Dear God, please protect my family from sickness and crime.
Dear Lord, please provide me with a job that pays our bills and allows me to use my talents in a way that really serves people.
Dear God, please bring my brother to know you and to serve you fully.
Dear Lord, please heal my friend’s cancer, and do it in such a way that even the doctors would come to believe in you as a result.
Dear God, please guide our leaders, and cause them to hear your voice clearly and to be willing to obey it, even if it means changing directions in what they planned to do.
I suppose we’ve all prayed prayers like these many times in our lives. Why? Because we all believe that God wants to do good things for us and will do so if we ask Him to, presuming that He can.
But here’s the question. When other people ask us for something good we’re capable of giving them, do we respond the way we hope God will respond to our requests?
Thought of the Day 11.10.09
There are four categories of sin.
The first is our favorite category: sins we’ve never struggled with. These are extremely comfortable to talk about because we’ve never been tempted by them and there can, of course, be no shame to us in discussing them.
The second category is potentially just as pleasant: sins we’ve overcome. Although we can be reluctant to admit our history, we’re usually more eager to celebrate God in the remedy. Having been sufferers ourselves, we tend to be more humble in discussing them.
The third category is very unpleasant: sins we currently struggle with. Obviously, these are things we prefer to avoid, both in disclosure and in conversation, except to the extent that we take pleasure in the hypocrisy of vehemently condemning groups to which we secretly belong.
The fourth type, however, is the most deadly: sins we don’t realize plague us. After all, the most durable slave doesn’t even know he is one, for what man fights for freedom when he thinks he already has it? Also, a group of equally enslaved people can easily persuade themselves that such slavery isn’t even slavery at all.
The first is our favorite category: sins we’ve never struggled with. These are extremely comfortable to talk about because we’ve never been tempted by them and there can, of course, be no shame to us in discussing them.
The second category is potentially just as pleasant: sins we’ve overcome. Although we can be reluctant to admit our history, we’re usually more eager to celebrate God in the remedy. Having been sufferers ourselves, we tend to be more humble in discussing them.
The third category is very unpleasant: sins we currently struggle with. Obviously, these are things we prefer to avoid, both in disclosure and in conversation, except to the extent that we take pleasure in the hypocrisy of vehemently condemning groups to which we secretly belong.
The fourth type, however, is the most deadly: sins we don’t realize plague us. After all, the most durable slave doesn’t even know he is one, for what man fights for freedom when he thinks he already has it? Also, a group of equally enslaved people can easily persuade themselves that such slavery isn’t even slavery at all.
Thought of the Day 11.09.09
Imagine for a moment someone who believes in gay marriage and someone who opposes it having an argument. It could be pretty vehement, right? Now imagine someone walking up to them and offering the following advice: “Hey, guys. Why don’t you just realize that this issue is all a matter of opinion and it doesn’t really matter since there is no truth anyhow. Can’t we all just get along?”
Unless I’m really wrong in my assessment of human nature, the gay marriage advocate and the gay marriage opponent would immediately unite to fight off such an offensive bit of “friendly” advice. The amazing thing is how rarely the dogmatic indifference preached by relativists elicits that response.
See, the basic message of relativism isn’t that everybody is right, but that everybody is wrong for thinking that anyone can be right. In essence, they try to unite disagreeing parties through the supremely arrogant assertion that only relativism is right. At least those of us who disagree about what is right still agree that something is right and that figuring it out matters.
Thought of the Day 11.06.09
President Obama and the Democratically controlled Congress are trying to pass a health care package which will require health insurance for all Americans, provide that coverage for many of them, and intensely regulate non-government insurance plans. Both the scope and novelty of this proposal have led many people to question its Constitutionality.
See, no matter how good an idea is, Congress can only do what the Constitution permits. Everything else is illegal. And because states were scared of an expansive federal government, the burden of proof was historically against Congress. A law was presumed unconstitutional unless the power to pass it was specifically enumerated in Article 1, Section 8. This is why the President had veto power, not as a way of coercing them to pass his agenda, but as the first line of defense against Congress playing out of bounds.
Sadly, our founders may have had too much faith in the federal oath of office, or, more precisely, in the Constitutional knowledge which it presumes.
See, no matter how good an idea is, Congress can only do what the Constitution permits. Everything else is illegal. And because states were scared of an expansive federal government, the burden of proof was historically against Congress. A law was presumed unconstitutional unless the power to pass it was specifically enumerated in Article 1, Section 8. This is why the President had veto power, not as a way of coercing them to pass his agenda, but as the first line of defense against Congress playing out of bounds.
Sadly, our founders may have had too much faith in the federal oath of office, or, more precisely, in the Constitutional knowledge which it presumes.
Thought of the Day 11.05.09
This morning, Spencer was twirling Sage around on his back by the legs on our bed. At first he was laughing, but then he stopped smiling and started complaining mildly. I immediately told Spencer to stop because “Sage doesn’t like that.” “But daddy, he was laughing about it,” he replied.
At this point, I realized I needed to be very careful how I proceeded because there were really two different things going on here. On the one hand, Spencer was doing what Sage didn’t enjoy, which needed some correction. But on the other hand, Spencer clearly was trying to entertain Sage and had been correct in sensing his early enjoyment, which I wanted to encourage and praise.
So, I said, “Well, honey, you have to keep paying attention because he can change quickly from liking something to being upset by it. But I’m really glad you’re playing with him, and I like that you’re paying attention to whether he likes it. That’s good.”
One of the great challenges of parenting is to nurture the good and also discourage the bad things kids do, especially when both are present in the same behavior.
At this point, I realized I needed to be very careful how I proceeded because there were really two different things going on here. On the one hand, Spencer was doing what Sage didn’t enjoy, which needed some correction. But on the other hand, Spencer clearly was trying to entertain Sage and had been correct in sensing his early enjoyment, which I wanted to encourage and praise.
So, I said, “Well, honey, you have to keep paying attention because he can change quickly from liking something to being upset by it. But I’m really glad you’re playing with him, and I like that you’re paying attention to whether he likes it. That’s good.”
One of the great challenges of parenting is to nurture the good and also discourage the bad things kids do, especially when both are present in the same behavior.
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