Hope for today ...

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."
Jesus' apostle Paul, Philippians 4:4-9

Entering into Prayer

When I pray, especially at bedtime, I often just plunge in, leading with whatever concern is foremost on my mind. Then, usually, I pause and begin again, struggling to put God the Father, the Holy God being addressed, above my pressing concern.

Perhaps it will help if I speak to myself some words of Martyn Lloyd Jones, a pastor now with the Lord.

_____

"Before we begin to utter words we always ought to do this. We should say to ourselves: 

`I am now entering into the audience chamber of that God, the almighty, the absolute, the eternal and great God with all His power and His might and majesty, that God who is a consuming fire, that God who is "light and in whom is no darkness at all", that utter, absolute Holy God. That is what I am doing.' 

"We must recollect and realize all that. But above all, our Lord insists that we should realize that, in addition to that, He is our Father."

"The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him." Nahum 1:7 

Martyn Lloyd Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount

Hollow Crusades

All this "sanctuary" city/county/state stuff looks hollow to me. Cities and states that offer sanctuary from federal law enforcement to non-citizens are merely grandstanding.

Instead of grandstanding, state and local officials should use their "bully pulpits" to persuade citizens to communicate directly and persistently with their U.S. Senators and Members of Congress, urging them to reconsider and reform federal immigration laws. Congress can actually fix the immigration system; local sanctuary regimes can't.
The immigration system needs fixing. One jurisdiction insulting another is not a fix.

The Great Loop of Impotence-Taking Apart the News Cycle Merry-Go-Round

"According to [Neil] Postman, [with the coming of the telegraph] for the first time people had an “information glut.” They were reading headlines about events that were happening across the U.S. and Europe. However, most people could do nothing about these events. The most they could do is offer opinions in the form of public opinion polls, which are then converted in to a news item that no one can do anything about. Postman refers to this as “a great loop of impotence.”

From, Taking Apart the News Cycle Merry-Go-Round, by Heather Zeiger, October 17, 2017, https://www.mercatornet.com/mobile/view/taking-apart-the-news-cycle-merry-go-round

Retrieved October 18, 2017

Legalizing Assisted Suicide: The Message This Sends

"Legally, the government has two choices. Laws that prohibit physician-assisted suicide encourage a worldview that says there is value to life and it ought not to be thrown away based on an individual’s subjective perception of his or her situation. Such laws teach us that our lives are objectively valuable, even if we do not recognize our own value. And they teach everyone else to help us in finding value and enjoyment in our lives.

"But by legalizing physician-assisted suicide, we make a different statement. Such laws communicate the idea that suicide can be a reasonable, moral, and socially acceptable choice, because some lives are no longer valuable. Suicide is prohibited in all other circumstances, sending the message that most lives have value that ought to be protected by law, even when the person in question does not see that value. In certain circumstances, however—specifically, when an individual is losing his or her own independence—such protections need not apply. Society is affirming, by legalizing physician-assisted suicide, that it is better to be dead than disabled. It is better to be in the grave than to live with reduced independence. This message is sent both to people with disabilities like me and everyone else who interacts with us." [Emphasis added.]

From, Physician-Assisted Suicide Tells People Like Me That Our Lives Are No Longer Worth Living

by  Zachary D. Schmoll, Public Discourse online,

The Witherspoon Institute, May 8, 2017

http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2017/05/19163/

Retrieved 5-13-2017

Where is truth?

When I stop expecting truth in the public conversations of our time, this declaration in Psalm 57 directs my attention to where truth is.

"I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing to You among the nations.
For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,
And Your truth unto the clouds.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth."

Psalm 57:9-11

In the Beginning, What or Who?

Which statement is the more reasonable?

* In the beginning an impersonal force sometimes called "evolution" took nothing and made it into the present universe. Or,

* In the beginning a supernatural person whom we call "God" created the heavens and the earth.

On a simpler level, is it more reasonable to maintain that the device we call "smartphone" came into existence with or without the intervention of human hands and minds?