Making a Difference in your Life, in the Parts that are for Keeps!
“The U S Constitution is unConstitutional.”
—–aclu
“The U S Constitution is unAmerican.”
—–democrats
Everything the democrats are saying, everything they are for, everything they are against—it’s all opposite what America has meant from the start, and what Americans believe in and stand for today.
In the search bar above, type ACLU.
Food for thought from ten and thirteen years ago.
“The love of money is the root of all evil.”—–Jesus
“The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.”
“The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”
Hmmm.
For hundreds of years Bibles said “The love of money is the root of all evil.”
I wonder if the change from “all evil” to “all kinds of evil”, and “the root” to “a root” might be less of a mandate from modern translation revelation, and more of an influence from modern American financial ‘enlightenment’.
Is there a difference between “all evil” and “all kinds of evil” ?
“all evil” is universal, simple, clear, comprehensive.
“all kinds of evil” is open to listing the kinds of evil—and missing some ?
Perhaps “all kinds of evil” means what people want it to mean.
Perhaps “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” gives a little breathing room for what people do with their money.
Perhaps “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” means I can still do what I want with my money, because for me it’s not that root that causes those kinds of evil referred to in that verse.
Question:
Why the change in recent translations ?
Answer:
I find it hard to believe it is necessary for purely linguistic reasons.
Seems that some word changes in recent translations of the Bible—seem to tone down or diminish the weight of the meaning.
from:
“In the last days perilous times will come.”
to:
“In the last days difficult times will come.”
from:
“You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people.”
to:
“You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, God’s own people.”
from:
“Take no thought for tomorrow.”
to:
“Take no anxious thought for tomorrow.”
from:
“The love of money is the root of all evil.”
to:
“The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”
from:
“But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.”
to:
“Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
from:
“I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.”
to:
“I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.”
Could these changes serve to fit better in modern America, to not be so offensive or abrasive, and make readers and listeners more comfortable ?
These recent changes in Bible translations and recent changes in America have taken place at the same time, after hundreds of years with consistency for both.
I know more than you, because I know how to use the internet.
Don’t ask another person—find the answer yourself.
– – –
And that “serves to bypass the old-fashioned looking for answers for life by human interaction, hashing out in heart-to-heart conversation, in person, with expression and emotion, until we arrived at foundational values.”
BEFORE TECHNOLOGY (did not exist a generation ago)–
WERE WE WORSE THEN ?
or
WORRY WORSE NOW ?
TECHNOLOGY—ULTIMATE “JUST A LITTLE MORE”
or
“JUST A LOT MORE”
– – –
— PROLIFERATION OF TECHNOLOGY WITH INSTANT INFORMATION FOR EVERY QUESTION (faster than finding someone with answers)
and
— PROLIFERATION OF PUBLISHED HELP/ADVICE TO COPE WITH LIFE (relationships, marriage, family, health, stress, anxiety, . . .)
WHICH IS CAUSE, WHICH IS EFFECT ?
Actually, both are both cause and effect—both the technology and the published help/advice serve to bypass the old-fashioned looking for answers for life by human interaction, hashing out in heart-to-heart conversation, in person, with expression and emotion, until we arrived at foundational values.
The old, time-tested line of truth,
“I’m not just asking for solutions/answers—I need to know someone cares.”
– – –
— Are we indeed so special in the 20th-21st century ?
— Are we the yardstick because we know so much more ?
— Are we better, better off ?
— Evidence ?
Have we lost perspective of what is constant, to stabilize us through changes with claims that ‘we have arrived’ (or promises that we will arrive if we just get rid of the past) ?
Sounds like a ‘new and improved’ repeat of history—
“The one thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn anything from history.”
Is there an all-time perspective of history that does not change, that works in all circumstances, that just makes sense—to keep us from going crazy ?
Yes—the perspective that history is His-story.
Whether there is acceptance or not, a ‘consensus’ or not—there remains The Constant, The Creator of everything, The One Who keeps it going, The God of history, The Lord of all (of us too, especially).
AND, so we wouldn’t be left in the dark on our own, He wrote a clear, detailed manual that we can read for information on how it all started and for instruction on how to live.
The catch—His Book calls for our accountability to Him.
The catch—we have freedom of choice.
The catch—we face the consequences of our choice.
“How could anyone be so thoughtless, and not care.”
That is one application of the word, thoughtless.
I will pursue another use of the word, thought.
For hundreds of years, thought was associated with worry, with something negative, without using the word ‘worry’. (I’ll explain that later.)
Then, it seems to me we had to doctor up the word ‘thought’ to better fit into modern America, where thought is how we get things done.
So now we say ‘anxious thought’ or ‘worry’ for anything that steps over the line from just figuring things out, to fretting over something.
Combine this with the prevailing pressure to perform—at work, at play, at home, even at church—and we are expected to apply thought and get results, on time.
At a time when we emphasize and even worship leisure and entertainment, for many it comes at an ever-increasing cost.
Does it not seem to take more effort, more energy, to accomplish more—so that, then, we can enjoy the something we work so hard for ?
And there is the hard-to-define fine line between ‘thought’ and ‘anxious thought’, or ‘worry’.
Everybody is on their own to come up with the answer, to draw the line.
Most people expect most people to keep going, producing—get it all together, keep it all together.
Anyone can choose from a hundred things on the shelves to help you do just that (just a little more, a little longer).
When does a boost deliver a down ?
Usually.
When does another batch of boost solve that ?
Usually.
But then, the big picture—what this article is all about—perhaps nothing profound—but profoundly ignored.
“For hundreds of years, thought was associated with worry, with something negative, without using the word ‘worry’.” (explained now)
“Take no thought for tomorrow.
Tomorrow will take thought for the things of itself.
Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.”
