Chicken Little II

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This cartoon I did for COP-15 (12-15-09) is just as relevant for COP-17 which is underway in South Africa. David Fischler has a great post worthy of your attention. Click this LINK to read about the latest shenanigans (mischief, deceit, trickery) from the "warmists agenda".

Judge Not or Not Judge

I admit that my latest cartoon is a reaction to the 11-19 offering in the Kansas City Star by Lee Judge. Click link below. The second link is to the cartoon you see above hanging on the wall outside the cartoonists office. It was really nice of him to hang one of my old cartoons so close to his office, don’t you think?
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Judges Cartoon
Wall Cartoon

HOPE

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Just Another Game, Grandpa

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In Sickness and in Health...?

This week on his television show Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson said a man would be morally justified to divorce his wife with Alzheimer's disease in order to marry another woman. The dementia-riddled wife is, Robertson said, "not there" anymore. This is more than an embarrassment. This is more than cruelty. This is a repudiation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Read more..

...rust, moths, thieves and corruption

My wife is having an extremely hard time finding a place or item or thing or product that is not effected by “rust or moth”. Remember Matthew 6:19, “lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt.” Now, she fully understands the import of this particular teaching. She is not lacking in spiritual understanding. However, she is a perfectionist. She can spot a hanging painting that is a quarter bubble off plumb from a room and a half away. She also expects things to be perfect...without blemish, spots, dings or defects. By the way, she was born in the one time “dream home” of her grandparents pictured above. (photo taken at Jenkins, Mo in 1999; home..built in the early 1900’s)

Take for instance a purchase she made of a chest for our recently finished lower level. It was gorgeous! Made from fine wood grown in the far east and built and assembled in the US. When she purchased this item one of the attractive features is the small round “shot holes” which dot the surface of the wood grain. Many faux finishers attempt to duplicate this beautiful feature by flicking the wood with a paint brush filled with black paint. She found out 3 months after the purchase that these “shot holes” are actually tunnels in the wood which are bored by insects to lay their eggs for hatching. Prior to shipping to furniture manufacturerers, supposedly, the wood is kiln dried to a temperature that will kill any existing insects. First she noticed the fine sawdust which was deposited by the powder post beetle on the carpet below and then later upon closer inspection one of these tiny critters actually stuck his head out of one of the holes. A quick perusal of the internet revealed that these little creatures are not hard to get rid of. Just burn the furniture in a bon-fire some where. Now, this little moth-beetle had corrupted this fine piece of furniture.

Then there is our recent purchase of a new Chevy Malibu, which purchase had been prompted by the succumbing of our older vehicle to the 2nd law of thermodynamics. I made mention of this phenomenon HERE. During a trip to the grocery store, as she was pulling into the parking lot, a loose cart had been placed near the stores front door. Obeying Newton’s first law of gravity it broke loose from it’s moorings and headed straight toward her drivers side door. Rust and moth doth corrupt once again. A flaw in the brand new car. Just a small ding in my opinion but a defect nonetheless on a vehicle owned for less than a month. Two weeks later in the dim light of the morning, backing out of our driveway at 6:30am, she failed to see that a black, nearly unnoticeable, car was parked on the street opposite our driveway. No damage to the black vehicle whatsoever..but now a new ding in the rear bumper of her new car. That rascal “rust and moth” doth strike yet once again.

The Preacher of Ecclesiastes summed it up in verse 2, “vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Strong’s Concordance describes this Hebrew word (hebel) vanity with words like..emptiness, transitory, unsatisfactory and vain. Now remember this was written by King Solomon, the richest man that ever lived upon the face of the earth. He had everything. You’d think with all his wealth that something would satisfy. Remember when it was cool to smoke. Chesterfield cigarettes used to boast in their ads, “they satisfy!” Now if that were really true why did they put 20 in a pack? Our Lord tells us “...the real meaning of life is not to be found in the amount of physical possessions” (Lu 12:15)...but real meaning is whether or not one “is rich toward God” (vs 21). What is it to be rich toward God? Whatever it is it cannot be defective, dinged, dented, spotted, stolen or blemished. I think to be rich toward God can be summed up in one quality...a “giver”. Now with all her own foibles, dings and dents and her desires for perfection in herself and in the things around her my wife is a selfless giver of herself to others. She is truly “rich toward God” as all those that know her will readily attest. Overheard at a funeral: “how much did he leave?” reply,...”all of it every dime!” Jesus says, “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

                                           “What will it profit, when life here is o’re
                                           Though earth’s fleeting love has been mine
                                           If seeking its gifts---I fail to procure
                                           The riches of God’s love divine."
                                                                                 Grace E. Troy

No God, No Atheists, No Foolin'

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Check it out HERE.

