Sunday, September 2, 2012

Politics and Reason. Making Wise Decisions. It’s Back To School. Teaching the Children. When Evil Walks In. Great Fire of London. Chinese Massacre. V-J Day.

For “Scripture Sunday”:

Politics and Reason

August 31, 2012 - “America is in the midst of political conventions. The National Atheist Party wanted their own convention. Is that reasonable?”

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Life Lessons: Making Wise Decisions

Life Lessons: Making Wise Decisions

“Wisdom is being able to discern the right course of action, done for the right reasons and carried out at the right time.  Wisdom begins as the acquiring of knowledge, but develops into character.

Jesus Christ said, "Wisdom is proved right by all of her children" (Luke 7:35)  The proof of wisdom is in the results produced by decisions.

Points to build on

Remember that spiritual wisdom comes from God, and you must ask Him for it.  Proverbs 2:6-7  "For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up wisdom for the upright..."

Search the Bible for knowledge and understanding.   Wisdom must be sought after and learned.  Proverbs 2:1-5    "My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, And search for her as hidden treasure; Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God."

Seek wise counsel.

Proverbs 1:5 "A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel."

Proverbs 11:14  "Where there is no counsel the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety."

Proverbs 12:15   "The way of the fool is right in his own eyes, But he who heeds counsel is wise."

Proverbs 15:22  "Without counsel plans go awry, But in the multitude of counselors they are established."

Once you make a decision you must take action towards its completion.   We must put forth the needed effort to make our decisions successful.

Proverbs 10:4-5   "He who deals with a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes one rich.  He who gathers in summer is a wise son, But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame."

Proverbs 21:5  "The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty."

Application

Most people make decisions based on emotional reactions or with a shortsighted view of consequences.  Wisdom leads to the development of a decision-making process that first seeks the teachings of the Creator of Life, and then finds ways to apply those principles to the practical problems of everyday living.” 

From: http://www.ucg.org/blog/life-lessons-making-wise-decisions/    Article from: Life Lessons at: http://www.ucg.org/blogs/gary-petty/

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Turning the Hearts...It's Back to School

“Summer break has rapidly drawn to a close and "back to school" sales abound. Notebooks, backpacks, lunch containers and school clothes top the list in the effort to prepare school children for their return to classes this fall.

As parents we have much to do with our children's successful approach to school and learning. Here are some tips to help your child prepare for another year of school:

• Be excited with them about the new school year.
• Help them look forward to their classes.
• Help them look forward to meeting their new teachers.
• Help them anticipate friendships with their classmates, who are now three months older than when they last saw them at school.
• Encourage your child's involvement in as many extra-curricular activities as he or she can do.
• Encourage them to exercise leadership appropriately.
• Show interest in their classes.
• Ask them about the experiences and lessons they learn each day.
• Encourage them to choose good friends.
• Invite their friends to your home so you can meet and enjoy their company as well.
• Give them appreciation for their efforts and commend them for exceptional work.
• Encourage them to remember that they are Christians who ought to live God's way of life.
• Help them be proud of their physical and spiritual families.
• Pray for your child that he or she will not absorb the worldliness that is in the school system as he or she strives to retain godly values in life.

I'm sure you will be able to add to this list. May your child have a great school year and may it will provide a foundation for his or her future educational experiences and ultimately for life!” From: http://www.ucg.org/marriage-and-family/turning-heartsits-back-school/

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Teaching the Children

Teaching the Children

“I started my job this week teaching in a child care center, and so far it’s has been an absolutely amazing experience. Each day brings new and difficult challenges, but I absolutely love what I am doing and all of the children I get work with.

Most of them are just average kids who are in this world, curious about life and wanting to have fun. But some of them have already seen a lot of pain, and it keeps their hearts from reaching out beyond what they have known. It’s sobering to see that all of them are searching for their purpose and to be loved, but right now this world isn’t all that their little hearts have hoped for.

My biggest challenge each day is teaching them how to love and respect one another without being able to teach them directly how to love God. Without God, they don’t see the purpose or its value. Deuteronomy 6:5-7  says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. . . [and] you shall teach [His commands] diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”

And for eight hours a day, I am with those children in every single thing they do. I am not their parent, but I am responsible for teaching them about life and how to live life in our school setting. I speak out about what is right, and sometimes they and my co-workers are surprised, but I know God is with me, and they can see the difference God has made in me.

These children are a blessing from God, and I cannot wait to see the progress they make as we work together throughout this year. I am praying that God helps me guide and teach them under the limitations that have been set by the authorities. But most importantly, I am praying for that Day when “God Himself will be with them and be their God . . . [and] wipe away every tear from their eyes [because] there shall be no more pain, for the former things [will] have passed away””

From: http://www.ucg.org/blog/teaching-children/

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The sermon on WGN this morning: “When Evil Walks In.”

“We live in increasingly perilous times. No place is safe from violent, tragic events. But why? What is the ultimate solution?”

