolerance society in the real meaning of tolerance.  We can be adamant about what we believe.  We cannot force others to believe.  And going along with that is the understanding that we don’t shoot somebody just because they disagree with us.

As I said, the elites are trying to destroy this root value of Americans.  The cabal that runs the Democratic Party and seems to be running the media and all the government agencies is doing everything they can to make Americans hate each other based on such things as race and gender.  It’s called identity politics.  It goes under many names from multiculturalism to DEI.  It says that we’re not all Americans because we don’t all agree with a specific group.  That in itself is un-American.  It is divisive.  It will eventually be murderous.  We see the hostility, growing all around us.

Could we become Syria?  Only if we abandon that phrase that is on our coins and money, “e pluribus unum.”  Only if we start ignoring the other phrase about “In God we trust” and start trusting in our government instead.

It could happen.  I am believing that it won’t.  Each of us makes a contribution.  If you are not ready to love your neighbor you might at least bake them some Christmas cookies.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-425: Click bait: Another Expert Expounds

Once again, I did not click on it to see what it was about, but I thought it was an interesting point.  I think the site was Sky News Australia and the Clickbait title said something to the effect that a former CIA employee was explaining what happened in Syria.  That’s not exact, but it gets the idea across.

We are so gullible.  What makes us think that someone who once worked for the CIA would be an expert on what happened in Syria?  It is possible that this person actually at one time was an expert.  Is he still in touch with the intelligence coming in?  What does it mean to be an expert?   I’m not sure that expert is really a quality that is important today.  Most experts that I run into or hear about have no clue what they’re talking about.  What makes them an expert is they have a diploma or certificate, a job title, or a powerful friend who says they’re an expert.  It has nothing to do with really knowing something.

So it is possible that this former CIA employee worked in and specialized in things that took place in Argentina.  He is still a former CIA employee.  He might still be an expert in his area of focus.  That does not make him an expert in what happened in Syria?  We can keep digging.  We will keep listening.  Whether we will ever be able to sort out the conflict in that Middle Eastern country is doubtful.  We just need to make sure that we are on the side of angels and that we keep behaving in ways that will get God’s approval.

That is my expert opinion.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-424: Healthy Insights: Go Green

As I sit waiting for the little icon to show up that says “skip”, I am forced to listen to the verbal Clickbait being offered up on different YouTube videos.  There’s a guy who is billed as a famous  cardiologist.  I’m not sure why, but he’s famous and great and awesome and I guess he doesn’t make enough money as it practicing doctor and is forced to make videos.  I don’t think I’ve ever listened all the way to the end of anything he has to say.  In this case, I listened just long enough to find out that green bananas are good for me and that ripe bananas will ruin my health.  At least that’s my interpretation of what he said.

Life is complex.  I think it’s complex enough already without having to worry about whether ripe bananas will kill me or not.  I’ve been eating bananas all my life.  In fact, I’m going through another period where they’re becoming a part of my diet. and to be honest, I actually like the slightly green bananas more than the ones that are turning brown.  The yellow ones in between can be OK but I tend to like the green.  So my problem is not that he’s pushing green bananas.  My problem is that I have enough gurus trying to run my life that I don’t really need one to pick my bananas for me.

Basic bananas are currently 50 cents a pound here in Texas.  Gurus are a dime a dozen.  They like to sneak up on you with advertisements.  Sometimes they approach you through Clickbait where you voluntarily touch the button. Either way you are informed of all the empty spots in your life.

Good luck with that

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-423: The Depths of Evil

Americans do not understand evil.  At least that is true for the general public who believes in the traditional values of the Jewish and Christian heritage.  Part of the reason we have been able to live with those benevolent attitudes is because in the past much evil was rooted out.  We see that rooting out process going on in the Middle East today as Israel responds to the mayhem of October 7.  Let me try to give you a historical perspective from the Bible.

When Israel was ready to cross over the Jordan River into the Promised Land, God tried to clarify a couple of things.  The first Israel liked and wanted to hear.

(Deu 9:3 KJV)  Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.

God was promising to be with them and bring victory.  Everyone likes that idea.

What we have a hard time with is that they would be driven out and destroyed.  That seems a bit of overkill to us.

God tries to clarify what is going on.  You often find such clarification if you look and are willing to listen.  First He addresses a misconception that Israel might have.  We have the same problem.

(Deu 9:4 KJV)  Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee.

We have this natural tendency to think that God is lucky to have us on His team.  We are like the little boy who “stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plum and said, ‘What a good boy am I.’”  God was having none of that.  It was not that they were so “righteous” but that the people living in the land we so “wicked.”

He reinforces this point,

(Deu 9:5 KJV)  Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Try to wrap your hand around the culture that lived there and seems to live there again today.  The wickedness of Canaan was not that they partied too loud or rioted in the streets.  That may have happened but that is just a mild form of anti-social behavior.  No, we are talking about people who participated in child sacrifice, and it wasn’t a matter of death by lethal injection.  No.  Try to grasp this.  They would take their trusting, smiling, cooing baby and cast them into the red hot metal arms of the statue of Molech.  Who could do this and think it was right?  A perverted, evil people living in a perverted, evil culture.

God is not a silly fool who believes we will be absolutely perfect.  He knows us better than that.  He also knows the evil cultures of the world better than you will ever want to grasp.  Strangely enough that may be our hope.  I have talked a lot about our nation compared to Sodom.  I have written about it.  In the election my concern was that there might not be a figurative ten righteous people to be found in our modern Sodom.  That might be the wrong question.  God may spare us like He spared ancient Israel.  It may not be that we are righteous enough but that the comparison is such a swamp of evil.

