Category Archives: General Observations

Just things I see that make me think.

by | October 6, 2010 · 11:17 am

Anthony’s Appetite

OK, so here’s something different…..food…..the kind I eat.

Well, I won’t say that it is all that I eat.  What I will say is that over the last week or so I have had a few culinary delights that I would like to share – not literally, of course.

If I had a seperate blog, I might just become a food critic.  That would be fun.  The only problem is that my weight would get completely out of hand, my cholesterol would go through the roof, and my bank account would be depleted.  Being Andrew Zimmer must be fun.

I love coffee. I love coffee.  Did I say I love coffee?  If I had the choice to just sit down and have a cup of coffee and shoot the breeze for a while, it would NOT be at Starbucks.  Why?  Too dang expensive and the only black coffee they ever sell (usually) is Pike’s Peak.  I hate that stuff.  It’s just too bold – and they say it’s medium.  No, for just a good cup of coffee in a relaxed friendly atmostphere, just go to Cracker Barrel.  That’s right, that over-priced, country-style tourist trap that sells pretty good home-cooked-like food.  I love Cracker Barrel.  Their coffee is not intense, but smooth and always predictable.  Besides, you get FREE REFILLS!

Coffee at Cracker Barrel


Now, when it comes to dessert, I have a favorite to which nothing can compare.  I have even driven all the way from Kentucky just to have a slice.  What is it?  It is the closest thing to pie perfection that could ever be created.  It is LEMON ICE BOX PIE from The Country Place Restaurant.  Folks, don’t let anyone fool you, there is no substitute for this to-die-for dessert of the gods.  As a matter of fact, the last pastor’s breakfast for Hamilton County Baptists was held at The Country Place Restaurant.  I did not order bacon and eggs, nor biscuits and gravy, I ordered a cup of coffee (free refills) and LEMON ICE BOX PIE!  I love the creamy, heavy texture, and the graham cracker crumb crust.  The topping is substantial and a perfect complement to the filling which is, I think, loaded with Eagle Brand milk.  Sweet, creamy, and lemony.  You HAVE to have coffee with it.

Lemon Ice Box Pie at The Country Place

If you want to go to some place a little out of the way, but different, why don’t you try Flavors of Italy.  This is a neat little place in Soddy Daisy, Tn.  It is family-owned and the husband, which is the main chef, is literally from Italy (they even go back there every year).  Eating at this little restaurant (www.flavorsofitaly.org) is like eating at their house.  They have menu, but the real menu us the one they bring and place on a stand next to your table – written on a dry-erase board.  Everything is prepared fresh daily.  There are things that are on the menu that you won’t get at Olive Garden or Provino’s.  Valerie and I went there for lunch the other day, and man, what a dessert we had!

Italian Cream Cake at Flavors of Italy

Flavors of Italy has a wonderful Italian Cream cake that literally “takes the cake.”  Drizzled with raspberry sauce and garnished with raspberries and a little sprig of some kind of of flower, the presentation was lovely.  This cake was tall, generous, home-made, well presented and very, very good.  What’s even better, it was only about $5.  Well worth it.  And oh, I would seriously recommend the Italian espresso.  I could have drunk several of those – no bite, smooth, rich, and wonderful without sugar.  It all looked so good I couldn’t wait to eat before I took the picture.

What a Dilly


Of course, you may be thinking that all I eat is desserts.  Well, both of the ones I have just mentioned are better than the “real” food that I had at the Piccadilly.   I was forced by my wife to buy a “dilly meal.”  Let me tell you something, the food wouldn’t have been so bad if the coffee cups had been clean (which is why I ended up getting a foam cup); if the coffee had been worth drinking; if the booth backs had not been dirty; and if the percentage of elderly to youth had been less than 95-5.  I did not get a dessert, because that would have cost too much.  I did get to try one of the kid’s chocolate pudding, the kind that is supposed to look like mud under the gummy worms.  Fruity chocolate – yum.

I think that nothing is better than home-made cornbread.

