For “Scripture Sunday”:
Congress passed the legislation proclaiming the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents' Day in the U.S. and, on August 3, 1978, then-President Jimmy Carter signed the proclamation.
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How Will War End?
“World War I, which ended a century ago, was so brutally horrifying that it was soon called “The War to End All Wars.” Yet it was anything but. It was followed a generation later by World War II, and countless wars since then. What is the root cause of war? Can mankind ever find peace?
God is not uninvolved or uncaring. He cares deeply about His creation, about His children of all nations and races.
British Army
British soldiers gather for a religous service near the front lines during World War I.
During World War I many German soldiers marched into war with their imperial motto Gott Mit Uns —“God With Us”—emblazoned on their helmets and belt buckles. Priests, pastors and chaplains on both sides encouraged the men to fight in their side’s righteous cause, proclaiming it was God’s will that they emerge victorious.
At home, the Anglican bishop of London, Arthur Winnington-Ingram, declared this “a holy war” and urged British soldiers to “kill Germans … not for the sake of killing, but to save the world, to kill the good as well as the bad, to kill the young as well as the old … As I have said a thousand times, I look upon it as a war for purity, I look upon everyone who died in it as a martyr” (quoted by Philip Jenkins, The Great and Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade, 2014, p. 71).
In Germany, pastor Dietrich Vorweck rewrote the Lord’s prayer to say:
Our Father, from the height of heaven,
Make haste to succor Thy German people.
Help us in the holy war …
Lead Thy German Reich to glorious victories.
Who will stand before the conquerors? …
Lord, Thy will be done! …
Smite the foe each day with death and tenfold woes …
Lead us not into the temptation
Of letting our wrath be too gentle
In carrying out Thy divine judgment. (quoted on p. 13)
Such pleas apparently went unanswered as millions died or were permanently maimed on muddy, bloody battlefields in four years of fighting during which the border barely moved.
“A striking commentary on the war was offered by Britain’s Harry Patch, the last soldier to have fought in the war’s trenches and who died in 2009 at the age of 111. He felt the war had not been worth a single life … He recalled seeing half-savage dogs fighting over biscuits taken from dead men’s pockets and wondering, ‘What are we doing that’s really any different? Two civilized nations, British and German, fighting for our lives.’ In summary, he commented, ‘What … we fought for, I now don’t know’” (pp. 2-3).
This is not to say that World War I was without result. Four empires fell, the world’s first communist state came into being, the world that existed before 1914 was destroyed and the stage was set for even greater carnage in the Second World War. One effect that continues to this day is that millions of people lost their faith in a God who could allow such indescribable suffering.
But God is not uninvolved or uncaring. He cares deeply about His creation, about His children of all nations and races. One of the Bible’s best-loved passages tells us, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
And God will bring about offering the opportunity for salvation to all mankind—just not in the way most people expect. As explained in this issue, God is not offering salvation to the entire world now. Nor is He trying to end human suffering now. He knows that human beings the world over must learn some very painful lessons before being willing to admit that “the way of peace they have not known” (Romans 3:17, quoting Isaiah 59:8).
Why do we not know the way to peace? Because “there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12; Proverbs 16:25). The way that seems right to our thinking has led to generations of bloody wars in which we have learned to kill each other in increasingly efficient ways!
But it will not always be this way. As also explained in this issue, a time is coming in which Jesus Christ, as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, “shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people …” (Isaiah 2:4). As a result, “… they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (same verse).
This is describing the coming Kingdom of God—the same Kingdom for which Christ tells us to pray, “Your kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10). We hope you’ll join us in that prayer. From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-magazine/how-will-war-end
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An Amazing Fact: “Kofi Annan, the former United Nations Secretary-General, was the founder of the Global AIDS and Health Fund to support developing countries in their struggle to care for hurting people. He was born on April 8, 1938, and currently serves as a Ghanaian diplomat. In his effort to raise global awareness on how people live in the world, he has presented incredible statistics from the United Nations Human Development Report.
These numbers really put into perspective how we live in America!
• Four percent of the 225 richest men’s wealth could provide for the entire globe: basic education, basic health care, adequate food, clean water, and safe sewers.
• Americans spend $8 billion a year on cosmetics—$2 billion more than the estimated total needed to provide basic education for everyone in the world.
• Americans each consume an average of 260 pounds of meat a year. In Bangladesh, the average is 6.5 pounds.
• The world’s 225 richest individuals, of whom 60 are Americans, have a combined wealth of over $1 trillion—equal to the annual income of the poorest 47 percent of the entire world’s population.
• Europeans spend $11 billion a year on ice cream—$2 billion more than the estimated annual total needed to provide clean water and safe sewers for the world’s population.
• The three richest people in the world have assets that exceed the combined gross domestic product of the 48 least-developed countries.
• The richest fifth of the world’s people consumes 86 percent of all goods and services, while the poorest fifth consumes just 1.3 percent. Indeed, the richest fifth consumes 45 percent of all meat and fish, 58 percent of all energy used, 84 percent of all paper, has 74 percent of all telephone lines, and owns 87 percent of all vehicles.
Annan encourages us to not look at faceless statistics, but think of the condition of how many people in our world truly live. When we consider the world’s consumption bill of $24 trillion a year, the numbers seem overwhelming.
Yet, in God’s eyes, even a cup of cold water given to a thirsty child is not beneath His notice.
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. Mark 9:41
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Update.
Zack and I got some more shelves ready for the mini-house, some were sanded, some were stained, and some Zilzed. The electrician mounted the mast, ran the wires up to the weatherhead and mounted the new outdoor breaker box on the side of the mini-house. Now the light company has to come to transfer the juice from the pole to the new mast. Then I found out that it costs more for the electrician to come and connect the mini-house to the new wires. Oh, The Joys Of Ownership!
Chris, my sweet neighbor took me for my eye exam, thank goodness, because I know I couldn’t have driven home after they dilated my eyes. In fact it took a couple of days to really get over that, but my eyes are troublesome anyway. Their office is going to let me know when they can schedule my eye surgery. I didn’t really need anything, but I drove to the store on Friday, just to make sure that my eyes would be OK for the trip to church on Saturday.
Some organic cooked cut up chicken breast was defrosted, and a white sauce made with green olives, pimentos, celery, onions, any seasonings that looked good, and a pot full of spaghetti pasta cooked, and there was Chicken Spaghetti for the church pot luck.
The Bible readings were Deut. 11:26-16:17, Isa. 54:11-55:5, John 7:37-52 and 1 John 4:1-6. The Teaching was about “Teachableness”, or having humility and willingness to learn and be receptive to receive the Word.
It is still hot, but it seems to be a little cooler each day.
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