Eugenics

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Eugenics:  The idea that one can improve the human race by careful selection of those who mate and produce offspring.

Here are two interesting articles.  Click HERE and HERE. 

POT SHOTS

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Get Growing

Last Sunday, July 31, 2011, our church had a guest speaker from Willow Creek Community Church. You know, that huge church with five campuses in Chicago. You remember that Wall Street saying from a few years ago, “when E.F. Hutton talks, everyone listens”. Willow Creek has become the evangelical version of E.F. Hutton, especially when it comes to building and creating “mega” churches. If your goal is “numbers”, you will listen to Willow Creek.

The visiting pastor gave an inspiring sermon on five reasons why everyone should be involved in serving in some capacity at the local church level. However, being the Berean that I am, a statement he made near the end of the message perked up my quizzical ears. Here is what he said...and it is a quote from another of the staff at Willow Creek: “It appears that “serving” experiences are more significant in spiritual development than organized small group Bible studies.” At the time, here is what I heard: “serving, in whatever capacity, is more important than studying God’s word”. How can that be? I thought about all those verses that encourage and even command a study of the Word: “thy word have I hid in my heart that I might just waste my time?”. In addition, “study to show thyself approved unto God a workman wasting time...when you could be serving?”. Something’s wrong here.

I went home from worship service Sunday determined to study this dilemma further. The statement seems to be the conclusion of a syllogism. He gave us only the "therefore" portion. He did not elaborate on the quote, therefore, we have only to analyze the basic statement.  Is it fair? Is it true? Through the years, I have been involved in a few small group bible studies and rarely was the group led by a trained pastor/teacher. Most generally, bible studies are “facilitated” by one who is willing to facilitate...but not to teach. The goal of most small group studies is to get participation. The question most generally asked is “what does this verse mean to you”? A variety of answers may be put forth and no one is wrong, at least they are not told so. Participate...participate and participate are the only rules. Can the real truth of God’s word be discovered in this sort of setting and more to the question at hand can real spiritual development result?

So..how about “serving”? Is the Lion’s Club volunteer developing more spiritually for his service? Is the hospital volunteer gaining Christ-likeness by volunteering? How can they without knowing what Christ was like? That comes from Bible study and good pastoral teaching...right? So..here’s my conclusion.

To say that one will have more significant spiritual growth by serving as opposed to participation in a small bible study group is like saying: “one can learn more about automotive engineering by changing a flat tire than by talking to your neighbor about his new car”. Both sides of the statements lack the essential ingredient...”solid scriptural teaching or solid training”.

Heartless

Check it out HERE
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INCLUSIVITY

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Break-Time

Just returned from Hawaii.  We took the entire family..son, daughter, daughter-in-law and four grandkids. Maui must be a close second to God's Garden of Eden.  An interesting tid-bit learned from our Hana Road hiking guide...The "passion flower/fruit" is not named after anything romantic...but after the "Passion of Christ".  See here under "culture". Here's a few pictures.  I'll be back blogging before winter.

           Sunset at the Lahaina Luau

Rainbow seen from our hotel.

The Passion Flower

Swimming like kids at the waterfall near the Hana Road

A Falling Away First.....

Following up on my “No Church Today” blog below, in order to really finalize the apostasy there are yet changes that need to be made to the Presbyterian (USA) documents and confessions.

There is that pesky W-4.9001 of their Book of Order: “Marriage is a civil contract
between a woman and a man.” That statement can no longer be tolerated. Marriage must be redefined.

