Adrian Peterson and The Abused Child 5-30-15

Proverbs 13:24 “He that spareth his rod hateth his son; but he that loveth him chasteneth him early.”

 

First things first: I detest the term “black man”, “white people” and any other term that clarifies people according to the color of their skin. Maybe some day we’ll get over it and be able to look at people as people. Cam Newton has great athletic ability, but one of the things I admire most about him is his refusal to get into the black / white issue regardless of the media’s pressure.  

Well of course all white people are racist. That’s exactly why all white people have hated Bill Cosby for his entire career and why he’s been so unsuccessful. Same with Oprah – she ain’t got a dime to her name. Richard Pryor too – except when he was in his red light comedy mode. (I’m getting to a point here so please be patient.) The truth is that the vast majority of white people delight in a successful black man (or woman).

I’m supporting Ben Carson for President and not because he’s black, but because of his faith, honesty and correct diagnosis of what needs to be fixed in America after the Obama fiasco.

OK – back to the point. Bill Cosby did a routine many years ago that talked about his Dad’s discipline. “Son, I brought you into this world and I can sure take you back out”. He was a tough guy. Richard’s Pryor’s skit was that his Dad would give him one whack of the belt for every word he spoke: “I (whack) told (whack) you (whack) never (whack) to (whack) … well, you get the idea. Hmmm, wonder if there’s a connection between discipline and success?

(ADD Alert 1 – I have to mention Bill Cosby’s recent troubles. Men are pretty bad sexually as we’ll all admit, but there’s one thing I don’t understand. One of his supposed victims <sic> said he’d drugged her 6 or 7 times. Hmmm, wonder if there’s any shared responsibility here?)

(ADD Alert 2 – In Which Way is Up, one of Richard’s roles was Rev. Lenox Thomas. After the church realizes he’s been messing with the choir they chase him out of the church and he runs into a steam roller. The next scene is his funeral and he’s in a casket about 12 inches tall; appropriate since he’d been flattened by the steam roller; hilarious.)

Children are a gift from the Lord and should be cared for and protected. In the US there are about 46 million kids under the age of 12 (http://www.childstats.gov/). Over 122,000 were determined to be victims of physical abuse (https://www.firststar.org/); about 2.7 percent. While one case of abuse is too many, the statistics are that the vast majority of fathers are not abusive; not what the liberal media would have you believe. Please remember that Good Will Hunting was a movie, not reality.

Someone has told me that John and Charles Wesley’s mother said that if you didn’t discipline your children before the age of two, you were probably too late. These men went on to serve God and establish the Methodist denomination. Each of my sons has experienced my wrath after acting up in church. They each developed a sense of respect for God’s house. My sister got tired of me whining about not being a good father and finally said “at least you’re there”.

 So, what do we say about Adrian Peterson? I’ve seen the photos of his son but don’t really know all the details. At least he’s there with the desire of a father to correct his child. Maybe he needs some help in learning to control his temper (like most of us). The NFL and the Vikings should have minded their own business on this one.

The word for “rod” in scripture is “shebet” which can also mean club. I’m glad my Dad didn’t read Hebrew. The Commandment to honor your Father and Mother has a promise …. “that you may live long in the land”. A death sentence was called upon those dishonoring Father or Mother; a certain way to reduce your lifespan.

Dr. Mark Lee is one of my heroes. He did pre-marital counseling for 40 years and developed a program titled “50 Questions on Marriage”. One of the questions was to determine how you were going to discipline your kids. He said his kids might get away with sassing him, but if they sassed heir mother, they wouldn’t even see it coming.

Mighty Father,

We have felt thy discipline and are thankful

For thy mercy and grace

And love for us.

Help us Abba,

to accept thy diving correction,

And in love

To correct our children as well.

Blessed Lord

Restrain the hand of those who would

Abuse their children

In any way.

Protect these little ones Blessed Father.

Strengthen their angels

And deliver them from

The abusive man.

We pray also Father

For the abusive man;

That he might not visit the abusive experience he has had

Upon his own offspring.

Heaven versus Hell – Generally Speaking 5-23-15

Genesis 5:3 “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth.”

