Bigger Snakes

As my wife and I listened to the news correspondents on TV the other night talking in terms of billions and trillions of dollars she casually commented to me, “What ever happened to millions”? The manipulation of money to ensure larger dividend payouts every year on invested moneys, in the long run, simply hasn’t paid off. The consumer has abandoned financing his basic needs for fulfilling his every want with borrowed money he can’t repay. And the government continues to borrow money from borrowed money. I hate to sound pessimistic here, but the dance is over and it looks like it’s time to pay the fiddler. The warped American dream of keeping up with the Jones’s and bigger being better, as an outward sign of success in life, has come home to roost. We have found ourselves in a financially grave condition of which only common sense and thrifty spending will see us through. “In Wall Street We Trust” doesn’t seem to be a sound truth to build a successful life upon. I’m praying for this country, are you?
Leroy Brownlow tells the story about a family of wayward church members – a father and his three sons. Once active, but now indifferent, they had been visited by the preacher and the elders. Everything within reason had been done to restore them – all in vain. One day while working, a large rattlesnake bit John, one of the sons. The doctor was summoned and pronounced his condition grave. The doctor observed that about the only thing left was prayer. Immediately the preacher and the elders were called. The preacher was asked to pray for John’s recovery, which he did, sort of. Here’s his prayer:
“O wise and righteous Father, we thank thee that thou hast, in thy wisdom, sent this rattlesnake to bite John, in order to bring him to his senses. He has not been inside the church house for years, and it is very doubtful that in all that time he has, until now, felt any need for prayer. We have been doing everything we know for years to restore this family, to no avail. We trust that this will prove a valuable lesson to John, and that it may lead to a genuine repentance. It seems, therefore, that what all our combined efforts could not do, this rattlesnake has accomplished. And now, O Father, wilt thou send another to bite Sam, another to bite Jim, and a BIG ONE to bite the old man? We thus have concluded that the only thing left that will do this family any good is rattlesnakes, so Lord, send us bigger and better rattlesnakes. In Jesus name we pray. Amen”
[Luke 16: 10-15] “...No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money”. It’s ironic that the very dollar bill we selfishly use for our own pleasure, before service to others, has printed on it, “In God We Trust”, yet we don’t. Jesus taught that we are not to worry about what we need, for it will be supplied, IF, we first seek the kingdom of God. (Luke 12: 22-34) It seems nobody has the time, or should we be honest with ourselves here, most people won’t take the time, to seek God, serving Him before anything else. Why not? It seems to be the better deal. So, what should our prayer to God be, concerning our financial crisis? Should we thank God for bringing us to our senses? Is this snake bite great enough to bring us to repentance, or will God have to send a bigger snake? History is plain about empires that exchange the fear God for selfishness – they crumble! This country’s foundation is God, not money.

Another Fine Mess

In light of the deepening financial crisis gripping the country, which will in one way or another effect everybody, even though you feel you’re not guilty of contributing to the problem, I thought of the comedic team of the 30’s and 40’s, Laurel & Hardy. They’re on screen personas are described as “...two supremely brainless, eternally optimistic men, secure in their perpetual and impregnable innocence.” I think that description could apply to every stock exchange floor trader. What brought them to mind was that famous quote of Ollie’s, when he discovers that the two of them are so deep in trouble they might never see the light of day again. Even though Ollie was just as involved in the comedy of errors that always got them into so much trouble, he always laid the blame on Laurel for getting them there. Hardy would look at Laurel, with hands on hips, and say, “Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into.” Today I feel like Oliver Hardy felt one time, as I look to the financial geniuses that got us into this mess. Ollie had stated his famous quote on screen so many times, once he simply turned to Stan Laurel with hands on hips and impatiently says, “Well...” with Stan replying, all the while scratching the top of his head, “Here’s another nice mess I’ve gotten you into.”
One day while on a walk through the local park, a man happened upon a Tee-Ball game in progress. Needing a short rest he sat down behind the first base players bench. He asked one of the uniformed boys what the score was. “We’re behind 14 to nothin’”, he replied with a big smile. “Really”, said the man. “I have to say, you don’t look very discouraged.” “Discouraged”? the boy asked with a puzzled look on his face. “Why should I be discouraged? We haven’t even been up to bat yet!” Being optimistic enough to never feel you’re in trouble, should be reserved for youthful experience only.
With this financial crisis looming over us, some expectations may take a greater imagination to conquer on an even tighter budget. Rick forgot about his wedding anniversary. His bride was really angry and told him, “Tomorrow morning I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 180 in less than six seconds ...AND IT BETTER BE THERE!!” The next morning she awoke to find her husband gone. She looked out the window and sure enough, there in the middle of the driveway was a gift-wrapped box. Puzzled, she put on a robe, ran outside to retrieve the box, and brought it into the house. She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale. Rick hasn’t been seen since.
[1 John 2: 15-17] When James Garfield, former President of the United States, was principal of Hiram College in Ohio, a parent asked if the curriculum could be simplified for his son. “Certainly”, Garfield replied, “But it all depends on what you want to make of your boy. When God wants to make a oak tree, He takes a hundred years. When He wants to make a squash He requires only two months. Do you want him to be more like a squash or an oak tree?” Personally, I want to be strong like the oak. We seem to have a real big problem weighing and prioritizing our wants and needs in this life. God’s word teaches me that the love of the world makes me weak and the time I have to spend here will probably only produce a squash. To live forever I must become strong in the Lord and live according to the will of God. That, my friend, takes a lifetime of commitment.