Need to re-do G-6.0106b. WHAT? They just changed it. Well, Viola Larson gave the definitive interpretation of what it means to joyfully submit to the Lordship of Christ as stated in the recent change and now it MUST be changed to eliminate that “submission to the Lordship of Christ” clause. See HERE

Chapter 26 of the 1967 re-worked Confession of Faith still has this little unseemly statement: “Marriage is a union between one man and one woman, designed of God to last so long as they both shall live.” This must be removed. Why not just scrap the whole Westminster Confession? That’d be easier. Since the majority of Presbyterian pastors reportedly do not believe that scriptures are of “divine authority and infallible truth” scraping the WCF would also make “inerrancy” moot. (WCF chap I, para V)

Prepare the overtures. General Assembly is only a year away. In my opinion, these are just a few of the changes that must be made to eliminate any labeling of the denomination as “schizophrenic”. (disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social or occupational dysfunction) If Jesus’ earthly ministry were in this day and age Matthew 16:6 might read this way: “Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees PC(USA). (Strangely enough, all the letters of PCUSA are contained in the strikethrough.)

Junk Psychology

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Politics are Heating Up

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"For presidential candidates from any party who believe anthropomorphic global warming is a dire problem, I have a humble request: Take a pledge to not use private jets on the 2012 campaign trail. Commercial flights and eco-friendly ground transport only please. In 2008, private and chartered campaign jets used by candidates who believe global warming is a real threat spewed untold amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Why? So they could go to rallies and tell everybody how greenhouse gases were killing the planet." DougPowers

KOOKS

No Church Today

By their own confessions it appears that the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) ceases to be a valid church. The Scots Confession supposedly held by this denomination states the following: "The marks of the true Kirk (Church), therefore, we believe, confess, and avow to be: first, the true preaching of the Word of God, in which God has revealed himself to us, as the writings of the prophets and apostles declare; secondly, the right administration of the sacraments of Christ Jesus, with which must be associated the Word and promise of God to seal and confirm them in our hearts; and lastly, ecclesiastical discipline uprightly ministered, as God’s Word prescribes, whereby vice is repressed and virtue nourished."

The following clause was deleted today, 5-10-11, from the Presbyterians Book of Order by a majority vote of the 173 Presbyteries which form the PCUSA.  Twin Cities Presbytery cast the deciding vote according to the NY Times:

G-6.0106b

Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament

From this bloggers point of view the last clause of the Scots Confession has been turned on it’s head..; vice is nourished and virtue is repressed. I think this is what Isaiah was talking about in Isaiah 5:20: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil;..”

Perhaps it may be appropriate for a Baptist to attempt to set things in order. See Al Mohler’s excellent article on “Church Discipline”.

I Know Thy Works....

See VOTE count.

American Idols

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According to some.."Our Mother Earth has Rights". Check THIS out. As one friend facetiously queries.."(Should we) grant to Mother Earth the right to an abortion?"  It looks like the truth of Rom 1:25 is coming around again:  "They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. " (NIV)

Faulty Defaults

Check it our HERE.
Hey..maybe this is just practice by the feds to get a reimbursment on the National Debt.

Promises

Twilight Zone

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Check it out Here and Here.

("FORE") Skins Game

It's true. There really is an organization that wants to ban all circumcisions on newborns. My wife says that a cartoonist must be able to think "weird" thoughts. This cartoon may be my certification paper.

 
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Perceptions

Here's Cal Thomas' opinion.

Priorities

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A Nuclear Reactor

Das Leben der Anderen

"The Lives of Others" (2006)

I would venture to say that most all who read this particular blog have never seen the movie mentioned in the title. Why is that? Let me suggest a reason. It is a German movie and unless one speaks the language one is most likely not inclined to view a two-plus hour movie reading sub-titles. This, I contend, is a great loss to moviegoers everywhere. I would rank this movie up in the top ten of all movies I’ve ever seen, not only for the acting, directing, cinematography and story-line, but also for the spiritual implications under-lying the entire story. And, by the way, when reading sub-titles one never has to lean over to his spouse and ask, “what did he say?”

This is a story set in East Berlin several years prior to the fall of the wall...1984. I’m not sure if the 1984 setting is intended in the Orwellian sense by the producers and directors or not...but it does certainly come to mind during the course of this movie. The “Stasi’s” (state security) goal is to “know everything”..about everyone. Society seems to be made up of only informers and those under continual surveillance. Such is the case with the subjects of this movie. We follow the lives of Captain Gerd Wiesler and his 24/7 surveillance of suspected subversive writer Georg Dreyman and his live-in girl friend actress Christa Marie Sieland.