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by | October 2, 2010 · 10:48 pm

The Other Side of a Coined Phrase

You can talk all you want about what we’re NOT supposed to do, but we DO it all the time.  Who hasn’t seen the video of the panel of judges that were totally awestruck, not to mentioned very embarrassed, when Susan Boyle began to sing?  Judging by her looks, this was not supposed to be a superstar singer.  The whole crowd was guilty of  thinking the same thing…”What is this ugly woman doing on stage?”  Subconsciously they were thinking, “Only beautiful people can sing beautifully.”  Oh, how wrong they were!

I have heard it said all my life, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”  Since I have done some research, that would mean I would have to be younger than 70, because that phrase wasn’t even coined until the mid 1940’s.  Anyway, I have been taught, as most people have, that we are not supposed to make assumptions about people simply on the basis of appearances.  As a matter of fact, long before “don’t judge a book by its cover” was coined, Benjamin Franklin said, “Don’t judge men’s wealth or godliness by their Sunday appearance.”  We all know that we shouldn’t judge a man’s character by his appearance (or even by the color of his skin, as Martin L. King, Jr. would have said).  But with all that said,

I can’t help but think that there is another side to this coin (coined phrase, that is).

While it may be true that we shouldn’t come to a conclusion about someone based solely on appearance,  how many books would you pick up and open if on the outside there was nothing describing the inside?  How much money is spent these days on cover design, I wonder.  Go to any bookseller and browse any isle and tell me what you find.  Are any of the books simply bound with only the title and the author printed on front?  Probably not.  Every kind of trick imaginable is employed to catch your eye and cause you to open the cover to see what is inside.  Now, not every cover will appeal to every reader, but the author will know ahead of time what type of audience he is trying to reach, therefore he will have a cover designed to appeal to the reader that will most likely buy the book.  How foolish would the writer be if he spent thousands of dollars for a design that appealed to the wrong crowd?  Even more, what would be the purpose of writing a book that had a cover which said nothing hinting of the content?

The other side to this “book-judging” coin is that even though we should not pre-judge a book by what is on the cover, the cover should give us some clues to what is on the inside.

For example, take a look at the title of the book to the right.  If you were to pick this book up at a book store, you would assume that on the inside there should be at least a hundred recipes, correct?  Really, the title of the book should give you confidence that inside resides the answer to all those questions you’ve had recently about how long you should roast a kangaroo tenderloin.  Shouldn’t it?  It says “How to Cook Everything.”   Well, by dang, I would assume, based on the cover, there should be, by my judgement, a kangaroo recipe in there somewhere.  I don’t know if there is or not, but do you see my point?  If you say you’re something, or if you want to give a certain impression, then be what you say you are, or kangaroo eaters are going to be disappointed.

Now, Jesus did say in Matthew 7:1,  “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”  He also said,  “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24).  The problem is that when we say that we should not judge a book by its cover, we imply that we can NEVER make ANY judgment based on what we see.  Seriously, how practical is that?  Jesus never said that we could never make righteous judgments.  As a matter of fact, consider these words of Jesus as found in Matthew 7, verses 15-20:

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”

We are not supposed to come to any rash, prejudiced conclusions about people.  That is a fact.  We have no way of knowing whether a nice, fluffy sheep is a wolf, or not.  By outward appearances alone, all we can determine is that if it looks like a sheep and sounds like a sheep, it must be a sheep….until it starts to act like a sheep-eating wolf.  Then, when a sheep starts baring fangs at us, it is safe to judge, and there is no sin to be added to our account.

Righteous judgment, as Jesus mentioned in John 7:24, CAN be made if it is in reference to the fruit being inspected.  The fruit of a wolf is different than a sheep.  But here’s the point:

If a sheep claims to be a sheep, it should act like a sheep, not a wolf!

