Differential Polyglot

Abou ben Adhem

by Leigh Hunt 

Abou ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)

Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,

And saw, within the moonlight in his room,

Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,

An Angel writing in a book of gold: 

Exceeding peace had made ben Adhem bold,

And to the Presence in the room he said,

"What writest thou?" The Vision raised its head,

And with a look made of all sweet accord

Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord." 

"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"

Replied the Angel. Abou spoke more low,

But cheerily still; and said, "I pray thee, then,

Write me as one who loves his fellow men." 

The Angel wrote, and vanished. The next night

It came again with a great wakening light,

And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,

And, lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest! 

In the polyglottic sounds of world travel (Dr. Morris has had 8 around the world trips), so many languages, so many sights. God chose this poor farm boy to see the world just as it is his choice to establish the people and languages of the world. The things you want to forget, you remember, the things you want to remember, you forget, but, his grace, power and mercy is sufficient and I remember so many important things. Sights, sounds, smells that have differentiated the polyglot. Laziness, not necessity, determines progress. Technology has changed everything in the world except human nature. It may come as a shock to westerners that most of the world is still enslaved. In Indonesia, the marketplace of expensive handmade carpets, I saw entire families sitting on the ground, multiple threads coming down from spools, working in impossible conditions, weaving carpets for the rich and famous. Because of the lighting, most became blind at a very early age. You can tell the real tapestry-carpet by the workmanship knots on the back... not the beauty of the front and so it is with our lives ("don't judge a book by its cover, a wood by its veneer.").

This writer is convinced that the greatest weakness of mankind, past, present, future, our hesitation and reluctance to recognize a problem. We want to believe that everything is fine. 99% of the time you ask someone how they are feeling, even in the doctors office, they will say, "FINE." Friedrich Neitzsche ("God Is Dead" fame) said, "The abyss into which you look, looks back at you." There are signposts along the way as you slide into the abyss... so few take note of the signs. America, Americans, most of our fellow man, with all of our privilege-potentials, having jumped off the cliff, falling into the abyss are content to just look at one another and say, "So far so good." This comes from being brainwashed-dumbed down by a secular-satanic belief system which teaches the need for popularity and political correctness rather than following divine providence. Most of this has come in my lifetime from the technology of the monsters in your living room, television and computer. We want so much to believe that everything is alright...even our own body. No one knows your body like you. Warts-scars-abuse developed inside just as it shows up outside. We simply refuse to recognize the risks we take everyday, germs in the operating room, certain death from a speeding car in the opposite lane just six feet away, lightning, just one piece of anything lodged in your throat. Even though the creator of the Universe left us the manufacturers handbook (Holy Bible), men have simply refused to live at peace with one another... nations as well as neighbors. Every civilization is encircled by enemies. America is so broken, so mired by the abyss that it cannot respond to a crisis. Most American families have decided they would much rather send their sons and daughters to war than have fewer cars in the driveway and the highway.

Our ancestors challenge for a democracy has become just a demonic thrill... low men and women in high places. Voting has become a futile effort. You cannot defeat a plurality that lives off the government, the bureaucrats that work for the government, the nearly 50% of the population that get government checks. All animal life is blessed with protective instincts... the eagle and other avian life prepares the nest. On the farm we always knew when the sow was going to deliver her pigs because she would prepare her bed. God has given his own a protective shelter of redemption, grace and mercy. AND, its never how hard you have fallen into the abyss but how high you can bounce. God expects mankind to be tied to something larger than man-himself. He is well able to supply every need.

Most canvas painters-artists know that regardless of the person in the painting, the pastoral scene, no matter the fame of the person, the beauty of the landscape, the public knows and remembers every painting by the one that signs his name on the bottom-the artist. The painting of George Washington which Dolly Madison saved from the White House when our friends, the British, burned down the building (1814) is known as the Gilbert Stuart.

A Vapor That Vanishes

2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. (James 4:2-4)

Grace Gems 09/22/14

How much did he leave?