Live in such a way that God will go before you and drive the wicked to their destruction.  We may deserve God’s wrath but there are people who deserve it more.  

At least I hope so.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-422: Fantasy Mansions

Biblical descriptions of heaven are varied.  I tend to think that most of them are figurative examples of something that we don’t understand literally.  Consider the many different snap-shots of heaven.  One of them which I want to touch on today is found in the gospel of John.

(Joh 14:2 KJV)  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

One of the legitimate criticisms of the King James Bible is in its beautiful use of words and word pictures.  The idea of having a mansion waiting for us in heaven really strikes a chord in peoples minds.  We have songs about it.  We joke about it.  We think it’s a great idea.  What gets me going is wondering who is going to clean this mansion that I am going to be living in.  If it’s up to me, then I want it to be small enough that I can clean it out with a blower.  I am not known for my housekeeping abilities.

On the other hand, I don’t think that it would be appropriate to have angels be my housekeeper.  Guardians?  Definitely.  Messengers?  That’s what the name means.  Although I assume the angels would have a good attitude, I think it would be a bad attitude on my part to think that they were going to pick up my socks and make my bed.

Part of the mystery is solved when we realized that the word “mansion” is really not the best translation.  It comes from a root which means to abide.  A non-loaded term would be abode or place.  What it means is that there will be a place for you in heaven.  What that will be like is up to your imagination.  You can rest assured that Jesus prepared it because He said He would.  Now what I find mysterious is that He said He told us that He would prepare a place but I can’t find where He is referring to.  Could it possibly be the Jesus said things that were not recorded?  It seems to me I read that somewhere.

So whatever this “mansion” is, it’s going to be something that Jesus prepared for us which means it will be just right.  What we need as a place to dwell depends on what heaven is going to be like.  If we are angels with harps and wings, then it will be a cloud.  If we are nature lovers, it may be a nice soft bed of leaves under a canopy tree in a place where it never rains.  Oh, and no bugs.  The possibilities are endless and you need to allow for some flexibility.  It may be a module that changes, depending on what we want.

As I have written other places, the term “heaven” is probably not the best term.  Eternity with Jesus might be a little bit better, but that would mean that we probably can’t understand what it will be like.  If you need to use the word heaven, go for it.  I know what you mean even if you don’t.  The message here is not that we will have a 40 room mansion, but that we will have a place prepared for us that will satisfy us forever.

Happy dreams.


homo unius libri

Opus 2024-421: Headlines: Trend or Outlier

By now I am sure you have seen the news item about a health insurance CEO, Brian Thompson, being gunned down in the early morning on the streets of New York.  The investigation continues.

The same thing is true about this that is true about so much that is reported in the media:  You can’t believe you are getting the facts or that the news agencies are asking the right questions.

Keep in mind that this took place in New York where you can’t even change flights in the airport if you have a firearm in your luggage.  It is one of the most heavily regulated, anti-gun forums in the world.  In spite of all that someone murdered another citizen in public on a main street.  The number of laws broken are longer than Santa’s list of naughty.  More laws will not take care of the problem.

What was this about?  Is this the beginning of vigilante justice, the elimination of someone who might have something to say about the Epstein list, a man in dept to the mob or just a psychopath out for some fun?  I am not sure we will know much more if it is the later suggestions.  If it is the beginning of a vigilante movement time will supply a string of similar instances.

Why bring up vigilante justice?  Different voices contribute their opinions on this.  Evidently the insurance group he worked for was well known for denying claims.  That means, if true, that there are multitudes of families in our country who have faced the specter of bankruptcy or death.  If I had a dermatologist exam denied, I could afford to pay for it.  If I need a major cancer surgery then not so much.  How valid are the supposed denials of claims?  I don’t have any idea.  We pay extra for supplemental insurance and so far it has worked well.  Others complain who did not invest in the extra level of protection.  I expect the day will come when it doesn’t work for us.  Will I go out and shoot a CEO over it?  I doubt it.

I am not everyone and the situations where people feel hopeless are bigger than insurance problems.  We have watched the legal system in our country turned into a weapon against anyone with traditional values.  We have watched the IRS deny claims to conservative groups.  We have watched obvious criminals released with little or no bail and we had a presidential candidate who was actively raising money for those who had to pay.  I am not talking about terrible crimes like walking calmly into the capital on January 6 and being gunned down through a closed door.  I am talking about looting, arson, assault and general mayhem.

People see all this.  So far, as conservatives who believe in the rule of law, we have calmed down and waited for the system to work.  What happens when the mass of Americans become convinced that the system will never work?

The incident in New York may be an indication.  Or it may have just been a liberal who forgot to take his meds.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-420: Water Bottle Syndrome

I am really blessed today.  I noticed as I was in the car driving to church that a guy was out walking.  He wasn’t quite as old as I am but he was definitely no spring chicken.  And I noticed he seem to be struggling a little.  And he had a bottle of water in his hand.  Now I will concede that it was in the low 80's out but it was early morning.  There was a nice breeze.  I always amazes me how people can’t walk more than a mile or two without a bottle of water.

It is not just for exercise.  I am always curious why people need a bottle of water to get through a church service.  I imagine if I were taking classes at a local college I would see the same thing.  Has dehydration really become a national problem?

My theory is that it is some kind of psychological issue.  We can be scared by childhood experiences.  I remember how I could not eat peanut butter for years, not because I had an allergy but because I was forced to eat it on dry crackers with nothing to drink.  Maybe these people ended up sitting in a doctor’s office for hours once when they could not give a urine sample.

I guess it isn’t hurting anyone.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-419: You Think You Have a Rough Life

You think you got problems with your wardrobe.  Consider what God did to the wandering Israelites,

(Deu 8:4 KJV)  Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.