What is on the cover of a book SHOULD tell what is on the inside.  What we look like on the cover SHOULD make others want to read what is inside.  What we look like on the outside SHOULD mirror the message of the Author’s Word.  As believers in Christ, we claim to be something special.  We have the imprint of our Saviour written on our binding.  Jesus has a reputation as an Author, and what is inside our covers should not bring shame to His writing ability.  It may be wrong to judge a book by its cover, but it is equally wrong to claim to be a book that you’re not.

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by | September 28, 2010 · 1:36 pm

Study to Show Thyself Approved on a Survey

The results of a study just came out and there are about as many reactions as there are results.  Some are very alarmed at the findings; while others couldn’t care less.  Personally, I think that there are some interesting statistics from which we can learn.  Go to the link at the bottom of this article and check out the findings for yourself.* You may find yourself enlightened and disturbed at the same time.

Today, in response to the survey conducted by The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, a story came out on Fox News entitled, “Survey: Many Americans Know Little About Religion.”** The part that has every one in a tizzy is the following:

“Atheists and agnostics scored highest, with an average of 21 correct answers, while Jews and Mormons followed with about 20 accurate responses. Protestants overall averaged 16 correct answers, while Catholics followed with a score of about 15.”

Should this be a shock?  I mean, really, what do we as Christians expect?  Since when do we teach about the dogmas of other faiths in our Sunday Schools?  How often, at least in our more rural Baptist churches, do we even attempt to preach or teach the critical doctrines or our own faith?  When we do, if we do, the people in the congregation start complaining that the subject matter is over their heads.  I don’t advise that we spend the little time we have in church and training to go into detail about the five pillars of Islam, or even the differences between Vishnu and Krishna.  But what I am saying is that Christians should at least know at least the fundamentals of the Bible and key doctrines of the faith.

As I looked over the survey results, I did find some things that I thought were interesting, if not humorous.  One of those things had to do with atheists.  What is it that an atheist is supposed to believe?  According to atheists, the reason that they cannot trust in Christ is because they don’t believe in God.  Not believing in the existence of any god is at the root of the very term “atheist” (from ἄθεος, meaning ἀ- [without]+ θεός [god]).*** Why is it then, when asked about the existence of God, 8% were “absolutely certain” He existed? What?!  And get this, they even believe in heaven and hell, too (heaven = 12%; hell = 10%)!  So, maybe we should give the Christians a little slack, huh?  You can’t even trust an atheist to know what he believes anymore. Dang!

Another humorous finding in this survey was tucked away in the percentage numbers of “believers” within the population.  To start, it was not unusual to see that nearly 80% of Americans consider themselves Christian (Protestant 51.3; Catholic 23.9; Mormon 1.7; Jehovah’s Witness 0.7; Orthodox 0.6; Other Christian 0.3), but it was funny/sad to see that both Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses are becoming recognized as official Christian denominations.  What is worse is when you look at the statistics, more Mormons and J.W.s believe in a personal God (91% and 82%) than even evangelical churches (79%).  These cults, sadly, are looking more like Christians than the TRUE followers of Christ.

But the real point of the story is that Christians know less about their faith than the Enemies of their faith.

Paul knew way back long ago what Timothy needed to do, so he said, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).  When we ONLY go to church for the fellowship and singing, or the food and good times, even when they are spiritual and up-lifting, we fail to grasp what the early church did in Acts 2:42a, “…they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine…”

The church in America is on the decline, the reason for which could be debated in volumes.  But one thing is for sure, we need to know what we believe, why we believe, and in Whom we believe.  Once we know these truths, then we need to defend them, preach them, and live them, “ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you” the questions on a survey about your faith.

Oh! By the way…Muslims only make up .06% of the population.  Why are we running in fear?

* http://religions.pewforum.org/reports#

** http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/09/28/survey-americans-know-little-religion/

*** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheist#Etymology

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by | September 23, 2010 · 11:52 pm

Does Divorce Disqualify?

