There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
And unto Adam he said…cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.
GENESIS 3:17
There is sound Bible reason to believe that nature itself, the brute creation, the earth and even the astronomical universe, have all felt the shock of man’s sin and have been adversely affected by it.
When the Lord God drove out the man from the eastward garden and placed there cherubim and a flaming sword to prevent his return, the disaster was beginning to mount, and human history is little more than a record of its development.
It is not quite accurate to say that when our first parents fled from before the face of God they became fugitives and vagabonds in the earth; and it is certainly not true to say that they passed from the love and care of the One who had created them and against whom they had so deeply revolted. God never abandoned the creatures made in His image. Had they not sinned He would have cared for them by His presence; now He cares for them by His providence until a ransomed and regenerated people can look once more on His face (Rev. 21:3; 22:24).
Men are lost but not abandoned: that is what the Scriptures teach and that is what the Church is commissioned to declare.
In times of extraordinary crisis ordinary measures will not suffice. The world lives in such a time of crisis. Christians alone are in a position to rescue the perishing. We dare not settle down to try to live as if things were “normal.”
Nothing is normal while sin and lust and death roam the world!1
My soul! has this little word Selah been placed at the end of this blessed verse, by way of marking the emphasis of the Holy Ghost? Who couldst thou have considered suitable to have chosen the inheritance of his people, but he who is the Lord of his people, and himself their inheritance and their portion for ever? It was God thy Father that chose him to be the excellency of Jacob, when he gave him for a covenant to the people; and when, to the infinite mind of Jehovah, this one glorious Person, in the holiness and purity of his nature, came up before him here, on him the Lord placed his choice. And had all his people been present; had it been possible for the whole of the chosen of Zion to have been consulted in the choice, would not every soul have fixed her longing eyes upon him, and from the millions of tongues resounding his blessed and blissful name from every heart, the universal voice would have been heard in the delightful words of this scripture: “He shall choose our inheritance for us; the excellency of Jacob, whom he loved!” Hail! thou dear and blessed Lord! thou art indeed our inheritance, and our portion for ever. And hail! thou glorious, gracious, and almighty Father! thy choice and thy gift, and thine appointment, gives and confirms, sweetens and sanctifies the eternal and unspeakable mercy. And hail! thou holy and blessed Spirit! do thou cause my poor soul to live by grace here, and in glory to all eternity, upon this excellency of Jacob, whom Jehovah loved!1
Any man can sing in the day. When the cup is full, man draws inspiration from it. When wealth rolls in abundance around him, any man can praise the God who gives a plenteous harvest or sends home a loaded argosy. It is easy enough for an Aeolian harp to whisper music when the winds blow—the difficulty is for music to swell forth when no wind is stirring. It is easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight; but he is skilful who sings when there is not a ray of light to read by—who sings from his heart. No man can make a song in the night of himself; he may attempt it, but he will find that a song in the night must be divinely inspired. Let all things go well, I can weave songs, fashioning them wherever I go out of the flowers that grow upon my path; but put me in a desert, where no green thing grows, and wherewith shall I frame a hymn of praise to God? How shall a mortal man make a crown for the Lord where no jewels are? Let but this voice be clear, and this body full of health, and I can sing God’s praise: silence my tongue, lay me upon the bed of languishing, and how shall I then chant God’s high praises, unless he himself give me the song? No, it is not in man’s power to sing when all is adverse, unless an altar-coal shall touch his lip. It was a divine song, which Habakkuk sang, when in the night he said, “Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” Then, since our Maker gives songs in the night, let us wait upon him for the music. O thou chief musician, let us not remain songless because affliction is upon us, but tune thou our lips to the melody of thanksgiving.1
THE apostle Paul proceeds with his argument upon the resurrection, and declares for himself and brethren—
1 Corinthians 15:19–34
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
If after all there is no resurrection, then the apostles suffered for nothing, they were wretched dupes, and having higher expectations than others their disappointment was proportionately bitter.
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
The risen Saviour is the pledge and guarantee of our resurrection; we shall surely live again.
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (By Adam’s sin all who are in him die, and by Christ’s righteousness all who are in him shall be made alive. There are two great covenant headships: the first was Adam’s headship under the covenant of works, by which we have fallen, and the second is the headship of the Lord Jesus under the covenant of grace, by which we rise to eternal life.)
23, 24 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
25, 26 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. (As Mediator, all power is given to our Lord Jesus in heaven and in earth, and this he will exercise until he has vanquished every foe. Then shall his mediatorial reign cease, the universe shall come under the direct sovereignty of God as God; and the Blessed Trinity shall shine forth before all the redeemed, and enter into immediate fellowship with them.)
29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?
As one believer died another came forward to occupy his place, and so the ranks were filled up by fresh converts. Where was the reason for such enthusiasm if in death men cease to be? Baptism is itself a picture of burial and resurrection, and it loses all its meaning if there be no rising from the tomb.
30, 31 And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
His life was always in jeopardy: what was the use of enduring such perils if, after all, death turned out to be an endless sleep? The suffering Christian is the greatest of fools if the dead rise not.
32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die. (The most sensible thing to do if this life is all and there is nought beyond it, is to enjoy all the pleasures we can while the days fly by us. The apostle had been exposed in the amphitheatre and had escaped: but why run such risks for a mere dream?)
33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. (Living among philosophical sceptics, the Corinthian Christians had learned to doubt. Paul here warns them of the danger of such company, and rebukes them for having so shamefully called in question the fundamental doctrine of their religion. God save us from the evil communications of this infidel generation.)
13 Abruptly, the narrator brings the whole to a conclusion. Enough said! Here’s what’s important: “Fear God and keep his commandments.” Those who think that in some way the narrator is here summarizing Qohelet’s thought can do so only by glossing over what Qohelet has actually said. Qohelet has never told his readers to keep the commandments; if anything, he has done the opposite (see 7:16; 11:9). While he has encouraged the fear of God (3:14; 5:7; 8:12), the exposition above has shown that his fear is in fact only “terror” before the One who is stronger, and that whatever his piety may be, it is unmixed with anything like heartfelt devotion.
