davintosh

A couple of Sundays before Christmas last, our pastor delivered a short devotional to accompany the church’s Christmas Cantata in the morning service, and one of his three points was something that really hadn’t occurred to me before…

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

I always get goosebumps when I read the stories of angelic visits in the Bible and elsewhere; can you imagine the shock experienced by the shepherds when that angel popped in? “Fear not,” they always say… “Too late!” I’d say (if I could say anything, that is.) “‘Scuse me while I go clean out my drawers.” But did you catch that in the second paragraph? It was a heavenly host; not a choir, not a group, not a quartet. A host. The term “host” in medieval Latin literally means “army”. It was an army that was sent to announce the Savior’s birth!

While the message was delivered to the shepherds — they were the only ones mentioned in the narrative — the message was directed more at Satan, challenging the authority he held over the earth. The statement “Glory to God in the highest” was the angels’ way of putting Satan in his place in relation to God; God is in the highest place, and all else is under his dominion, even Satan. And that message delivered by a host — an army of angels… Imagine the sound of that; the mental image I get is of the Promise Keepers events I’ve attended with the sound of tens of thousands of voices chanting or singing in unison. (Like the time Steve Green led us in singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic for the closing song at the Boulder, CO, PK event some years ago. Goosebumps again!)

Back to the sermon; Pastor Petersen said it much better than I can rephrase it, so here’s a transcript of the second point from his message from that day (taken from the message posted online, from 11:43 to 16:20.)

Warfare.
Warfare!
Warfare?
Why are you talking about warfare at a time like this? A time like Christmas?
Because the glory of God is the focal point of all spiritual warfare. Satan, from the beginning, has desired God’s glory. He wanted it, and he did everything he could to get it. And as a result he ravaged the world, set it on a course for destruction.
Listen to what Isaiah wrote in Chapter 14 about Satan himself:
How you have fallen from heaven,
O morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
You said in your heart, ”

Now this is the heart of Satan himself…

“You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. [a]
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”

Over & over Satan’s heart was to be above God!

Listen to what’s said at the birth of Jesus;
“Glory to God in the…” say it with me… “Highest!” The highest!

Now also note what we’re told in Luke chapter 2 verse 11. Please note, it doesn’t say there was a choir. There was no choir present at the birth of Jesus. Do you know what was present? A military unit. An army was at the birth of Jesus. Not a choir, not people dressed in white robes playing harps, it was a military campaign. “Heavenly host” means “heavenly army”, an army of God fitted with the angels of heaven. The mighty ones of God. And they were at the birth of Jesus. Not singing lullabies, but declaring warfare.

Satan has been against God from the beginning, he’s trying to take glory from God, and we’re here to tell you the gauntlet has been put down, the war has begun, the Son of God is here, Glory to God in the highest.

Is there another Amen here? Amen!

That little baby grew to be a boy and a man, and went right to the cross, and at the cross the climax of spiritual warfare occurred. where Jesus died for the sins of the world, so that anyone who would receive him would be forgiven of their sins, receive the very power of God in their lives to live for God and to do spiritual warfare in this world.

Because Paul says in the New Testament, Ephesians chapter 6, our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the forces of darkness in this world. How on Earth do we have hope against the forces of darkness? Ahhh! Glory to God… In the highest. Jesus Christ makes it possible.

In all the times I’ve heard that story, that’s the first I can recall where the angelic host was referred to as something other than musical accompaniment to the arrival of the Christ Child. The image of a choir of angels never seemed quite right or satisfying to me… The story of the birth of Jesus plays an important part in the whole of the Gospel narrative, but the glurge that often goes with it can be a bit much. Jesus came to Earth to set things right, and God knew that’s something Satan wouldn’t like. It would take more than a choir to send the proper message, so the angelic army was to show that God meant business; that Jesus had at his disposal all the power of God.

Too many people want to keep Jesus in the manger; he’s safer and more controllable there, but that’s not what Jesus’ mission was. He came to shake things up, and for that I am thankful.

Many people who think of themselves as Christians and “good people” only want to see the calm and peace-loving side of Jesus. I remember arguing with some friends about this subject during the run-up to the Iraq war; they questioned how I could, as a Christian, support the war, because after all, Jesus said to “turn the other cheek”, so Christians were supposed to be all about peace and happiness and forgiving those who’ve wronged us. But Jesus was very upfront about his purpose on Earth;

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
” ‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her motherinlaw—
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
Jesus — Matthew 10:34-36

I don’t write this trying to justify the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — that’s far too complicated for one so easily distracted as me — but Jesus knew that his coming would bring conflict, and because he is both God and Man, that conflict crosses over from the spiritual realm to the physical. He also warned his followers that the enemy’s hatred would carry over to them — and to us, two centuries removed. The Fall was a the first earthly manifestation of that conflict, and we’ve been suffering in it ever since. The problem is that whether we acknowledge it or not, we’re in a war. I firmly believe that the negative attitudes toward and persecution of Christians and Jews throughout the ages are a direct result of that war, but many think that if we can only convince those doing the persecuting that we aren’t so bad, they’ll be nicer.

