The Cave

I hope all the Cave Dwellers have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Check out this link when you have a chance, it is a really cool way of giving thanks:

Cardboard Testimonies

Don’t Eat too much Turkey and Pie!

1 Peter 4:8 “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”

Today I went to the mail box and found a letter from a trust company telling me that I was the beneficiary of a man whose name I had never heard of in my life.  So I called up the company to inquire about it just knowing I was going to be filthy rich.  After waiting on hold for a while I finally get to talk to a representative who informs me that this is in fact correct.  A Mr. Steckel from Pennsylvania started a trust many years ago and I am one of his great, great nephews that is still alive.  And I along with 6 other nephews and nieces would be able to split the estate.  I eagerly asked how much would each of us be receiving.  The lady told me that while the figures were not completely worked out, she felt pretty confident that each of us would be getting somewhere around five dollars.  Sigh, there goes my dreams of fame and fortune.  Oh well, maybe next time.

We sang this song this morning in worship and it really touched me.  Just thought I would share.  I hope it touches all the cave dwellers.

A much needed article here by Cal Thomas:  Religious Right RIP

When Barack Obama takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2009, he will do so in the 30th anniversary year of the founding of the so-called Religious Right. Born in 1979 and midwifed by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, the Religious Right was a reincarnation of previous religious-social movements that sought moral improvement through legislation and court rulings. Those earlier movements — from abolition (successful) to Prohibition (unsuccessful) — had mixed results.

Social movements that relied mainly on political power to enforce a conservative moral code weren’t anywhere near as successful as those that focused on changing hearts. The four religious revivals, from the First Great Awakening in the 1730s and 1740s to the Fourth Great Awakening in the late 1960s and early ’70s, which touched America and instantly transformed millions of Americans (and American culture as a result), are testimony to that.

Thirty years of trying to use government to stop abortion, preserve opposite-sex marriage, improve television and movie content and transform culture into the conservative Evangelical image has failed. The question now becomes: should conservative Christians redouble their efforts, contributing more millions to radio and TV preachers and activists, or would they be wise to try something else?

I opt for trying something else.

Too many conservative Evangelicals have put too much faith in the power of government to transform culture. The futility inherent in such misplaced faith can be demonstrated by asking these activists a simple question: Does the secular left, when it holds power, persuade conservatives to live by their standards? Of course they do not. Why, then, would conservative Evangelicals expect people who do not share their worldview and view of God to accept their beliefs when they control government?

Too many conservative Evangelicals mistake political power for influence. Politicians who struggle with imposing a moral code on themselves are unlikely to succeed in their attempts to impose it on others. What is the answer, then, for conservative Evangelicals who are rightly concerned about the corrosion of culture, the indifference to the value of human life and the living arrangements of same- and opposite-sex couples?

The answer depends on the response to another question: do conservative Evangelicals want to feel good, or do they want to adopt a strategy that actually produces results? Clearly partisan politics have not achieved their objectives. Do they think they can succeed by committing themselves to 30 more years of the same?

If results are what conservative Evangelicals want, they already have a model. It is contained in the life and commands of Jesus of Nazareth. Suppose millions of conservative Evangelicals engaged in an old and proven type of radical behavior. Suppose they followed the admonition of Jesus to “love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison and care for widows and orphans,” not as ends, as so many liberals do by using government, but as a means of demonstrating God’s love for the whole person in order that people might seek Him?

Such a strategy could be more “transformational” than electing a new president, even the first president of color. But in order to succeed, such a strategy would not be led by charismatic figures, who would raise lots of money, be interviewed on Sunday talk shows, author books and make gobs of money.

God teaches in His Word that His power (if that is what conservative Evangelicals want and not their puny attempts at grabbing earthly power) is made perfect in weakness. He speaks of the tiny mustard seed, the seemingly worthless widow’s mite, of taking the last place at the table and the humbling of one’s self, the washing of feet and similar acts and attitudes; the still, small voice. How did conservative Evangelicals miss this and instead settle for a lesser power, which in reality is no power at all? When did they settle for an inferior “kingdom”?

Evangelicals are at a junction. They can take the path that will lead them to more futility and ineffective attempts to reform culture through government, or they can embrace the far more powerful methods outlined by the One they claim to follow. By following His example, they will decrease, but He will increase. They will get no credit, but they will see results. If conservative Evangelicals choose obscurity and seek to glorify God, they will get much of what they hope for, but can never achieve, in and through politics.

Here is a video of Kenzie making her first basket in a game. . .

I have always enjoyed election nights, especially ones involving the Presidential election.  The first one I remember was 1984 when Reagan won in a landslide.  I can still remember hearing my father complain about having to deal with Reagan another four years.  My father was a die hard democrat and even told my mother when they got married that she was now a democrat and she would be expected to vote democrat.  After my father died my mother told me that she never said anything but she voted republican more times than not.

Tonight our country will witness history made as we see either our first black president or our first female vice-president.  It will be fun to watch history unfold tonight however it turns out.  No matter what happens, we have to trust that God is in control and commit ourselves to praying for our new leaders.

See ya around the television set tonight.