Enough Said!t
Monday, December 22, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Ponder
Ponder
Did you ever ponder?
Ever since I read the story of the birth of Jesus, the word “ponder” has fascinated me.
“Mary pondered all these things in her heart.”
This is what the Bible says Mary did during the time of the birth of Jesus.
When you think about what the phrase “all these things” refers to, it’s no wonder she pondered.
Picture it this way:
Here’s a teenage girl who just had a baby in the back of a stall in a barn, with some confusion as to just who the father is. Her husband is carrying on about taxes, and the fact that the guy who runs this part of the country has decided to endorse infanticide. And if that’s not enough to think about, there is all this traffic of visiting wise guys, sheep ranchers, and angels who keep dropping by with questions, statements, and singing. To top it off, the animals she is cooped up with talk. Have you met many cows that speak Hebrew? All of this would certainly give someone something to think about. I think “ponder” is the perfect word for what Mary did.
Do you ever “ponder?”
I do.
Job “pondered” a lot I bet as he sat upon his ash heap.
How about Jonah, sitting in the steamy, dark, wet whale belly awash in gastric juices and half-digested squid.
I really bet those guys did some pondering.
“Pondering” is ingrained into my psyche. I do it everyday. Sometimes to the point of frustration, and sometimes the proverbial light actually comes on.
Do ut des
"I give, that you may give"
t
Did you ever ponder?
Ever since I read the story of the birth of Jesus, the word “ponder” has fascinated me.
“Mary pondered all these things in her heart.”
This is what the Bible says Mary did during the time of the birth of Jesus.
When you think about what the phrase “all these things” refers to, it’s no wonder she pondered.
Picture it this way:
Here’s a teenage girl who just had a baby in the back of a stall in a barn, with some confusion as to just who the father is. Her husband is carrying on about taxes, and the fact that the guy who runs this part of the country has decided to endorse infanticide. And if that’s not enough to think about, there is all this traffic of visiting wise guys, sheep ranchers, and angels who keep dropping by with questions, statements, and singing. To top it off, the animals she is cooped up with talk. Have you met many cows that speak Hebrew? All of this would certainly give someone something to think about. I think “ponder” is the perfect word for what Mary did.
Do you ever “ponder?”
I do.
Job “pondered” a lot I bet as he sat upon his ash heap.
How about Jonah, sitting in the steamy, dark, wet whale belly awash in gastric juices and half-digested squid.
I really bet those guys did some pondering.
“Pondering” is ingrained into my psyche. I do it everyday. Sometimes to the point of frustration, and sometimes the proverbial light actually comes on.
Do ut des
"I give, that you may give"
t
Words To Learn and Live By
These words to live by are from a tattered notebook of quotes written down many, many years ago.
I have no idea who should receive credit for these, but I read, re-read, and try to internalize the truths contained within them:
Learn it. Know it. Live it!
(mine)
Ultra posse nemo obligatur
"Nobody is bound by ability"
t
I have no idea who should receive credit for these, but I read, re-read, and try to internalize the truths contained within them:
"The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who do not have it."
"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."
"All truth passes through 3 stages:
First, it is ridiculed
Second, it is violently opposed
Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win!"
"While we are postponing, life speeds by."
"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good."
Learn it. Know it. Live it!
(mine)
Ultra posse nemo obligatur
"Nobody is bound by ability"
t
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Useful
111308
“Useful” is a very interesting word. My truck is useful, my computer is useful, and my tools are useful.
Is religion useful?
As I have read and studied about ancient Greece and Rome I have noticed something interesting. It is said that, all religions were, to the common people, equally true, to the philosophers, equally false, and to the governing bodies, equally useful.
There is that interesting word “useful.”
The way ancient governing bodies used the word “useful” was similar to how one might have used a fence to keep the livestock contained, or, in reality, like a boundary to keep society in check.
An important point to remember is; religion based on truth, when reduced to only a sociological function [usefulness], will disintegrate through abuse.
Which leads to this conclusion:
History shows us that pragmatism [a variation of usefulness], defined by doing whatever works, in the long run doesn’t work because it is captive to the moment.
Omnes viae Romam ducunt
“All roads lead to Rome”
1a
“Useful” is a very interesting word. My truck is useful, my computer is useful, and my tools are useful.
Is religion useful?
As I have read and studied about ancient Greece and Rome I have noticed something interesting. It is said that, all religions were, to the common people, equally true, to the philosophers, equally false, and to the governing bodies, equally useful.
There is that interesting word “useful.”
The way ancient governing bodies used the word “useful” was similar to how one might have used a fence to keep the livestock contained, or, in reality, like a boundary to keep society in check.
An important point to remember is; religion based on truth, when reduced to only a sociological function [usefulness], will disintegrate through abuse.
