Things I Think
1. I am not aging well…I find the cultural norms more and more confusing. For example, I was recently sent the story of a man who identifies as a cat. He has had numerous body modification surgeries and tattoos done in order to look like a feline.
He still looks like an eccentric fellow who desires to be something he isn’t and in the world I grew up in he would be regarded as … disturbed. Now, to me, this is entirely his business and his body. However, some argue that he should be regarded as a cat because he chooses to be a cat. I have cats and he is not a cat. His self identification as a cat does not obligate me to deny reality and affirm his desire to be something he isn’t. This, I’m told, makes me a very bad person. I’m ok with that…
2. James MacDonald and his empire are suing a blog and a reporter for defamation. What is interesting about the suit is that it speaks clearly to the change in evangelicalism from a familial model to a corporate model of structure and attitude. From the lawsuit…”Plaintiffs have a right to engage in trade and commerce…” “defamatory speech will take business away and give it to another”, “statement is harmful to James S. MacDonald…in that it interferes with a business contract by a competitor,””Roys…demanded…with the intent to further gain an unfair competitive advantage”,”Roys is…competing to attract the same market share as the Plaintiffs”. This world is not my home…
3. Greg Laurie has endorsed Mark Driscoll’s new book. He hasn’t tweeted his endorsement of MacDonalds lawsuit yet, but it’s early…
4.According to this article, overseas ministries have to pay for the boxes they get from Operation Christmas Child so that OCC doesn’t “foster an unhealthy dependence “….Lord, have mercy…
5. There will be no pushback against any of the players in #’s 2,3, and 4 in Christian media. The programs, the crusades, and the promoting will go on unabated and without censure….while the enlightened quietly slip out the back door to an unbelieving culture ready to salve their wounds…
6. Meanwhile, down on the border…little churches are marshaling their resources and volunteers to care for the latest group of refugees fleeing poverty and violence. No one knows their names, nor the names of their churches. They aren’t sending out brochures or buying time on radio or television. They are simply serving Jesus while serving the least of these…He knows their names…they are the future of His church…
7. My definition of apostasy is when the followers of #’s 2, 3, and 4 have contempt for the people in #6…
8. I think we stand as good a chance of God sending an end times plague as we do Him sending revival…
9. When I hear someone speak on “Why America isn’t in Bible prophecy”, I know I’ll disagree with the rest of their theology as well…
10. I should probably save this for a stand alone article, but I’m running late…I want to address another way in which social media is dehumanizing all of us. It has become commonplace now to see videos recorded on smart phones of people making asses of themselves. These usually involve someone displaying racist behavior or speech deemed politically incorrect by one tribe or another. Now, if the intent behind these videos were to simply shame people into better behavior that would be one thing…but the intent is to identify them and destroy their lives . There is no room given for learning or repentance, certainly no room for forgiveness. If we’re not free to be an ass at times, we’re not free at all…and if ruining someone is that easy for our collective conscience…the next step beyond that will be easier as well…
Well that dude might. It be a cat but I know some dogs that are tired of being slandered by their association with humans of particular behaviors.
Eugene Peterson, RIP.
https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/october/eugene-peterson-died-message-bible-long-obedience-resurrect.html
@#8: The odds are 7:5 as I figure it.
@ 1,
On wanting to be a cat…. One of my kids’ friends in church believed himself to be a cat from about age 3 to 4. His parents let him play cat as long as it didn’t interfere with things like mealtime. Eventually it faded out.
I’ll restrain myself from all the ranting I really want to do on the whole gender identity nonsense. Suffice it to say that the enemy is still hard at work on planet earth.
BD – nice shot.
That wouldn’t happen to be the guy who went by the name “Stalking Cat”, would it?
If so, he moved from California to Seattle where he died a few years ago.
Reason I know this is he used to show up at some of the same fannish events I did. Never actually met him, though. But someone like him tends to stand out even in the type of crowd I run with.
HUC,
I’m not sure who he was…odd duck, though…
giving the quack (or meow) attention for his attention-seeking behavior rewards and increases the dependence and pushes him further from reality. May he be careful darting across the street and groom himself in the privacy of his ‘home.’
#5–I’ll keep the lights on for you…
Taking nothing away from those good souls mentioned in #6, nor from those here who have hearts hurting for those wanting to escape their bad homelands… the march thru Mexico in the news right now is not a good thing and if i have to defend that conclusion …? dunno …
I’m going to say this yet again.
Those people will not get to the border…just like the last caravan didn’t.
The ones who make it through are applying for asylum.
IT IS NOT ILLEGAL TO APPLY FOR ASYLUM
This “invasion”narrative is just another case of desperate people being used to further political gain.
Michael, we do agree that people, desperate people among them, are being used, egregiously perhaps, for political gain.
And, no, it is not illegal to apply for political asylum ? nor should it be….
The government is well aware that these folks will not get through.
Even if they made it all the way to the border, they wouldn’t get through.
Why aren’t they telling you that?
Why doesn’t Fox tell you that?
Why is this being framed as an invasion…when these people have no ability to invade anywhere?