Something strange begins to happen to Hauptman (Capt) Wiesler during the process of observing the lives of Dreyman and his girl friend. You’ve heard the saying “familiarity breeds contempt”; this movie disproves the universality of that adage and in fact shows that “familiarity breeds compassion” in some. Wiesler’s lack of a life of his own begins a process of vicarious living through the lives of the others he is watching. Yogi Berra’s proverb, “you can observe a lot just by watching” is more apropos than the former. Now, I am not going to do a comprehensive review of this movie. I think it is a great movie and I would recommend that you rent it, buy it, find someone who has it, seek it out and view it. You will not be disappointed. In fact, you will be enriched.

What I find even more fascinating in this movie are the similarities of the processes of God’s unfolding redemption. In one scene Dreyman’s girl friend is offered life abundantly by the “Stasi” if she will only serve their cause and become an informant against Dreyman. So, for the proverbial 30 pieces of silver and grave consequences if she doesn’t, she agrees. In the end her demise is similar to her counter-part, Judas. It is a moving and gripping scene near the end of this movie. Also, throughout the movie the one electronically watching over Dreyman (literally, from the attic of the apartment building) has compassion and falsifies his reports to cover a multitude of sins on the part of his subjects. Eventually, because of the betrayal of his girl friend Dreyman is about to be discovered for his lack of loyalty to the government system and only at the last second is his unfaithfulness covered by the one watching from above.

Finally the wall came down which separated the two divided countries and peace and freedom flourishes. Re-unification is achieved and democracy thrives. Yet, one haunting unanswered question still remains in the mind of Dreyman. Why was surveillance never put on his activities? Only in a providential conversation with the former Stasi Head of Security after the fall of the wall does he discover that every inch of his apartment was bugged with electronic devices. Then...why was he not found out? This event begins a search by him of “Stasi” records to determine just who it was that overlooked his subversive activities. Who was this that had such compassion on him and his friends? The final scene of the movie shows the newly found gratitude Dreyman had for the one who so many times and for nothing in return, unknown to Dreyman until now, had come to his rescue. It is the most moving moment in the entire movie. It is remindful, to me, of the song we sang in Sunday’s worship service:

“Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe,
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.”

(this movie won the Oscar in 2007 for Best Foreign Language Film and in Germany the equivalent of the Oscar for Best Picture, Ulrich Mülhe for Best Actor for his portrayal of Gerd Wiesler and Ulrich Tukur for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Wiesler’s boss)  Ich liebe "Das Leben der Anderen"

Biblical Theology

On an internet theological discussion forum several years ago a member asked,  “what is the difference between Biblical Theology and Systematic Theology"? I, providentially, didn’t jump into the discussion thinking that there is no difference between the two. One is just the basis for the other and all theology is Biblical Theology and this questioner will soon be set straight by the other members. Well, I was wrong. I had never heard of the term “Biblical Theology”. I must have 14 different sets of books entitled Systematic Theology written by as many authors ranging from Calvin to Hodge, Dabney and to Berkof and none, that I recall, ever mentioned the term Biblical Theology and that is quite understandable given the purpose of a book on Systematic Theology. Systematic theology is the study of the doctrines contained within the bible and the study usually begins with the Doctrine of God and ends with the Doctrine of Last Things or Eschatology.

So, what is the difference? I purchased a book recently from Westminster Theological Seminary entitled, guess what..., yes, that’s right... Biblical Theology. This 400+ page paper back was written by Geerhardus Vos. (a fellow Dutchman) So far I have read about a fourth of the book, which, in some circles, could make one an expert, especially if he were 50 miles from home...but I’m still trying to absorb the teaching contained within it’s covers and I am still at home. Perhaps as a definition of Biblical Theology the current popular phrase, “what did they know and when did they know it” would apply since this particular area of theology begins at the beginning and traces God’s revelation of Himself through the pages of the Bible. Here is Vos’ definition: Biblical Theology is “the study of the actual self-disclosures of God in time and space which lie back of even the first committal to writing of any Biblical document, and which for a long time continued to run alongside of the inscripturation of revealed material. (It is).. that branch of theology which deals with the process of the self-revelation of God deposited in the Bible.”

