Orderliness

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Source:https://www.zeroharmfarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/out-of-order-3.jpg

Have you noticed just how much is out-of-order these days? What I mean by this is that people are all out of sorts with what’s happening in society. You have those who are for this and those who are for that and the disorderliness of it all is overwhelming our culture and society. With politics–whether you sit on this side of the aisle or the other side of the aisle–people on both sides seem to be more violent in their speech toward one another which then drips down into their constituents. Then the constituents are in the streets claiming their side is right while the other is wrong and vice versa. And in reality, a lot of people really don’t know what the real issues are because the media is waffling on this and that.

Then there’s disorder in homes. Families are divided. Statistics that I’ve heard as of late are that over 50% of first time marriages end in divorce. Over 90% of second marriages end in divorce, and forget about any other marriages after that! And for what reason are families breaking apart? “Irreconcilable differences.” What’s that? I’ll tell you what it is: lack of order in the home. You have two people who are trying to do things their way because they came from two totally different family cultures (and I’m not speaking of ethnic cultures). The man’s culture is according to his family and whether he had a manly righteous father or a cruel absentee father. The woman’s culture is according to her family and whether she had a manly righteous father or a cruel absentee father. Moreover, their relationships with their own mothers and then their in-laws on top of that may cause disorder in the home.

And don’t forget the children. Have you noticed just how many kids (what I call children are ages 0-12 years) are speaking out of turn, running around like crazy people (not that there’s anything wrong with being a crazy person; don’t take offense if you happen to be a crazy person), and then yelling at the top of their lungs in restaurants, grocery stores, and everywhere else. If a parent tries to control their behavior, the kid gets even more out of control! What’s up with that? When I was their age my father and mother would just have to give me a look and I knew that I had to sit there in my chair properly or I’d be in trouble. Nowadays kids don’t care, or at least it appears that way. Even more so, parents don’t seem to care that their children are out-of-order.

Teenagers are being treated like children when in reality they are young adults. Yes, their brains are still developing and their bodies are going through all sorts of changes. But is it necessary to still treat them like children? Have you notice just how many young men and young women actually act childlike? If they don’t get their way they’re doing exactly what children do: they hoop and holler until their parents give them what they want. Or, even more dastardly, they’re just giving them what they want with no recourse or discipline and they are running around like imbeciles and parents think it’s just a phase they’re going through. Do you remember acting this way with your parents? I don’t because my parents would set me in order when I was out-of-order! It’s called discipline and every child, every young adult, and every adult for that matter, is looking for the boundaries so they can know when they’ve gone too far or not far enough. Treat young men like children and they’ll be stuck in a fantasy world when they are supposed to be men. Treat young women like children and they’ll be stuck in a fantasy world thinking that they’re truly a princess when they’re the furthest thing from being one and will never truly be women.

So what needs to happen to bring order into this world of disorder? We need to realize a few things:

First, things are out-of-order because people are sinners. You read that correctly. Every single one of us sin in thoughts, words, and deeds. Sin is missing the mark of doing that which is right. We get in our heads that whatever we want to do is the right thing to do for us. Well, the reality is that if we do it just for us then selfishness takes over and we are sinning because we are not thinking about doing that which is right. If we are doing that which is right, then we are doing things not just for ourselves but that which is right for everyone. This covers the second greatest commandment that Jesus Christ gave to us: Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Second, things are out-of-order because we don’t acknowledge God. You read that correctly. Every single one of us misses the mark of acknowledging God. He is our Maker, He is Sovereign, He is full of grace and truth because He is Grace and Truth. We fail to acknowledge on a daily basis what it is that Jesus Christ has done on our behalf by dying for us according to the Scriptures, being buried, and being raised according to the Scriptures. We don’t recognize that the blessings that we have in this life come not from the hard work that we perform, but from the way that God gives us the ability to create wealth and He is the One who provides for us. This covers the first greatest commandment that Jesus Christ gave to us: Love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Finally, I think things are out-of-order simply because we are looking at life through the lens of our own minds instead of through the lens of God’s eyes. Life is a beautiful thing. Osama Bin Laden once said, “The problem with Americans is that you love life while we love death.” We live in a culture of death but God is about life. Jesus Christ said of Himself: I am the way, the truth and the life; and no man comes to the Father except through Me. He is Life and He is the Light of men. When we discover that He truly is who He is, it seems that which appears to be out-of-order begins to come into order. When we trust Him and seek Him and ask Him to bring order to our lives, He does because He is willing to do this for, in, and through us.