(J.R. Miller, "The Shining Light" 1911)

"What is a man profited, if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" Matthew 16:26

That is putting the case in its most favorable light. The whole world is the largest possible gain. But suppose a man does get the whole world . . .
  it cannot keep him from pain or trouble;
  it cannot give him peace of conscience;
  it cannot comfort him in sorrow;
  it cannot make a soft pillow for him when he is dying;
  it cannot purchase Heaven for him when he is gone.

All he can do with the world, after he has it, is to keep it for a short time until he dies--he cannot carry any part of it with him to eternity.

"How much did he leave?" asked one, referring to a millionaire who had just died. "Every cent!" was the reply. He left all. So it is easy to see that there is no profit--but rather a fearful and eternal loss, in gaining even all the world at the price of one's soul."Then the rich man said: 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.' 
And I'll say to myself: 'You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry!' 
But God said to him: 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." Luke 12:18-21

Addition Dr. Morris: 

This writer is a veteran of the Korean Conflict, I was a teenager during WW2. My father, all my uncles, even some cousins, had gone to war. My mother's parents, old and disabled trying to hold on to their farm while their only son was at war in the South Pacific. A cousin, large landowner, said, "If the war lasts a little longer, I will be able to wallpaper my barns with $20 bills." I could not help but think of these words when I attended his funeral, empty hands in an expensive casket. 

It makes no difference how rich you are, Queen of England, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, you leave this world with empty hands AND, that final breath you cannot buy one second more. Life is a vapor that vanishes very quickly and in the cemetery, there are as many short graves as long graves. Great missionary C.T. Studd once said, "Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last."

An American Comedy

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. 

Psalms 2:4-5 

One of the longest running broadway plays set during the roaring twenties was the play, "Chicago". It was often called an American comedy because it depicted in vivid detail the spiritual, intellectual, political satire of the administration of criminal justice, the flotsam (shipwreck) of Americana. The wreckage of our american experience though many have a tendency to laugh about any and everything, is more a tragedy than a comedy. Herein, these words, like music, a message inside my head that no one else could possibly hear.

There is nothing as bleak, lifeless, as a desert. I went into the Sahara Desert from Algeria, Egypt and Mali... vast oceans of just sand. I crossed the Gobi Desert by train, vast oceans of sand with just a single railroad track. There are actually people who live in these lifeless places. My driver, taking me out into the Sahara in a Jeep, stopped in order for me to take photographs of nothingness. He spotted a spot on the horizon, could not tell at first what it was. A native Arab kept walking towards us... a long walk in the blazing heat, covered head to toe. After a long time, he walked up to us, came over to me and just looked me over. I always have gifts for natives, I gave him a pen-tablet, a cigarette lighter and chewing gum. He just nodded and walked away. Later, nearer to civilization, I came across native boys who had dug down deep in the desert and brought forth petrified plants (the petrified bush in the above photograph, I brought back from the Sahara). I believe I paid the boys $2 for this bush which grew thousands of years ago in the desert. You see, in epochs past-history of this planet, vegetation grew in the Sahara. Over a long period of time, the vegetation was covered by sand... the plants petrified. We know at one time, even the Antarctic was not covered with ice. Such has been the change in the crust of this Earth.

It is time to consider what has happened above sea level to genus Homo, considered intelligent. Are our morals, values, intellectual accomplishments being inundated by the sand-dirt, regression which some call progress.

Our ancestors, both the religious and non religious, when they stopped crying would laugh at the foolishness of mankind today, having come so far to lose it all so quickly. Many, having jumped off the empire state building, just before the big splash on the pavement, in their stupidity, would say, "So far, so good." 

When this writer's ancestors landed on the shores of New Jersey, from the Good Ship Kent, in 1677, that horrendous voyage across a dangerous ocean, it was just a matter of survival. They had left the "wisdom" of Europe but sought something that "wisdom" could not supply, freedom. I have here in this room, their cast iron fireplace cooking pot. There were no work animals, supplies of any type, only that which their own hands provided. To eat, so they could work, they first built a chimney in which they could hang this iron cooking pot. They probably had one bucket, a few spoons, perhaps a shovel, ax, hammer etc. They next built a shelter around the chimney so they would have living space on land. From this type of survival, circumstances to which we would not commit animals, they advanced-conquered-built what became the most advanced nation in the world.