Or to put it in more modern language,

(Deu 8:4 NAS77) "Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.

Picture wearing the same clothes for forty years.  When I was pastoring I wore my one suit every Sunday for ten years.  It didn’t bother me.  It still fit.  What was the problem?  My wife would not have felt the same way, I guarantee it.

Think of this as one of the great trials that beset Israel.  They gripped about not having meat and food.  They complained because there was no water.  I don’t remember them complaining about their wardrobes.  Maybe I missed it.  Maybe it was edited out.  Maybe as ex-slaves they didn’t know any better.

What if the ambitious rabbis that came up with the 613 laws decided this was number 614?

Contrary to popular opinion, God does care about how we dress.  It usually isn’t so much about style as about attitude.  The best known is telling women not to have fancy hair.

(1Pe 3:3-4 KJV)  Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

Even more frightening is the parable of the wedding feast where one of the invited guests did not dress right.

(Mat 22:11-3 KJV)  And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:  And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Does God care how you dress when you come to church?  I won’t reject you but I am not your problem.  It doesn’t tell us why the guest was not dressed appropriately.  It may have been something as simple as a green ribbon tied around the arm.  I would guess that the point has to do with attitude, just like Peter was talking about.

It is amazing how often the attitude of the heart comes up in the Bible.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-418: Limitations

How much should I bother trying to understand the other person’s point of view?  My mind is wrestling with theology and aspects of the rapture and creation, but the question would apply to politics or economics or just about anything we disagree on.

Obviously, if we’re going to get along, there has to be some attempt to understand the other person.  At least it’s obvious to me.  It may not be to you.  You may think you’re so correct that there is no need to look at the foolishness of others.  They may feel the same about you.

I think, however, that sometimes just a general ballpark understanding is all we need.  The reason I say that is that there is no way we’re going to understand everything.

Let me illustrate in theology since that’s one area that I feel the most informed.  Take the return of Christ.  Some people tie this to the rapture.  I would fit in that camp.  It seems pretty clear that certain things will happen when Jesus comes back.  I accept the word rapture for that time when the trumpet shall sound, and we will be caught up in the air.  Whether you agree with that or not is not the point here.  The point is that there are other people who are just as devout as I am, who might even say there is no such thing as the rapture.  I don’t know about the devout part because I don’t bother reading what they have to say or listening to their podcast.  The point is they are as serious as I am.

Take that into politics and economics.  Certain things are very clear to me.  I don’t believe that we can continue spending more than we take it as a government without bankrupting the country.  That seems pretty clear and obvious to me.  Occasionally, I will read something by someone who says that actually a little bit of deficit spending in the long term is good for us, or at least doesn’t hurt us.  I think they were living in a dreamworld, but they believe it sincerely.

We need to hold to our convictions and at the same time give other persons of goodwill the right to hold their convictions.  Argue.  Discuss.  Disagree.  But always in the back your mind keep that little seed that you might be the one that is wrong.  Learn from the abrasions of life.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-417: The Meeting of the Mutts

I watched in anticipation. In the dark from the left came the jogging lighted vest.  She comes by every morning about this time and recently has begun demonstrating that she is also a jogger, not just a dog walker.  On the right came the rattle of the gate opening to our neighbors estate, and a flashlight, accompanied by the bark of a small dog.  I waited for them to meet in the street.  It brings new meaning to the concept of “meet and greet”.  The dogs would sniff rears.  I wanted to see how the two women would greet each other.

I was to be disappointed.  It seems that the lady with the vest is not an extrovert.  She did not treasure the idea of having a morning conversation in the dark.  She turned and started jogging in the opposite direction.

Texas mornings are full of excitement.  Yes, I do have a life.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-416: With Fear and Trembling

One of the big questions in the spiritual walk of a Christian is the relationship between works and grace.  Those on the Calvinistic side would say that there is nothing we can do that influences our salvation.  The problem with that position is it contradicts repeated Biblical statements about how our actions influence things.  The earliest I can find in a quick search is,

(Job 34:11 KJV)  For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways.

What requires a bit of attention is the fact that even Paul, the disciple of grace, makes statements in that direction,

(Rom 2:6 KJV)  Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

And in the last book of the Bible, and I believe the last chapter of the Bible, we find the same sentiment.

(Rev 22:12 KJV)  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

I think I see three basic approaches to salvation and its relationship to our actions:  The Little Red Hen, The Millionaire, Gestalt

The first would be a little red hen.  If you are not familiar with the children’s story it involves a heroine, the Little Red Hen (LRH), who embarks on a journey to produce a loaf of bread.  It goes through the entire process of planting the grain to baking the dough.  At each step the LRH asks the other animals if they will help in the process.  They repeatedly say, “No.”  When the bread comes out of the oven she again asks if they will help eat it and, of course, they all say “Yes.”  Then she says, “No.  You did not work to produce it so you cannot eat it.”  We see the reward of works based nutrition.  I am sure you can see the parallels.

The second would be that TV program called the millionaire.  You may not be old enough to remember it but the thesis was that a mysterious benefactor would send his minion out each week with a check for a million dollars, tax free.  The only condition was that they could not tell anyone that they had received the money.  Fun is had by all but it is clear that the elect individual had nothing to do with the reward.  Grace abounds.

The third would be a system, where God grants salvation, and acknowledges our participation in living a holy life.  I call this Gestalt because it involves the entire Bible and does not shuffle off little bits that we don’t like.  We make choices about being righteous or wicked.  It is clear that our original condition is that of sin but the forgiveness and mercy of God are evident from the beginning.  Even though you are expected to live an obedient, upright life it is still clear that salvation comes from God.  You can’t work enough to buy God off.  He does not expect you to.  He simply expects you to do that which is in your ability to live in righteousness.