I will never forget the phone call I got from a church in Rome, GA about 14 years ago. Someone on the other end of the line was part of a search committee looking for a new pastor.  They had gotten my resume and were impressed enough to give me a call.  Everything was going well until they asked a very pointed question, “Bro. Anthony, does your wife have a spouse that is still living?”  I responded with a cold, clinched-teeth, squinted-eye “Yes,…..ME.”  Unfortunately, this would not be the last time something like that happened.

What I encountered on the telephone that day was not unusual, nor unexpected; but it hurt.  You see, I had chosen to marry a woman who had been divorced, even against the wishes of our (then) pastor, who said marrying Valerie would “put the final nail in the coffin” for my ministry.  However, even knowing that many disagreed, we married, anyway.  I was aware of the Scripture (1 Tim. 3:2) being used, but I was also in the process of becoming free from the legalism that had bound me for so long…legalism that oozed with a self-righteousness that wanted to limit me based on another’s determination of my spirituality, not Biblical truth (and it didn’t hurt that the late Dr. Spiros Zodhiates gave his approval).

Let me be clear about a few things…

First,  I have never been divorced, so for me the whole argument of 1 Timothy 3:2 should be moot.  Second, my wife was abandoned and left with no choice but to divorce (she was the innocent party), and it happened before she was a believer.  Thirdly, her ex-husband remarried and divorced again before I even met her.  By all accounts, both she and I were clear from any “adultery” issues.  Also, I am the husband of one wife, and Scripture NEVER said “must be the husband of one wife who was the wife of one husband ever.”

What DOES Scripture say?

1 Timothy 3:2  “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife...”  Also, verse 12 says, “Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife...”  The difficulty with these verses is not what is being said, but how it is interpreted.  Is Paul telling Timothy that in order to be a pastor or deacon or elder in a church, you must have only been married once?  Could it be possible that Paul is even saying that a man of God MUST have a wife, because being single would disqualify one from ministry?  These are things that have been debated for centuries.  Some believe that a pastor or deacon or elder should have never been divorced (or married to a divorcée) . Others believe that in order to be a proper leader, one must be married.  Still, many commentators believe that the proper rendering of the Greek is “one-woman man,” implying faithfulness and character over the number of wives.  What the Scripture says is one thing, but as William D. Mounce put it, “The Greek gives us a range of possibilities, but our theology is going to determine our interpretation.” (http://www.koinoniablog.net/2009/03/can-an-elder-be-divorced.html#comment-captcha)

I think there’s another way to look at it…

Take a look at 1 Timothy 3.  Read through verse 12.  The best I can figure is that there are between 16 and 17 qualifications for the bishop, and between 6 and 8 for the deacons.  All of these are preceded with a literal or an implied “must be,” as in “must be blameless,” or a “must have.”  How does this affect the argument that an elder must have only been married once, never remarried, or never divorced?  Well, think of any great pastor that you know of.  Think of any great man of God that has stood behind the pulpit and faithfully proclaimed the Word of God.  Has he always been blameless?  Has he always been on his best behavior?  Did he ever get drunk, covet, lose his patience, or curse his wife or children in anger?  Was he ever a novice, a beginner subject to pride? If so, then according to the logic of some, he should never be able to preach or lead in God’s church, for just as a man “must be the husband of one wife,” so he also must be “blameless, vigilent, sober, well-behaved, given to hospitality, patient, never greedy, and always in control of his house and children.”  Do you see it?  If your interpretation leads you to believe that the bishop must have only had one wife ever, then the same hermeneutic (the study of the principles of interpretation) should apply to the other “must be’s.”  “Must be the husband of one wife” = never divorced.  “Not a novice” = never been a beginner in the faith. Doesn’t make sense, does it?