The narrator says that this fear of God and keeping of his commandments is kol-hāʾādām, “all of the man.” This is the entirety of humanity’s existence. Here is an “everything,” an “all,” that is not a hebel. Throughout the entire book, Qohelet has searched for something under the sun that is not meaningless, something that is not absurd. The narrator says that Qohelet never found it because he never looked in the right place. It cannot be found by empirical investigation, by observation of nature, or by studying the accumulated “wisdom of the ages and the sages.” It is found in God and in his revealed Torah.
It was the king’s responsibility to teach the people the law of God, or at least to make sure that it was taught (Dt 17:18–20; 31:9–13; cf. 2 Ki 23:1–3; 2 Ch 34:29–32). Solomon and Hezekiah both did this in measure (see 1 Ki 8:54–61; 2 Ch 29:3–11; 30:6–12). But for the narrator, the Davidic dynasty failed in this mission on account of its excessive excursion into, and use of, the larger body of wisdom material in the ancient Near East. The formula for the people to be truly wise had already been given in Deuteronomy 4:5–6:
See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” (italics added)
Qohelet, the composite character representative of the Davidic dynasty, only partially succeeded in this task and unfortunately mixed godly Torah with worldly wisdom. Perhaps the narrator would not have formulated it in this way, but the book cries out for another Qohelet, another King-Sage to come whose teaching will conform to revelation, who will speak only what he hears from God (Jn 8:28), who is greater than Solomon (Mt 12:42)—indeed, one who is the very personification of wisdom (1 Co 1:24, 30).1
13 The last two verses comprise the ultimate conclusion to the book of Ecclesiastes. They are composed of a declaration and a motive clause.
The Hebrew of the declaration is brief, even abrupt, and thus emphatic (sôp dābār). I have tried to capture this by translating the sentence without a verb (The end of the matter). Some translations try to incorporate what I have taken as two sentences into one sentence, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter” (NKJV), but this obscures the emphatic nature of the verse.89
The abruptness of the first sentence perhaps reflects the impatience of the frame narrator. The effect may be: “Enough of Qohelet, let’s get on with what is really important.”
In any case, we are left in no doubt as to what is of greatest significance for the frame narrator. His statement is brief and to the point, utilizing key words in order to invoke major concepts and also the three different parts of the canon.
First, the frame narrator’s son must Fear God. It is true that Qohelet has stated the same words (3:14; 5:6 [English 5:7]; 7:18; 8:12), but with doubtful conviction (see the commentary at those places). Here there is no doubt that the intention of the speaker/writer is to lead his listener/reader to a right relationship with God, one in which he is properly subservient to the deity. To fear God in this sense means to respect, honor, and worship the Lord. The motto “fear God” also invokes the book of Proverbs (1:7 in particular), a book which has received implicit criticism throughout Qohelet’s writings.
Second, the frame narrator exhorts his son to keep his [God’s] commandments. Qohelet never so admonished his students, and the juxtaposition of the command to fear God and to keep his commandments is one of the major contextual items that signals that the frame narrator advocates orthodox worship, that is, worship in keeping with the normative teachings of the rest of the OT. With his call to obey God’s commandments, we see the frame narrator’s interest not only that his son establish a right relationship with God, but that he maintain it in the proper way. Also, this language evokes the legal material of the OT canon, which is made up of numerous commandments (miṣwôt).
The verse ends with the first of two motive clauses: for this is the whole duty of humanity. Literally, the Hebrew (kî zeh kol-hāʾādām) reads “for this is the whole of humanity,” which may be an idiom in Hebrew, but it does not communicate well in English. The difficulty was felt early in the history of exegesis since even the Talmud (Berakot 6a) raises the question of its interpretation. Rabbi Eleazar answers the question and asserts that the phrase meant that the commands to fear and obey God were the most important things in life. Robert Gordis believes that it is a “pregnant” saying that implies one’s “whole duty.” The general meaning of the statement is fairly clear: fearing God and obeying his commands is the most important thing a man or a woman can do.2
13. The Preacher’s message is summarized in two points which concern the greatness of God and the Word of God. The Hebrew emphasizes the words God and commands. The fear of God is the realization of his unchanging power and justice (3:14). It delivers from wickedness and self-righteousness (7:18) and leads to a hatred of sin (5:6f.; 8:12f.). If it is the ‘beginning of wisdom’ (Ps. 111:10; Prov. 1:7; 9:10) it also is the end, the conclusion; no progress in the believer’s life leaves it behind. Nor is the testimony of the New Testament any different (cf. 2 Cor. 7:1).
The reader is urged to keep his commandments. The order of the two points (fear … keep) is significant. Conduct derives from worship. A knowledge of God leads to obedience; not vice versa. This is the only place in Ecclesiastes where the commands of God are mentioned. The body of the book has simply placed two alternative views of life over against each other and the life of faith has been commended. Now in the epilogue, almost as an aside, it is pointed out that such a life will have implications. It must not be restricted to the Mosaic law. It refers to all that is known to be God’s will. The last phrase reads literally: ‘For this is the whole of the man.’ Elsewhere in Ecclesiastes, however, the ‘whole of the man’ is a Hebrew idiom for ‘every man’ (cf. 3:13; 5:19). The sense, therefore, is ‘This applies to everyone’.3
Ver. 13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments.—The purpose of life:—
I. Life has a purpose. The architect intends the building he designs and erects to answer a specific end; so is it with the engineer, the ship-builder, the mechanic, the artist, the creator and fashioner of any work. Surely God must have had some end in view in making the universe, and in making us what we are, and in placing us in the midst of such wondrous realities.
II. What is the purpose of life?
1. It is our business to see that we get into right relationship with God. By nature and by practice we are in a state of alienation from Him; there is a breach of our own making—between Him and us. Our prime concern should be to get that breach healed. This is possible.
2. Our reconciliation to God effected, we should constantly love Him and obey Him, and seek His glory. For this He has given us life, physical strength, mental endowments, our spiritual nature. He has placed us here that we may do His will. This should be our continual aim. To engage in this employ should be considered rather a privilege than an obligation. In all pursuits and circumstances we should seek to live for God. Indeed, we can only fulfil this purpose by attending to details. It is only by being faithful in the least that we can be faithful in much. In mosaic, it is the filling up with small pieces that often gives completeness and beauty to the design. The neglect of little things sometimes leads to serious results. Let life’s details be “with God.” If we take heed to this, all our work will be done well.
