Blog Archives

PUT ME IN COACH!

8/30/2019

Technically, the night before "All Saints Day", which falls annually on November 1st, is called "All Hallows’ Eve". While "Halloween", as it is more commonly known, is over two months away, given that former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was not far off when he noted that most football fans here within the Southeastern Conference esteem football as something akin to religion, tonight might be seen as a sacred night.

This is because the long awaited opening day of this year’s college football season is tomorrow. Even now, excitement is brewing. And by this time tomorrow night, emotions will be running quite high. Therefore, I thought I would take a moment to interject a little levity before all the tensions associated with the game of football begin.

For no matter how week one’s box scores eventually read, someone is sure to need a little cheering up before it’s all over. With these things in mind, I share the following football story popularized by Paul W. Powell. It seems that…

A substitute quarterback was sitting on the bench while the game was going on. The coach called him and said, “We are losing this ball game through stupid quarterbacking. I want you to go in there and do exactly what I tell you, understand?” The substitute quarterback said, “Yes, sir!”

The coach said, “On the first play you take the ball yourself on the left-hand sweep. You’re going to be new in there and they’re not going to be looking for you.” He said, “All right, coach.” The coach said, “On the second play, you take the ball again, run a slant play right over the left tackle, you understand?” He said, “Yes, coach.”

“On the third play,” the coach said, “I want you to make a long pass to Hank Miller, you understand?” He said, “Yes, sir!” The coach said, “And on the fourth play, kick!”

The substitute quarterback went in and did exactly what the coach said. On the first play he went around that left end and the coach was right. They weren’t looking for him and he picked up twenty yards. On the second play he did what the coach said again. This time he went over that left tackle on a slant play and a hole opened up and he cut back and picked up fifteen more yards.

The third play was that long pass to Hank Miller, and it was a dinger! Fifteen yards in the air and old Hank snagged it and ran twelve more before they got him down. He was at the three-yard line, with ten seconds to go.

On the fourth play, the substitute quarterback dutifully kicked the ball the way the coach said, and it went clear out of the stadium. The coach, of course, was livid. When the quarterback came back to the bench, the coach grabbed him by the shoulder pads and said, “Son, what were you thinking out there?” He replied, “Well, to be completely honest, I was thinking what a stupid coach we have!”

By this time tomorrow night, many football fans will be happy and thinking just how smart there coach is. Others will be sad and beginning to question just how much smarts there coach actually has! For my part, I hope my favorite team has a really smart coach. I’m just hoping for a few smart players as well!

SOURCE: Powell, Paul. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Retirement (Dallas: Texas Baptist Leadership Center, 2000), pp. 111-112. Available online at: https://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php?id=146507.

BUSTED!

8/26/2019

We’ve all heard the phrase, "You know you’re having a bad when…" The good folks over at “You-Can-Be-Funny.com have built upon this notion and posted a humorous piece titled: "Signs You're Having A Bad Day".

In addition to cute cartoons showing a convict tunneling out from under a jail and headed directly for a septic tank and a 747 jet landing in a car’s rear view mirror, among the numerous things listed are:

A black cat crosses your path and drops dead.
A copy of your birth certificate comes in the mail marked null and void.
Everyone avoids you the morning after the company office party.
Everyone is laughing but you.
It costs more to fill up your car than it did to buy it.
Nothing you own is actually paid for.
People give you the senior citizen discount and you're only 37.
People send your wife sympathy cards on your anniversary.
The bird singing outside your window is a vulture.
The bride's family throws rocks instead of rice.
The city turns your water off just as you need to rinse out the shampoo.
The department of biological warfare asks for your stew recipe.
The house is messy again before you can finish cleaning.
The little league puts you on waivers.
The moths in your money belt starve to death.
The pest exterminator crawls under your house and never comes out.
The plumber floats by on your kitchen table.
The power is out and you go on to work never hearing it was canceled on TV.
The worst player on the golf course wants to play you for money.
Uninvited guests showed up at dinnertime.
You call suicide prevention and they put you on hold.
You can't afford to drive your new car.
You get to work and find a "60 Minutes" news team waiting in your office.
You have an appointment in five minutes, and you just woke up.
You have to borrow from your VISA to pay off your MASTER CARD.
You have to hitch hike to the bank to make your car payment.
You need one bathroom scale for each foot.
You see your stockbroker hitchhiking out of town.
You step on the talking scales and it says, “One at a time please.”
You take ½ day vacation and find out your appointment is tomorrow.
You turn on the news and they are showing emergency routes out of the city.
You wake up to the soothing sound of running water...and remember that you just bought a waterbed.
Your 4-year-old tells you that it's almost impossible to flush a grapefruit.
Your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles.
Your boss tells you not to bother to take off your coat.
Your computer quits one day over its warranty.
Your doctor tells you that you are allergic to chocolate chip cookies.
Your get one free coupon ended yesterday.
Your pacemaker has only a thirty day guarantee.
Your plants do better when you don't talk to them.
Your twin sister forgets your birthday.
Your wife is sitting on the stove holding a picket sign.
Your wife takes the dog on vacation and leaves you at the kennels.
Your wife tapes your picture to the dart board.
Your wife wraps your lunch in a road map.
You’re running late and you find out your battery is dead.
You’re the only one who thought the invitation said casual.