Transcript at: http://www.ucg.org/beyond-today-program/christian-living/when-evil-walks

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On This Day:

Great Fire of London begins, Sep 2, 1666

“In the early morning hours, the Great Fire of London breaks out in the house of King Charles II's baker on Pudding Lane near London Bridge. It soon spread to Thames Street, where warehouses filled with combustibles and a strong easterly wind transformed the blaze into an inferno. When the Great Fire finally was extinguished on September 6, more than four-fifths of London was destroyed. Miraculously, only 16 people were known to have died. 

The Great Fire of London engulfed 13,000 houses, nearly 90 churches, and scores of public buildings. The old St. Paul's Cathedral was destroyed, as were many other historic landmarks.  An estimated 100,000 people were left homeless.  To prevent future fires, most new houses were built of brick or stone and separated by thicker walls. Narrow alleyways were forbidden and streets were made wider.”

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Whites massacre Chinese in Wyoming Territory, Sep 2, 1885:

“On this day in 1885, 150 white miners in Rock Springs, Wyoming, brutally attack their Chinese coworkers, killing 28, wounding 15 others, and driving several hundred more out of town.

The miners working in the Union Pacific coal mine had been struggling to unionize and strike for better working conditions for years. But at every juncture the powerful railroad company had bested them. Searching for a scapegoat, the angry miners blamed the Chinese. The Chinese coal miners were hard workers, but the Union Pacific had initially brought many of them to Rock Springs as strikebreakers, and they showed little interest in the miners' union. Outraged by a company decision to allow Chinese miners to work the richest coal seams, a mob of white miners impulsively decided to strike back by attacking Rock Spring's small Chinatown. When they saw the armed mob approaching, most of the Chinese abandoned their homes and businesses and fled for the hills. But those who failed to escape in time were brutally beaten and murdered. A week later, on September 9, U.S. troops escorted the surviving Chinese back into the town where many of them returned to work. Eventually the Union Pacific fired 45 of the white miners for their roles in the massacre, but no effective legal action was ever taken against any of the participants.

The Rock Springs massacre was symptomatic of the anti-Chinese feelings shared by many Americans at that time. The Chinese had been victims of prejudice and violence ever since they first began to come to the West in the mid-nineteenth century, fleeing famine and political upheaval. Widely blamed for all sorts of social ills, the Chinese were also singled-out for attack by some national politicians who popularized strident slogans like "The Chinese Must Go" and helped pass an 1882 law that closed the U.S. to any further Chinese immigration. In this climate of racial hatred, violent attacks against the Chinese in the West became all too common, though the Rock Springs massacre was notable both for its size and savage brutality.”    (From me: Man is so cruel!)

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Allies celebrate V-J Day, Sep 2, 1945:

“On this day in 1945, the USS Missouri hosts the formal surrender of the Japanese government to the Allies. Victory over Japan was celebrated back in the States.

As Japanese troops finally surrendered to Americans on the Caroline, Mariana, and Palau islands, representatives of their emperor and prime minister were preparing to formalize their capitulation. In Tokyo Bay, aboard the Navy battleship USS Missouri, the Japanese foreign minister, Mamoru Shigemitsu, and the chief of staff of the Japanese army, Yoshijiro Umezu, signed the "instrument of surrender." Representing the Allied victors was Gen. Douglas MacArthur, commander of the U.S. Army forces in the Pacific, and Adm. Chester Nimitz, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, now promoted to the newest and highest Navy rank, fleet admiral. Among others in attendance was Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright, who had taken command of the forces in the Philippines upon MacArthur's departure and had been recently freed from a Japanese POW camp in Manchuria.

Shigemitsu would be found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to seven years in prison subsequent to the surrender. The grand irony is that he had fought for concessions on the Japanese side in order to secure an early peace. He was paroled in 1950 and went on to become chairman of Japan's Progressive Party. MacArthur would fight him again when he was named commander in chief of the United Nations forces in Korea in 1950.”

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Yesterday:

In the morning, I was delayed by several phone calls, and didn’t have time to proofread and hit the ‘Publish’ button on Live Writer before it was time to get ready for church.  Which, let’s face it, is more important than publishing my ramblings. 

Jay called to say he wanted to go as long as I was going to the morning service, so I had to be ready a bit earlier to pick him up. 

After the usual prayers for people who are having problems, the band played and sang with the congregation.  Then there was a dedication, not baptism, of a brand new baby, baptism is done when one is of an accountable age.  

The sermon by a visiting pastor from another Church of God in Galena Park, Houston, TX, was about making good choices.  He also said that ‘worry is a waste of imagination’.  One verse that he quoted was in Ephesians 5, and the next verse shook Jay up a bit: Verse 18 “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the Spirit”. 

Jay wanted to stay for the pot luck, and is getting more comfortable talking to the people at the table.   We both enjoyed it all, and Jay said he was especially moved by one of the songs of praise called ‘Revelation’.  The young children at the Conroe church seem to be more quiet than the ones at the Willis church, but it might be because it is at a different time of day.

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