Social Media Adores Rip Van Winkle

You’ve heard the old saying: “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop”!  Does it say that in the Bible? No, not in those words. There is good solid advice in the Bible that addresses idleness.  “Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and go about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to”.  1 Timothy 5-13 is being idle doing nothing? Or, is idleness being able to do anything?  No, again!  2 Thessalonians 3:11 says: “We hear that some of you are idle.  They are not busy; they are busybodies.  Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.”  Work for a living.  An idler or busybody is one who doesn’t work and ends up filling his/her time with less than helpful activities, like gossip, rumors and hear-say.  This behavior tears people down.  If you find your nose in another person’s business, it might get bloody, broken—or worse.  Look for a task to do for Christ or your family, and get to work.  “If a man will not work, he shall not eat”. 2 Thessalonians 3:10   

You are familiar by now with the story of old Rip Van Winkle aren’t you? Social media is considering whether to vote old Rip as Emperor or Chiefee. In case you’ve been napping for a generation, we’ll recap the story for you. And please, remind yourself occasionally, that its just that – a story. Its a complex little story about an escapist fantasy. It seems that Rip Van Winkle was a middle-aged man who lived in America around the mid 1750’s. His favorite things to do were to hang out with his friends, talk about current events with his friends, watch the world go by and avoid the company of his wife. Rip was an extreme form of a deadbeat, and his wife an extreme nag. It wasn’t in Rip’s nature to work through conflict he always chooses flight over fight. You may have guessed Rip is an extremely passive person.

Biting the Hand That Feeds You

In the old days, teeth just didn’t have a good lifespan.  Dental hygiene was mostly non-existent.  Mouth after mouth of enamels turned into woodchips.  As time progressed, dentures were invented.  For the right price anyone can have a Hollywood smile.  Fact: science has gone far beyond veneers, crowns, bridges, bleaching and more.  Science can fake almost any part of the body.  Along with false teeth, there are eye glasses, prosthetics, limbs, altered noses—even wigs.  We have artificial hearts, brain surgery, hip replacements, cochlear implants, cornea transplants—the list is extensive and expensive, surgery and the body, a life partnership.  Take a good look at this hand full of teeth.  Looks pretty scary!  Looks like teeth that might bite the hand that feeds ya.  Wonder which ones are wisdom teeth?  And are they any smarter being called ‘wisdom teeth’ than the others?  Teeth are essential.  We are born toothless and get a few good years out of them, then, they fall out again.  Imagine if the same happened to our feet!  Who would stand for that?  If you’re going to sink your teeth into anything, it should be the Word.

Barnum and Bailey, Sears and Roebuck, George and Martha Washington.  Some things are just destined to be together, like Adam and Eve. Unless some known or unknown force separates them. We all know that Adam and Eve didn’t split up, but after their exit from the Garden of Eden, things were never quite the same. Another life partnership in the New Testament broke up as well.

El Elyon—God Most High

Extreme highs!  Mount Kilimanjaro 19,334 feet, Tanzania.  Vinson Massif 16,050 feet, Antarctica.  Mount Elbrus 18,510 feet, Russia.  Mount McKinley 20,335 feet, Alaska USA.  Mount Everest 29,029 feet, China.  Aconcagua, Mendozo, 22,841 feet, Argentina, South America. 

We all know that Mount Everest, at 29,035 feet above sea level, is the highest spot on our planet and is likely to remain so for a long, long time…unless we think about the word “highest” in a different yet profound way.

Suppose I ask you to find the spot on Earth where you are closest to the moon, you know, the stars and outer space.  In other words, the point on Earth that is closest to “out there”.  Most would point to Mount Everest. 

But there’s something you may not know; the Earth is not a perfect round sphere.  Ah Ha!  The Earth is similar to a beach ball that someone has sat on; it has a slightly distended middle.  Mathematics and scientists call this “oblate spheroid” which means there is a bulge that circles the Earth just below the equator, so anyone standing in that part of the world is already standing “higher” or closer to “out there”, closer to heaven and The Almighty, than people who aren’t on the bulge.

Therefore, people in Ecuador, Kenya, Tanzania and Indonesia are all a bit closer to the heavenly realm or if you wish, the moon (or about 13 miles closer).  So what is the spot closest to the moon if not Mount Everest?  Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador.  Yes, Ecuador.  Mount Chimborazo, in the Andes Mountains, is a 20,000-plus-foot peek sitting on top of a huge bulge on the Earth.  Mount Everest is a 29,000-plus-foot peek sitting lower down on that

Rock Solid!

Jesus’ first words to Peter were “Come, follow me” Mark 1:17.  His last words to him were “You must follow me” John 21:22.  Every step of the way between those two challenges, Peter never failed to follow—even though he often stumbled.

When Jesus entered Peter’s life, this plain fisherman became a new person with new goals and new priorities.  He did not become a perfect person, however, and he never stopped being Simon Peter.  Oh, we may wonder what Jesus saw in Simon that made him greet this potential disciple with a new name—Peter the “rock”.  Impulsive and quick to the defense, he certainly didn’t act like a rock much of the time, rather, more like a rolling stone.  When Jesus chose his followers he wasn’t looking for models, but, real people.  And Peter was as real as they came.  Jesus chose people who could be changed by his love, and then he sent them out to communicate that his acceptance was available to anyone—even to those who fail.

Peter often spoke perhaps without thinking, but, he was on target with Matthew 16:16 “Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the loving God.””  Every word here is explicitly empathetic—a most concise, and yet comprehensive, confession of faith.  It is known as the Great Confession.

Perfection Defined

The Author of our faith and salvation:  (Hebrews 5:9 and 12:2)

Christ is perfection.  Perfect in his obedience to the Father, perfect in his sufferings, perfect in finishing his sacrifice on the cross through shedding his holy blood through death, perfect in his life’s messages and miracles, perfect in his mercy and grace, perfect in being glorified in heaven; this shows salvation is complete and Christ alone is the sole author of it.  Let’s remember, Christ is the High Priest.  Christ did not take upon himself the glory of becoming the High Priest but was appointed to the role by God.  “For the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: you are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek”.  Psalm 110:4 

Ehhh...What's Up Doc?

D.O.B. July 27, 1940.  Bugs Bunny (alias “Silly Wabbit”) was a good-hearted hare, cocky, wisecracking, always elusive and good-for-a-laugh.   Once you’ve met Bugs Bunny, who could ever forget him?  Big ears, large front teeth and a gigantic pain for shotgun toting Elmer Fudd.  Poor Elmer Fudd: big time Wabbit hunter in camouflage apparel never could draw a bead on Old Bugs.  And the times he thought he did, well, he missed.  Not for lack of trying—it simply that Bugs outsmarted him every time!  Didn’t we take delight in the clever tricks and ruses Bugs used?  His deceptions, his fabrications, his line of double-talk, and his knack for turning the situation around to suit his needs!