The Bible is written in this paradox of free will and sovereignty.  Most theological systems discount, ignore or deny clear statements of scripture.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-415: Bar Fights

I’m guessing that the different civilizations of history have crumbled and falling based on the topics which started fights in the local bars.  There were times in the Roman empire when you could have walked into a local bar and made a derogatory comment about the trinity, and immediately get punched in the nose.  Theology was important.  It was on everybody’s mind.  It was a hot topic.  If you looked at the United States as it was being formed, you could walk into a bar and make a comment about whether the government should be represented by a popular vote or by the size of the states.  Fists would fly.

Now take other eras.  If you were in Constantinople during its time of decadence and deterioration, the fights in the bar would be over which chariot team you supported in the local races.  All you would have to say is “Green rules.”  If you went to Rome when it was moving from being a republic to an empire the topic of discussion that would start a fight would have to do with gladiators.  If you went to Boston in the 21st-century, all you need to do to start a fight is make a derogatory comment about the Red Sox or Celtics.  It is no coincidence that also coincides with the destruction of the American republic.

I think it may be a healthy sign that today you can start a fight by going into a bar in the wrong part of town and making an insulting remark about Donald Trump.  It reflects an interest in more important events in our culture.  Sure you can still start something over sports.  It happens all the time.  But politics also is on peoples lips and minds.  It’s an indication of the health of our culture.  Partisanship in politics means that we care about the world we live in.  Partisanship in football teams means that you need to get a life.

I make it a habit to stay out of bars.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-414: Traditions

What is it that makes a piece of music a tradition?  What transforms an attempt at expressing yourself, poetically and musically, into a traditional Christmas Carol?  I think there are probably a number of different factors.

First of all, time.  When I say “traditional”, I am using the actual meaning of the word, not just a marketing technique.  I think of the way the word classical has become totally meaningless, as in classical rock, or classical rap.  Something doesn’t become classical or traditional in just a few years.  It takes time.  Of course the time is in addition to all the other qualities that make it significant.

You need quality.  This is partly individual preference and partly objective.  I have heard ‘Christmas” music that obviously has first rate musicians involved and was still worthless in my world-view.  It might be powerful to someone else.  I am open to that concept but there are certain songs that appeal across whatever cultural lines you want to draw.  As I write I have an album called “Christmas Jazz” playing in the background.  I am a low level fan of Jazz.  It can be interesting but it is not what I would pick if I had one style to take on a long trip.  At the same time, I recognize all of the songs because they are traditional, not just filler to complete the disc.  When they are playing “Silent Night” I know it is “Silent Night.”  If it was “Grandma God Run-Over by a Raindeer” I would ask, “What was that.”

You need exposure.  It’s no accident that many of the songs that we consider to be traditional Christmas music come from an era when the country watched the same movies and TV programs.  We sang hymns that went across denominational and cultural lines.  There is a chance that the song “White Christmas” might have become a classic and a part of our traditional Christmas season without the input of Bing Crosby and the movie industry.  It is possible, but it would have been a much tougher row to hoe.  I have Christmas albums from individuals and groups that I enjoy, and they have songs which have become a part of my Christmas tradition but I have a feeling that most of the people have never heard them.  It is a lack of exposure.  Maybe time will make a difference.

I think message is also important.  As I build a Christmas play list I find that much of the secular category gets left out or has limited listings.  It is fun music.  It brings atmosphere.  What it is missing is something worth saying.  I can tap my foot to “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” but I don’t know that I want to hear it more than once a season.  

And there is the ultimate trump, personal preference.  “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and “Ava Maria” are shunned anywhere they are found.  Personal preference is the ultimate test.  That is why I embrace the modern technology that makes it possible to assemble my own program.  

What a time to be alive.


homo unius libri

Opus 2024-413: Another Raging Battle

I always marvel at the way God designed our bodies.  Currently on my mind is the way in which the immune system takes on all comers and doesn’t wait until the last minute to get involved.

Disease is a very familiar result of the fall and the coming of sin into the world.  

(Rom 8:22 KJV)  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

It gets personal when these miniature vectors of evil attack our bodies with enough force to generate a noticeable response.  I can feel the opening skirmishing going on.  Coughing and sneezing are indications that irritation is invading the airways.  Sometimes they are repulsed but if they are persistent they may overwhelmed the first lines of defense.  Runny noses, vocal congestion, aches and pains are all indications.

For me the attack is on.  Each day I marvel that the invaders have not won any big battles.  I am grateful to the white blood cells and different micro-organisms that lead the defense.  I am mindful that God provided for all of this.

My part is to get enough rest, exercise and eat properly.  If it were WWII I would be selling war bonds and rationing sugar.

The battle will continue as long as I am alive to celebrate victories.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-412: The Real Reason

One of the recurring themes that I see on YouTube videos and blog posts is “The real reason why Trump won the election,” sometimes expressed as a question, “How did Trump win?”  As a general rule, I’ll put them in the category of nonsense.

I’m sure that each and everyone of them has a horn to blow.  Each one of them has some points.  Each idea has something to recommend it and probably did have an effect.  However, the thought that any one factor brought about his election is just tooting infatuation with the sound of your own voice.

Having said that, let me give my input.  The one reason why Donald Trump won the presidential election was, ...drum roll..., Donald Trump.  He had a lot of help.  There were a number of key people like Elon Musk.  There were miracles, like turning his head at the key moment when the bullet went by.  These are all very real but the key ingredient was Donald Trump himself.

