GOOD STUFF TO CONSIDER

The following was written by Christian radio personality, Brant Hanson. It deserves your attention.

A friend of mine did something really, really bad a couple years ago. Real bad. Not illegal bad, but...bad enough that even this week, it showed up on page two of a metro newspaper, a thousand miles away from where he did it.

I love this guy. He's fun, smart, and fairly new to Christian belief. He's accepted responsibility for what he did, and he's had to live with it every day. He told me the other day he was sorry even I was having to deal with it now. "I'm amazed how many people this has affected. One stupid, wrong decision I made and it keeps affecting so many people. My wife, my kids...it just keeps going."

And so it does. We marvelled at that, and, just stood there, quietly, just shaking our heads. Amazing? Yes. But not really surprising. The older I get, the more convinced I am there is no private sin. They don't all wind up on page two, but the surface of the pond is never undisturbed by the pebble. The ripples move well beyond ourselves, and, in many cases they radiate through generations.

Or, another recent example: One day, you're a minister getting in a quick ego-stroking flirt, thinking you're in some kind of private soap opera...and soon, there are 300 people in a flourescent-lit room, on metal folding chairs, discussing what you did. And they're cautioning each other not to judge you, and then they talk some more about what you did.

And then, some little kid you dont even know, like my daughter, has to hear some stranger talking in church about how the pastor-guy won't be back, he did something called "sexual misconduct."

Your soap opera? It wasn't private. Sins on the computer aren't private. Larry Ellison, from Oracle, said years ago: If you think he doesn't know what's on your hard drive, you're kidding yourself. By the way, Google knows, too.

But even if they didn't know, the sins in your head aren't private. Mine affect my attitude. They keep me from being concerned about other people. They make me a jerk, in seemingly unrelated ways. ("Why's Brant a jerk?" "Probably something seemingly unrelated.")

There is no "private sin." Turns out few things have done more harm than the "do no harm" ethic. The as-long-as-it-doesn't-hurt-anyone-else construction of morality is built atop the swamp of affluence. We afford this lie, because affluence loves not only privacy, but the fantasy of it. But like the 77's said, "The lust, the flesh, the eyes, and the pride of life -- drain the life right out of me."

And then...I'm not the person I'm supposed to be. I'm less creative. I'm less joyful. I have less social energy. My patience is gone. I care less about my neighbors.

Private rebellion. Public consequence. And if it seems unfair that what my friend did was so horrible, but what you or I do in our minds is somehow not so horrible -- well, you agree with Jesus. There IS no difference.

The ripple metaphor works. There's a better one, really, for what our "private" sins do to each other, but I don't want to gross you out with a picture of a fan being hit by organic material. I have higher standards than that.

Plus, I Googled for 20 minutes and couldn't find one.

REMEMBER INDEPENDENCE DAY FOR WHAT IT MEANS TO AMERICA!

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!

GREAT INSPIRATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT

Let me break from my regular posting for a moment. (Like my current break hasn't been long enough).

I work as a part-time Production Director at a Christian radio station in Southwest Florida, Kingdom FM .

Mostly you hear me on announcements and the like nowadays, as I am only working quarter-time.

Kingdom FM is heavy into Praise and Worship music with great lyrical content.

I have a friend who has an Internet radio station that is the essence of peaceful, uplifting, encouraging Christian music and ministry.

If you need a peaceful sound, something you can keep on in the background where you work that is unobtrusive, yet has a great presence, may I recommend that you tune in to Christian Life Radio .

This is inspirational radio in the true sense of the word.

When I am at my radio or in my car, I listen to Kingdom FM.

At my computer, where I have no radio, I often listen to Christian Life Radio.

I recommend both of these stations to you, each for its own format.

Both are available online.

MEMORIAL DAY

A DAY TO REMEMBER PEOPLE

I happened to watch Bill Moyers' Journal, today.

I don't usually watch him very long at a time, because he is smug, arrogant, supercilious and all sorts of other negative adjectives.

He believes himself to be very intelligent. He is sure of it. He is confident of it.

Moyers may be well educated, but he has the wisdom of dead grass.

As he closed his show, he began one of his patented snidely worded leftist commentaries about the purpose of Memorial Day, which he proclaimed was for us to remember war.

What a stupid, hair-brained, mindless, tasteless, insensitive and irresponsible thing to say.

Hey Bill! News Flash for you!

Memorial Day is to remember PEOPLE, you know: the ones who gave their lives in service to our country in the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, National Guard, Coast Guard and Merchant Marines.

What a total fool Bill Moyers is. Total fool.

My father served 31 years in the United States Air Force (actually the Army Air Corps, which later became the Air Force).

He was a man who HATED war, but understood when and why it was necessary.

Most people today like the HATE WAR part, but are too stupid to know when or why is necessary.

President BO is one of those.

Colonel Joseph E. Scoggins was a man of honor, integrity and deep conviction. He was a man of superior skill at his job, and a patriot extraordinaire.

Pappy, as everybody called him, even his superior officers, was a man of faith and a deacon at Central Baptist Church, Miami, Florida.