            The quote I heard was “All generalities are false”. Hmmm, well let’s see; that’s a generality as well. So, if all generalities are false, then it must be that that generality is false as well and that some generalities therefore must be true. For example, I heard the below from a friend sometime ago as a description of how we look at various cultures:

Heaven                                                                       Hell

German Mechanics                                                     German Police
Swiss Bankers                                                             Swiss lovers
English Police                                                             English Cooks
French Cooks                                                              French Mechanics
Italian Lovers                                                              Italian Bankers

            Has a ring of truth doesn’t it? But does that have to do with our preconceptions or with the actual abilities of a given culture? I’m sure there are bad German mechanics and good French ones. (ADD Alert – I was on an Airbus into Denver recently that started having smoke in the cabin just after we landed. We had to jump off the plane – not something on my Bucket List. So the thought that the Airbus is French built did cross my mind. I was thankful it didn’t happen at 35,000 feet.)

             When I was a youth, products from Japan were regularly dissed. Then Deming (see https://www.deming.org/) went to Japan and taught them quality and process improvement. Sony bought the transistor from (I think it was Motorola) and in a generation the Japanese went from radios to producing world class cars. My current prejudice is products from China – Hey, it’ll be half price just be sure and buy two – one will have problems.

            The truth is amazing: Abba in His wonderful creative nature has created and continues to create individuals. Not a single soul on this planet is exactly like anyone else. Regardless of our preconceptions regarding cultures, each person is unique.

My OCD requires I read the Bible from front to back. I was struggling through the “begats” one time and paused and asked Abba what was important about naming all these people. It came to me that He knew each one of them, as He knows each one of us today. Don’t despair; God knows you, He knows your name and He knows the problems you face each day. He loves you as an individual; an individual that He created.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith The Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

Creative Father, Mighty God

Help us to rejoice

In the Wonder of Your creative power

And see others as individuals.

Without prejudice,

Without preconception.

Delighting in our differences,

And rejoicing in our common bond as Your creation.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire No. 1 (Revised) 5-17-15

         Well, well – I had to withdraw the original version of this post. I’ve stated one of my RRs (Radio Rabbis) is Steve Brown of KeyLife (http://www.keylife.org/). Steve sends out a newsletter each month which is great teaching. The Newsletter I received after the post said that it might be a good idea not to expose all your faults – even to your best friends – because it can destroy relationships and hurt your witness. BTW – it’s OK with Jesus because he knows everything anyway.

Maybe I’ll just quit blogging all together. My purpose was to speak to other Christians about struggles I’ve faced in an attempt to encourage them and give them hope. In other words, if Jesus can save someone with as terrible a past as I’ve had then he can save you too. I guess I’ll keep going and try to remember to pray before I write, as well as try to be more generic about my sin.

It’s been said that Dietrich Banhoeffer, the brilliant theologian who resisted the Nazis until they hung him just before the end of WW II, visited America and was asked what was the most important thing he had learned in his distinguished career. He replied, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Maybe if we keep that in mind, we can all be a little more effective. As Rick Warren said “it’s not about you” (or me).

So here is the revised “Liar, Liar …”

Eighth grade, junior high: I saw a friend who arrived late to class with an excuse slip. He let me read the excuse; it said” Unexcused Absence”, the reason he wrote was “I overslept”. Wow – couldn’t he think of anything better than the truth? I remember that to this day and hope he continues in truth.

            So Tom Brady’s taking the hit for “Deflategate” and maybe he should. The thing that struck me was Belichick’s original interview about the issue. It seemed it could be summed up as: Ball? The game is played with a ball? Kinda like Roy Williams and the North Carolina basketball players not going to classes: Classes? You mean players have to go to class? Why can’t people take some responsibility?

Harry Reid recently admitted he lied about Mitt Romney never paying taxes. His justification: “Well, who won the election”. I suppose in his mind the end justifies the means.

            Hear America, the inspired voice of the Apostle of Love, the gentle, the kind, the encouraging John; the one whom Jesus loved:

Revelation 21:8 “But the fearful, and unbelievers, and the abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Merciful Father forgive me

And cleanse me from the sin of false speech;

 when I’ve taken the easy way out,

and failed in truthfulness.