And last, but not least...

Your secretary tells you the FBI is on line 1, the DA is on line 2, and CBS is on line 3.

How many of these can you relate to personally? For my own part, I’ll have to admit to more than I prefer! Of course, most of these are said "tongue in cheek". But every so often, truth is indeed stranger than fiction. As was the case recently in New York, where according to a recent headline, a "New York man allegedly impersonating a police officer pulls over van of detectives".

The article, written by Nicole Darrah and published on August 19, 2019 at FoxNews.com, tells about a man who was arrested after he allegedly tried to pull over a van while pretending to be a police officer. It turns out that there was reportedly one really big problem - the van he pulled over was filled with actual police detectives.

Investigators said that the incident occurred in Hicksville, a city on Long Island roughly 30 miles east of New York City. The man in question turned on emergency lights and sounded an air horn as he tried to pull over a van. Unfortunately for him, the van was full of detectives from the Nassau County Police Department's electronics squad.

When the detectives identified themselves, the man allegedly tried to flee the scene, swerving into oncoming traffic and eventually speeding to the Long Island Expressway. There, his flight came to an end, as he was stopped and apprehended without further incident by the highway patrol.

The damage had already been done, however; and he was soon charged with criminal impersonation, reckless endangerment, and fleeing the police.

What do I make of all of this? At the very least, one might add to the previous list and say: "You know you’re having a bad day when you choose to impersonate an officer and inadvertently pull over a van full of real detectives!"

But of course the real lesson we take from this is that crime never pays. Despite appearances to the contrary, we really do eventually reap what we sow! Had the man in question not been impersonating an officer, he would not now be facing all the charges he is facing.

Moses once told the children of Israel to be careful for this very reason. As he put it (in the Old Testament book of Numbers chapter 32, verse 23): "You may be sure that your sin will find you out!"

The Apostle Paul affirmed this principle in the New Testament when he noted in his letter to the Galatians (chapter 6, verse 7): "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap."

Remember these things whenever you are tempted to engage in activity that is less than praiseworthy. The decision to do so may well lead to your getting "busted"!

JOKE SOURCE:
http://www.you-can-be-funny.com/Signs-Youre-Having-A-Bad-Day.html.

ARTICLE SOURCE:
https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-york-man-impersonating-police-officer-pulls-over-detectives. The Associated Press also contributed to this report.

NOTE:
Nicole Darrah covers breaking and trending news for FoxNews.com; and can be followed on Twitter at @nicoledarrah.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/numbers/32-23.htm;
https://biblehub.com/galatians/6-7.htm.

HANDIWORK

8/23/2019

In my previous post, I mentioned in passing the fact that Leonardo da Vinci’s actual fingerprint has been found on one of his paintings currently in the collection of the Queen of England.

According to a January 29, 2019 national news article titled “Leonardo da Vinci's Thumbprint Discovered: Drawing in Queen Elizabeth's Collection Reveals Secrets” written by James Rogers:

"At the center of the sheet’s left edge, the print is in the same reddish-brown ink as the ink lines of the drawing,” explains the Royal Collection Trust, in a statement. “It can only be concluded that, after creating the work, the left-handed Leonardo picked up the sheet with inky fingers."

As I read the article, I felt assured that this thumb print will likely become the source of many new investigations. If it can be shown to occur repeatedly upon known works of Leonardo, it might well become his signature. And for this reason, its discovery on other works long attributed to Leonardo, but without proof, might well validate their authenticity.

