Today's paper

In today's Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper, there was an article about the Town of Greece being sued for allowing prayer before their meetings:
http://www.rochesterdandc.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080229/NEWS01/802290364

What is my thought on this? Well, clearly, the Town of Greece is violating the principles established by our forefathers. I mean, in the Constitutional Convention, when Benjamin Franklin said:

"In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings?...

I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that "except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it." I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing Governments by Human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.

I therefore beg leave to move-that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to officiate in that Service.

(ok, that was more than I intended to post of the quote, but it was all good!)

And then there's George Washington:

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports... Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles." - George Washington, Farewell address

And the people at the Town really should consider Abraham Lincoln:

"God rules this world. It is the duty of nations as well as men to owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow... and to recognize the sublime truths that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord." - Abraham Lincoln

But, President Lincoln wasn't one of the founding fathers, so he doesn't count.

I am reminded again, as was brought to our attention Wednesday with Tom Stiles from New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedom, that we need to pray for our rulers. Right now the Town of Greece is standing up for a religious right that it has, and a religious right that our local clergy currently has. Let's pray that these rights don't get taken away because some anti-Christians are making a fuss.

ok, and on a side note... Benjamin Franklin mentioned Babel in his post, and recently I was reading that account in Genesis. Did you know that the city that they were building is what is called Babel? If you read the account, God used tongues to keep them from making their city which He called Babel. The "Tower of Babel" should more properly be called the Tower which was in the City of Babel. "What's your point?" you may ask (and it has nothing to do with the first part of this post). Well, we need to read the Bible with fresh eyes. Trying to ignore those things which we take for granted, and only focus on those things which God's word actually says to us. How hard, how impossible that is... I wonder if I should have stretched this out into a post for Monday?! oh well...

Just a couple of thoughts

Thank you, Noah

Genesis 8:20: And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Genesis 8:21: And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

I had never put these two verses together before. And, maybe today I am connecting things that God did not intend for me to connect. But those verses above say that Noah offered, the LORD smelled a sweet savour, and then He said, I will not again curse the ground...

Was it Noah's sweet smelling sacrifice that moved God to establish the covenant to not destroy the earth again with a flood? Was it because of Noah?

If so, I wonder how many times the sacrifices that we offer to God (for example: "sacrifices of righteousness" [Ps. 3:5]) impact other people in a greater way. Noah only enjoyed some 300 years of that covenant with God. Whereas, the rest of us have enjoyed it for a total of 4,000 years or so. I personally haven't enjoyed it that long, but the rest of mankind has.

Anyway, just a thought

SET them there

Colossians 3:2
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

I was reading Piper's book on Jonathan Edwards (A God-Entranced Vision of All Things). There were a few things in there that really opened my eyes to some things that I probably will be sharing on this blog in the near future. One of them had to do with what Piper has called the Duty of Delight. That is, it is our duty not only to do those things which glorify God, but to do those things with delight.

Usually, my reponse to that is: Yeah, right! But for whatever reason last night, I think it finally started getting through. Then, while thinking on that a bit, Colossians 3:2 came to mind. It says: "Set your affections" on something. I always imagined that either I want to do something, or not want to do something - either I would have the desire, or not. This verse is saying that we are to actively set our affections on something. It is active, something we do, not passive, something that happens to us.

How do we set our affections on things above? Well, I think first we have to be looking at things above. We need to determine what things are of God, and what things are of the world. After we have determined what things glorify God, then it is time to set our affections on them. Second, I think we have to take a minute before we perform whatever 'duty' it is that we are going to, after having recognized that the purpose of doing the duty is to glorify, to please God, and purpose in our hearts to be glad that what we are doing does, in fact, bring pleasure to our God.

When I look at the task I am about to perform, and I know that the task is one that is going to bring pleasure to God, then I can do it with delight - even if that task is something that 'under the sun' is very difficult to do. I can type this blog every day with delight, if I belive that it brings pleasure to God. I can go to church even on days I don't want to, if I believe that by doing so it brings glory to God. I could happily fast, pray, give all that I have, study, minister, preach, teach, be hospitable, witness, sing, or whatsoever I do, as long as I am doing it with my affections set on doing it to please God.

When our focus is on God, we will never be disappointed. When our focus is on things or people around us, it is quite easy to be disappointed - they may let us down, He will not. The only thing that we need to fear is our own failure of setting our affections on God. It is when we fail to do that, that problems may come. SET your affection on things above.

Just a delightful thought...

The Image of God

Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

My thought today is an incomplete one. Perhaps, it is just a suggestion for us to think about a little more. We all know that God created man in His own image...

Wait a minute, I think we pass by that a bit too glibly. God created man in the image of Himself. Adam was created with the image of Almighty God! No, I don't really understand what that means. I do know that sin has so marred that image, that when Seth was born, Genesis 5:3 says that he was born in the image of Adam. But even with this image of Adam, James 3:9 says that men are "made after the similitude of God."

I guess I am not sure if I am looking for more than is there. Is it simply that "God" in whose image man was made has a head, 2 arms, 2 legs, etc.? Or is it more than that? Is it that God is a Triune being with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and man is Soul, Body, and Spirit? Or does His image given to Adam extend to the "image" of holiness and righteousness?

I don't know...

What I do know is that Christians are to be conformed to the image of Christ. In fact, it is predestined that we WILL be conformed to the image of Jesus - when He shall appear (Rom 8:29, 1 John 3:2).

Anyway, just some random thoughts...

Backup

Today's thought has little to do with spirituality. Maybe by the time I am done writing, I will think of something. Anyway...

BACKUP!!

Yup, I am a computer guy, and I recommend to everyone to backup all of your data regularly. You never know when a hard drive is going to stop working. I had a friend who had a Mac for only 6 days and its hard drive died. My PC, on the other hand, has gone for almost an entire year, but alas... grinding... click, click... Disk Read Error...

Now, I did not follow my own advice. I did not have most of the stuff, at least the recent stuff, backed up. Things like: 16 out of my 36 thesis topics... my Email... some recent pictures... not to mention a bunch of work related stuff that would bore you to talk about... Oh, and then there's the issue of the two missionaries' whose websites are done in Flash, that I cannot make changes to their Flash files because they were on there... (nobody tell them, ok!)

Alright, I hope that a Data Recovery Service will be able to help me out, but it will probably cost a bit. The moral of the story: A little extra time spent now, will probably save you more time (and money!) in the long run. I can't think of a verse with that principle, but I'm sure it would contain the word: FOOL, and I would fit the bill.

I am going to go back to the fetal position now and cry a little more...

Just a thought