1 Timothy 3:1-12 is in the present infinitive tense (i.e., must be / dei einai).  The requirements listed are ones that describe a man of character and faithfulness, of sobriety and gravitas; not a beginner or one untried and unproven.  What I see is a list of requirements that may not have always been present in a man, but should be NOW, after God has done a verifiable work in his life.  In other words, the Bible says a bishop “must be,” not “must have always been,” or “must have never done.”  Paul said, “and such were some of you:  but ye were washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” – 1 Corinthians 6:11

Here’s my point…

I believe that there are plenty of men and women (especially men) that are sitting back or hiding out because someone has convinced them that they are used up and un-usable.  For instance, I can think of men right now, who because of whatever reason, are divorced.  Yet these men, now Christians, are sold-out, God-fearing, faithful, Spirit-filled fathers and husbands with proven testimonies and unimpeachable character.  Sadly, however, because of mistakes made when they were young, unsaved, and stupid, they cannot serve as deacons, much less as pastors.  On the other hand, I can think of several pastors today who were once murderers, drug dealers, fornicators, extortioners, and abusers of mankind (gay, for those of you in Rio Linda).  They are accepted and given full reign as leaders in the church, but not the ones who were divorced.  So, like I said in a previous post…

if the Pharisee and the Publican sat down with a pulpit committee in the average Baptist church, which one do you think they would hire?

Answer:

Depends on which one “had a living spouse.”

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by | September 21, 2010 · 7:00 pm

Goodbye to a Family Friend

I don’t want to do it, but it must be done.

Why do some things that should be so simple have to be so hard?  What is a car?  Is it not just a machine?  Does it have personality?  Does it have feelings?  Well, when you have driven a care past 300,000 miles, you tend to question reality.  Seeing this car leave our family is going to be,  no it IS difficult.

Several years ago I actually took the time to look for a specific brand, model and year of car.  I wanted a 1994 Honda Accord EX.  After searching the car lots and the papers, one morning, when I first got to work in Clarksville, TN, I logged onto the local paper’s website.  There, for the first time listed, was a car meeting the exact specifications I was looking for.  What was better, it was a one-owner (garage-kept by a literal “old lady”), and the asking price was at least $1000 under value.  I was the first to call and said, “I will be right over.”

The little blue Honda has been through a lot with our family.  It has had me drive it to appointments while I was wearing a suit and tie.  It has endured me driving it all hours of the night while delivering pizza.  It has carried the sick.  It has raced to the aid of friends and relatives.  It has even carried the load once packed into a Ford Crown Victoria that broke down on the way to Chattanooga from Kentucky (I will never underestimate my wife’s ability to pack again).

With nearly 340k miles on the old car, and with another in the shop, we have decided to let this one go.  The possitive side of the story is that someone else is going to get some benefit from it.  I still has life in its engine.  It still

One last look inside (my legs look wimpy)

looks pretty good, too.  For that matter, I think that the 1994 Honda Accord was the prettiest body style that Honda ever came out with.  Even the newer Honda we have, a 2001 EX, is not as elegant.  As a matter of fact, the ’94 gets better milage.  I do like the V6 in the 2001, though.

I hate it when change comes, especially when it requires the loss of an old, faithful friend.  This little Honda has been as faithful as they come.  It has never given us any problems that didn’t come with just usual wear and tear.  It was literally the best investment I ever made.  So long little friend.  You will be missed.

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by | September 16, 2010 · 12:38 pm

Local Bus Driver Injured, and You Won’t Hear About It

The Average School Bus

It is dangerous being a school bus driver these days.

For the last two days, in the Hixson, Tn area, there has been a driver that has had to put up with fights on his bus.  This morning he was actually injured.  The students that caused his injuries were students who have been written up for past offenses, but were still riding that route.  Actions are being taken to try to get another driver and another bus to service that particular stop, but the students, or at least the students not arrested (if any of them were, I don’t know), will still be receiving transportation.

There are so many reasons for why all this is going on.  One reason is the fact that the students that are causing trouble are from families that have no control over their children, nor accept responsibility.  Another reason is that the children have no respect for authority, no fear of consequences, and respect for themselves.  The real immediate problem, however, is the inability of the bus drivers to discipline students in any way, nor put these dangerous, anti-social students OFF the bus.  Literally, the driver’s hands are tied  – tied, that is, to the steering wheel.  The only thing they can do is defend themselves when attacked, but even that is subject to legal issues.