Preparing For The Worse

Well, the big news this week was the coming of Hurricane IKE. With landfall and strength a really big uncertainty up until two days prior to landfall, people all along the Texas coast were preparing for the storm. Folks south of us, the Corpus Christi area, were getting out of harms way, because all the data indicated the hurricane was going to hit the coast at that point. A mass exit was under way beginning on Wednesday with people heading north to escape the worst of the storm. Some would have to wait until the last minute needing to tend to business before leaving, but most of them had a place to stay away from home. Hotels and motels in and around San Antonio were booked solid and awaiting the arrival of thousands from the coastal areas. Here at home everyone predicted a day of wind and heavy rain, thus we were preparing for electrical power outages and the lack of basic essential necessities which could last several days. I was at the grocery store on Wednesday, along with hundreds of other people, only to find I had almost waited too long to get my desired supplies. Shelves where bread and canned foods were normally full to capacity, lay naked with employees repeating over and over again the uncertainty of when the shelves would be restocked. I did get what I wanted, then stood in line longer than usual, even with every check-out isle open and running as fast as possible. Then it happened. The final prediction for the storms path changed. It was to turn north sooner than expected sending it ashore at Houston, hundreds of miles to the east. Hotel and motel reservations were being canceled by those evacuating south of us, but at the same time reservations were being made by all those people east of us wanting to come west away from the brunt of the storm. As I sit here this day, which I had anticipated to be a very ugly day at the beginning of the week, the sun is shining in partly cloudy skies with a soft breeze blowing. I have kin in Houston, whom I know have prepared for the worst yet don’t seem to feel this storm is all that significant. Well, I hope their alright, but I’ll worry for their safety and pray until I hear form them.
[1 Thessalonians 5: 1-11] It’s amazing how we will prepare for the forth-coming wrath of mother-nature, like we could hold back the ocean tides or tame the stormy winds. Man has the capability of seeing and predicting coming storms of peril which can be warned about days before their arrival. It’s amazing how quickly we are ready to defend our properties and fear the loss of all we own, but ignore the impending wrath of God as if we can readily prepare a defense when that day arrives. The prediction has been there since the beginning of time, for if there is a beginning, there must be an end. James says this about life. “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14) The last day, if you’re still alive, will be a scary one. (1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18) Do you believe Jesus will return one day? He’s not hanging around for you to get prepared, ya know. He’s going to gather up His church and return to heaven and those left behind are, well I really don’t want to think about it. Today is the day to begin your preparations for departing this world, you do know you’re going to die some day, right? Do you have confirmed reservations in heaven? Peter says you need to be sure. (1 Peter 1: 3-11) Call on the Lord through baptism, then spend the rest of your life preparing, for eternal life.

Sleeping Through It All

Well, we have our two Presidential nominees confirmed who will be waging battle with each other for the next two months trying to gain the trust of voters, thus winning the vote in November. They will each spend over two hundred million dollars while they tell us how they’re going to save the economic structure of the country. I have a hard time dealing with the wild spending of money our politicians have never earned. Once again the Sunday Comics and my friend Baldo may have shed some light on why this country is confused and Washington is broken. Baldo is standing in front of an ATM showing signs of indecision as what to do next after being instructed by the machine to “Please Select Your Language”. Of course the options are “English” and “Spanish”. Well, Baldo, being a young Latino teen with a firm grasp of both languages, pushes both buttons at the same time, crashing the computer. Maybe that’s what’s happening in Washington. I think too many buttons are being pushed at the same time and that’s why nothing’s getting done. Oh well, what do I know. It’s a comic strip. Nonsense, right?
Here’s a little something we can pass along to our public servants. “You tell on yourself by the friends you seek, By the very manner in which you speak, By the way you employ your leisure time, By the use you make of the dollar and the dime. You tell on yourself by the things you wear, By the spirit in which you your burdens bear, By the kind of things that make you laugh, By the places you go to photograph. You tell on yourself by the way you walk, By things in which you delight to talk, By the manner in which you bear defeat, By so simple a thing as how you eat. By the books you choose from a well filled shelf, In these ways and more you tell on yourself. So there is not a particle of sense, In an effort to keep up a false pretense.” Please wake-up, Washington!
Do you remember the story of Rip Van Winkle? He fell asleep one day in a quiet out of the way spot on the banks of the Hudson River and didn’t wake up for twenty years. He fell asleep a subject of the British crown and awoke an American citizen. The tragic part was, he slept through the revolution that brought him freedom from the dictatorship of King George III, depositing him into a life of liberty and happiness. While he snored, oblivious to his surroundings, earth-shaking events had taken place. I think Rip fell asleep believing there wasn’t a thing he could do about the tyranny he lived under and I think a lot of Americans are asleep this very day thinking they can’t make a difference. People are always desensitizing issues getting you to think their way. That is, they are constantly talking about them until they mean nothing to us anymore and a lot of us are snoring in our easy chairs watching sitcoms as if they were reality.
[Luke 22: 39-46] While all of heaven watched breathlessly, Jesus’ disciples fell asleep, oblivious to the events unfolding before them in the garden. Jesus was preparing himself to die. Jesus was about to give his life in exchange for the sins of all mankind, freeing man from the slavery of sin, reuniting man with God the Creator. Sadly, most of the world is sleeping, oblivious to what Jesus has done for them. Teaching God’s truth to others has become more difficult over the years, because the purpose of the church has become desensitized through the false teachings of some. We are preoccupied with our own self-importance forgetting what is really important. Wake Up! The devil seeks you.