After all, any individual even remotely familiar with modern forensics techniques knows that fingerprints (and any DNA residue deposited therein) are pretty much the universal standard of identifying and documenting evidence of an individual’s involvement in a crime.

Simply put, pretty much anything you or I touch is littered with our fingerprints, thumbprints, and/or palm prints. (In fact, one episode of “Forensic Files” that I saw on television showed how one individual was convicted based on the imprint of his bare foot!)

In a similar article by Akiva Sanders titled “Potters and Their Fingerprints” that I came across in August 2109 edition of the American Schools of Oriental Research’s online newsletter, The Ancient Near East Today, Bible scholars are increasingly finding the actual fingerprints of the potters who made ancient clay figures and utensils.

It turns out, that a fairly surprising amount of information can be gleaned just by examining these fingerprints. Such basic things as the age and gender of the various potters can be reasonably ascertained. And from this, one can begin to track patterns.

For instance, it seems as if younger individuals worked mostly on figurines; while older individuals worked on more intricate pottery designs. Often, the larger size (and placement) of fingerprints increases and corresponds in direct proportion to the level of sophistication of the object being crafted.

The conclusion is that individuals may have been schooled in the work of pottery, perhaps even by being apprenticed to older individuals from whom they learned their trade and under whose tutelage they enhanced their skills. And the older these apprentices became and the better they got at their trade, the more impressive the products they fashioned became. Such certainly seems to have been the case.

One thing remains clear, however. It is highly unlikely that any of these individuals ever suspected that hundreds and even thousands of years after they had passed away, others would be studying how they spent their earthly lives by focusing on the fingerprints they left behind.

In light of this, who knows what the future may hold? Given that everything you and I touch contains a record of our fingerprints, might we reasonably anticipate that future generations will very well one day judge us by our own so-called “handiwork”?

And if that be the case, what then will the record left by our own hands say about us?

As anyone who has seen a beautiful sunset can attest, God’s own handiwork speaks for itself. The Psalmist puts it this way (chapter 19, verse 1): “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” But God’s handiwork is not limited to the heavens above.

In his New Testament Letter to the Ephesians (chapter 2, verse 10), the Apostle Paul says: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

As individuals who have been created by the hand of God and who bear his signature, I hope that you and I both will always find ways to glorify Him by the work of our own hands! In the words of wise King Solomon (in Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verse 10), may we do with all our might whatever our hands find to do!

And in the process, may all who gaze upon us and our accomplishments in this world see clear evidence of our desire to honor God in all we have set our hands to do!

STORY SOURCES:

https://www.foxnews.com/science/leonardo-da-vincis-thumbprint-discovered-drawing-in-queen-elizabeths-collection-reveals-secrets;

http://www.asor.org/anetoday/2019/08/Potters-and-Their-Fingerprints.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:

https://biblehub.com/psalms/19-1.htm;

https://biblehub.com/ephesians/2-10.htm;

https://www.biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/9-10.htm.

WHAT LIES BENEATH!

8/19/2019

The headline from three days ago read: “Da Vinci mystery: 'Abandoned' angel and Christ discovered beneath masterpiece”. The article, written by James Rogers and published August 16, 2019 on Foxnews.com, shared how art experts have now used sophisticated imaging technology to reveal the hidden drawings of an angel and Christ beneath a Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece.

The painting in question hangs at the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square in London and is known as “The Virgin of the Rocks”.

Macro X-ray fluorescence technology, recently applied to it, reveals zinc in the underlying drawings. Once discovered, additional Infrared and hyperspectral imaging were also used to reveal the details of the hidden figures.

According to the article:

“Now for the first time Leonardo’s initial designs for the angel and the Infant Christ can be seen, showing significant differences to how they look in the finished painting,” the Gallery explained in a statement. “In the abandoned composition both figures are positioned higher up, while the angel, facing out, is looking down on the Infant Christ with what appears to be a much tighter embrace.”

What remains unclear, however, is why da Vinci decided to ditch the original design. To further quote the article:

“Why Leonardo abandoned this first composition still remains a mystery,” said the National Gallery in its statement. “The new research has shown how the second under-drawing, while aligning much more closely to the finished version, nonetheless displays his characteristic elaborations and adjustments from drawing to painting. For instance, the angle of the Infant Christ’s head was changed so that he was seen in profile, while some parts of the angel’s curly hair have been removed.”