Michael, you are probably correct in guessing that i lean more toward fox than cnn – hopefully i swallow nobody’s propaganda these days, tho… That said, if one really wanted to know what i think is goin’ on today… get a copy of “Ship of Fools”and i can almost guarantee the book’s premise is not what most would assume considering where Tucker Carlson draws his paycheck
As Christians, evangelical or other, we have a hard time focusing with one eye on the pot and the other up the chimney… LOL… The political pot can be dangerous and we who have our citizenship in heaven may be able to stir it down a bit, but ultimately we cannot keep it from boiling over… speaking for and to myself here, even if i don’t like what i see in the world around me today
I don’t get my info on this topic from the media.
I get it from people who are right in the middle of the situation on the scene, who’ve been working with refugees for years.
I’ll spare you from my opinion of Carlson because I try not to swear on the blog.
“Why is this being framed as an invasion…when these people have no ability to invade anywhere?”
Because the government has followers gullible enough to believe it. And, it takes their mind off the fact that their standard of living and quality of life continues to erode and gives them someone (else) to blame.
The last caravan amounted to nothing.
This one will too.
Migrations are a fact of life at this time in history.
Real people fleeing real problems creating different problems for all of us.
It won’t end or go away here or in Europe unless we seek real solutions.
Build the wall…and your children and grandchildren will end up having to deal with how bad it will get when caravans of desperate people are then in possession of Chinese arms…
“when caravans of desperate people are then in possession of Chinese arms…”
Now who is peddling their ideas in fear?
I offer this up as a possibility for framing this as invasion – Mexico told them not to come in and they crashed their way through.
MLD,
If you read real white papers by people on the ground in Central America you would know that the Chinese buying influence is a huge concern among political scientists in the region.
You don’t do that, though.
If Mexico had wanted to stop them they would have and probably will later.
If it’s an invasion…note who they “invaded”…it wasn’t the U.S.
If I was prone to conspiracy theories I’d think that Trump asked Mexico to let him make some hay…but I’m not…
Chinese buying influence is a big deal and is pretty much a concern of anyone who is watching what is unfolding both on our continent and the African continent… But all attempts – good and evil – seem to end up in the pockets of a privileged few, including ours, historically… i would count most western world Christian missionary efforts as the exception to that.
A teacher once told me that the cream rises to the top… Trouble is, so does pond scum… in the real world… and i think that just might be … Biblical ?
I think .. ? .. that the last months of 2018 will be interesting … time for Em to stop pontificating .. . for today at least
God keep
the rise of conspiracies within and instead of the ‘news’ has made every account a moment of hysteria. Few have cornered the market on level-headedness and measured response based on good facts. It seems everyone is trying to make hay on hyperbole and exaggeration. See, I just used it! 🙂
Michael – it doesn’t matter who they invaded – that still makes it an invasion.
What makes you think you are privie to any “white paper” info that isn’t available to any media outlet?
Now you sound much like Chuck Missler and Don Stewart in the mid 80s always referencing the Israeli generals who would speak only to them.
Look, the Chinese buy influence with US $$$$ they gain through unfair trade practices with the US and the trade deficit is their foreign policy spending money. Trump is trying to dry up those dollars with his tariffs – which will bring about something resembling zero tariffs and a balanced trade. I too have good ground sources.
“What makes you think you are privie to any “white paper” info that isn’t available to any media outlet?”
Nowhere have I ever said that.
In fact, everything I read on a regular basis is accessible to the public and the media…if they choose to do the research.
So far, there have been few takers.
It’s more fun to screech about invasions that will never happen and portray each other as evil.
Michael
I don’t care what you think re identification as a cat. Julie Newmar will always be Catwoman to me…so there.
Sheck,
When I was a kid she made me want to be a tom cat too…
I agree that the so called invasion is simply human beings fleeing an untenable situation. Fathers and grandfathers and mothers and grandmothers who look at the situation in their own country and decide it’s more dangerous to stay where they are than to take a 1,000-mile hike looking for a better life for their children. I’m not saying we should let them all come in, but if it was you and your family in the same situation, what would you do? I love my kids with all my heart. I’d do anything to protect them. And so, I presume. would you. I’d be packing our stuff.
#2
I thought enduring false accusation as well as potentially proper criticism was part of the Christian life. If only Jesus would’ve had a good Roman lawyer, the trial before Pilate, could’ve gone differently.
Maybe even the Pharisees would’ve backed off with right strongly worded letter that’s threatened a lawsuit…
Michael,
Some people white paper links would be appreciated. I have zero idea re: the Chinese, and I will listen and read.
Got a source for #4? A church I frequent is a huge trucking hub in OC for OCC. I would like to read more.
6. Millennials, my nephew, love Bowden, you are keeping those thoughts and musings alive.
SJ. there is a link in #4 to click on the source blog article. It is a blog of a long term woman missionary in Africa. I read several of her posts.
Thanks, guess the source needed a heavier tap on the Pad.
The link in #4 is interesting, but I would say to anyone reading don’t miss Doug’s replies (date of 10/22) to Isaac Rachel Mubezi’s comment at the end of the article – to me they offer some relevant balance.
Holy Cow, Michael.
This was excellent.
#8, I’m betting on both in the most unlikeliest and unwelcoming of places.
https://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2018/jul/19/the-only-way-out-is-through-jesus-el-salvadors-brutal-gangs-and-salvation-video
MLD – I have the same sentiments as you, but I always wonder if “Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s” bears any weight in arguments such as this. The US Gov’t has been exacerbating this problem since the braceros, United Fruit Company, and even before that.
I dunno, and I guess that’s already losing half the battle (according to Sun Tzu and GI Joe) and why Jesus gave us such advice as he did.