There are many people, if not most, that think it is a right to ride a school bus.  It is NOT a right; it is a PRIVILEGE!  Children are required by law to attend school (or home school), but students are not guaranteed the right to ride a bus, especially if they are making life miserable for everyone else, disobeying rules, or hurting people.  Sadly, certain groups of people have a problem with thinking that they are “owed” certain rights based on their economic status, location, or ethnicity.  The fact is that buses in Hamilton County are owned by a company, not the county, and drivers work for this company, not the tax payer.  As a company, it reserves the right to decide who it will, and won’t allow to ride it’s buses.  Now, the contract between the company and the county may make certain exceptions, based on law, but no student is above the law, nor has the right to ride regardless of his actions.

Another problem that exists in Hamilton County is that bus drivers are required to handle everything that goes on on their buses and still drive.  What is a driver supposed to do when he is driving in the dark hours of the morning with 60-80 kids?  How is he/she expected to deal with trouble starting and try to drive at the same time.  It is hard, believe me.  Other states require that another person ride with the driver so that the driver can do his job of keeping the bus on the road.  That is not the case here; only with special needs (small bus)  routes.

I think that there should be an outcry on behalf of those that literally put their lives on the line to transport the most valuable cargo in the world – our children.

As school bus drivers, we should be able to protect and defend ourselves without fear of law suites, but we should also be able to defend and protect the students put in our trust.  When we are not allowed to do anything other than talk to and warn kids, or write them up, many more drivers and students are going to get hurt by gang members, hoodlums, and spoiled rich kids.  Sadly, again, it is the law that protects those who are causing so much trouble.  What’s the answer?  Get the laws changed and allow the brave men and women who transport our children to have more say-so in who is allowed to ride.  That would be a start, at least.

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by | September 14, 2010 · 10:34 pm

You Don’t Have to be Perfect to be Used

So, a Pharisee and a Publican walk into…let’s just say…a  search comittee meeting…

You know the story of the Pharisee and the Publican, don’t you? Jesus told the story, as recorded in Luke 18:10-11

“Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.”

Imagine that instead of the temple, they walked into a search committee meeting.   A meeting of people designated with the task of finding, let’s say, a new pastor for a church (at least that’s the way we do it in the Baptist denomination).   They walk in, introduce themselves, compare resumes, and one gets the job.  Which one?  The one that fits the picture of what every Christian fit for service should be – perfect.

Sunday night I shared with my congregation that God doesn’t just use perfect people, but people who have made mistakes, REAL people.  But sadly, within the church today, there are many men and women who have felt inferior and useless because of  sinful and broken pasts.  They are the people who sit on the pews, week after week, doing all they can to be faithful in life, but are forbidden to hold positions in the church.  They are much like the Publican, men and women who know they have failed before, but want to be forgiven and start new.  They are not the ones that look down on others for mistakes they’ve made.  They’re not Pharisees.

Have you ever considered how dysfunctional the characters of Genesis were?

I read through the book of Genesis last week in a couple of sittings.  Reading a book of the Bible that way, especially in a different translation, can help you see the story from a new perspective.  This time I was just astounded at how messed up these people really were!  There was so much “stuff” going on that if it were today, it would make an episode of Jerry Springer, or TrueTV look tame!  Consider, if nothing else, the sad story of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel.  This was a seriously messed up family with real marital problems.  At one point, Leah and Rachel get into a jealous argument over a son’s mandrakes.  Just imagine you were a marriage counselor and listened in to the following story…

Reuben went out during the wheat harvest and found some mandrakes in the field.  When he brought them to his mother, Leah, Rachel asked, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”  But Leah replied to her, Isn’t it enough that you have taken my husband?  Now you also want my son’s mandrakes?”