I have discovered that there are actually four branches of theology. They are: Biblical Theology, Historical Theology, Systematic Theology and finally Practical Theology. Biblical Theology attempts to classify and arrange the facts of revelation as it unfolded; Historical Theology traces the development of doctrine as it unfolded in the Church since the Apostolic age; Systematic Theology takes the material of Historic and Biblical Theology and organizes it into a consistent whole of everything we know about God and His universe; and Practical Theology is what you hear from your Pastor on Sunday from the pulpit as he brings to bear God’s truths to men individually and to the Church how should we then live.

Several years ago our congregation was challenged to read the Bible from cover to cover in one year beginning at Genesis and finishing in Revelation. I can see that this exercise was perfect preparation for the study of Biblical Theology. I am looking forward to this particular study of the unfolding of God’s revelation in time utilizing Geerhardus Vos’ Biblical Theology. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Tim 2:15)

Lost: A Sense of Sin

I remember as a child and even as a young adult that my dad seemed to have an answer for every question that I ever had. He read constantly and his knowledge of a wide range of subjects continues to amaze me even today, and he’s been with the Lord since 1997. Now-a-days I refer all my questions to “google”, whom I facetiously call “Dad”. Dad knows everything! When my father died, I inherited most of his library of theological books. I have often wished that I had gotten to know my father more intimately than I did, and that we could have shared some of the deeper aspects of the Reformed Faith, but we were both very busy. He, as a Pastor, with the nurture of his local congregation and me....well, with my latest self-indulgence. (cars, girlfriends, cars, hot-rods, parties, cars, girls..etc...etc)

One of the ways that I have found to reacquaint myself with my father is through the books that he read. I have mentioned this in previous blogs. I have just recently come upon another of his books, this one entitled, “Basic Beliefs of the Reformed Faith”, by Felix Gear, 1960. The stated purpose of this little 80 page booklet, sanctioned by The Presbyterian Church in the United States (Dad’s Church), subsequently the PCUSA, is this: “This book can be used by an individual to get new insights into the Word of God as a foundation for theological truth.” Given the PCUSA’s latest stance against maintaining the Book of Order standard which requires those ordained into the Church to “live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness”, I found the teaching on page 22 of this book worthy of revisiting, verbatim:

(under the heading, Knowledge of sin brings unrest and torment. Psalm 51:3-5)

“Sin’s hectic, haunting, disturbing nature is vividly expressed in the poignant words: “And my sin is ever before me.” He sees it every second, thinks about it constantly, and suffers from it all the time. A thousand different things daily remind him of it; he has no rest, no relief. One of Evelyn Waugh’s novels gives a modern description of how one feels when caught in the grip of sin: “Living in sin, with sin, by sin, for sin, every hour, every day, year in, year out. Waking up with sin in the morning, seeing the curtains drawn on sin, bathing it, dressing it, clipping diamonds to it, feeding it showing it round, giving it a good time, putting it to sleep at night with a tablet of Dial* if it’s fretful.” Sin follows us, presses down upon us as a crushing burden, tortures us mercilessly; there is no escape from its sneering, mocking shadow. It is constantly before the mind as something black, thick, nasty, sticky, and sinister, ever present yet just beyond reach. Why is it...?.......because his sin is against God.”

Now, this brief paragraph really does strike home personally, and I think that is intended by the author. And it makes me wonder in this day and age of tolerance, have we lost the sense of sin that the Psalmist so vividly describes in this Psalm 51?

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Rom 6:1-2)

(*sleeping pill)

A Window Pain

My son recently invited me to attend a K-State Men’s Basketball game in Manhattan, Ks. Prior to the game we stopped at a local restaurant for dinner. In the restaurant someone had created a beautiful "stained glass" of the K-State "Power Cat". I was inspired. I told my son I’d get busy and see if I could make something similar. Pictured below is the progress and the final result.

This pane was designed to fit perfectly into the window well of the game room in our recently finished basement. Since our home does not have a walk-out basement, a permanent window in this recess is probably not a wise move...so it is merely hanging over the opening and easily removed in case of need. This project has 51 pieces of individually cut glass. It is ironic that my only finger cut occurred during a lunch break opening a can of soup. Here are the photos: (click each to enlarge)

 
 
 
 

 
 
Now, if we can just get those Wildcats to play some good ball!

A Dream of Spring

"Winter, slumbering in the open air, wears upon it's smiling face a dream of spring."

From what movie is the quote above taken?  Photo taken on my patio Jan 14, 2011.