This writer is probably one of the last men allowed into the Great Pyramid at Cairo in Egypt. Since that time, the public has not been allowed into the pyramid. The inner chamber, large enough to place both St. Paul's and Notre Dame's cathedrals, built of thousands of blocks of stone each weighing 40-60 tons, blocks joined together so accurately that even a human hair cannot go in between, before the time of geometry, astrology and other advanced sciences, built at the very epicenter of earth's landmass, the interior has the constant temperature of 68 degrees fahrenheit, the best temperature for mans survival. Many books have been written about this great structure, the only structure other than the great wall of china which can be seen from space. It was there when Jesus was carried into Egypt by his parents, it was there during the great flood of Noah, and to this day with all the "smarts" of mankind, no one can determine how it was built. So remarkable its construction, that the most expensive building ever built on earth, Solomon's Temple (estimated value even then: $14 Billion), has the same footprint... 13 acres. Man had much knowledge before the founding of America, but America has developed and manufactured almost every modern technological advance... the world's super military power. America sent out 90% of all Christian missionaries, yet today, only 20% of Americans attend worship services of any type. America even designed and built the vehicles and engines, planes and ships which traverse the world. Yet even the cities-plants where these miracles of transportation and aviation were built are now mostly closed. The fiber, chemicals, academia developed in America has left its shores. Its people squalling for jobs, lost opportunities.

A nation which cultivated every type of education opportunity, libraries, foundations, now supports such a degenerate public education system that many parents choose to homeschool just as my ancestors did, landing and founding Morristown, NJ., and after building homes, schools, stores, set up systems for a civilized culture. With all of our opportunities, more of our fellow citizens imprisoned than any other country (25% of the WORLD's criminals are housed in American prisons).

For those idiots who laugh at everything remotely funny, radio, television, even the church house, the song is dead, "Nothing is coming up roses..." we are on a downward slide, heading for covering by the desert sands of history. This writer, born in poverty on a dirt road, no power or phone lines, worked his way through education opportunities. This young boy, standing with a metal case filled with bible samples probably saw then, 70 years ago, the best years of his life. He knew that he was standing on the shoulders of his fore bearers and all he had was opportunity, if willing to pay the price. Do you have in the White House, State House, Court House, Church House or even YOUR house, those who are still willing to pay the same price?

Magnificence

O yes, He cares, I know He cares,

His heart is touched with my grief;

  When the days are weary,

  The long night dreary,

  I know my Savior cares.

The place called Calvary!

(John Stott, "The Message of Galatians")

"When they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him!" Luke 23:33

Every time we look at the Cross, Jesus seems to say to us,
"I am here because of you! It is . . .
 your sin that I am bearing,
 your curse that I am suffering,
 your dept that I am paying,
 your death that I am dying!"

Nothing in the universe cuts us down to size, like the Cross! All of us have inflated views of ourselves--until we have visited the place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the Cross, that we shrink to our true size.

"When we were utterly helpless, Christ died for the ungodly!" Romans 5:6

Addition Dr. Morris: 

It has always been interesting to hear the uninformed talk about religious subjects. One woman said, "Golgotha was the giant who slew the apostle David." There was nothing pretty about Calvary, Golgotha, where crucifixions occurred. There were flies, still parts of crosses, sniffing dogs roaming around, and it was there our Blessed Lord was put to death.

Every day of this writers life, I thank God for what Jesus did for me at Calvary... salvation of my soul and the healing of my body. "By his stripes we are healed," (Isaiah 53:5) and Peter looking back, "By his stripes we WERE healed," (1 Peter 2:24). The cross is at the epicenter of all creation and civilization. Those on the other side of the cross look forward to the cross, we, on this side of the cross, look backwards to the cross. Just two pieces of timber. The vertical piece of wood points towards heaven, the horizontal piece of wood points east and west around the world. There are many symbols in the world, not one of them compares to the cross.