He served during World War II in the South Atlantic Corridor between South America and Africa.

My father became the Deputy Commander of the last two bases on which he served, Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Georgia and Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts.

Because of hundreds of thousands of men like him, you live in a country which, up to now, has had more freedom than any other in the history of the universe. And so today I honor my father and all of the men who served with him in both the Atlantic and the Pacific theaters, as well as all of those who have given either their very lives or their lives of service to this country in all of its wars, past and present.

A MEMORIAL DAY RECOGNITION TO YOU ALL

PERSONALLY SPEAKING

I came home Thursday from the world's ritziest hospital, following my heart attacks (two of them...one Monday and one at the hospital Thursday morning - three stents in several coronary arteries).

It had wall to wall polished wood cabinets, a built in desk, draperies/sheers/verticles on the windows, high def. TV, a great staff and beds worse than an old Army cot.

I was sent there because none of the local hospitals had a surgeon who could do the proceedure STAT.

The least little activities leaves me breathless and worn out, so with your permission I will continue NOT blogging for a day or so (this one does not count...OK?).

I will, however, read yours and comment as strength permits, so keep on writing.

Thanks for all of your patience, prayers and well-wishes. I really DO appreciate it.

ADDENDUM: I am feeling quite a bit better tonight and should be back to blogging...perhaps by tomorrow. Come by if you are so inclined.

SORRY 'BOUT THAT

It was my intention to get back to blogging on this site, but Monday I had a heart attack and had to be in the hospital for four days.

I am home now and will get back to blogging ASAP.

Keep me in your prayers.

Thanks

DON'T YOU JUST LOVE IT?

AN APPLICATION OF I CORINTHIANS 13 FOR THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD.

In my early days of Christian service, I was a Minister to Youth.

Many times I was asked to counsel young people about their "romantic" involvements, sometimes in the roll of pre-marital counselor.

Most often the girl in the situation wanted to know if the guy really loved her.

I used a standardized psychological test to help them with some basic understanding of interpersonal relationships, since few of them were enthusiastic enough about their Christian "faith" to try to find out what the Word of God had to say.

Once we finished the test, however, we would go straight to the best definition of love found anywhere in the universe, I Corinthians 13.

Here is its text:

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

After establishing the importance of love in verses 1-3, we would get to the definition, the most complete, comprehensive definition there is.

By the time we finished, one or the other or both of the parties knew whether they were "in love" God's way.

I used the passages as a test as follows:

Verse 4. "Love is patient, Love is kind It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud."

I would ask the girl, "Is he patient with you in all situations? Is he kind to you no matter what?"
The guy in the relationship would be asked the same question.

If each or either answered, "No," I would tell them they could not possibly love one another. If, on the other hand, the answer was, "Yes," I would tell them they might be in love and I would agree to go further with them.

"Is either of you envious of the other? Do you boast more about yourself than about the other one? Is either of you more proud of yourself than of your "partner?" would be the next question. "If so, you are not in love."

We would move to verse 5. "It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs."

This one is a little tougher.

Among teenagers and young adults, rudeness, self-centeredness and anger are almost a given.

But those three things ruin a marriage more quickly than anything else.

I would explain that God teaches us to be polite to one another, even when it is not easy to do so.

Then I would ask, "Have either of you used the phrase, 'If you loved me, you would...'?"

"That is conditional love, and has no place in a Christian relationship."

I would show them that thinking of others first is very important ["Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." (Philippians 2:3, NIV)], and that anger is to be set aside [Ephesians 4:26 "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:..."

I would ask, "Do either of you seek your own way first or get angry with the other one, allowing your anger to fester?"

I would explain that anger always has its roots in one not getting his/her own way and that if this condition exists, the relationship is not one of love.

Carrying a grudge, remembering past wrongs is also indicative that there is a problem...on the part of the one carrying the grudge.

In verse 6 we would read, "Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth."

Pure evil was not too often an issue, but failing to be truthful often was.

I would explain to them that love demands honesty. Not the hurtful kind, or the kind that runs around disguised as a compliment, like, "You're not nearly as ugly as everybody says you are."

The kind of honesty needed in a love relationship is the kind in which one does not hide things from the other.

Verse 7 tell us about love: "It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

I explained that each person in a love relationship must look out for the other, trust the other, and always have a positive attitude toward the future, being careful to preserve the relationship, no matter what.

Verse 8: "Love never fails."

Love just keeps on keeping on, as the marriage vow says, "...for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health...'til death do us part" (each of which is guaranteed).

"The marriage kind of love is forever," I would explain. It is a commitment and a contract which is entered into in the presence of and with Almighty God Himself.

The world's philosophy does not conform to that viewpoint. It tells us that if we get tired of the marriage, stressed in it, "fall out of love," or just want new horizons, we can always get a divorce.

The rest of the passage tell us that other things of the earth will pass, but mature love is the greatest thing God ever invented.

8. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

From I Corinthians 13 we learn that love is not an emotion, although emotions result from true love, but is a decision to behave a certain way toward the other person, regardless of the circumstance.

Then God demonstrated how far we are to take that love.

As Romans 5:8 says, "But God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."