Pray for the President Elect
The United States of America has just elected a new president. May God guide and protect him, that the United States may live out its vocation, whatever that may be, in the world. Christians live in many lands, but all of us who go by that name have a higher allegiance than the nations in which we live. One of my favorite descriptions of the Christian diaspora is found in the Epistle to Diognetus, usually dated from the late second century A.D.:
The distinction between Christians and other men is neither in country nor language nor customs. For they do not dwell in cities in some place of their own, nor do they use any strange variety of dialect, nor practice an extraordinary kind of life. . . . Yet while living in Greek and barbarian cities, according as each obtained his lot, and following the local customs, both in clothing and food in the rest of life, they show forth the wonderful and confessedly strange character of the constitution of their own citizenship. They dwell in their own fatherlands, but as if sojourners in them; they share all things as citizens, and suffer all things as strangers. Every foreign country is their fatherland, and every fatherland is a foreign country. They offer free hospitality, but guard their purity. Their lot is cast “in the flesh,” but they do not live “after the flesh.” They pass their time upon the earth, but they have their citizenship in heaven.
This line of thinking certainly follows upon and develops the thought of the New Testament. The diversity of our physical distribution is spoken of in Acts 2:7-10 and many times elsewhere. Our higher loyalty is assumed, for instance, in Philippians 3:20-21. There St. Paul Writes:
20 But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Finis
Learning Spanish with Coffee Break Spanish
About a year ago my bishop observed that American Christians need no longer go to the mission field; the mission field has come to us. Yes, but, the truth is, we have some very devout Christians moving into our nation, state and city from Mexico and points south. They have a lot to teach us, and hopefully something to learn from us. It is my personal hope that everyone coming to America will learn English. A common tongue is important to maintaining unity in a nation, and English is our lingua franca. At the same time, I have taken the opportunity to try to learn a little Spanish. I learned some while in college, but had little opportunity to practice it. Nowadays I come into contact with Spanish speaking people almost every day. I am enjoying the free version of Coffee Break Spanish from the Radio Lingua Network on my IPod. I have just completed lesson 20, and feel pretty good about it. The ability to hear the language is a real advantage. Indeed, if I continue to make progress, I think I will spring for the extras that are available on a subscription basis. Check it out at coffeebreakspanish.com. Many of the podcasts are also available from ITunes. For many of us, learning a second language really is worth doing.
The 6th Essential: The Fruit of the Holy Spirit
19 Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (patience), gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 meekness, and self-control; against which there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. 26 Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another. Galatians 5:19-26
The 6th Essential is “the fruit of the Spirit” in the life of all believers. The term “fruit of the Spirit” is used only once in the Revised Standard Version of Scripture.
A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo
On March 8, 1965, as a 2nd Lieutenant of Marines, Philip Caputo landed at Danang with a battalion of the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, the first U.S. combat unit sent to Vietnam. He was evacuated as a journalist from Hanoi in April of 1975 on one of the last helicopters to carry U.S. personnel to safety.
Bella a Movie by Lionsgate Films
My wife and I rented a wonderful film from Red Box at our grocery store. It is a Christian film, but the only hint of that is they way the main character offers prayer before eating, and a couple of hymns that play in the background. It is not heavy handed. It has a message, but it also tells a good, believable story. It is about a soccer star, a newly minted millionaire, who sees his career go down the tubes before it gets off the ground when he accidentally hits and kills a small child while driving his antique Cadillac. His personal tragedy enables him to identify with heartbreak in the life of another, and, then, through an amazing choice, enables him to prevent further tragedy in a life that is yet to be. The movie claims to be “more than a love story.” It definitely is. It is about friendship, grace and redemption—of the best kind. Click here to visit the official website. Highly recommended.
The Highest Treason
The action in the play “Murder in the Cathedral” by T.S. Elliot takes place just before the murder of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1160 to 1170 AD. Four tempters offer scenarios that parallel the Temptations of Christ. The first three tempters are priests, the fourth may be the devil himself.
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Voting
My wife and I stood in line for about an hour last night to cast our vote, early. It was cold standing outside the building. Once inside it was hot and crowded. I saw several friends. I met several new people. The youngest person there looked barely voting age. The oldest person required special care. What a privileged it is to vote. As interminable as the campaigns often seem, much of the world looks on our elections with envy. The final gift of George Washington to his country was the way he left the office of president. His gift was the gift of an orderly transition, one president following another as the result of a democratic process. God bless the USA. God protect our leaders, new and old. God grant them wisdom to govern well. God grant us wisdom to be good citizens. Please Vote.
The Heavens Proclaim God’s Righteousness
In Psalm 97:6 we read:
The heavens proclaim (God’s) righteousness;
and all the peoples behold (God’s) glory.
In both testaments righteousness is the fulfillment of the demands of a relationship. “The heavens proclaim (God’s) righteousness” to all peoples because the rising of the sun on another day makes good on the promise of the procession of days. The sun goes down in the evening, and rises-up in the morning. The Psalmist admires God for the consistency of the natural world. Even the constellations that mark the seasons of the night sky testify of it, albeit wordlessly. (Cf. Psalm 19) “All the peoples behold (God’s) glory,” because all see the same starry sky, and admire its precision. If only the psalmist knew what we know, he would be still more amazed! If only we would stop to consider the blessings of the common life as the Psalmist did, we would be still more amazed. By the by, those who deny that God is present in a natural revelation as well as in the special revelation to which the Scripture bears witness will stumble over verses like this. God bless! Finis.
Hint: Do a search on “righteousness” to get the full story.
Weight Watchers
In the twenty years that I have been at New Philadelphia Moravian Church, I had gained 42 pounds. My friend Steven Jones challenged me to do something about it. He invited me to join him at Weight Watchers. On Tuesday October 7, I weighed in at 232 pounds. The woman behind the desk said, “That is the last time you will see that number.” I hope and pray that is so. In the last three weeks I have lost 11.8 pounds, and I have yet to be hungry. That just proves the old adage that it is not how much we eat, but what we eat that makes us unhealthy. Funny, how I tend to eat for all the wrong reasons, especially when I am stressed. In Philippians 3:19 St. Paul talks about people whose god is their belly. I don’t want to be in that company. Pray for me that I will hold on to my resolve. Oh, by the by, if you live in Winston-Salem and want to attend the meeting I attend, just let me know. I will send you directions. In a world so close to famine in so many places, I am shamed to make this entry. Consider it a confession. God forgive. God bless. Finis.
Righteousness
The story of Judah and Tamar is a racy story, about sex and incest. According to Genesis 38:1-30, Judah bargained for Tamar and gave her in marriage to Er, his eldest son. Er was wicked, and God punished him. He died. Judah ordered his next son Onan to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for her, i.e. to marry her and raise up children. He slept with her, but practiced cotius interruptus. He, too, was wicked, and God punished him. He died. Judah had another son, Shelah, but Judah persuaded Tamar to remain a window until Shelah grew-up a little. The drift of the story is that Judah regarded Tamar as bad luck. She had cost him two sons, and he did not want to loose a third.
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