“Well,” Rachel said, “you can sleep with him tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”  When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.”  So Jacob slept with her that night. – Geneses 30:14:16 HCSB

Twice Abraham told other people that his wife, Sarah, was his sister so that he would not be harmed.  Joseph’s brothers hated him and sold him to traveling salesmen.  Jacob and Esau were seriously at odds.  Leah, poor thing, kept trying to have children so that her husband, Jacob would love her.  Jacob’s father-in-law, Laban, got him drunk on his wedding night and gave him the wrong wife – on purpose.  The son’s of Jacob (founders of ten of the tribes of Israel) lied to a bunch of men about making a covenant, then proceeded to slaughter all of them after they had convinced them to be circumsized.  It just goes on and on.  Messed up, I am telling you!

Nevertheless,

God told Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3  “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”  How is this even possible?  If God can use Abraham and his family with all their problems to bless the nations, then He can SURELY use ANYBODY!

Check in next time, and I will continue my thoughts on this subject.  I will be addressing the legalistic applications of 1 Timothy 3, the portion of Scripture most likely used to keep the Pharisees in the pulpit, and the Publicans in the pews.

Here’s a teaser: should divorce keep one from serving as deacon or pastor?

Tell me what YOU think.


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by | September 2, 2010 · 6:48 pm

If Hawking says it, it must be true…Right?

The following is an exerpt from Stephen Hawking’s new book, The Grand Design, due out next week:

 

“Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist...” (Reuters)

I may only be a moron, but how can something that does not exist create itself? How can laws exist without a Lawgiver?  At what point do sane people look at comments like this and say, “Excuse me, but you, my good man, are an IDIOT!”

Given the expanse of eternal time, and the fact, as Hawking sees it, that the universe did and can create itself, is there not then the possibility that there is more than one universe?  Is it not possible, also, to assume that anything at any time could just pop out of nowhere, right in front of us and say, “Here I am!”  If any matter can create itself out of nothing, then the intent of the thing not created must have existed before the thing that was made.  I am sure that there could be a great many other intents floating around out there that could all of a sudden explode into existance, maybe even taking this universe with it.  Who knows?

There has to be some way we can find out the truth…hmmm…I wonder where we could find it?

You know, it is sorta funny how that I was just reading Plato yesterday (no kidding), and he believed that Idea and Form came before substance.  He did not believe in a God who had the Idea, just that the Idea existed.  Hawking believes that the Law of Gravity existed before the universe used it to create itself.  Sorta reminds me of an account of some other Athenians…

Act 17:21 KJV – (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)
 
 
And while they sat around doing the things that philosophers did during those days, the same thing held true that is true today for Hawking…
 
 
Ecc 1:9 NLT – History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.
 

Maybe Plato should sue for royalties?  Oh, better yet, since he doesn’t exist any more, he could just bring himself into existence again and go over to London and smack Mr. Hawking for not only stealing his Idea, but for being a fool (Psalm 53:1).

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by | September 1, 2010 · 11:55 am

“What do these stones mean?”

While driving my school bus just the other day, I happened to ask a couple of teenagers about their knowledge of the battle of Lookout Mountain during the Civil War. They had no knowledge that there ever WAS a battle on that mountain! I was completely dumbfounded. Every day we drive across the foot of Lookout Mt., right past monuments and markers, right beneath the cannon placements above, and yet they never even knew there was a battle there! Unbelievable!As I see it, somewhere there was a breakdown in the education these children were given. How is it even possible that teenagers could graduate from schools in Chattanooga and never know that one of the key battles of the Civil War, the very war that liberated their ancestors from slavery (they were African-American), was fought in their own back yard?

Was this information not considered important enough to teach in public school?

The Battle of Lookout Mountain

When I took just a few minutes to share some facts about what happened in and around Lookout Mountain and Chattanooga, making them look out the windows up to the low-hanging clouds that covered the bluffs, they began to understand some things. When I related how desperate the Union troops were, the seemingly invincible fortress that was Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, and then used the clouds right in front of them to explain the “miracle” that took place, history came alive. I asked them to imagine how scary it was to a guy that may have walked all the way down from New York, just to look straight up that mountain and know that he was going to have to go up it with just a rifle and a bayonet.