When we need order and we begin to think on those things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, then we ought to dwell on these things. And what we will find is that Jesus Christ is that which is honorable, right, pure, lovely, and of good repute and is full of excellence and worthy of praise. This is order.

Revelation

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Source:http://www.trinitycentral.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/revelation.jpg

No, I’m not speaking of the apocalypse; I am simply speaking about revelation, about truth, yay, absolute truth.

I had an interesting conversation with a young man the other day from a different faith than mine. He believes that an angelic being spoke to his prophet and gave him another testament of Jesus Christ. In fact, he went so far as to say that “the Bible is a good read, but there is more than just the Bible.” His religion, that of the Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormonism) believe that the other testament of Jesus Christ is the Book of Mormon. At twenty-one years old, he is fully convinced that he has found ultimate truth in the Book of Mormon and if I would take the time to read it, I, too, could benefit from it and see its results in my life as he has in his.

It’s interesting that he didn’t tell me exactly what the results are that he has found in his life from reading the Book of Mormon. He just finished his two-year missionary journey–not on a bicycle as days of old, but by car. At any rate, I invited him into my home as he was a door-to-door salesman for pest control. I have pests (ants…they drive me insane…nutty…I hate all the ants of the whole world!). I bought his service. Then we had our conversation. I asked him a simple question that he could not really answer: “What is truth?”

He retorted, “Humph, that’s a great question. Let me tell you that I have found truth in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. They coincide with each other. You know the Bible has issues, but the Book of Mormon doesn’t.” Of course I don’t believe that and I told him. There are plenty of places that contradict the Bible when you read even portions of the Book of Mormon. But how does he know what truth really is? I have yet to find contradiction in the Scriptures (don’t try to send me what you believe are contradictory remarks; we know scribal error, etc.). Interestingly enough, I asked him the same question no less than three times and he never answered it sufficiently. In reality, I don’t think that this young man knows what truth really is.

Now for those who don’t believe in absolute truth, the burden of proof against absolute truth is not on me but on those who don’t believe. Those who believe in absolute truth already know that there is something other than us that is truth and is absolute. The question though is, “What is truth?” Well, let’s consider just a few things from a logical perspective.

Simply: 2+2=4. There is no other number that the answer can be. Even if you change the addition problem, the answer will still be “4”. For instance: 1+3=4; 0+4=4; 3+1=4, etc. When you multiply 2×2=4. There are no doubt other numbers that you can multiply in fractions that will equal “4” but I’m not mathematical. My point is that there is absoluteness, even for those in California. And if there is absoluteness, then there must be absolute truth. All of us are aware that death is absolute truth. There has never been someone who has come back after being dead for a while except One who was dead for three days and then was raised again. And yet, this young man could not tell me what truth is. I’m not so sure that in his mind he really knows what truth is.

So I shared with him how God has revealed truth. He has revealed truth by giving us His name: “In the beginning Elohim (God) created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). He begins His Word by telling us that He is Almighty and that He is the Creator of all things that are seen and unseen. We see that God has revealed truth in His Word, the Bible: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). And finally, He has revealed truth through His Son, Jesus Christ: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it….And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth….No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him” (John 1:1-5, 14, 18). Moreover, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in may ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they” (Hebrews 1:1-4).

Absolute truth has been revealed to all of mankind by God Himself! He has revealed Himself, He has given us His Word, and His final communique is through the Person and Work of Jesus Christ! There is no need for further revelation when Jesus Christ has revealed everything we need to know about who God is: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–three Persons in one Godhead. (The Trinity is another post for another day.)

