The Internet is no longer fun

So what has the Internet become these days?  It has become a place ruled by big companies, advertising, rules about what you can do and can't. It is a place of copyrights, professionally designed videos, social networking sites selling advertising, tabloids, and a whole sewer filled with hackers, scam artists and predators.  

Like anything that started out good, it had fallen prey to some ideology. Someone saw it and said, that is something I need to control for my own agenda, and they have done a good job of it.  What a garbage heap it is now.  People may argue and say that all this regulation, professionalism and commercialism has made it a better place. I disagree.  It really just reflects the world anyway.  There are millions of young people out there bent on consumerism.  That is what all of this is about.  

Older people are bent on keeping what they have and younger ones on living for pleasure and the moment.  When will this nightmare end?  Will it end when the Lord comes to destroy the earth by fire?  Hopefully soon.

Flood story is history common to Native Americans

This is a story from Chickasaw Indians on what they believe about the flood and coming judgement: "Long ago, perhaps in the days when our Chickasaw ancestors still resided in the land of the setting sun, the Great Spirit, Aba'Binni'li', sent rain. Soon, water covered all the Earth. Some Chickasaws made rafts to save themselves. Then, creatures like large white beavers cut the thongs that bound the rafts. All drowned except one family and a pair of each of all the animals. When the rain stopped and the flood began receding, a raven appeared with part of an ear of corn. Aba'Binni'li' told the Chickasaws to plant it. Aba'Binni'li' also told them that, eventually, the Earth would be destroyed by fire, its ruin presaged by a rain of flood and oil." (The Chickasaw Nation, 2024)

Here is a quote from the Buffalo Bill biography. I had never heard this one but it is pretty close to the biblical account:

"During the scouting expedition that followed, the party chanced upon an enormous bone, which the surgeon pronounced the femur of a human body. Will understood the Indian tongues well enough to be in part possession of their traditions, and he related the Sioux legend of the flood.

It was taught by the wise men of this tribe that the earth was originally peopled by giants, who were fully three times the size of modern men. They were so swift and powerful that they could run alongside a buffalo, take the animal under one arm, and tear off a leg, and eat it as they ran. So vainglorious were they because of their own size and strength that they denied the existence of a Creator. When it lighted, they proclaimed their superiority to the lightning; when it thundered, they laughed.

This displeased the Great Spirit, and to rebuke their arrogance he sent a great rain upon the earth. The valleys filled with water, and the giants retreated to the hills. The water crept up the hills, and the giants sought safety on the highest mountains. Still the rain continued, the waters rose, and the giants, having no other refuge, were drowned.

The Great Spirit profited by his former mistake. When the waters subsided, he made a new race of men, but he made them smaller and less strong.

This tradition has been handed down from Sioux father to Sioux son since earliest ages. It shows, at least, as the legends of all races do, that the story of the Deluge is history common to all the world. "

(Wetmore & Zane, 2006)

Bibliography

The Chickasaw Nation. (2024). Story of the Flood. Retrieved from The Chickasaw Nation: https://www.chickasaw.net/Our-Nation/Culture/Beliefs/Legend-of-the-Flood.aspx

Wetmore, H. C., & Zane, G. (2006, February 18). Last of the Great Scouts - The Life Story of William F. Cody ["Buffalo Bill" Cody]. Retrieved from https://www.usgennet.org/: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1248/1248-h/1248-h.htm#link2HCH0018

Philemon 1:6 meaning

Philemon 1:6 says, "and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full  knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. "

I thought that this meant that the more we share our faith verbally with others that we tap more into the blessings of really knowing what good things we have in Christ and that without the frequent verbal sharing of our faith we don't really experience all the blessings God has for us.  

I am not saying that God doesn't want us to share our faith.  He does want us to do that. But here, we find that we share our faith by our good testimony, not our words.  We share our faith when others view our changed lives.  

I offer this commentary by Albert Barnes from his commentary:

What, therefore, did he desire for Philemon? That his faith, expressing itself by good fruits, might be shown to be true and not vain. For he calls that the communication of his faith when it does not remain inoperative within, but bears itself forth to benefit men by its proper effects. For although faith has its proper seat in the heart, yet it communicates itself to men by good works.” The meaning is, that he desired that Philemon would so make common the proper fruits of faith by his good deeds toward others, that all might acknowledge it to be genuine and efficacious. - Albert Barnes Commentary

The first miracle at Cana of Galilee

Right now they are having a run-off election in Brazil between two candidates, Lula and Bolsonaro. It would be similar to Democrat (Lula) vs. Republican (Bolsonaro) here in the United States, except for the following tidbit:

In July 2017, Lula was convicted on charges of money laundering and corruption in a controversial trial, and sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. The federal judge of the case, Sergio Moro, later became Minister of Justice and Public Security in Jair Bolsonaro's government.