The trouble is that there is no logical earthly cause behind their hatred, and all the peace talks in the world won’t end it. The conflict will only end with the triumphant return of Jesus, accompanied by that same angelic host, in even greater force, and with even more to say than on that starry night oh so long ago.

image; “White Rose” by Gustave Doré.

A worried woman went to her gynecologist and said: “Doctor, I have a serious problem and desperately need your help! My baby is not even 1 year old and I’m pregnant again. I don’t want kids so close together.”

So the doctor said: “OK, and what do you want me to do?”

She said: “I want you to end my pregnancy, and I’m counting on your help with this.”

The doctor thought for a little, and after some silence he said to the lady: “I think I have a better solution for your problem. It’s less dangerous for you too.”

She smiled, thinking that the doctor was going to accept her request.

Then he continued: “You see, in order for you not to have to take care of 2 babies at the same time, let’s kill the one in your arms. This way, you could rest some before the other one is born. If we’re going to kill one of them, it doesn’t matter which one it is. There would be no risk for your body if you chose the one in your arms.”

The woman was horrified and said: “No doctor! How terrible! It’s a crime to kill a child!”

“I agree,” the doctor replied. “But you seemed to be OK with it, so I thought maybe that was the best solution.” The doctor smiled, realizing that he had made his point.

He convinced the mom that there is no difference in killing a child that’s already been born and one that’s still in the womb. The crime is the same, even if killing the unborn child is “legal”.

I’ve got a new favorite song. Not exactly new; it’s Grace Like Rain by Todd Agnew (iTunes link), which is Agnew’s rendition of the 250 year old Amazing Grace by John Newton. I love the song to begin with; adding Agnew’s gritty vocals makes it that much more appealing.

Amazing Grace has been around since about 1772, but the lyrics still hold their meaning for today’s Christian.

Amazing Grace
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev’d;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believ’d!

Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promis’d good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below,
Will be forever mine.

Many hymnbooks — and Agnew’s rendition — add the following verse, which isn’t attributed to Newton, but it’s got to be one of my favorites:

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.

Some say it doesn’t fit well with the rest of the song, being “we” instead of “I”, but I still like it, and the thoughts of eternity it conjures.

If you haven’t heard Todd Agnew’s music, take a listen. His album Grace Like Rain contains several other songs that are revamped versions of old hymns, treating them respectfully, doing an excellent job of conveying age-old concepts of the Christian faith. Thanks, Todd, for your work. I look forward to hearing your other CD’s.

It seems that for some people, dreams are fragile things, like a glass figurine. They are very solid and tangible, but can be easily broken and destroyed — shattered. I don’t know if I’m weird or what, but I find that to be really hard to comprehend dreams like that, and there are times when I feel envious of someone who does have dreams and ambitions that are solid and tangible.

I guess people can be categorized in two groups according to their dreams & ambitions; those for whom dreams are solid & tangible, and those for whom dreams are more fluid and resilient. I would fall into the second group; my dreams would be better described as “fluid”.

I talked with an old friend a while back who is having a tough time because he’s been hurt in the process of chasing a dream he has had since childhood. He worked hard for a very long time to do what he felt he was called to do, and in the end, with the fulfillment of that dream within reach, he’s now doing something totally unrelated, and continues to nurse his wounds. I look at his situation and have a tough time putting myself in his shoes; I just can’t understand that kind of attachment to a goal, and that kind of hurt when things don’t go well.

For me, there are just so many little things I enjoy that I can’t fathom chasing after one thing in particular and banking everything the fulfillment of that one thing. Having more fluid or diversified ambitions has served me well in some respects, but in others I’d be better off with the other. To some I’m sure it appears that I lack ambition and drive — I know my boss sees it that way — and to a degree that’s probably true.

The difference comes in when bad things happen; to someone with dreams that are concrete and tangible, bad things can come along and shatter them all to bits. And those bits have sharp edges that can wound. But for me, with dreams that are more fluid and resilient, bad things can shake up my bucket of dreams, causing some to splash out, but I won’t be hurt by any of it.

Is it something of a protection mechanism to avoid being hurt? Or is it a manifestation of ADD? Or maybe something that’s come about as part of a fear of success? I don’t know, but I sometimes feel a yearning for that sense of drive… That kind of dedication.