I hope that you join me in continuing to pray for him because the other key ingredient, the only one bigger than him, was Providence itself.  God worked miracles we saw and many more we did not.  Keep praying for Trump, the country, the political process, world peace and confusion to our enemies.  We need more miracles.  We may have made it across the Jordan but the Promised Land is still to be conquered.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-411: You Gotta Start Somewhere

Sunday we attended a presentation of Handel’s Messiah.  It has been about 50 years since I have let my cultural side predominated.  The audience was respectful and classy.  I enjoyed the orchestra going through the ritual of tuning and the pageantry of the conductor and soloists entering from stage left and knowing it was the opposite of my left.  No wonder my son still gets them confused.  Standing for the Hallelujah Chorus with a group that knows the tradition is different from being the only one in the audience to rise.  It was an enjoyable time.  

The venue was the University Methodist Church in San Antonio.  It was a beautiful church with good acoustics.  One of the pastors brought greetings before the music began.  He rambled on for about two minutes and by listening closely I did hear him mention the name of Jesus once.  He talked a lot about light, hope and other popular topics but under his breath he did mention the name of the reason for the season.

When the kids were young we tried to do one big event each Christmas season.  That was all we could afford but it created a lot of good memories.  Maybe as the grandchildren mature we can start that again.  

It was a blessed way to start the Advent season.

Merry Christmas.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-410: The Recycling of Joy

I believe that today marks the official beginning of our anticipation of Christmas.  This is the first Sunday of Advent.  It tends to sneak up on us, but it is finally here.  I started with the Christmas music after dinner on Thanksgiving.  I will play it until midnight on Christmas day.

Do you need something to do over the next few weeks?  Drive to an area where a lot of shopping is going on.  Make sure you take a big dose of patience before you leave.  Park as far away from the stores as you can.  The exercise will do you good.  Walk slowly toward the crowds.  You don’t actually need to shop.  All you can expect to do is share the joy.  Look for opportunities to say, “Merry Christmas!” in response to half-hearted expressions of “Happy Holidays.”

You might prepare a few snappy, thought provoking comebacks.  You might ask, “What holiday is that?” or “What season is it?”  Always accompany your question with a big smile.  Hold doors open for people.  Pick up packages they drop.  Pray for the miserable heathen that you see swamping the marketplace.  Pray that the other bits of salt and light in the mix will have a chance to remind people of what we are celebrating.

(Gal 4:4 KJV)  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

(Joh 1:14 KJV)  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

I could go on but that will whet your appetite for all the glory that is involved in the incarnation.

Merry Christmas!  Inspiring Incarnation!

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-409: New Laws: Save a Cow

I think we need to have the federal government step in with some new regulations to try and strengthen the dairy industry.  I’m speaking of course of the need to regulate coffee drinkers and require them to include creamer in their drinks.

We would start off with a requirement of quantity.  The question is how much creamer is necessary in order to make coffee safe for the population to drink.  In my opinion it is zero but that would not go well with the beta male administrators needing to control the lives of other people.  I know that I used to make it more like a coffee flavored malt but as my taste buds died and I became calorie conscious I weaned myself.  How anti-social.  How filled with hatred for the dairy farmers of America.

Then we need to look at the quality.  What would be the butterfat level required?  What would be necessary to label it as organic?  Could we have a vegan version?  Would we allow the product to be imported?

We might require non-dairy creamers to either include a small amount of the real deal or pay a fee for their opting out.

This, of course would require a whole new bureaucracy to regulate.  We would need millions of dollars in government funds, possibly billions of dollars, to do research in order to come up with the correct amount of creamer required.

You thought they had taxed and regulated everything.  You just lack imagination.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-408: The Proliferation of Heathens

Have you ever wondered why there are so many heathens around?  Have you ever wondered why they seem to be so prosperous and live such long lives?  The thought came to mind today that it might be because they resemble kittens who never grow up.  Or perhaps it’s like having a perpetual supply of grandchildren.  One of the great joys of kittens is the stupid things they do.  Of all the cats we’ve had we only had a kitten once, and I remember how it would just suddenly, for no known reason, do a couple of flips in the air.  I remember how vigorously it would chase red dots.  There was something about kittens that generated a spontaneous joy in everything around them.  Of course they were also very destructive.  Their energy not only knew no bounds it seemed without awareness of consequences.  They would climb your expensive curtains just as readily as an old piece of canvas thrown over a board.  In fact, they might be more drawn to your expensive curtains simply because something in them knew it would generate problems.

Such is the nature of kittens.

The same could be said of grandchildren, except that there is a much greater long-term potential for good or evil and the grandchildren.  Keep in mind that the great satanic names that we’d like to throw around, like Hitler or Soros, belong to people who are once grandchildren.  They may have had a doting grandparents, allowing them to get away with all kinds of nefarious things not knowing that they were building the foundation for destructive personalities.

So why does God allow the heathens of the world to prosper so much?  Well, on one side, he knows that they are destined for an eternity in hell so they might as well get much as much joy as possible in this life.  While He is making that generous allowance, I think He also enjoys some of the nonsense they come up with.  He enjoys seeing how they don’t seem to be able to think or reason.  Maybe God has a streak of slapstick in His nature.

This comes to mind from a quote that I got from reading Durant’s book on the development of civilization.  He quotes a scholar who has the audacity to actually offer dates for the exodus from Egypt that would match with the Bible seems to be saying.  And notice his logic,

“He believes that the material found in these tombs confirms the story of the fall of Jericho (Joshua, vi); he dates this fall ca. 1400 B.C., and the Exodus ca. 1447 B.C.  As this chronology rest upon the precarious dating of scarabs and pottery, it must be received with respectful skepticism.” p. 302, footnote

Now I ask you, just what kind of data do archaeologists use to date things if it’s not obscure markings and figurines?  I don’t know about the sculpture, but I know that they will date things based on the shape and style of pottery.