3. The purpose of life embraces love and service to all mankind. In the sins and sorrows of men; in their struggle with poverty—aye, and with riches; in their temptations, and need of succour and sympathy; in all these see your field of toil. Up to your work. Perform it with glad heart and diligent hands; and never grow weary—at all events, never grow idle—till you can say, as your Master said—“It is finished.” When Dr. Donne was dying, he said, “I count all that part of my life lost which I spent not in communion with God, or in doing good.” (W. Walters.)
The moral of it all:—
There are times when every one of us is either constrained by sorrow, or invited by the hope of profit, to take stock of his recollections. We have all desired eagerly, we have all toiled; not one of us but has had his aspirations and his disappointments. Life has turned out, and will, we suppose, turn out differently from what we either hoped or found when we sallied forth upon its ways untried. The book is sympathetic with all who have lost their illusions; with all who watch the bright dreams die out one by one like the fairy lamps of some summer’s festival. How often have we exclaimed with the Preacher, as the hollowness of each pretence of this most pretentious world has been exposed by our own trial: “This also is vanity!” But there is another side to the subject. Some things are real. Never does the author of this book speak of religion as if it were an illusion, or of God as if He were other than true. The spiritual part by which we are related to God and know God is our genuine self. It is because the soul wants truth that it discards so impatiently the counterfeits of truth that press upon its notice. If there were not a vital spark of worth in the soul it would never criticize so severely the mass of worthlessness which surrounds it. That, then, is our subject—the vanity of the world and the worth of religion, and each of these seen, and seen only, in contrast and foil to the other.
1. We may name three things on which the moralist writes the legend of vanity—human labour, human knowledge, human pleasure.
(1) One of his thoughts about labour is that it seems a fruitless fretting against the fixed forces of nature. “The earth abideth for ever.” Suns arise and set; the wind shifts from quarter to quarter; the rivers flow to the sea, and the brooks flow to the rivers. There are times when we are oppressed with this thought, and it becomes unbearable. As one of our English noblemen, who had a mansion overlooking the beautiful valley of the Thames, said: “I cannot understand why people delight in the view of the river; there it is—flow, flow, flow, always the same!” How speedily the effect of man’s toil vanishes from the face of Nature! There is nothing more beautiful than the sight of well-ordered gardens or cultivated field; yet how quickly does Nature, as if in defiance of man’s effort at improvement, come rushing back with her weeds and wildness!
(2) Again, the contrast of human knowledge and wisdom with the sameness of human nature leads to the same reflection of disappointment. Increase of knowledge means increase of sorrow. The study of history brings to light a long series of passionate struggles after truth and good, which have incessantly to be begun anew.
(3) The Preacher turned with sickness of heart from the toil of knowledge, and betook himself to refined pleasures. The thought of death, levelling all distinctions, intruded itself upon him. The wise man is equalled in the earth at last with the fool. Life became odious to him because the work wrought under the sun was grievous to him; for all was vanity and vexation of spirit.
2. And now we come to “the conclusion of the whole matter.” If this legend, “Vanity and vexation of spirit,” is to be written upon the objects of human desire and delight, if the world sounds hollow wherever we touch it, where is reality to be found? The simple answer of the Preacher is, it is to be found in religion: “Fear God, and keep His commandments.” God is real as the soul is real. He is, as Augustine describes Him, the Life of our life, the core of our hearts. God is that pure and perfect Being for alliance and communion with whom we long. And it is the light we have from Him and in Him which makes the world look so dark, the perception of His rightness which throws into painful contrast the crookedness of men’s ways, and of His beauty which makes their wickedness so deformed. And our happiness must lie, for each one of us, in loyalty to Him, in the keeping of His laws, whether they be known to us through the study of Nature or of sacred Scriptures, or by attentive study of our own hearts and the oracular spirit of holiness, whose influence is felt therein. It is in weariness of the world that we fall back upon the sweetness and truthfulness of pure religion for our refreshment and solace; it is when we have given up the conceit of being wiser than our forefathers, and the hope of setting crooked things straight, that we see distinctly the cultivation of our souls to be our main concern, and the only way to better the world is by reverently attending to our duty in wholeness and simplicity of heart. It is an ill thing for us if, when we have found out the hollowness of this bubble-like world, the trickiness and imposture of human nature, we say: “We will live like the rest, we will not take things seriously, we will pass on our way with a smile and a jest, trusting nothing, hoping nothing.” It is only the presence of God that is of substantial and eternal good, that can console us for the vanity of earthly things, as the Preacher found so long ago. (E. Johnson, M.A.)
Making the most of life:—
What is meant by “making the most of life”? The answer may be given in four distinct yet related propositions.
I. The wise reckoning of life in its end, aims, limitations, and possibilities. Life is a serious and tremendous reality; life is short at best; life is freighted with infinite possibilities of good and evil; life is a responsible trust of infinite solemnity and importance. To enter upon such a life and spend its precious years, and part with its priceless opportunities, without due consideration, with no serious thought of the future—the end, the obligations and the final issues of life—is to act the part of a fool and a wanton sinner.
II. The right choice of means for the securing of life’s great end. Life is a rational, fearful trust, which God has put into our hands, and He will hold us strictly responsible for the use and outcome of it. On the right choice of means and their wise and faithful application will depend mainly the tone, the character, the fruit, and the final outcome of life itself.
III. A jealous husbanding of all the resources at our command, in order to accomplish life’s end and mission.
IV. The utmost outlay of will and energy and effort to get the best possible results out of this brief period of probationary existence. The present is the seedtime of an eternal existence. Brief as this life is it affords the only chance of heaven. Our days are “numbered” from the start—enough, but not one too many, for the work given us to do. We must up and haste. (J. M. Sherwood, D.D.)
The fear of God:—
The fear of God which he holds up before us, as the whole work and duty and happiness of man, is such a fear as blends with love, and issues in all holy obedience, in the keeping of God’s commandments, heartily, impartially, universally.
I. The principle of religion. This is the fear of God, not such a dread as wicked men have, and which makes them tremble—like the devils in their prison beneath, but a holy and reverential sense of His majesty—a belief in His presence, power, and goodness—the adoration of His love and wisdom—the reliance upon His providence and the dread of His displeasure. By consequence, the fear of God includes our belief in Him, as He has revealed Himself to us in His Word. The fear of God which I now commend to you is a mixed feeling—love, faith, confidence must blend with it. This is the inward principle of religion—without it there can be no acceptable worship. There are two extremes from which it is alike distant. The one extreme is that dread, which engenders superstition and human devices for its palliation and removal.