Also Mighty Abba, I pray

For all Your servants,

That they may see the light of Your Truth

And be reconciled to You.

My Lord, My King

I also pray for all leaders of our country,

That they may speak truth

And let the light shine on all their activities.

Abide with us Lord Jesus,

May your Spirit convict and overwhelm us

That your Grace may be shed on America

And that our country may be healed.

Death Becomes Him - May 2, 2015

Recently my daughter and I were coming home from basketball practice and we were discussing her Mom (my Wife – which may not always be the case these days) and her somewhat oppressive attitude regarding us doing what we should be doing. My daughter seems to have inherited my quirky sense of humor and said “Hey Dad, you know why women live longer than men?” “Sensing a joke, I responded “You tell me Sweetheart”. “It’s because men want to escape” she replied. We both had a good laugh, but I didn’t confess that such a thought had passed through my mind from time to time. To those of us to whom divorce is not an option there is a certain attraction to the time when we won’t have to listen to it anymore.

            I’m sure women have similar feelings. One of my favorite stories involves Ruth Graham and how she responded to an interviewer’s question. The interviewer asked Mrs. Graham if she ever considered divorce. After thinking for a moment, Mrs. Graham is said to have responded “No, I can honestly say I’ve never considered divorce – murder several times, but never divorce.” Now if such a godly woman can have such frustration with such a godly man, I think we can all take a little heart in the midst of the daily confrontations within our marriages. But back to death.

Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”

We’ve all heard the saying “the only things sure in life are death and taxes”. The statistics on death are pretty overwhelming: one out of every one persons will die. So why don’t we just cave to the Kevorkian Solution and choose the time of our own death? Why do we struggle against it so? We spend tremendous resources to prolong life and probably just as much to alter our appearance to avoid the appearance of age as our time approaches.

If we’re going to die for sure, why don’t we just accept it, or as Agent Smith told Neo in The Matrix “ Mr. Anderson, that is the sound of inevitability”. Could it be that our struggle against death has a much deeper meaning? The scripture is clear that we were not created for death, but for life. At our core is the God given knowledge that we were created for life - not death. Death is most unnatural of finalities and hence our struggle against it.

Mighty Abba,

We accept your judgment

Of death for sin.

We look forward to the restoration

of our natural state of eternal life

purchased by Christ Jesus.

The Worst Person I Know - May 2, 2015

I Timothy 1:15 “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief”.

Romans 7:19 “For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do.”

Romans 7:24 “Oh, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death.”

Wow - this is the Apostle Paul speaking; the person who evangelized the known world of his day, who established churches in cities he visited and laid the foundation of Christianity. How could he see himself this way? He had seen the Lord and was personally instructed in the Truth. Seems like everything would be smooth sailing – health, wealth and peace is what the TV preachers tell us – if only we have enough faith.

I walked into my Sunday school class a few weeks ago and said “I am the worst person I know …. and you are the worst person you know”. It’s only within our own thoughts and actions that we see the fruit of the flesh. It’s been said “If you didn’t meet the Devil this morning, you were probably going the same direction he was.” Are you surprised that temptation should come your way? The Evil One has no issue with those on the broad path; it’s the ones who are struggling along the narrow path that he takes exception to.

It seems the things I say I would never do are exactly the places I face temptation. Paul was wrong, I am the Chief of Sinners; I am the Wretched Man. I hate this life subject to the flesh - I’m so pitiful, why can’t I be a better Christian? I hunger for a more spirit filled life; it just seems so useless some times. Here I go in the valley, wallowing in self pity, completely useless in the Kingdom – Satan wins.

But wait – I’m focused on myself, and not on Jesus. He’s already taken care of all this; He’s blessed me.

Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

If you’re perfect you won’t hunger and thirst for righteousness (as did our brother Paul). I’m not perfect, but I’m blessed by the King of the Universe. I’m going to keep my eyes on Him and begin the struggle again: pray, read my Bible and fellowship with other believers; other sinners like me.

Lord Jesus,

As we approach your perfection,

We see our depravity more clearly.

Grant that we might live more in the Spirit

and less in the flesh,

And that we may be filled with the righteousness

That you purchased at Calvary.