Here is a heathen writer who is very talented except for the fact that he didn’t do much homework.  He makes a pontifical announcement about some thing and acts like it’s great wisdom when actually, it’s kind of foolish.

Somehow I think God finds it entertaining.  Again, I may be on the border of heresy, but the idea came to me.

Durant, Will.  The Story of Civilization:  Part 1, Our Oriental Heritage.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 1954.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-407: Heresy Is Overvalued

I often make jocular comments about being a heretic.  Being a true heretic is not a laughing matter.  In areas of faith, being a real heretic can influence your eternal destiny.  A real heretic will be rejected by God, mainly because he has rejected God.  The key concept there is “by God.”

Heresy is usually defined by people with a specific theological perspective.  Thus Calvin would consider Wesley a heretic if he were speaking honestly.  And the same would go the other way.  As a Calvinist I once had a great conversation with said to me, “There is only one truth, and we both can’t be right.”  He meant it in a very loving way.  He was truly regretful that I was on my way to hell because I did not agree with his theology.  I can live with that.

The big question is what does God consider heresy.  I think God has a lot more leeway than we want to acknowledge.  One point that keeps coming up in my mind is how Christians define the word, “grace” and how, having read the apostle Paul, they reject any kind of effort on the part of human beings.  Personally, I think they are the ones who are being heretical, because they reject so much of what the Bible teaches.  The entire Old Testament is loaded with a sense of responsibility placed on individuals to be righteous instead of wicked.

At the same time the Old Testament does not say that your salvation is earned by your efforts.  It is loaded with the knowledge that God is the ultimate source of salvation, and He is the one who awards salvation.  The Old Testament is full of terms like faith, trust, loving kindness, mercy, and does not even begin to say you earn your own salvation.

And yet people reject the concept of law.  In so doing, they risk the dangers of what is called antinomianism.  Antinomianism rejects any kind of standard behavior that is expected of believers.  Antinomianism says that you can go out and live in blatant sin just as long as you are one of the elect, and it makes no difference.  They will say that’s not what they say, but it certainly sounds like it to me.

At the same time most of them tend to live very righteous lives.  I’ve never figured out why.  But I accept it.  I think in their hearts they agree with me even if they can’t admit it in public.

They don’t want to be called heretics.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-406: The Plural of Impressed

Most people have heard the saying, “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.”  It certainly applies to the nomination of candidates for Attorney General.  We knew that the change we want is going to be hard to bring about.  What we couldn’t have been sure of was how well prepared Donald Trump is for the battle this time around.

I was impressed with his first choice.  Matt Gaetz gets my vote.  I liked what he had to say, and who he was.  The fact that I liked him is probably consistent with how widely opposed he was by Rinos and the deep state Talking Heads.  I was impressed even more at the way in which he stepped aside.  Such dignity.  Such class.  Such statesmanship.  There was no whining, no complaining, no woe is me.  There was nothing but a mature concession that the game was stacked against him and although he thought he might win in the long run, the Trump mandate didn’t have the time to wait.  And then on top of that he heaped praise upon the person that Trump picked to replace him.

I was impressed.

I was also impressed with the fact that Donald Trump has done his homework.  He didn’t walk into this all story-eyed and idealistic.  He knew what he was up against.  He was prepared.  Almost immediately he had a second choice ready to go and from everything I’m hearing she is a very impressive candidate.  So it is all very impressive.  We can have hope that things will work out as we watch the process unfold.  Trump knows who he’s dealing with.  He seems to be ready.  I would guess that he has three or four levels of candidates ready to go in case the GOP would continue to block him.  Of course, that could never happen.  But I think this time he’s ready anyway.

I wait to be impressed again.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-405: Dark Thoughts: Deaf Thoughts

As I sat in the dark, enjoying the morning, my tranquility was suddenly disrupted by the noise of a large motorcycle accelerating up a hill nearby.  It seems that there are certain people who love noisy engines.  I know it’s a love affair, because there are some cars that go by and the only reason I know they’re going by is the noise of their tires on the pavement.  Those people don’t love noise or need to be noticed.  The bikers want you to hear every piston, going up and down.  It’s either because they can’t afford a muffler or they like the racket.

I’m sure that most of these are men.  The mystery to me is whether they still have decent hearing or whether they have destroyed it by their love of the throttle.  I have been in cars where the driver felt the need to put it to the floor and throw my head against the back of the seat.  Often that is accompanied by a very satisfying roar.  At least it’s satisfying to the driver.  I am not impressed by either one.

We all know about how people who are into rock music played by loudspeakers and overwhelming their eardrums.  Sometimes this is multiplied by headphones.  These people tend to be deaf.  Younger people tend to be having problems with her hearing.  I’m thinking it may be also true I have guys that like cars with cut outs or broken mufflers.

No, I don’t want a law passed.  I think there are already laws passed about noise.  I am not sure I want them enforced for the occasional cycle or muscle car.  I can put up with a little piston serenade in order to keep the government out of my life.  We have enough laws.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-404: Ranking

As I get more and more forgetful, I am wondering which is worse.  Is it worse to know you forgot something and struggle to remember, or to not know that you forgot?

In any case a sense of humor is vital to old age and being around old agers.  I can accept that whether you laugh with me or at me.  The chances are I won’t remember either way so I won’t be able to hold it against you.