While listening to the radio one day last week I caught some snippets from a stump speech Barack Obama gave over the 4th of July weekend at a church in St. Louis. In that speech, he was talking about his Christian faith, and going into far more detail than I’d heard from him before. But there were a few things I heard that made me a little concerned, so I dug a little deeper to find out exactly what he said. And it’s not just me; Cal Thomas wrote an article for Fox News entitled, Obama Is Not A Christian. Strong words, and I can’t disagree with what he wrote.

I found a video of that speech on YouTube which confirmed my concerns about Barack’s newly ballyhooed Christian faith; it’s just plain old-time salvation by works, nothing more. (more…)

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.
Mark Twain

Dad has been gone since 1987, and there are days I miss him sorely. Like today. That quote from Twain really hits home; I never really appreciated him or his advice when he was around, and never took the opportunity to tell him how much he meant to me. He was never the kind of guy who would put his arm around one of his kids & tell them he loved them, and unfortunately that rubbed off on me to a large degree.

The funny thing (or sad thing) is that as I grow older, I remember more of what he said to me in years past. Little nuggets of wisdom dispensed by a guy with an 8th grade education. Totally dismissed by me at the time they were handed out — I was so much smarter than him — but were tucked away in long term memory for retrieval when they’re really needed.

Amazing how the human mind works.

I should probably add a few things about the photo above… Dad was born & grew up on a farm near Canton, SD. As a kid his family had only horse-drawn farm implements, and remembered clearly the time that they got their first tractor. When I was a kid, Dad bought a farm near Schindler, SD, hoping that we as a family would move there; the problem was that he hadn’t consulted Mom about it, and she wouldn’t have any of it. So Dad kept the place as a hobby farm, keeping some sheep, pigs, chickens, horses, and an occasional cow. The livestock & crops did bring in a little extra money, but with nine kids at home, Dad didn’t have a lot of money for equipment, so he would buy what he needed at auction sales. He was always on the lookout for old horse-drawn equipment, and was usually able to pick things up for a song.

The farm was always a point of contention between Mom & Dad, and finally in the late ’70′s he traded the property by Schindler for 40 acres near Hartford, built a new house, and we moved there. Mom wasn’t thrilled with that idea either — she wanted to live in Sioux Falls — but went along with it. She ended up hating it though, and when Mamma ain’t happy… But that’s another story for another time.

All his life Dad had a wish to farm as he did when he was young, with horses, and when he retired in 1981, he finally set to work to do that. I think it was in 1983 that he had it all together and actually did it. Earlier that year I had bought a decent 35mm SLR camera — a Canon T70 — and Dad asked me if I’d take some photos of him doing some cultivating, and that’s where the photo came from. The funny thing is that the cultivating showed him that there was a reason horses were replaced by tractors — it’s a lot of work! — and he had the corn harvested by a combine that fall.

I gave the photos to him after they were developed, he put them in a little album and carried them around to any and all family get-togethers, showing them to anybody who’d give him the time. But the negatives… Lord only knows where they ended up. I think I gave them to him with the photos, not realizing how important they’d become to me and the rest of the family, and now they’re nowhere to be found. So when I ended up with the original photos (in Dad’s little album) after he died, I scanned them in and did some Photoshopping on them. Not the greatest quality work, but the prints that I made from those doctored scans were a pretty popular item with the family. Dad was doing that day something that made him truly happy, and it’s good to have those photos to remember him by.

The family and I went to see Prince Caspian on opening night a couple weeks back, and we were all a little disappointed in the movie’s departure from the original story. My better half read the Narnia Chronicles to the kids when they were younger, and the older ones have read the books numerous times. We also listen to the excellent Focus on the Family Radio Theater versions of the stories to pass the time on road trips, so you can say that we know them pretty well. Inside and out would be a good description.

A week or so ago we pulled the Prince Caspian CD out for a drive to Grandma & Grandpa and listened to it again, just for a closer look at what the differences were between the movie and the Radio Theater version (which follows the book pretty closely.) While listening, one of the lines hit me hard; near the end, Aslan is preparing to send the Telmarines back to their original home, and tells them where they originally came from — the Telmarines descended from pirates who stumbled through a gateway between our world and Telmar. This was unsettling to Caspian, and that made him wish he “came from a more honorable lineage.” To that, Aslan replied,

You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve. And that is both honor enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content.

How very, very profound. We, like Adam, are made in God’s image, set apart from all creation by God’s incredible gift. Yet we stumble and fall and dishonor ourselves all too readily. Shame and honor.

Today is Good Friday. Not sure why it’s called “Good”, as it’s marks the day that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was brutally tortured and killed. The day that he suffered in our stead. The Creator of the Universe had humbled himself and took on flesh, lived a sinless life among sinful people, and died the horrible death that we — not he — deserve.