We sing, talk, even wear crosses. but is the cross the centerpiece of our life, the constant remembrance in our church. I can remember going to so many church houses and never seeing a cross (this was back when I had sight). There are many things with which I cannot agree in Catholicism. One thing which I can agree on is their emphasis on the cross, in their cathedrals, hospitals and schools. There are many things with which I cannot agree, in recent years, attempting to please young people, the beat and clatter of modernistic music in the church house... I like the old hymns which remind us of the cross... "Jesus Keep Me Near The Cross", "Beneath The Cross of Jesus" etc.

The soil is level at the foot of the cross, just as available to the poor as for the rich, the ugly as well as the beautiful. Too many stumble at the foot of the cross. Not depending on it's complete fulfillment, wanting to cling to a denominational belief, some book or some interpretation of man. The cross is complete, free, glorious. We are expected to deny self and take up his cross (Matthew 16:24). Jesus chooses the cross for us to bear... even disability, even poverty, even blindness.

Must Jesus bear the cross alone, 

And all the world go free? 

No, there's a cross for everyone, 

And there's a cross for me.

A Cathartic Labor Day

I walked a mile with pleasure;

She chatted all the way;

But left me none the wiser

For all she had to say

I walked a mile with Sorrow,

And ne’er a word said she;

But, oh, the things I learned from her 

When Sorrow walked with me!

-Robert Browning

A Catholic friend said to this writer recently, "I am a recovering Catholic, I have gotten over Catholicism." We live in a time where many people have gotten over work. I have many cathartic memories on this Labor Day. Memories of hard-working parents often working by lantern light. Young people are clueless about real work. In a day of cell phones, jet planes, miracle drugs, they have no idea what life was like when I was a child. There was less illness because all toxins escaped the body through sweat.

The greatest picture in the bible is a depiction which Jesus gave us of taking a yoke upon us. The yoke is a wooden crosspiece fastened over the shoulders of two oxen attached to the load they were to pull. "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest upon your soul." - Matthew 11:29. I still remember the yokes attached to the oxen as they pulled large logs from the swamps. We live in a time where everyone wants to work as little as possible. Most conversations around workers involves the day off, vacations, retirement. People at three martini luncheons, lunches which cost more than what I spend on groceries for six months, conversation at the country club, golf course all involved recreation, entertainment, not real accomplishment.

I hired a sixth grade teacher to do some typing for me on the weekends when she was not in school. I said to her, "Does it bother today's public school teachers that there is such a low opinion about education? So many parents placing their children in private and charter schools, or simply keeping their children at home for homeschooling?" She said, "Most teachers I know are completely 'indifferent' about the education of children. It has become a matter of entertaining them and our survival." On one of my trips to South America, a teacher told me that the third time she was hit by a student, she decided it was time for her to quit teaching. BUT, before I go any further, I want to impress upon my readers the glaring fact that I have decided, and think about this, from the pulpit, from the political podium, even from the secular teleprompter, it is so easy to criticize the sins and failures of people. When will we get concerned WHY these sins and failures? When will we learn that Satan is on the job 24 hours of every day, that he has us in his clutches? That we cannot fight a war for righteousness from air-conditioned, politically correct fox holes.

There are only two places that we can get deliverance from the attitudes which beset us... the eternal word of God, and prayer. There are two things which the Atheist will never be able to explain, in spite of their "wisdom", their desire to rationalize-compromise everything. Firstly, the unbeliever-Atheist can never explain the knowledge of good and evil written in the heart of every person whether a believer in God or not. The most evil person knows when he is doing evil. The second thing, they can never explain the cosmos, that god is caretaker of the planets, that everything moves even the tides of the oceans according to a set design. I know, as well as I know anything, that the employees which have worked for me over the years, knew they were wrong when they stole from me. In one of my businesses, someone cut two paintings, canvases, from their frames. Don't you know that they knew they were doing wrong, robbing an old, blind war veteran? Those of us who did not win life's lottery, not born to ancestry with great DNA, not born to wealth, not born real smart, not born real good-looking, have had to work every step of the way, we knew the value of a dollar. How to take care of our clothing, our vehicles. Every article of clothing I wear comes from a secondhand store. I thought about this recently when I learned that one movie star, John Davidson, always wears a new pair of socks. He wears a pair of socks once and then throws them away. It is the same with people who throw food away. I never throw food away because I have seen too many hungry people around the world. It is refreshing to know (for a tightwad like me) that after our Blessed Lord blessed a small boys lunch, that his mother had been careful to prepare, and fed thousands, that the leftovers were saved.