Make sure you set a good example in dealing with the elderly because your grandchildren are watching and learning for when they are in the driver’s seat.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-403: The Down Side of Thanksgiving

I can share this now that the crisis is past.  At least it is past in my house.  One of the difficult conventions of Thanksgiving Day is the inviolate rule that Christmas music is toxic before dinner is over.  I know that seems like a small thing but so is a virus.

I found myself getting ready.  I had the MP3 player ready for the car.  I had a flash drive ready for my stereo.  I had a pile of CDs I picked up at thrift stores this year ready to be screened.  I am ready.  The problem is I find myself humming when I should be stoic.  For instance, I noticed that the first song on my MP3 is “The First Noel”.  I caught myself humming the melody.  I hope I caught myself in time to keep the curse from settling.

As you read this, assuming you did not just go take a nap after dinner, the crisis is over in my family.  Now begins a month of uplifting glorying in the Incarnation.  

It is worth the wait.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-402: Menu Math

When does 2+2 not equal four?  When you’re cooking.  Higher math can be confusing when we start talking about abstract concepts.  At the same time there are common examples that will show us why simple math does not always become simple reality.

This morning as I was preparing my oatmeal, I decided to go with honey and cinnamon.  Usually I will either go with just honey or I will go with artificial sweeteners and cinnamon.  I thought I would go with both.  I was hoping that their results would be twice as good.  In the amount that I used, it really didn’t up the ante.

There’s a certain level of enjoyment from honey.  There’s also a certain level of enjoyment from the cinnamon.  When I combined them, the enjoyment level was no higher.  I was assuming that I had two units of honey and was adding two units of cinnamon thus the results would come out as four levels of enjoyment.  In my dreams maybe.  It was still two levels. It wasn’t even three.  It was simply two.  So when I added 2+2 it did not increase in value.

I don’t know how that crosses over into physics, higher math, biology or any other discipline, but it seems pretty clear in preparing oatmeal.

So when someone tells you that 2+2 does not equal 4, they may have a reason why they’re saying that.  Of course it could be just that they are somehow off balance and trying to pull you off balance also.  It’s really up to you to make that decision.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-401: Know You’re Informants

I don’t know if you realize it but you probably have at least one spy from the alphabet agencies in contact with you on a daily basis.  I think of the zoom group that I’m in.  There are about 11 guys.  It would not surprise me to find out that one is turning in reports on our conversations.  I would venture to guess that there are people who live in my neighborhood who might not only just be informants but might actually be full-time employees of one of the deep state organizations.  I don’t know and I probably never will know.

But while I may never know who they are I do acknowledge they exist and that they are a real potential threat to my liberty.  As Jesus said,

(Mat 10:16 KJV)  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

You could start practicing in front of the mirror, “Who me?”

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-400: Speculation

Should we spend our time speculating instead of investigating that which we know?  I come to this because I was asking myself how much Israel knew about the things of God when they were led out of Egypt.  We don’t have any reference in the Bible itself to written documents that they possessed.  It’s possible there was some oral tradition.  But we don’t know about any writing.  To my knowledge we also don’t have any non-biblical evidence about the story of creation, Abraham or Noah being written out before the time of Moses.

Speculation is fun.  Speculation can be a healthy mental exercise.  Speculation on certain things is a total waste of time.  I can speculate on what the Jews had, what they knew, what that meant, and so forth.  The problem is, I very quickly begin to wander out into the wilderness of ideas and my ideas are no better than yours.

Now take that into other areas of study.  I tend to think in Bible and theology.  Your area of great interest might be in science or perhaps medicine.  You might be an engineer dreaming about that next building you’re putting up.  When we move into the area of speculation, we open up doors that are possibly meant to be closed.  Sometimes you can try your ideas out by experiments and either verify them or not.  That’s the point of the scientific method.  We try things out we experiment

For instance, let’s say you are an engineer and you are trying out a new concept in building bridges.  Think of the people who first tried suspension bridges.  Honestly, I don’t know what I’m talking about here but I think there are probably places where the engineers have to speculate on what will work and what won’t work.  They don’t go out and build a multi-million dollar structure based on speculation though.  They build a smaller version or they do tests.  And that way they gather data to either verify or deny what they are speculating on.  In that case it might be useful.

As I read the investigations going on into life and where life comes from with a scientific perspective, I find that there is less and less real science going on and more and more speculation.  Part of the problem is that the biologist are getting so deep into the structure of the cell and the parts that make up life that they can’t run any experiments anymore.  Everything has to be theory.  And there are so many egos involved that what experiments might be run are not run.

Then you have the areas of the pseudoscience.  Take any word and put science after it and the scholars like to consider themselves deep thinkers with the scientific method behind them.  Take social science.  I have a credential to teach social science.  That’s pretty meaningless.  It includes history, which I accept, and economics which I have never studied formally.  I am guessing there are a long list of things that I was allowed to teach because I had a social science credential.

Some areas such as philosophy are totally speculative.  There is no way that you can know which one is actually right and in reality most of them are probably wrong.

So let your imagination go wild.  Speculate.  If people don’t laugh too hard, share.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-399: Unraveling Mysteries

A couple of years ago we had an election for our representative to the state assembly.  I didn’t know much about either candidate.  I found the mailers they sent out to us relatively useful because I read them with discernment.  One candidate made encouraging noises, and I liked what she had to say.  The other candidate seem to be saying the right things, but there was an element of discordance in what he wrote.  As I read what he had to say and considered it based on what I knew, I realize that he was lying through his teeth.  That helped me decide who had the high ground and how to vote.

I relay that because I am in the process of examining a new translation of the Quran.  In that Koran’s introduction, I find a number of statements that sounds really good, but they are totally inconsistent with the introduction to another translation of the Koran.  They also fly in the face of what other authorities have said.  What does one do?