Later in 2022, Bolsonaro is the president and Lula is the main contender and expected to win the election.  You might wonder why a convicted felon would be more popular than his adversary in a country that is notorious for corrupt politicians and accepting bribes, but that is really no surprise to me.

We don't have any miraculous powers to do anything but use our words to try and convince others.  Lula has a lot of funding behind him from other socialists and socialist governments. Money has always been humanity's form of miraculous power. Or as someone else put it, "he who has the gold makes the rules". 

What is interesting to me is how Jesus came to this world with all the power available to him to rule it forever.  He turned water into wine, displaying His power to His disciples. After Jesus had turned water into wine, John the Apostle gives the following summary:

John 2:11 ESV

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

If Jesus had decided to run for election, He would have been the ultimate conservative ruler and would have put things right. He could have lived forever as a the greatest ruler the world has ever know. Instead, he chose to die for our sins.

To him, our eternal well-being was more important than our temporary well being.  Let us stop worrying about who is elected and how our financial and religious freedoms are going to be and, like Jesus, turn our concern to the eternal things.  I am not saying that we should ignore the temporary things, just realize that things going like we think they should was never a part of God's plan.  God's plan for this world is summed up in the second Epistle of Peter: 

2 Peter 3:3-7 ESV

knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

The root of sin is self-centeredness. Many sins that we concentrate so hard on getting rid of are not the sins we should be worrying about. They are really the fruit of a self-centered heart. When we are living a self-centered life we should not be surprised about bad fruit in our lives. We were created to have our lives centered on God. Instead we center our lives around ourselves and ask ourselves why something is not right with us. Why can't we keep ourselves under control. I think Zac Poonen answers the question right here.

Knowing you don't know nothing and not knowing you don't know nothing

I am sure someone is going to correct my bad grammar in the title, but at least you understand what I am saying.  I was listening to a sermon on 1 Corinthians 3 tonight.  The point made was that there are people who like to think that they know everything but are the greatest fools.  They are unteachable and hard to get along with.  They won't listen to what you say because they think they know the right answer already.

In reality, they would never hear what you are saying, only what they perceive you are saying that they disagree with so that they can tear it apart.  I have this happen to me frequently when I am trying to share something with a group of people.  Someone, particularly someone younger than me, will say that I am saying something that I am not saying and will tell me how wrong that it is or how silly I am for thinking it.  Then they may tell me that I should go back and read a certain passage or listen to a particular sermon.

The advice this preacher gave is that you can't do anything with a person like that other than taking a hands-off approach.  Leave them alone in their ignorance.  Let them go and don't try to help them see the light.  They are at the point where they are beyond help (at least for now).  Sometimes we think we have done something wrong.  I don't think we have usually.  There may be some unperceived resentment toward us because we remind them of someone they don't like.  Yes.  I know they shouldn't think that way but that is just the way people are, especially immature Christians.  They have not learned much love for others yet and are pretty proud of their own knowledge.

Maybe they feel they have all the answers and are qualified to be everyone's counselor.  It is actually these people who are the most incapable of offering any helpful advice and more often than not, their inner life is a nervous wreck.  Yes, you can pray for them, because in this case they would be considered your enemy.  You can show love to them even when they don't do it in return.  That is what a mature Christian is called to do.

Meeting Needs

When we struggle with sexual sin (or whatever sin which dominates our life) chances are, we are concerned primarily with meeting our own needs.  We have put the focus on ourselves and what we don't have at this particular moment.  For the Christian however, his life is supposed to be focused, not merely on his own needs, but also the needs of others.  Is there any wonder why a Christian is unhappy?  I would venture to say that he is unhappy because he is focused on his needs and why others aren't being considerate of him.  He feels that he has given so much and wants a little in return.  His problem is, not that he hasn't received anything, but the many things he has received he has not been appreciative of.

Man is constantly trying to obtain just one more thing.  Maybe it is a relationship or a possession or some kind of esteem from others.  Whatever it may be, a man will totally discount all his other blessings and destroy his life over the one thing that he has not yet obtained. This is really like spitting at God in His face saying, "I don't care what all you've given me.  I want this!"

Maybe the right prayer to pray isn't, "God please show me your will in this matter."  When you find yourself wanting something you don't have but, "God please show me who you want me to help today."  This is the prayer that God delights in answering.