"God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform" (William Kepler). He did not choose to lavish wealth on everyone, if God could have wanted, he could have moved the three million Jewish slaves from Egypt with fiery chariots instead of marching them through the Red Sea, 40 years of humiliation in the wilderness before allowing them to go into the land of milk and honey. Perhaps the unequal playing field was my most troubling barrier as a young person, my hard working, god fearing, tax paying father would take us into town AND, I believe, would intentionally drive by the fabulous homes, golf courses where the wealthy-successful lived and played. I do believe he wanted us to realize that we could live better if we worked, prayed, sacrificed. Many of us were determined not to live our lives on a dirt road without electric and phone lines, homes without indoor plumbing. We learned to live by faith and faith is a verb, action based on belief, sustained by confidence. We had the confidence that we could do better, that when chosen by God, you can do anything. Often, God chooses a cross for you to bear... disability, even blindness. But the world is full of people, pace setters like those described in Hebrews 11 as well as "... those of whom the Earth was not worthy" who have achieved often starting at minimum wage, or working in the hot sun, or working in impossible situations such as sweat shops. This is the challenge of Labor Day.

I remember, as if yesterday, the day my anatomy professor told me how one can commit a perfect murder. You use an old fashioned hat pin. Run the hat pin through the pupil of the eye, the retina and its supporting bone structure is easy to penetrate and you immediately cause a stroke in the brain. The hat pin can be withdrawn and most medical observers would never notice or suspect. Political piranhas, modernistic pastors, indifferent-sloven parents, often take the easy way out... not fully convinced of anything. Is it less than murder to concentrate on the outside instead of perfecting the inside?

Have A Coke!

Can’t shake it, can’t fake it…The feeling you get from a Coca-Cola…Can’t beat it! Can’t beat the real thing. You can’t beat the feeling!”

SEPTEMBER 3, 2014 by JOHN SUMMERLY

Where Coke Thrives and Belongs - In The Toilet

The phosphoric acid in Coke has an immediate effect on the body which triggers tiny inflammatory cascades which result from the irritability of the esophagus and blood vessels. A good example of how effective Coke is at literally cutting through surfaces, is how effective it is at cleaning.


The video above gives us a good idea of how Coke behaves as a cleaning agent. So what does it do to the body?
5 Things Coke Does To The Body

1. Causes mechanical damage to cells which is a huge risk factor for cancer. It's why asbestos particles, for example, cause lung cancer.
   
2. Causes acid reflux (stomach acid rising up past the esophageal valve). This is more pronounced when the body is horizontal (as in sleeping), but the sheer volume of Coke and soft drinks consumed in the USA means the acid reflux is well past the danger point. Any time you ingest a gassy drink, you are going to get belching--and acid into the esophagus. How much is too much? The research doesn't say where the limit is--it only shows that most of us are far, far, far past it.
   
3. Stomach acid dissolves tissue--that's its purpose. The stomach lining does not extend into the esophagus, so the lower esophagus gets damaged by acid far more frequently in soft drink users than in non soft drink users. This results in a radical increase in cell mutations, along with a far higher level of free radicals.
   
4. The carbonation irritates the stomach. The stomach "cures" the irritation the only way it knows how. It adds the only antacid at its disposal: calcium. It gets this from the blood. The blood, now low on calcium, replenishes its supply from the bones. If it did not do this, muscular and brain function would be severely impaired.
   
5. Phosphoric acid reduces the calcium in the bones. Binding calcium with other materials, such as phosphorus, creates insoluble compounds that are poorly absorbed. Phosphoric acid, used in most soda drinks provide a “kick” which powerfully binds to calcium in the intestinal tract, forming calcium phosphates. So what the body does is pull the calcium from the bones and other tissues in order to buffer the calcium in the blood. This process actually causes osteoporosis.