II. This fear is seen in its results—it necessarily leads to practice; it is in connection with duty and obedience. When we see the movements of a clock, or any complex machine, we know that there is a power at work within. If the hands of a watch move, we know that there is a cause; the result follows of course. It is so with the outward acts of religion when they are right; they spring from the inward principle. The great virtue of this inward principle is, that it actuates man in his conduct universally; it gives a right aim and tendency both to his desires and affections—both to his words and works. To govern the tongue, to restrain the appetites of the body, to correct the temper, to keep down the swellings of pride, the suggestions of malice and revenge, to curb all dishonesty in desire and action, to secure temperance, soberness, and chastity; “to keep the hands from picking and stealing, and the tongue from evil speaking, lying, and slandering;” to establish truth and integrity in the deep places of the heart; these are all results flowing from an inward principle of the fear of God.
III. This is the whole of man; his whole duty, his highest achievement, his noblest work. (H. J. Hastings, M.A.)
What is the whole duty of man:—
The Book of Ecclesiastes resembles that of Job—its aim is not disclosed till it ends. It might be called the Book of Awakening and Renunciation. If we look at life from a mere earthly point of view it is not worth living. All is vanity; what’s the use? As the book closes it reveals the true philosophy of life.
I. The fear of God. This includes a variety of feelings.
1. Reverence. This may be viewed as threefold, according to Goethe’s profound view of education—reverence for what is above us, reverence for our equals, and reverence for what is below us.
2. The fear of offending God by doing what is sinful.
3. This fear, which springs from reverence, has in it no torment, and is closely allied to hope.
II. The obedience of God. To keep His commandments includes the whole duty of man; or this is every man’s duty. The tree of duty supports many branches.
1. Our duty to God.
2. Our duty to ourselves.
3. Our duty to others.
III. Some reasons.
1. Our whole life shall be judged.
2. Every secret thing in the whole of life shall be revealed in the judgment, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. (L. O. Thompson.)
The summary of manhood:—
There is no need to caution men against the fear of God. The tendency to-day is not to fear too much, but too little.
I. Fear God. Godly fear is salutary.
1. It fosters reverence.
2. It guards virtue.
3. It restrains from sin.
4. It impels to obedience; to the—
II. Keeping of God’s commandments; of the commandment.
1. To repent.
2. To believe in the Lord Jesus. These are preliminary—to keeping—
3. The great commandment; and—
4. That “like unto it,” and the command—
5. To walk in “all the statutes of the Lord.”
III. “This is the whole duty of man;” rather, “this is the whole”—that is, this is everything—“so far as man’s life is concerned.” This is everything as it relates—
1. To faith.
2. To experience.
3. To conduct.
4. To service. Thus you get the complete man. (R. C. Cowell.)
The whole duty of man:—
This suggests as a theme for meditation the fact that the religion revealed by God includes the entire sphere of possible human activity; that there is nothing good that a man can think, do, or say, or feel, which cannot in its highest forms be shown to be rooted in, and a fruit of, the religion which God has revealed. “Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.”
I. The first point to determine is the meaning of the word fear. It is not slavish fear; it is not the feeling that a man might have who was writhing on the earth at the approach of a despot, and expecting to be ground into dust by the stamp of his iron heel. The scriptural meaning of fear is what we suggest by the word revere. “Revere God, and keep His commandments.” This is the “fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom.” Revering God as our Creator, as the Sovereign of the universe, as the one Lawgiver, is the union of the intellect which approves, and the heart which loves, and the will which consents. They are all in the single word revere. When reverence for God exists in a human soul, the natural attitude of that soul is the attitude which led St. Paul, while yet his name was Saul, to cry out: “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?”
II. When a child of God, revering Him, asks this question, he finds that the commandments of God include his devotions. The explanation of prayer, of the holy Sabbath, and of the Word of God is to be found in the fact that they create, maintain, and increase reverence.
III. Observe, also, that God’s commands take the form of righteousness, and these commands are simplified, and then details are presented under them. The first and great commandment is that “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, and strength.” The only definition of the love of God which can satisfy the mind or the heart is “to have an intense desire to please Him.” It will apply equally to spirits in the body and out of the body. And the second is like unto it: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” This does not mean more than thyself, as some fanatics have supposed, but as thyself; not in the sense of caring for thy neighbour as for thyself, or of caring for his house, his children, his life; but in this sense: that thou wilt do good to thy neighbour as thou hast opportunity, and that thou wilt not do evil to him even for thine own transient advantage. (J. M. Buckley, D.D.)4
12:13 His final conclusion may give the impression that he has at last risen above the sun. He says, “Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man, man’s all.” But we must keep in mind that the fear of God here is not the same as saving faith. It is the slavish terror of a creature before His Creator. And the commandments do not necessarily mean the law of God as revealed in the OT. Rather they might mean any commands which God has instinctively written on the hearts of mankind.
In other words, we need not assign a high degree of spiritual insight to Solomon’s words. They may be nothing more than what a wise person would conclude from natural intuition and from practical experience.
This is man’s all—not just the whole duty but the basic elements that make for a full and happy life.5
12:13 To fear God is one of the major themes of this book and of wisdom literature in the OT. To fear God is to respond to Him in awe, reverence, and wonder, to serve Him in purity of action, and to shun evil and any worship of anything else in His universe. keep His commandments: The commandments of the Law are in view here. Jesus summed them up as to “love the Lord your God” and “your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:34–40). man’s all: We are whole or complete only when we fear God and obey His commandments. What profit is there in living? If we follow what this book has said, we will have a relationship with God and find life in Him.6
1 Shepherd, J. E. (2008). Ecclesiastes. In T. Longman III, Garland David E. (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Proverbs–Isaiah (Revised Edition) (Vol. 6, pp. 363–364). Zondervan.
Jeremiah 37:7 — Jeremiah wasn’t a popular guy. He prophesied defeat in the midst of apparent victory. He said that the wounded Chaldeans were better than Israel’s finest (Jeremiah 37:10).
Jeremiah 37:15 — Jeremiah knew (like Paul did) what it meant to suffer from his own countrymen (2 Corinthians 11:25).