Which leads to this conclusion:
History shows us that pragmatism [a variation of usefulness], defined by doing whatever works, in the long run doesn’t work because it is captive to the moment.
Omnes viae Romam ducunt
“All roads lead to Rome”
1a
Meaninglessness
111008
Meaningless, Meaningless, All Is Meaningless!
Said the writer of Ecclesiastes.
I think I understand where he was coming from.
Solomon and Sisyphus actually came to the same understanding of meaninglessness by way of experience:
Monotony finds no relief in adding variety or changing our attitude about it. Activity does not create meaning; it is the other way around.
If life, existentially speaking, has no meaning, then a change of attitude does not change the reality of meaninglessness. It only changes how we function in a meaningless world, which was exactly Jean Paul Sartre’s point in his book No Exit.
What difference does it make, when the boat is going down, if you stand on the deck and salute or just sit back down and play a last game of poker?
Dum vita est, spes est.
“While life is, hope is.”
Or
“While there is life, there is hope.”
Meaningless, Meaningless, All Is Meaningless!
Said the writer of Ecclesiastes.
I think I understand where he was coming from.
Solomon and Sisyphus actually came to the same understanding of meaninglessness by way of experience:
Monotony finds no relief in adding variety or changing our attitude about it. Activity does not create meaning; it is the other way around.
If life, existentially speaking, has no meaning, then a change of attitude does not change the reality of meaninglessness. It only changes how we function in a meaningless world, which was exactly Jean Paul Sartre’s point in his book No Exit.
What difference does it make, when the boat is going down, if you stand on the deck and salute or just sit back down and play a last game of poker?
Dum vita est, spes est.
“While life is, hope is.”
Or
“While there is life, there is hope.”
t
Confession
110508
Confession
“A confession of our loyalty to the Bible is not enough. The most radical denials of biblical truth frequently coexist with a professed regard for the authority and testimony of the Bible. When men use the very words of the Bible to promote heresy, when the Word of truth is perverted to serve error, nothing less than a confession of Faith will serve publicly to draw the lines between truth and error.”
C. H. Spurgeon
The honesty, or lack there of, will reveal the bias of the one doing a study.
Often times I am amazed at the statements emerging from the mouths of people I consider to be well educated. I do believe they are honest in their opinions, but sometimes doubts do creep in based on the statements they make.
In the church today we have men who were, and in some cases continue to be, giants of the faith. History is replete with examples of relationships, sermons, and books by such men. Now for the questions:
If a minister has a friendship that can be described as “close” with another minister who is considered, evidenced through writings, sermons, ect… to be “conservative,” how can the first man not defend the beliefs, in subsequent years, that helped to form the original relationship?
I have yet to find a minister, within the evangelical world I dwell, that would truly disagree with Spurgeon at any point. They might put on airs of disagreement, but when pressed to explain their position they cannot do it in an exhaustive manner, much less a “Reader’s Digest” version. Most of the arguments I encounter are 95% emotional, 3% factual, and 2% logical.
I must confess:
I do not have all, or any large number, of the answers,
and
I would definitely defer to Spurgeon when his answer is in line with scripture and the men of the faith who came before him.
"Nemo solus satis sapit"
"Nobody [alone] is clever enough"
Confession
“A confession of our loyalty to the Bible is not enough. The most radical denials of biblical truth frequently coexist with a professed regard for the authority and testimony of the Bible. When men use the very words of the Bible to promote heresy, when the Word of truth is perverted to serve error, nothing less than a confession of Faith will serve publicly to draw the lines between truth and error.”
C. H. Spurgeon
The honesty, or lack there of, will reveal the bias of the one doing a study.
Often times I am amazed at the statements emerging from the mouths of people I consider to be well educated. I do believe they are honest in their opinions, but sometimes doubts do creep in based on the statements they make.
In the church today we have men who were, and in some cases continue to be, giants of the faith. History is replete with examples of relationships, sermons, and books by such men. Now for the questions:
If a minister has a friendship that can be described as “close” with another minister who is considered, evidenced through writings, sermons, ect… to be “conservative,” how can the first man not defend the beliefs, in subsequent years, that helped to form the original relationship?
I have yet to find a minister, within the evangelical world I dwell, that would truly disagree with Spurgeon at any point. They might put on airs of disagreement, but when pressed to explain their position they cannot do it in an exhaustive manner, much less a “Reader’s Digest” version. Most of the arguments I encounter are 95% emotional, 3% factual, and 2% logical.
I must confess:
I do not have all, or any large number, of the answers,
and
I would definitely defer to Spurgeon when his answer is in line with scripture and the men of the faith who came before him.
"Nemo solus satis sapit"
"Nobody [alone] is clever enough"
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