The analysis also revealed human handprints on the painting; although it has yet to be determined whether they belong to da Vinci, an assistant or someone else. Leonardo’s actual fingerprint, dating from 1509 or 1510 was discovered under an earlier, similar investigation on another masterpiece owned by Queen Elizabeth II of England.

Of course, art enthusiasts around the world are aware that May 2, 2019 marked the 500th anniversary of da Vinci’s death. The original “Renaissance man”, known for his painting, sculpture, writings, original scientific pursuits (such as the dissections of cadavers) and above all, his impressive mechanical inventions, which were hundreds of years ahead of their time, continues to be a source of fascination with people worldwide.

As I read this story, I could not help but think of what the Bible tells us in the 24th chapter of the New Testament Gospel of Luke. In verse 27, we read:

“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”

Later, as if to underscore this, in verses 44-46, we also read:

“He said to them, ‘This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, ‘This is what is written...’”

I take from this that a careful examination of the Old Testament will show anyone that Jesus Christ, as the long awaited Messiah, lies just below the surface. Indeed, with God’s enlightenment, His presence there can clearly be seen there. And once it is, one can never look at the Old Testament the same way again.

The next time you sit down to read through the Old Testament, either in whole or in part, why not pray and ask God to help you see the portrait of Jesus Christ that lies just beneath the surface?

I am confident that He will answer this prayer; and as you begin to see things you may have never seen before, you will very likely get more from the Bible than you ever have before!

STORY SOURCE:
https://www.foxnews.com/science/da-vinci-angel-christ-discovered. NOTE: The Associated Press and Fox News’ Chris Ciaccia contributed to this article. The principle author, James Rogers, can be followed on Twitter @jamesjrogers.

SEE ALSO: https://www.foxnews.com/science/leonardo-da-vincis-thumbprint-discovered-drawing-in-queen-elizabeths-collection-reveals-secrets.

AS WELL AS: https://www.leonardodavinci.net/.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2024&version=NIV.

GREEN LIGHT!

8/16/2019

It will soon be one month since the world celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Mission, in which two men, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, successfully traveled to the moon, walked upon its surface, and, along with Command Module pilot Michael Collins, returned safely back to the earth.

Many historians consider this one event the single greatest accomplishment in all of human history. While others dispute this assertion, it is nonetheless undeniable that the Apollo 11 mission remains the single greatest accomplishment in the history of the space program. NASA can rightly be proud of what it accomplished in July of 1969!

Of course, four months later, in November of 1969, Apollo 12 repeated Apollo 11’s glowing success. But the next mission, Apollo 13, which unfolded the following April, was destined for infamy!

As was chronicled in the now famous Oscar-winning 1995 movie, Apollo 13, the ship’s cryogenic oxygen system suffered catastrophic failure in route to the moon. As a result, the crew spent four nail-biting days working with NASA’s ground control, in a desperate attempt to return the ship and her personnel safely back to earth.

If you have seen the movie, you will perhaps remember the riveting scene wherein Commander Jim Lovell (played by Tom Hanks) is shown in an interview recalling an earlier near-perilous flight in a fighter jet over the darkening Sea of Japan. On that occasion, the failure of his cockpit lights allowed him to see the soft bio-luminescent glow left behind by churned-up algae in the wake of the aircraft carrier he was seeking.

It was this glowing green trail that eventually guided him back to the ship for a safe landing. It is obvious in the movie that this memory gave Lovell the inspiration to keep his crew hopeful and sane until the mission was completed.

Here are the words he shares in the scene:

Uh, well I'll tell ya I remember this one time - I'm in a Banshee at night in combat conditions so there's no running lights on the carrier. It was the Shrangri-La and we were in the Sea of Japan and my radar had jammed and my homing signal was gone because somebody in Japan was actually using the same frequency. And so it was … it was leading me away from where I was supposed to be.

And I'm lookin' down at a big black ocean. So I flip on my map light and then suddenly… Zap! Everything shorts out right there in my cockpit. All my instruments are gone. My lights are gone.

And I can't even tell now what my altitude is. I know I'm running out of fuel; so I'm thinking about ditching in the ocean.

And I look down there; and then in the darkness there's this, uh… there's this green trail. It's like a long carpet that's just laid out right beneath me. And it was the algae, right? It was that phosphorescent stuff that gets churned up in the wake of a big ship.

And it was…. it was… it was leading me home. You know, if my cockpit lights hadn't shorted out, there's no way I'd ever been able to see that! So, uh, you uh, never know what events are to transpire to get you home!