Black Friday is more like it. Black as the sky at noon on that horrible day. Matthew 27:45-47

When his blood had been spilled and he had breathed his last, the soldiers stuck a spear in his side to make sure he was dead. When he was pulled down from the cross, a disciple named Joseph from Arimathea placed Jesus’ body in his own tomb, and a large stone was placed in front of the tomb. The hypocrites, afraid of funny business, talked Pilate into placing guards at the tomb. Matthew 27:57-66.

They thought that would be the end of this Jesus thing, but they thought wrong. It’s Friday. But Sunday’s coming!

By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
O God of our salvation,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas;
the one who by his strength established the mountains,
being girded with might;
who stills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples,
so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

Psalm 65:5-8

While reading Psalm 65 for my devotions the other day, this passage really hit me, especially that last line; “… so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.” It struck me that the people who are most likely to scoff at God are those who live in urban areas, those who surround themselves with things built by the hands of man. The more shiny stuff we see that is of our own design, the less we see of God’s handiwork; and the less we see of what God has wrought, the more inclined we are to dismiss God.

This isn’t to say that there are no atheists who “dwell at the ends of the earth.” As for me, I much prefer a view of God’s handiwork than my own.

BoingBoing.net ran yet another post on the stupid “Plane on a Conveyer Belt” question:

Imagine a plane is sitting on a massive conveyor belt, as wide and as long as a runway. The conveyer belt is designed to exactly match the speed of the wheels, moving in the opposite direction. Can the plane take off?

Of course the plane is going to take off. The wheels are only there to hold the plane up and allow it to roll freely when it’s on the ground. So many people spouted off on that original post displaying nothing but ignorance. They figured the airplane accelerates down the runway the same way a car does, with the wheels doing the work. But with an aircraft, the propeller or jet engine provides rearward thrust, and will move the plane down the runway/conveyer belt with no problem. The only thing that would keep the plane from taking off is if you also tied the aircraft down so it could not gain forward momentum.

This question has been beat to death everywhere on the Internet. Just do a Technorati search on the topic. It’s so very sad to see so many otherwise intelligent people get sucked in by a stupid puzzle like this. But the reason behind BoingBoing’s latest post on the subject is that Mythbusters is going to tackle the puzzle tonight to see what happens. No idea how they’ll do it — a scale model plane and suitably-sized conveyor belt, or full-size everything. Either way, it would be fun to watch. Too bad I don’t subscribe to cable TV & get The Discovery Channel. But it’ll be a matter of hours after the broadcast before it hits YouTube, so no worries.

But, yup; that puppy’ll fly. Guaranteed. Also guaranteed is that this stupid discussion will go on because many people just won’t the conclusion, and won’t want to admit that they were wrong.

Update: Of course, Mythbusters proved me right on both accounts, that the plane would take off (it did) and that there would be no conclusion to this inane debate. Here’s the YouTube video of the experiment:

Turns out that rather than building a huge conveyor belt for the experiment, they used a huge sheet of material pulled by a truck going in the opposite direction of the plane. Not perfect, but it works. Surprisingly, the pilot of the plane thought he’d “sit there like a brick” and not take off. That guy should have his license pulled.

As predicted, the plane did move forward with it’s wheels spinning twice as fast as its ground speed, and it got off the ground. Duh.

And as predicted, the controversy rages on. Mental Floss picked up the subject, and the comments show that people still just don’t get it. They’re reading all kinds of stuff into the original question that shouldn’t be there and finding all kinds of nonexistent flaws in the way that Mythbusters executed the experiment. Some guy even bought the domain name AirplaneOnATreadmill.com to help settle the issue, but from the comments left behind by readers, it’s obvious many just don’t get it.

But the one that really takes the cake is Cecil over at The Straight Dope; he got it right on his first try and did an admirable job of explaining it, but later on he twisted the question and proves, in a way, that the conveyor belt can indeed keep the plane on the ground. Yes, Cecil, given the conditions and theoretical equipment you present, you could keep the plane on the ground. But your theoretical equipment and conditions don’t conform to the parameters of the original question! [exasperated sigh]

The smart set can even buy a t-shirt that expresses your thoughts on the subject, although I’m not sure how smart it is to spend $18 on a t-shirt. Don’t think I would anyway.

I don’t mean to come across as insulting or snobbish, but this puzzle is just not that difficult and all the arguing seems so silly to me. I guess this whole experiment proves that some people will not believe the truth regardless of the logic involved and the evidence presented. And that truth transcends to larger questions, even to faith in an omniscient, omnipresent and omnipowerful God.