20 Uses For Coke Proves It Does Not Belong In The Human Body
(Acts As An Acidic Cleaner Almost As Strong As Battery Acid)
The amount of acid in soda is enough to wear away at the enamel of your teeth, making them more susceptible to decay. In tests done on the acidity levels of soda, certain ones were found to have PH levels as low as 2.5. To put that into perspective, consider that battery acid has a pH of 1 and pure water has a pH of 7.
1. Removes grease stains from clothing and fabric
2. Removes rust; methods include using fabric dipped in Coke, a sponge or even aluminum foil. Also loosens rusty bolts
3. Removes blood stains from clothing and fabric.
4. Cleans oil stains from a garage floor; let the stain soak, hose off.
5. Kills slugs and snails; the acids kills them.
6. Cleans burnt pans; let the pan soak in the Coke, then rinse.
7. Descales a kettle (same method as with burnt pans)
8. Cleans car battery terminals by pouring a small amount of Coke over each one.
9. Cleans your engine; Coke distributors have been using this technique for decades.
10. Makes pennies shine; soaking old pennies in Coke will remove the tarnish.
11. Cleans tile grout; pour onto kitchen floor, leave for a few minutes, wipe up.
12. Dissolves a tooth; Use a sealed container...takes a while but it does work.
13. Removes gum from hair; dip into a small bowl of Coke, leave a few minutes. Gum will wipe off.
14. Removes stains from vitreous china.
15. Got a dirty pool? Adding two 2-liter bottles of Coke clears up rust.
16. You can remove (or fade) dye from hair by pouring diet Coke over it.
17. Remove marker stains from carpet. Applying Coke, scrubbing and then clean with soapy water will remove marker stains.
18. Cleans a toilet; pour around bowl, leave for a while, flush clean.
19. Coke and aluminum foil will bring Chrome to a high shine.
20. Strips paint off metal furniture. Soak a towel in Coke laying it on the paint surface.
John Summerly is nutritionist, herbologist, and homeopathic practitioner. He is a leader in the natural health community and consults athletes, executives and most of all parents of children on the benefits of complementary therapies for health and prevention.

Addition Dr. Morris: Christian Missionaries have told me that they have never been to any place in the world where they did not find Coca-Cola signs. There is no church, often no hospital or library, but always advertising for Coke. The most collectible items in the world, Coca-Cola memorabilia.


Once, in London, England, I met a couple who were there buying antiques for their home. He told me of the poverty from which he had risen, raised on a cotton farm at present day Arlington in between Dallas and Fort Worth. He said, "My ambition was to drive a Coca-Cola truck. In the field, picking cotton, the Coke truck would come by and I would think, if I could drive that truck, I could drink all the Coke I wanted." Of course he had become a very successful man (buying antiques for their home in Europe) and after reading the above would be glad he didn't drink so much Coke. As a child, seeing my father put Coke on rusty farm equipment, using Coke as a cleaner, I knew that putting Coke, like so many other things in your body, was a real disaster just waiting to happen. Throughout the world, there are 1.7 BILLION Cokes served each day. One of the most famous advertisements ever produced, Santa Claus with a Coke, "A Pause That Refreshes." When will health scientists, who know about these things, get off the politically correct horse they are riding and tell the truth about drinks such as Coke, even so called energy drinks, diet drinks and even fluoride in municipal water systems. Your government, and those enabled by your government, has you captured by a satanic mantra of "feels good, tastes good, pick-me-up" philosophy of living. The most important factor in the human body, cell metabolism, the mitochondria, stimulated by nutrition. When was the last time your doctor, or any other healthcare professional, talked with you about the things you put in your mouth... food, drink, addictive substances. If you think Coke does no harm to your body, put a rusty nail in a glass filled with Coke and watch it dissolve not only the rust but the entire nail.