I love this scene because it speaks volumes to me about those times in my own life when I have felt like the lights have gone out and I have been left “in the dark”, only to discover that this then becomes the very time when God shows me the way I am to go!

Time and again over the years, He has first turned out the lights, and then lit the way for me to go! The Psalmist understood this as well. Time and again, he testifies to God having lighted the way for him:

“My God turns my darkness into light.” (Psalm 18:28);

“The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.” (Psalm 19:8);

“Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.” (Psalm 43:3); and, of course…

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” (Psalm 119:105).

Are you currently in a dark place? Does it seem as if the lights have been dimmed? Is it hard to see which way to go? If so, then take heart! It may well be that God just now has you where He wants you to be, all in order that He can now give you the only true light you need!

If this is the case, then relish the darkness! For it is always darkest just before the dawn! And the darkness you are now experiencing may very well just be the necessary prelude to God shining His glorious light upon the path He now intends for you to take! When He does, when He “green lights” the way, then by all means, go that way! For it will surely lead you safely home!

SOURCES:

STORY: In her article titled “Houston we have a Problem: How Jim Lovell used Bioluminescent Algae to Land his Broken Aircraft” published on August 11, 2018 at www.thevintagenews.com, Marea Harris gives a more detailed account of what happened to Lovell that night in the Sea of Japan.
Cf.: https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/08/11/jim-lovell/.

NOTE: YouTube has the above-referenced scene from Apollo 13 posted here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QqxRBHoQB0.

SCRIPTURE:
https://biblehub.com/psalms/18-28.htm;
https://biblehub.com/psalms/19-8.htm;
https://biblehub.com/psalms/43-3.htm;
https://biblehub.com/psalms/119-105.htm.

WHAT’S IN YOUR HANDS?!

8/12/2019

A popular advertising campaign produced by a credit card company and implemented over the last few years employs the now-famous tag line: “What’s in your wallet?!” I pose a similar question for your consideration today: “What’s in your hands?!”

John Piper gave chapter 7 of his book Desiring God the title of “Money: The Currency of Christian Hedonism”. In it, he shares the following illustration:

Suppose someone passes empty-handed through the turnstiles at a big city art museum and begins to take the pictures off the wall and carry them importantly under his arm.

You come up to him and say, "What are you doing?" He answers, "I'm becoming an art collector." "But they're not really yours," you say, "and besides they won't let you out with those. You'll have to go out just like you came in."

But he answers again, "Sure they're mine. I've got them under my arm. People look at me as an important dealer in the halls. And I don't bother myself with thoughts about leaving. Don't be a kill joy."

We would call this man a fool - out of touch with reality. So is the person who spends himself to get rich in this life. We will go out just the way we came in.

What a beautiful illustration of the dangers of living a life consumed with material things. Piper correctly reminds us here of the truth that was so eloquently spoken by the Apostle Paul to Timothy, his young protégé in the ministry.

After warning Timothy about false teachers “who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain” in the opening verses of I Timothy, chapter 6, he then tells him in verses 6-11:

6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 11But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

Paul’s admonition here is not just for young pastors. It is for all believers. And it is especially relevant to us Christians who live here in what the American pop band known as the Monkees once famously called “Status Symbol Land”.

Beware the fallacy of assuming that one’s life is best lived in conspicuous consumption. We were made for more than such a shallow life – much more. We were made to glorify God in all we are and with all we are temporarily entrusted to steward! May we always approach everything this world has to offer with that fundamental truth in mind!

SOURCES:

STORY: John Piper, “Money: The Currency of Christian Hedonism”, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (Sisters, Ore.: Multnomah Press, 2003), pp. 185 ff.

SCRIPTURE: https://biblehub.com/niv/1_timothy/6.htm.

SEE ALSO: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/monkees/pleasantvalleysunday.html.

WATCH AND LEARN!

8/8/2019

My daughter and her husband have given my wife and me two precious little grandsons. The younger one is just now learning to crawl. But he is learning to do so much sooner in life than his older brother did. The reason for this, in part, is that the latter, who is two years older than his younger brother, is right there with him, offering him encouragement at every moment even as he shows him what all it is possible to do in life.

Watching them interact has been a gentle reminder to me that we all have an influence on those around us. And this is especially true when we are older than the ones we influence. For this reason, it is important that we remember the power of our influence, especially on those who look up to us.