One of the things I look for is statements that defy logic and go against everything I know about human nature and history.  When a writer makes frequent use of “never” and “always” I tend to scratch my head and say, “Really?”  The same goes for “all” and “none.”  Extreme claims that are easily refuted are a red flag.  Take this from the introduction,

“It claims to be the mother and source of all other languages.” QIII, p. 3a

There is a certain attitude of certainty that comes through with certain people.  It is not exclusive to Muslims.  I have a friend who is a King James Only man and one of the books he gave me to try to indoctrinate me has this referring to the King James Bible on the back of the title page,

“God’s perfectly preserved word.”

My point here is not spiritual.  It is logical.  Extreme claims are usually in need of some qualifications.  Our responsibility is to keep our minds plugged in and active.  With a little bit of thinking we can cut through a lot of nonsense.

QIII, The Holy Qur’an, Based on explanation of ‘Allamah Nooruddin, First paperback edition, 2010.

McLean, Terence D.  Basics of Mid Acts Dispensationalism.  Alpha, Ohio:  Discerning the Times Publishing Co., Inc., 2006.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-398: Living Difference

One of the first things that came to my mind this morning as I was beginning worship was the personhood of God and how He seems to be different to us Bible believing Protestants.  When I consider certain denominations and other religions, I think of how God is called immutable in a way which goes against how He expresses Himself in the Bible.

God is a person Who becomes our ultimate source and resource.  He expresses Himself through the Holy Spirit and through the written word.  Bible believing Christians do not have a gurus who tell them what to do.  They may have pastors, scholars, friends, and other people who talk to them, but everything they say is to be evaluated it in the light of scripture.  The advice may vary but the actual words don’t change.  I think of how Islam has all these mullahs who can issue fatwas which have the weight of scripture even though they come out of the mullah’s head.  I think of how in the Catholic Church the pope when he speaks ex cathedra has the quality of being infallible.  This is not how a living God relates to us.

God can be described as dynamic, not static. That comes through in a relationship with Him.  It is based on that which does not change but expressed through a living personality.  That is how He communicates with us.  It makes possible spiritual growth and new, deeper understanding.

God’s personality does not change.  It is immutable.  God’s principles do not change.  They are immutable.  How that applies to us in our daily walk is rooted in His personality and principles but is applied like He is a person and not a formula.  Since we are created in His image it is tailored to beings that are also dynamic, not static.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-397: Absolutes

We tend to think in terms of absolutes.  For instance consider being color blind.  We tend to think that people who are color blind only see in black-and-white.  In reality there are all kinds of variables in between.

Consider diabetes.  We tend to think that people are either ready to have their legs cut off and to go blind or else are totally healthy.  In reality there are many variables in between.

Then you have a condition like A-fib . I have a raging case of it.  They tell me that sometimes it’s 300 beats a minute.  I feel nothing.  I have no symptoms.  I wouldn’t know I have a problem if the doctor didn’t tell me.  I know of other people they can barely function because of it.  I assume there are many different levels in between.

How about integrity and ethics?  Most of us would admit that we are not perfect and that we have all sinned at sometime in our life.  Yet most of us consider ourselves basically moral people.  At the other end you have people like the Bidens who wouldn’t know an honest statement if it came up and bit him on the nose.

In between you have people like Donald Trump.  He has gone bankrupt several times.  I would guess it might’ve been planned.  I don’t know.  What I do know is he broke no laws in what he did.  The Democrats have been trying to find something to tie on him for eight years and all they could do was come up with an artificial law that they made up on the spur of the moment.  Even then they had to tell the jury that they could declare him guilty even if he didn’t do anything illegal.  Is this ethical or not?

Life is full of hard decisions.

Ultimately we have to evaluate people as individuals.  What makes it even harder is that some individuals who are on the wrong path reform, and those who are saints in the making go off the deep end.  It calls for constant vigilance.  It does not mean we don’t “judge”.  It means that we judge with honor and an awareness of what is true and what is right.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-396: Built-in

It is amazing to me the way in which people with a Calvinist background can interpret everything based on the assumption they are right.  We were in a Bible study, and the verse we were looking at was,

Matthew 23:23 (KJV) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

The discussion had been dwelling on the tithe, and the pastor was commenting on how we were not under the law anymore, and tithing is a principal of the law.  I could’ve made a lot of issues on that, but I refrained.

In the midst of this one of my godly contemporaries had to express some plain Calvinism about the law.  He said something about how we were given this law which, from the very beginning, it was impossible for us to keep.  His emphasis was that we cannot earn our salvation by keeping the law.

His basic point about how we cannot earn our salvation I would agree with.  What drives me crazy is this continued insistence by people of the reform tradition that we cannot keep the law, that it is impossible.  That is nonsense.  There is nothing in the law that you cannot keep.  When you whittle down the so-called 613 laws that are often listed to the actual real number it becomes even easier.  The point is, the laws were never given with the intent of earning your salvation.  There was never an assumption you would keep them perfectly.  When the Old Testament talks about atonement, it’s in relation to sacrificing an animal showing that blood is shed, and that death is the payment for our sin.  The animal simply substitutes for our death.  It is not giving the tithes, or eating the right foods, or observing the Sabbath that saves us.  As Hebrew says in the NT there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood.  In the Old Testament times  it was the animal that shed the blood as a type looking forward to the death of Jesus on the cross.  We were not saved by tithing, not mixing fabrics in our clothing, or not planting trees in the courtyard of the temple.  In the OT as well as the NT salvation comes from God and our trust in Him.

Is this a deliberate distortion of what the law was for?  I have to believe that if you go back to Calvin or some of the early reformers there was definitely distortion going on.

But then I have my own extreme positions.

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