Jeremiah 38:4 — Compare with Lachish Letter VI:
Who am I, thy slave, a dog, that thou hast sent me the letter of the King and the letters of the officers, saying: “Read, I pray thee, and thou wilt see that words of the prophet are not good, (liable) to weaken the hands, to make sink the hands of the men in city and country.
This rendering here in part follows Dr. J. W. Jack in The Palestine Exploration Quarterly, July, 1938, pp 176, 181.
Zedekiah II was obviously a weak character. He allowed himself to be moved by whichever party pressed its will most earnestly upon him (Jeremiah 38:4, 5; cf. vs. 8-10, 19). Beginning his reign as a vassal of Babylon, he served Nebuchadnezzar up to at least his fourth year (594 B.C.), when he made a visit to the city of Babylon (Jeremiah 51. 59). However, the false prophet Hananiah was then already inciting the common people to support revolt against Babylon, by promising the breaking of the Babylonian yoke “within the space of two full years” (Jeremiah 28. 3, 11). Thus there were two differing factions under the rule of Zedekiah II; one faction, which included the princes, sought freedom from the Babylonian domination, and looked to Egypt for military support; the other faction, to which Jeremiah certainly belonged, if he did not actually lead it, believed submission to Babylon to be the right course.
Jeremiah 38:16 — Jeremiah said the king will either kill him or not listen (Jeremiah 38:15). The king promised merely not to kill him.
Jeremiah 38:20 — The voice has cried out throughout the millennia, “Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.”
“Obey” – the simple command
“I beseech thee” – the personal, emotional appeal of Jeremiah
“the voice of the LORD” – the authority appealed to by Jeremiah
“which I speak unto thee” – Jeremiah is a preacher of the Word
“so it shall be well unto thee” – the promised blessing part 1
“and thy soul shall live” – the promised blessing part 2
1 Timothy 6:1 — Paul taught a radical concept: servants should obey secular masters (not just the believing ones). They should do so honorably, otherwise to do the opposite was the same as blaspheming God! How we interact in personally undesirable situations is a picture of how we treat God!
1 Timothy 6:9 — ”… (T)hey that will be rich …” is a great description of those that play the lotto. Strangely enough, the NY Times ran a story on a “Christian card-counting group” that played in casinos. All was “well” except for:
Accusations of cheating arose, stress mounted and at one point the team had a painful losing streak, having racked up $465,000 in losses. Some members failed their exams on their card-counting skills, resulting in being fired from the team. Members got kicked out of hundreds of casinos across the country.
1 Timothy 6:17 – The “uncertain(ty of) riches” is just the tip of the iceberg as compiled by David Cloud:
Charles Riddle, who won $1 million in Michigan in 1975, got divorced, faced several lawsuits, and was indicted for selling cocaine.
Evelyn Adams, who won the New Jersey lottery in 1985 and 1986 for a total of $5.4 million, gambled and gave away all her winnings and by 2001 was living in a trailer park.
Teresa Brunnings, who won $1.3 million in a lottery in 1985, says that she had a party then, but, “Of all the people who came, not one speaks to me now.”
Karen Cohen, who won $1 million in the Illinois state lottery in 1984, filed for bankruptcy in 2000 and in 2006 was sentenced to 22 months in jail for lying to federal bankruptcy court.
He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.Micah 7:19
God never turns from His love, but He soon turns from His wrath. His love to His chosen is according to His nature; His anger is only according to His office. He loves because He is love; He frowns because it is necessary for our good. He will come back to the place in which His heart rests, namely, His love to His own, and then He will take pity upon our griefs and end them.
What a choice promise is this—”He will subdue our iniquities”! He will conquer them. They cry to enslave us, but the Lord will give us victory over them by His own right hand. Like the Canaanites, they shall be beaten, put under the yoke, and ultimately slain.
As for the guilt of our sins, how gloriously is that removed! “All their sins”—yes, the whole host of them; “thou wilt cast”—only an almighty arm could perform such a wonder; “into the depths of the sea”—where Pharaoh and his chariots went down. Not into the shallows out of which they might be washed up by the tide, but into the “depths” shall our sins be hurled. They are all gone. They sank into the bottom like a stone. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hamas Declares Hostages Will Remain Captive Until Gaza ‘Aggression’ Ceases Hamas has declared that Israeli hostages will not be released until Israel halts its military operations in Gaza and withdraws its forces from the besieged territory. Khalil Al-Hayya, deputy chief of Hamas in Gaza and the group’s chief negotiator, made the statement on Friday, as the conflict between Hamas and Israel continues to escalate.
Netanyahu’s Full Speech Following the Elimination of Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar “We settled accounts with the mastermind of October 7, but the war is far from over.” “I stand before you today to tell you that Yahya Sinwar has been eliminated. The mass murderer who killed thousands of Israelis and abducted hundreds of our people was eliminated today by our heroic soldiers.”
Hezbollah’s conflict with Israel fuels rising sectarian tensions in Lebanon The ongoing conflict between the Iranian-backed Lebanese terrorist group and Israel has exacerbated sectarian tensions within Lebanon. This escalation has led to significant internal displacement, further straining relations between Lebanon’s diverse religious communities, which include Sunni and Shia Muslims, various Christian sects and the Druze community.
Western leaders welcome Sinwar’s elimination, US President Biden says hostage release deal and war’s end urgent “This is a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world,” U.S. President Joe Biden stated after receiving the confirmation of Sinwar’s death. “To my Israeli friends, this is no doubt a day of relief and reminiscence, similar to the scenes witnessed throughout the United States after President Obama ordered the raid to kill Osama Bin Laden in 2011,” he added.
Full-Dress Kohen Sighted on Temple Mount The Temple Institute announced a remarkable development that brought Israel one step closer to the Third Temple. For the first time since the Temple stood in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, a kohen (male descendant of Biblical Aaron the High Priest) ascended to the Temple Mount wearing the Biblically mandated Kohanic garments. While on the mount, the Kohen joined in a prayer quorum and gave the priestly blessing to those gathered.
‘I cheered when they came and told me’: Gazans celebrate elimination of Yahya Sinwar “How are you? Well, Sinwar is dead and gone,” a man says, to which a woman replies, “May he go to hell! I swear I cheered when they came and told me.” The man continues, “May God have mercy on him; what do you want from him?” She responds, “He’s the one who destroyed everything. May God not have mercy on him, not on him, and not on Haniyeh. I hope they never see God’s mercy.”
