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Saturday, February 23, 2019

The Right to Worship?

Was watching a Seinfeld episode where his girlfriend started pretending to be married to Jerry so she could get a discount on dry cleaning. Then they started bickering and arguing like an old married couple.

I try to remember to build people up and leave the judging to God, though its hard. I see some non-Christian couples who seem to thrive and some Christian couples that struggle. And the opposite. Christians on social media sharing articles and casting stones, pointing out the specks in other’s eyes while failing to get the log out of their own. Proud people with broken relationships that need mending, pointing out what others need to do. I certainly have fences of my own to mend. But as I’ve said before, social media is not the place to point out the problems of the church, which these days has enough of a publicity problem.

Romans 12:1-2: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly than he ought to think, but to think with somber judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Ceil and I similar politically. Recently I have been observing more and more people becoming more liberal-leaning and outspoken. The President and Republicans haven’t done themselves any favors, which is part of the cause of the exodus. People on both sides pointing out the sins of the other party while turning a blind eye to those they support. Hopefully people will wake up to the outrageous proposals to ban cars and air travel and even cows, and provide for people who don’t even want to work. Outlawing war and legalizing drugs. As usual, it is the poor who will suffer.

Read an article last week that connected all these dots, saying the end result will soon be the loss of our freedom to worship. The article was a big bite to chew, but here are a couple of excerpts:

the United States, describing a country confronting what he calls the "Woke Menace" of a newly radicalized and emboldened left that aims to centralize power and stamp out all dissent. Those who believe in the sanctity of traditional marriage, who think that the free exercise of religion goes beyond worshipping in church and private homes, who therefore believe that devout Christians (and Jews and Muslims)...who consider abortion to be murder and abortion in the third trimester to be infanticide — Americans who hold these and similar views find themselves confronting the prospect of a party gaining power that considers every one of these positions not just erroneous but fundamentally illegitimate, beyond the moral pale, rooted in irrational animus and bigotry, and worthy of being excommunicated from public life…

a reversal that will usher in the final triumph of absolute moral degradation in America and an end to their own freedom to live and worship as they wish. This is what Dreher means by "socialism" — the attempt by the left to seize total control and use every power at its disposal (political, economic, cultural, technological) to smash its moral opponents, once and for all.

In a somewhat related note: at the Crackers lecture last week in Cumming I saw a framed photograph of what looked like the Stone Mountain carving, except with an entire army of soldiers on horseback instead of the three on the completed carving. Did some research and found an interesting article about the history of the carving. The photo is indeed the original plan, which would’ve taken up most of the mountain. Plans were for a carving of 65 soldiers, five from each Confederate state.

The carving was finally dedicated on May 9, 1970. President Nixon was supposed to attend, but had to back out because of the Kent State shooting earlier that week. Vice President Spiro Agnew filled in. The invocation was given by William Holmes Borders, a noted African American theologian and pastor of Wheat Street Baptist Church. Borders’ inclusion forced the KKK to give up plans to attend the ceremony.

 
http://www.aboutnorthgeorgia.com/ang/Stone_Mountain_Carving 
 
 
Taking down the carving would cost millions of dollars. Idea: the Air Force could use the carving for target practice.

Tuesday: worked until 6:20. Then home through the rain. Ceil had organized the pantry and the cabinet where all the pans go. Got more to take to Goodwill. For supper I had asked for anything but beans. Had grilled chicken fingers, baked potato squares, spinach, and tossed salad. Watched The Kids are All Right and This Is Us. Ceil stayed up for New Amsterdam but I went to bed.

Thursday: Stayed late to work on Matthew and Anna’s taxes. Will does his own. Ceil visited Will yesterday, then went out to eat with her gang of friends at a Thai restaurant. Not much on TV. I watched a couple of Seinfeld episodes.

Friday: Lot of office people out today. At least eight. One guy went to the emergency room. Plus one of the newer guys had quit and went back to his old job. We do have a new guy coming in next week to help with the tubing business.

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