Most American young people do not care about history because they have never been led to make a connection with the past. When it becomes personal, either by making it relevant or intriguing, they take ownership. We can’t just sit around and blame our children, or other’s, for not knowing what we do not teach them.  The very same thing can be said about our faith and what we believe. Consider the following Scripture:

Joshua 4:4-7 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: and Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of Jehovah your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; that this may be a sign among you, that, when your children ask in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? then ye shall say unto them, Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

What can we learn from these verses?  What principles can we see that could help our youth better understand our Faith, not to mention our history?  Here are just a few observations.

  1. “When your children ask in time to come…”  If our children are not asking questions, they need to be.  We need to lead them to places and discussions that would cause them to ask the right questions that lead them to discover truth.
  2. “These stones…”  There needs to be stones of remembrance, monuments, memorials in each Christian’s life that cause others to ask “the reason of the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15).
  3. “Then ye shall say unto them…”   Do we know what to say when they do ask?  We had better!  What a loss and a missed opportunity when a child, even an adult, asks “what does this mean,” and we have nothing to say.
  4. “Your children…”   It is our responsibility to teach our children, not the state, nor a stranger.  Ultimately, we will be held accountable for what they learn, and from whom.

I can’t be held responsible for all the children of America, but I will be held responsible for mine (that’s one BIG reason we homeschool).  You will have to answer for yours.  And when it comes to the others that ride our buses, or mow our lawns, or stand in line, or or sit in our Sunday School classes, or whatever, don’t waste an opportunity to explain the reason for the “stones,” even if it’s a big mountain.

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by | August 25, 2010 · 1:44 pm

The Eye Doctor Visit

I was at a new eye doctor the other day.  Because of so many years of wondering whether or not I have glaucoma, my optitrician decided to send me to the place in town with the most high-tech equipment and eye doctors who specialize in glaucoma.  He sent me to Southeast Eye Specialists.  Wow!  Talk about a set up!  They had some cool gadgets, I must say.

While waiting in the exam room for the smartly dressed, highly intelligent Dr. McDaniel to greet me, I did what

any bored, adult male would do…I started playing with the equipment.  In the process of flipping levers and turning dials on very expensive stuff, I began to have a thought (which must imply that I was not thinking when I was playing with things that I couldn’t afford).  With all the different prescriptions for glasses, and all the different lenses one could look through, how could anyone say for sure that what we see when we look at things is exactly the way it really is?  Just look at all of those dials!

Some people would say this is the reason for believing that everything is relative.  You know, they get all philosophical-like and say, “There’s no such thing as right and wrong,” or, “Perception is reality.”  The only problem is that what we think we see may not be what is actually there, but what is actually there IS there, whether we see it for what it is, or not.  Just like the chart on the wall with the jumbled letters that start big on top, then get smaller as they go down, we can call the letter “e” an “a” or a “c,” but it is still an “e”.

We may think what we see is correct, but that doesn’t change reality.

The only way we can know for sure if we are seeing things correctly is to go to a doctor of optometry and let him evaluate our sight. He is qualified to turn the knobs and do the tests.  He knows what the letters on the wall really are.  He can be objective.  Only a fool would go into his exam room and argue with him over the “rightness” or “wrongness” of his letter chart.  Maybe it was those type of people that God had in mind when he wrote the following verse:

  • Acts 28:27 For the heart of this people is stubborn, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Some people insist that they can be the judge of what is right and wrong.  Some people are so convinced of their own understanding of things that they will attempt to belittle other’s opinions and claim that what they see has to be incorrect, especially if it is any different.  How sad!  You see, all of us are born with faulty eyes that want to see things in the most favorable way, like with “rose colored” lenses.  The only problem is that only God knows exactly what is on the wall.  And what is cool is that each one of us is different, so we may need one kind of lens, while someone else may need another.  God, our heavenly doctor, wants us to see the Truth for what it/He is, but not through faulty eyes, but ones which He has healed.

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