Killing of Hamas Chief Sinwar Sends Shockwaves Across Middle East, Raises New Uncertainty Over Hostages Sinwar’s elimination might create new opportunities for negotiations, particularly if the Hamas leadership becomes destabilized, suggesting that “the path may now be open for some sort of arrangements or agreements” that could lead to the release of hostages. Az al-Din Haddad, the commander of Hamas’s Gaza Brigade, stands as one of the few remaining high-ranking leaders within the al-Qassam Brigades, and could become a candidate to succeed Sinwar. Sinwar’s killing also raises larger questions about broader strategic calculus, particularly regarding Iran, which backs Hamas.
US charges 2 in connection with Oct. 7 cyberattack on Iron Dome, siren system The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday charged two Sudanese brothers, Ahmed, 22, and Alaa, 27, Omer, for orchestrating severe cyberattacks against Israel during the Hamas terror attack on October 7. The brothers were arrested in an undisclosed location and are currently under investigation by the FBI while awaiting further proceedings. It is unclear when, or if, they will be extradited to the U.S.
UK Man Convicted of Thought Crime: ‘The Left Cannot Tolerate Even Silent Disagreement’ , yesterday marked a watershed moment for free thought in the United Kingdom. British Army veteran Adam Smith-Connor made history as the first person convicted for thinking the wrong thing in the wrong place. Although he had not spoken to anyone and stood behind a tree facing away from an abortion facility as he prayed, Smith-Connor was charged under section 4a of the PSPO for “engaging in an act of approval/disapproval with respect to issues related to abortion services.” “A man has been convicted today because of the content of his thoughts—his prayers to God—on the public streets of England. “We can hardly sink any lower in our neglect of basic fundamental freedoms of free speech and thought.”
Floods claim one life in Italy after heavy rains hit Liguria and Tuscany Severe floods claimed one life in Italy after storms and heavy rains hit Liguria and Tuscany on Wednesday, October 16, 2024. Railway services were disrupted, while schools and roads were closed after some regions saw around 200 mm (7.9 inches) of rain in just 18 hours.
Rapid intensification of Storm Ashley forecast with hurricane-force winds set to hit Ireland and Scotland Storm Ashley, Europe’s first storm of the season, was officially named on Friday, October 18, 2024, and is on track to explode in power, with coastal Ireland bracing for hurricane-force winds and rain by Saturday and Sunday. Forecast models take Ashley’s center over Scotland on Sunday afternoon (LT) before the storm races toward Norway and Sweden.
Euthanasia, net zero, “Free Suits” Starmer and the NHS Among his latest passing observations, Dr. Vernon Coleman reminds doctors that the covid PCR test doesn’t work. “The potentially lethal and entirely, utterly useless PCR test is still being used by illiterate, numbskull doctors and nurses. Anyone who uses and relies on a PCR test is too stupid to be cleaning lavatories for a living. The PCR is not a test for covid – it is a test for stupidity,” he writes.
Argentine researchers identify 55 undeclared chemicals, including arsenic, in covid “vaccines” Argentine scientists have identified 55 chemical elements, including 11 heavy metals and 11 lanthanides, in six major covid vaccine brands. These elements, not listed on package inserts, could have synergistic toxicity, exacerbating health risks beyond what regulators and manufacturers have disclosed or studied. The Argentine study found that 82% of vaccines tested contained undeclared arsenic, and all heavy metals detected are linked to toxic effects on human health.
Tedros the Terrorist says information that challenged WHO’s covid narrative spread as fast as the virus and was almost as deadly “During the covid-19 pandemic, falsehoods about masks, vaccines and ‘lockdowns’ spread as fast as the virus itself, and were almost as deadly,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the World Health Summit on Sunday. These comments come from a man who has been accused of supporting and attempting to procure arms and diplomatic support for a terrorist group in Ethiopia. He is also accused of spreading misinformation about the situation in Ethiopia.
PopEye to Strengthen EU Border Biometrics with Gait Recognition Integration The European Union has launched a pilot project to study how biometrics can be captured from on-the-move subjects to speed up identity checks at border crossings. The goal of the project, known as PopEye, is to overcome the difficulties that current biometric technologies like fingerprints and 2D facial recognition have dealing with common conditions like poor lighting or changes in appearance.
The CIA Front Group, Deagel, Projects Massive Death and Destruction to the U.S. and the UK Most researchers know what the Deagel Report is. However, many do not know that it has been scrubbed from the internet. Fortunately, I correctly anticipated that this might happen as more of us discovered the report. I rarely offer projected dates when I connect the dots in order to predict futuristic events. However, I believe we are going to see a series of multiple attacks upon the United States with each attack becoming more serious.
Mark Alexander This is the Demos’ master strategy to perpetuate control of the executive and legislative branches — and ultimately state governments nationwide.
Thomas Gallatin Governor Glenn Youngkin blasts the Biden-Harris Justice Department for challenging his order to purge state voter rolls of noncitizens.