—–Jesus said that
A bit more detail,
“I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor for your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more than food, and the body than clothes?”
—–and Jesus said that, and more on the subject
I have observed many interviews with authors of Christian ‘how-to’ books, and translations re-wording to make it ‘easier to understand’ the Bible.
It seems that the more new ways of explaining things (marriage, family, finance, the times, God) we have available, the more new ways are required to explain things.
The words of Jesus above served us well for centuries, and count just as well today as far as I can tell.
To take ‘no thought’ sets a higher bar against worry, than to take ‘no anxious thought’.
There are other examples from Jesus’ words, like “I am the Way (the only Way)” and “Strait is the gate (limited) and narrow is the way to life (in heaven).”
I think we want Jesus to not be so restrictive in His Words, for modern American audiences, for modern American churches.
What do politicians, lawyers, and theologians have in common ?
Politicians say, “I’m from the government—I’m here to help.”
Lawyers say, “I know all about the law—I’m here to help.”
Theologians say, “I studied, I know about God—let me help you understand God.”
– – –
What do politicians, lawyers, and theologians have in common ?
They claim to know more than you.
That gives them power over you.
That gives them status over you.
That makes them better than you.
That makes them well-off.
That makes them dangerous.
– – –
Warning—Politicians At Work—for power.
Warning—Lawyers At Work—for money.
Warning—Theologians At Work—for vainglory.
God has His reasons for everything, and He is just and holy in all He commands.
We are not God, and that is why we can’t understand Him sometimes, oftentimes.
Since God is God, we do well to listen to what He tells us to do—and do it.
A little known connection in one story when the Israelites fought the Amalekites (descendants of Esau).
That was the battle where Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ arms until the end of the day, so the army of Israel would win.
Many years later, the Amalekites came against Israel again.
God commanded, through the prophet Samuel, that king Saul should destroy ALL the Amalekites.
Saul disobeyed, and kept king Agag alive.
Again, many years later, one of the ‘Agagites’ named Haman set out to kill all the Jews—with an evil scheme with hate in his heart.
God saved the day, and saved the Jews, through the Jewish queen Esther, and the Agagite Haman was hanged on the gallows he built for the Jew he hated most.
And that is one of the reasons we can understand, for God’s order to destroy the godless people in the Promised Land.
God’s stated reason for the command is because the extreme wickedness of the people of Canaan would rub off on His chosen people and influence them to turn away from God and drift toward the pagan gods.
Sure enough, it happened just like God warned.
And that happens to us today.
God’s people, Christians, did not eliminate evolution when it was introduced in our schools.
God’s people, Christians, did not eliminate abortion when it was declared legal.
Abortion is America’s horrific version of Israel offering their little children to the god Molec—burning them alive in the red-hot statue.
This country will not endure—half death—and—half life (just like Lincoln said over slavery).
God’s people, Christians, did not eliminate the decree to take the Ten Commandments out of our schools.
God’s people, Christians, did not eliminate the decree to take the Bible out of our schools.
God’s people, Christians, did not eliminate the decree to take prayer out of our schools.
RESULTS ?
God is not pleased—
— America’s students now way behind other countries.
— Sixty million babies dead before the god, the altar, the sacrament of abortion.
— Dozens of children murdered in school, by children acting on what abortion taught them—just animals.
— A generation that does not know God.
— A generation that does not know our Godly heritage.
— Sexual perversion, with inventions of every unimaginable sort.
— Ideology bent on destroying the most God-blessed country on earth.
“The wicked will be turned into hell—and all the nations that forget God.”
BUT
“If My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from THEIR WICKED WAYS—then—I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin, and heal their land.”
God did that for Israel over and over, in the Bible, when they finally turned back to Him.
He will do that for us again, IF we do what He requires in the verse above.
Nothing less will do.
Repent of our sin.
Get forgiven for our sin.
Get rid of our sin.
Disclaimer/Warning !
Please note “WHAT IF” in the title.
I do not declare the following definitively, but the widespread emphasis on (and acceptance of) complex, detailed delineation of end-time time-lines makes me think of the possible parallel between the invention of evolution and the ‘obvious’ conclusion of pre-trib rapture.
My point is not a proof against pre-trib, but an observation that raises the question,
“What if pre-trib positions, and the details that follow, come through logic that makes everything fit, complete with charts that tell all ?”
What if pre-trib is an invention to fit into the end-times what we want—to avoid big trouble ?
The average person (that is, everybody except the teacher/theologian) never experiences, never grasps the Bible verses leading to the conclusions about end-times—as opposed to the common pattern of just “Let me tell you what it means.”
If the end-time sequences are so clear to the theologians, as shown by their ‘charts’, then it should be easy to lead the listeners through the verses from the start, step by step at their speed, to see how you get there.
That doesn’t happen.
– – –
“WHAT IF” there is a parallel ?
Pre-trib rapture:
So sure it’s going to happen exactly this way, right away, with all these details.
Never heard so much fine-tuned detail until recently.
All figured-out—with Bible prophecy to prove it.
Lots of conclusions—now just exactly how did you get there ?
Evolution:
So sure it happened exactly this way, long, long, long time ago.
Why such majority acceptance (or partial acceptance) of evolution by Christians ?
Why Christians did not rise up and stop the universal introduction of evolution in schools ?
Why Christians, even today, are wish-washy about young earth/old earth ‘debate’ ?
– – –
The biggest pitfall, the biggest fallacy, the biggest red flag—with growing emphasis in end-time teaching— is the shift by many in the original Gospel message,
from:
+++ “Repent of your sins and believe in Jesus to not go to hell but have eternal life in heaven.”
to:
XXX “Accept Jesus to avoid The Great Tribulation.”
Please read DO POLITICS AND RELIGION MIX ?
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