But for what reason would I say that God is absolute truth? Or better still, why would I make the claim that Jesus Christ is absolute truth? The opposite of God cannot be anything that is created. In other words, when someone asks the question, “What is the opposite of God?” the answer cannot be Satan or the devil. He is a created being, he has a beginning and he certainly has an eternity of judgment that will be brought against him. God on the other hand has no beginning and has no ending. He is eternal. Before all of Creation, God existed–three Persons in this One Godhead. Perfect harmony and fellowship existed according to the Scriptures. Therefore, He is the One who establishes absolute truth; you and I do not establish truth let alone absolute truth!

So the opposite of God would be error. Anything that is contradictory to God Himself, to His Word, or to His final communique to mankind, which is the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, then is in error. It is contradictory to what He has revealed. This is revelation. Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision (or better translated, revelation), the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law.” In other words, they read and believe what the Word of God says, the Bible. It is not the Bible and some other “testament” of Jesus Christ, but the canon itself that has been revealed to be the very Word of God. All else that contradicts the revelation of God to mankind is simply error. God has revealed Himself from the beginning, He has revealed Himself through His Word, the Bible, and finally, He has revealed Himself through Jesus Christ who is Absolute Truth.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” –John 14:6

Airport

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Source:https://travelupdate.boardingarea.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DFWAirportOverview-1280×640.jpg

I think it’s the people who I really enjoy watching at airports. The interactions between people is very interesting to me. For some you can tell that they’re weary travelers. I wonder from where they’ve traveled. Some look as if they’ve traveled from around the world while others just look like they’ve woken up from a long sleep. Others are conversing about the business of which they’re having to handle in the city and others are just ignoring everyone else around them. Families are talking about the memories that they’ve just made or about to make on their journey. It’s fascinating to me.

I remember when I was a single man, if I didn’t have anything to do, once in a while I’d travel to the Dallas-Fort Work International Airport just to people watch. I remember back then you could actually go to the gates where passengers were disembarking planes while others were preparing to board. Now I understand that it sounds like I didn’t have much of a life–and if you think that, you’re most likely very correct! At any rate, I would just watch people.

But what is it about people who I enjoy just siting in an airport watching them? It’s the various countries from where they’ve flown. It’s the different languages that people are speaking. It’s the different clothing that they are wearing from their lands. it’s the different styles, looks, and especially the interactions they have with others.

I remember one time, when I was sitting in an international terminal, there was a family who was dressed in beautiful colors. Their garb was obviously Indian and they were awaiting the arrival of a parent from India. Sometimes they would speak in English and at other times they would speak in their Indian dialect. That’s how I knew they were awaiting a parent. The passengers on the flight started to debark and started to come through the glass doors. The family was excited and you can just see how the excitement was still building and building as each passenger came through the door. Then the line started to thin out. Then it came to a trickle and just a few people were coming through the door. All of a sudden, the flight attendants and the pilots were coming through the door and the family all began to cry. Their parent was not onboard the plane. They had no idea where they were. They were frantic. My heart broke just watching how disappointed they were.

There’s always children in the airport. One may be squealing about this or fussing about that and you can see passengers waiting to see if that child is going to be on their plane. When they find that their flight includes the child who’s been crying for the last hour and a half in the waiting area, their faces say that they realize their flight is not going to be a quiet one. Sometimes you see people who are upset about not making an earlier flight and are complaining at the desk where the airline personnel are working. It’s interesting to me to see just how calm most of those people remain behind the desk. They really seem to want to solve the problems that people are facing when trying to get home or to their final destination. At other times, you can hear the frustration in the personnel’s voices as well when they’re being yelled at or cussed.

It’s just people being people. It’s just people trying to get to their destination. It’s just people trying to carry on with their lives, wherever they’re going, whatever they’re doing.

It’s just the airport.