Kamala Word Salad “I mean, you know what, there’s certainly a lot of, I, I feel the weight … of the moment, and my role. I feel an extraordinary weight of responsibility right now. … This is a margin-of-error race. It’s tight. I’m gon’ win. I’m gon’ win. But it’s tight.” —Kamala Harris, doing her best black female impersonation for Charlamagne The God For the Record “The American people realized that Kamala Harris is, after all, Kamala Harris. She’s still the awkward, empty, incoherent mess she was when she ran for president in 2019. She doesn’t know how to answer basic questions about her own policies; worse, she doesn’t even know her own policies. … In short, she’s terrible. And she was always terrible.” —Ben Shapiro “[Kamala] Harris isn’t ‘vague’ or ‘careful’ or disinclined to ‘delineate her stance.’ She’s wildly, catastrophically, incontestably out of her depth. She’s not ‘light’; she’s dull. She’s not a ‘dodger’; she’s a fool. She’s not ‘joyful’; she’s imbecilic.” —Charles C.W. Cooke “I wrote my own book, unlike Kamala Harris, who copied hers from Wikipedia.” —JD Vance “When the FBI originally released the ‘final’ crime data for 2022 in September 2023, it reported that the nation’s violent crime rate fell by 2.1%. This quickly became, and remains, a Democratic Party talking point to counter Donald Trump’s claims of soaring crime. But the FBI has quietly revised those numbers, releasing new data that shows violent crime increased in 2022 by 4.5%. The new data includes thousands more murders, rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults.” —John R. Lott Jr. Democracy, She Explained “Elections are decisions. You decide to win. I decided a while ago that Donald Trump will never set foot in the White House again as president of the United States or in any other capacity. So when you make a decision, you have to make every decision in favor of winning … and the most important decision of all is the candidate.” —Nancy Pelosi on her decision to “save democracy” by ousting the democratically chosen nominee of her party Non Compos Mentis “[If Trump wins,] it will be the cause of the greatest mental health crisis in the history of the country.” —Mark Halperin Political Futures “[Kamala Harris’s] loyalty to Biden is a mystery. What’s stopping her from going her own way? She wouldn’t split the party. She wouldn’t alienate swing voters. She wouldn’t hurt fundraising — her campaign has raised a billion dollars. These are the last weeks before Election Day. Harris is free to be herself. Maybe that’s the problem. Harris doesn’t just show loyalty when she defends Biden. She reveals intellectual bankruptcy.” —Matthew Continetti And Last “The Democrats have been telling us Trump’s reelection is a threat to democracy. In fact, they were so concerned of this threat, they staged a coup, ousted their democratically elected incumbent, and installed Kamala Harris.” —comedian Jim Gaffigan
Looking for news headlines you won’t find elsewhere? Crosstalk is the program for just that. Here’s a sample of what Jim covered this week:
–Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind behind the October 7th massacre in Israel, is dead. Sinwar was killed by an infantry soldier who was only 9 months into his service.
–Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the U.S. that Israel is willing to strike Iranian military targets, not nuclear or oil targets.
–Israel’s military suffered one of the worst attacks since October 7th. That’s the Hezbollah drone strike at a base dozens of miles from the Lebanon border where four IDF soldiers were killed and 58 others were wounded.
–The U.S. has deployed the THAAD missile defense system along with a 100 member crew to bolster Israel’s defense against a possible third direct strike from Iran.
–Israeli forces on Monday killed Hezbollah’s anti-tank missile commander Muhammad Kamel Naeem just days after his elite fighting brigade launched a lethal rocket attack on northern Israel that also killed a couple of civilians.
–Hezbollah is facing a very serious financial problem as they are unable to pay rank and file members who’ve fled their homes and need to feed their families.
–The Israeli Defense Forces captured a Hezbollah weapons cache a few dozen meters from a U.N. international force in Lebanon.
–The U.S. embassy in Beirut issued a warning to Americans living in Lebanon urging them to leave the country immediately.
–The Biden/Harris administration is quietly threatening an arms embargo against Israel citing humanitarian concerns.
–Turkey’s President Erdogan has urged Russia, Iran and Syria to unite in protecting Syria’s territorial integrity against Israel.
–Iran’s illicit oil revenue has swelled to nearly 200 billion dollars under the Biden/Harris administration.
–Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that 10,000 North Korean troops are being readied to join Russian forces in their fight against Ukraine.
–The E.U. has imposed sanctions on seven Iranian officials and entities, including airlines, for supplying ballistic missiles and drones to Russia for use against Ukraine in its invasion.
–North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has officially cut off sections of roads leading to South Korea, including vital rail links, by blowing them up.
–Audio cuts from the Bret Baier/Kamala Harris interview.
Nations exist for the benefit of their citizens. They have no other purpose.
Thus, from time to time we must remind ourselves of this basic truth, for it often seems that affluent liberals in the American establishment, particularly those who have staffed President Joe Biden’s administration, regard themselves as empowered to act upon an altogether different mandate.
For instance, in an opinion piece published Thursday by Fox News, Hayden Dublois of the Foundation for Government Accountability denounced both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for issuing “surely the biggest handout to illegal aliens in American history.”
Dublois, who serves as FGA’s Data and Analytics Director, cited the Biden-Harris administration’s expansion of Medicaid benefits to illegal aliens.
“The Biden-Harris White House is shattering a system that was already cracking,” Dublois wrote of the social welfare program.
Based on information obtained from nine states, the data analyst reported that between 2019 and 2023 the number of illegal aliens on Medicaid increased by 500 percent, and that today, in all likelihood, 100,000 or more illegal aliens nationwide collect Medicaid benefits at a total annual cost to taxpayers of $1 billion.
Unfortunately, Dublois predicted that “the worst is yet to come.”
When Medicaid applicants lack documentation proving citizenship, they generally receive a 90-day grace period in which to secure said proof.
Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services, however, issued a new federal regulation, effective in June, that allows for the perpetual extension of those 90-day grace periods, thereby preventing states from taking ineligible illegal aliens off of Medicaid.
In light of the years-long Biden-Harris border invasion, this new “loophole,” makes further “deluge inevitable” in the Medicaid system.
Furthermore, it gives prospective illegal migrants an added incentive.
“As the word spreads, it may encourage an even bigger rush at the southern border,” Dublois wrote.
One wonders, of course, how anyone could vote for this.
In fact, the affront to American citizens is so obvious that only those who despise ordinary Americans could support it.
And that raises the question: Who among us hates their fellow Americans?
Since we cannot read others’ hearts, we can only judge by their actions and professed principles.
For instance, those who urge people to inform on their neighbors probably do not have those neighbors’ interests in mind.
In other words, affluent liberals, who have consistently exposed themselves as natural tyrants, love illegal immigration, and they love putting illegal aliens on Medicaid, in part because it allows them to parade their faux compassion and thereby pose as their less-affluent neighbors’ moral superiors, but mostly because — one cannot escape the conclusion — they long to inflict pain on the ordinary Americans whose existence and sovereignty they loathe.
The nation exists not for illegal aliens but for citizens. It has no other purpose. And that explains why affluent liberals like Biden and Harris seek to destroy it.
Liar, Liar Good news! Inflation is down! But … since 2021 the cost of living — the CPI, the Consumer Price Index — has gone up20%. Now, hang on, how is that? Well, inflation says, “Prices change this much in the last time period” while CPI says, “From this date to that date the price of goods has changed this much.” So when your friendly neighborhood government tells you, “Good news! Inflation is down!”, just remember. That’s not indicative of what you were paying in 2020 versus what you’re paying now. Thank you, Democrats.