To help illustrate this point, I share this story…

Three college freshman and three seniors were traveling home for Thanksgiving break. At the train station, the three freshmen bought tickets for themselves and watched as the seniors bought just one ticket. One of the freshmen asked, “How are the three of you going to travel on only one ticket?” “Watch and learn,” answered one of the seniors.

They all then boarded the train. The three freshmen took their seats as all three seniors crammed into a bathroom together and closed the door. Shortly after the train departed, the conductor came around collecting tickets. He knocked on the bathroom door and said, “Ticket, please.” The door opened just a crack and a single arm emerged with a ticket in hand. The conductor took it and moved on.

The freshmen observed and agreed it was a clever idea. They decided to do the same thing on the return trip and save some money. When they got to the station a few days later, they bought a single ticket for the return trip. The seniors were also there, but they didn't buy a ticket at all. Perplexed, one of the freshmen asked, “How are you going to travel without a single ticket?” “Watch and learn,” answered a senior.

When they boarded the train, the three seniors crammed into one bathroom and the three freshmen crammed into another one across the way. Shortly after the train was on its way, one of the seniors left their bathroom and walked to the bathroom where the freshmen were hiding. He knocked on the door and said, “Ticket, please!”

Needless to say, lesson learned!

Of course, we all learn lessons from others! And in turn, others learn from us! As you learn from others, always remember that not everything they have to teach you is admirable and worthy of imitation. In fact, some people can teach you what to do; and others can teach you what not to do!

In like manner, be aware that others are observing you, and learning from you as they do. And remember, in many respects, you control what they learn from you. So whatever that is, be sure to make it commendable. Make it admirable. Make it praiseworthy.

They’ll be glad you did. And so will you!

I leave you with the fitting words of Jesus in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew (chapter 7, verse 12, Contemporary English Version): “Treat others as you want them to treat you.”

STORY SOURCE: Mark Mitchell, Pastor of Central Peninsula Church in Foster City, California. From a sermon he once preached on the Eighth Commandment titled “I'll Take What You Have”. Cf.: https://cpc.org/sermons/.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://biblehub.com/matthew/7-12.htm.

TRADING UP!

8/5/2019

On our recent tip to Kenya, I discovered a simply astounding fact. While there, the locals told me that corruption in their country has been estimated as high as 30% to 40%.

Their assertion was that there was so much graft in the form of bribes, kickbacks, and the like that just about every single national and local government project designed for improvements in the quality of everyday life for citizens was plagued by bureaucratic delays involving construction permits, fiscal allocations, cost overruns, scheduling, etc…

To combat this, and to “smoke out” the large amounts of cash that have apparently been skimmed off and hidden away by corrupt officials, the national government has declared that later this year, all existing Kenyan currency will be supplanted by new Kenyan currency. Citizens have until a certain date to trade in their old Kenyan schillings for new ones. Thereafter, the old currency will not be worth the proverbial paper on which it is printed.

Of course, the banks and the government are keeping meticulous records of all of these transactions. The point is to force those with large cash holdings to reveal who they are. And also perhaps to punish anyone who amassed such fortunes through ill-gotten gains by having their unredeemed old currency suddenly lose all of its value!

Thus, while the old schillings still retain value for as time, it goes without saying that most Kenyans with whom I interacted on the streets and in marketplaces preferred to do their business with new schillings. They well understood that what had once held value soon no longer would! And they were adjusting their business and their lives accordingly!

As I have reflected on this, I cannot help but see a parallel to what the Bible tells us about the difference between having treasure in this world and having treasure in the world to come. The point is that the treasure of this world is even now passing away. One day, it will disappear altogether. When it does, it will be supplanted by another type of treasure altogether.

Jesus Christ puts it this way in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew (chapter 7, verses 19-21):

19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

The older I get, the more I appreciate the significance of what Jesus is telling us here. While my wife and I have tried to practice financial prudence and prepare for whatever eventuality tomorrow may hold, we have done so in full realization that whatever future we have here in this world is fleeting in comparison to our eternal future.

Given that our eternal life has been made possible not by anything we have earned but by the grace of Almighty God, I leave you with this famous quote by famed Christian martyr, Jim Elliott who once said: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose!”

SOURCES:
SCRIPTURE: https://biblehub.com/niv/matthew/6.htm.
QUOTATION: https://www.kevinhalloran.net/jim-elliot-quote-he-is-no-fool/.