Random Thoughts
Every once in a while I have to write what’s on my mind, even when it might be multi-layered, a little discombobulated, and look like well-worn rabbit trails.
Not every thought needs to develop into a full-blown, well-sourced article. Not every thought needs to be completely thought through before sharing. Sometimes we need to get our thoughts out of our heads and onto paper (or a screen) in order give our brains some stretching room.
Therefore, consider this more like a spring-time yard sale, only the random objects spread across tables and blankets on the driveway are free for the taking. If you like it, it’s yours!
Bibles
For the record, my mother is dying of cancer. I don’t want to talk about it. All I want to say is that she wanted a new Bible, one she could read without a magnifying glass, and I ordered her one. She was so excited she sounded like Christmas had come.
But aside from getting her Bible in Giant Print, I ordered it in the New Living Translation. That’s worth mentioning because my mother had always been more of a KJV-only type. However, she wanted a new Bible that she could more easily read through large portions in one sitting, as I had recently advised people in our congregation to do.
Even though she probably has no more than a year, at best, she still wanted a new Bible to read. Just think about that for a while.
Government Overreach
I don’t subscribe to most conspiracy theories, at least the ones having to do with little green men, Area 51, and the Kennedy assassination. However, if you were to ask me about Area 52, I could tell you about a secret military base (underground) in Arkansas that is powered off the grid by tectonic plates that create energy through the science of “crowd farming,” and that those plates are found in the tiles of 24-hour Walmarts spread around the state of Arkansas. Oh, and I could point out that there are 52 state parks under 52 million square miles, 52 Super Walmarts in Arkansas, and that Arkansas is the global headquarters of Walmart.
But I won’t. That would be craaaazy! You never heard anything from me. Understand?
On the other hand, it is foolhardy to assume the actions of our government are always in our best interests. Like Ronald Reagan once said, the scariest words in the English language are when the government says, “I only want to help you.” That’s why I think if the Bereans were “more noble” for searching the Scriptures instead of taking Paul’s teachings at face value, we should be noble and search the Constitution and Bill of Rights whenever government says they want to keep us safe.
Hopeful
Lastly, may I just say that I am hopeful? Yes, I’m hopeful that what we are seeing in the world is the beginning of another Great Awakening. The slumbering, comfortable Western Church has been slapped back into reality with the forced closures of it’s sanctuaries and parking lots. We have been forced to take “church” outside of the “four walls of normalcy” and out to where ministry can be done.
One thing is for sure, church will never go back to the way it was: it will be different.
The Recovering Legalist 