I’m Confused The Pentagon granted more than 800 honorable discharges to veterans who separated from the military because they were homosexuals during the period when the military didn’t allow homosexuals. It was the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” era where the military looked the other way if you didn’t make it an issue. So apparently these 800+ did not violate the rule that they actually did violate. I didn’t realize that “We don’t allow homosexuals” was rescinded retroactively. But, then, our world has no problem bending reality to suit its whims.
Law Enforcement You Can Count On The FBI decided that their report of a 2.1% decrease in violent crime in 2022 was more accurately a 4.5% increase which, of course, is mostly the same … except, of course, not. But if it offers a positive talking point for the current administration, then why not … lie? “Did we saydown? Sorry. We meant to say UP.”
Lies and Statistics We often get and give statistics to make our points. We often fail to realize how easy it is to use statistics as plain, ordinary lies. Like this week when I watched a whole series of stories of this company and that organization laying people off and … “US weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fall.” Because, you see, “jobless claims,” while suggesting the health or lack thereof of our job market, is a truly misleading number. They ignore those who are farmworkers, those who are no longer looking, those who don’t report, those who are looking but not filing, so many silent caveats. But, rejoice, America, despite all the price increases, all the jobs lost, all the real-world concerns, the Biden administration has improved the job market … according to the statistics.
Waiting for Mine A lot of kids have gotten into debt to get a college education. Mind you, a college education isn’t what it used to be. More like a college indoctrination. Mind you, the number of people who actually end up in the field in which they got their degrees are relatively few. Mind you, no one twisted their arms. But Biden has approved $175 billion in student loan forgiveness for nearly 5 million people … just because. Where did he get that money? Your pocket. So, I’m wondering. I’ve got a home loan. Maybe I can get loan forgiveness? No? Why not?
Kamala in the Bee The Bee has had it in for Kamala Harris of late. Go figure. One headline says that Democrats are perplexed why a candidate that no one has voted for is slipping in the polls. Another says that Kamala’s campaign has been forced to hire gay actors for their ads because they can’t find any straight male supporters. A third tells of a patient who explained to his doctor he was thinking of voting for Harris, so the doctor gave him a testosterone injection. We’re not exactly sure on where the Bee stands on Harris.
Vice President Kamala Harris is in the midst of an October media blitz that is not going particularly well. This week she sat down with Bret Baier of Fox News and demanded that Donald Trump “take responsible [sic] for what happened” during his administration. When pressed to discuss her own administration’s responsibility for the anxiety millions of Americans are feeling right now, Harris retreated to familiar talking points. “Donald Trump has been running for office,” she explained.
During a much friendlier chat with Charlamagne tha God, the vice president defended herself from critics who argue she is too reliant on vague talking points. “I would say, ‘You’re welcome,'” she told Mr. tha God this week. Harris predicted—somewhat dubiously, given that Democrats across the country have started featuring Trump (favorably) in their campaign ads—that she was “gon’ win” the election. Do you agree?
In this clip, penguin chicks jump off a 50-foot cliff for their very first swimming experience. And while, admittedly, some are only doing so because of those jerks in the back pushing, most are up for taking that very brave first step.
Do you really believe that what you believe is really real? Say that out loud and it is quite the mouthful to consider, but it is an important question for Christians to ask when it comes to the unborn. And that’s especially true now, in light of the recent political popularity of IVF, with both Donald Trump, and BC Conservative Party leader John Rustad pledging to make it affordable.
The Christian pro-life position is that the unborn’s worth – and everyone else’s worth too – comes from being made in God’s Image (Gen. 1:26-27). This isn’t something we grow into, or increase in, but is simply an attribute given by God. That we are all made in God’s Image is why the just-conceived embryo is as valuable as the fetus, newborn, toddler, teen, and adult. It is also the only basis for equality.
This Christian pro-life position stands in sharp contrast to the world’s evaluation of human worth, which bases it on what we can do. They might differ on what exactly we need to be able to do to be worthy of life – some insisting it is consciousness, others saying it is viability, brainwaves, a heartbeat, or being able to feel pain – but in some form or fashion the world says human worth is based on being able to do something and if you can’t do it, then you aren’t deemed fully human yet.
The linked article is an op-ed from a conservative but not Christian publication. What’s worth noting is how this “pro-life” piece leaves it as an open question of if we believe that an embryo is a person. I’m not trying to throw this writer under the bus – they are raising an issue that few are willing to even discuss – but read through this asking yourself if, at the end of it, you are left thinking the “discarding” of 1.7 million embryos from 1991-2012 is anywhere near as horrible as the murder of 1.7 million newborn, or elementary-aged, children would be.
If you don’t – and I’ll admit to that feeling too – it is only because you and I don’t really believe that what we say we believe about the unborn’s worth is really real.
But it is real.
So we need to stop being doubleminded (1 Kings 18:21, James 4:7-9). There is a pressing need for the Church to speak with clarity against the horrors caused by IVF – especially because conservative leaders might actually listen to us – but God’s people will only be able to do so if we’re willing to submit our own feelings and thinking to the Lordship of Christ.
For Christians, truth must matter. But in our culture, it’s all about impressions now:
“The vibe world is Memes over messages. Aesthetics over arguments. Relatability over rightness. Feelings over facts. Mood over meaning…If I care about issue X and can find evidence a certain candidate somewhere, at some point, said he shared my view on issue X, I can permit myself to support that candidate (even if elsewhere he said he doesn’t support issue X, or said he supports issue Y that contradicts issue X). Incoherence is an electoral asset in the internet age. What matters more than coherent views is a compelling vibe. Politicians know this….”
There is a lot of scoffing online because it is easier to tear down than it is to build up. So in your intake of social media, what is your diet of scoffing compared to wisdom?
There’s nothing to indicate this was made by a Christian, but if evidence alone could change a man’s heart, then this video (and the accompanying article – click the title above) most certainly would!
This looks at our hearing, and any time we dig down into the workings of our body, God’s genius becomes all the more evident the further we explore. Some technical terminology means the video requires a little effort to stick with, but it rewards the investment!
A group of Republican and Democratic voters alike join ‘The Faulkner Focus’ to discuss Republicans pulling ahead while Democrats are facing a drop in favorability.
President Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America, will deliver remarks at a rally in Detroit, Michigan, on Friday, October 18, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. EDT. Watch LIVE on RSBN starting at 12 p.m. ET.
President Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America, will deliver remarks at a roundtable in Oakland County, Michigan, on Friday, October 18, 2024.
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