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." - 2 Corinthians 10:31

Power Steering

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

The will of God will not lead us where the grace of God will not keep us, where the power of God will not protect us. It is this writers experience that believers, certainly unbelievers, have no idea about the power of God. They cannot conceive that the "CARETAKER" of planets can have a direct relationship with them, that God has the very hairs on your head numbered (Luke 12:7)

No one must tell this writer that he is an old man, I feel every day of my age (84). Generation X, about to retire, and certainly the Millennial Generation (18-34) know nothing about vehicles before power steering, running boards, the time when there were no heaters or radios in cars. My first new Chevrolet, 1952, did not have a heater or radio (this new car cost $2000, money I had made selling bibles door to door during the summer. The price of the car was over and above the money it cost me to go to school that year at UNC-Chapel Hill. I understand now that it costs $25,000 a school year for a NC resident and $50,000 a year for an out of state resident. When I was a student at UNC-CH and U.T. for eight years becoming a Doctor, there was no such thing as grants or financial aid of any type. I was on my own.) My first car, 1941 Plymouth, used, cost $85. It did not have power steering, nor did any cars, trucks, tractors at that time. Just imagine driving a long distance truck, or plowing in a field all day with a tractor without power steering. Yet, these hard working, God-fearing, tax paying ancestors of ours, consider themselves very blessed because those working hard before them were mostly working with horses and mules... the farmers, laborers of a hundred years ago, not that long, knew the bloody sweat of toil-hard work.

This writers ancestors, even this writer, born on a dirt road without power, phone, or water lines, like my ancestors before me, knew without any doubt that our hands and feet were involved on Earth but our hearts were in Heaven. Our citizenship was in Heaven, we were just passing through (Philippians 3:20). But we were ambassadors here, chosen by God to make a good impression on others. "But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;" (1 Peter 2:9) We were not to act like unbelievers, we were not taught to talk, dress, behave like unbelievers. We knew from where our power came. 

"You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:4)

As a field grade Army Officer, I was on a need to know basis. God has ALL of us on a need to know basis, he even keeps silent about many things. Unbelievers, if jumping off the 103rd floor of the Empire State Building, just before hitting the bottom, would say, "So far so good." Where are those in congress, those on campuses, those in communities, who have the intelligence to see how fast we are falling. Microscopic disease organisms were not created along with the invention of van Leeuwenhoek's microscope, they were already there. Far flung planets in space were not created with Galileo's telescope, they were already there. The power of God is revealed to us as he chooses. My ancestors never could have believed that children would be walking around talking into a small phone in their hand or taking photographs with the same instrument. BUT, just as there was violence in the world with people, from their creation, the first two children Cain and Abel, Cain killed Abel. A virus, like violence, has always been here, cannot be kept in a box. Just the power of a virus, just the atrocities of violence are now experienced. God is talking about his power but men are not listening. Think of the power of the fifty mile wide volcano in Yellowstone National Park, ready to erupt, ashes that could block out growing seasons for years. Or as in past history, the ash from the volcanoes in Iceland, blocking out growing seasons and starving Europe. 

In recent history, we talk about bubbles, the Y2K panic, the dotcom-stock market recession, the housing disaster and now the next great bubble attempt to eliminate the Christian Church. Iraq, where thousands of Muslims have killed one another, now an attempt is being made to kill the Christians there. Two Catholic Diocese along with their bishops have disappeared in the past year. We are experiencing a time unlike any in history and yet the state-secular-frothing media pretends not to notice. Even Christian leaders, around the world, so good at pretention are too busy with their modernistic-Madison Avenue theology to pay any attention to the mocking of the church, the bride of our Blessed Lord. 

When Jesus walked the Earth, 1/3 of the Roman population were slaves. We have more slavery and abortion today than at any time in history... the killing and treachery to God's greatest creation, humankind. Just think, man, created in the image of God, possessing the power to communicate directly with God. Just think, man, redeemed by the power of God, to have a relationship with him because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. With all the accomplishments of mankind, there is nothing within the belief system of Man to compare with the power of prayer.

For Christmas one year, a small girl got a miniature village in which there were schools, churches, houses, libraries, hospitals, she said, "This is a Christian town." Have you ever considered what a Heathen Town would be like, a town that has never experienced the power of God. No schools, hospitals, libraries, churches, homes for orphans or old people. There are two things the Atheist, the heathen, cannot understand or put in their town... the vastness of the Universe and the innateness of Man although conceived in sin, to know right from wrong and allow good to overcome evil. The power of God can power steer Man to a relationship with God.