Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | March 18, 2015

Once Upon a Time I was a Little Boy, Concluded

 The Church

For our family, church was the main focal point for life outside the home; if our church, Baptist Temple, was open we were probably there. I started attending services at Baptist Temple nine months before I was born, as the old expression goes. Grandfather was a deacon and church treasurer and grandmother was active in the Women’s Missionary Union.

Dressed up for ChurchEveryone dressed up for church in those days

I can still clearly recall many of the experiences I had at Baptist Temple; I kissed a girl for the first time on the back steps of Baptist Temple; as a youngster I got called down by the pastor, Brother Jester, for talking in church at an evening service (talk about embarrassing). I received Christ as Savior at Baptist Temple and was baptized there by Brother Jester. Those and many other experiences are forever engraved in my memory.

As with all of the other buildings in my childhood, Baptist Temple was not air conditioned; I can clearly remember evening services on summer Sunday nights when the auditorium was stifling hot. We usually sat on the first floor and could look up into the balcony where small groups of people would be clustered under the oscillating fans that were placed at intervals along the wall of the balcony separated by rows of empty seats where the breeze from the fans couldn’t quite reach.

At the Sunday morning service all of the deacons would sit together in the front right corner of the auditorium (our AMEN! corner) and when Brother Jester made a good point a strong chorus of Amen’s would resound from that corner.

Family Photo

Family Photo After Church From left to right, my great aunt Tinnie, my aunt Belle, in the back row my uncle Rex standing behind his wife, Bernice, in the back row my grandfather Dave next my grandmother, Georgia Belle, my mother, Koreene, and me.

We all had hymnbooks with the pages of the hymns for the service posted on a board at the front. There was a lot of four part singing from the congregation as the men sang the tenor and bass and the women sang the soprano and alto parts of the hymn. The singing was done with great enthusiasm! I still have and am looking at an old Broadman Hymnal  with a 1940 Copyright date and an inscription; “To Georgia Belle From Dave, May 11, 1941.” The price of copies was marked inside with a Cloth Board single copy for 75 cents. Georgia Belle was my grandmother and Dave, after whom I was named, was my grandfather. Since he was Dave I was called David and that has stuck to this day.

The Baptist Temple of my childhood no longer exists; multiple changes in the neighborhood have required changes be made to the church and they are being made as this was being written. Much of the property has been sold and a smaller church building is being prepared for the greatly reduced congregation that attends. Time is relentless and change is inevitable; my body will attest to that reality of life.

The Second World War

Pearl Harbor Bombed 1941

The Bombing of Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941

I can still remember where I was and what I was doing when the announcement of the bombing of Pearl Harbor came over the radio that Sunday afternoon; I suspect that no one could imagine the impact that event would have on us as individuals and as a nation. By God’s grace the impact on those of us living in the United States was much less than those living in some other parts of the world.

Almost every aspect of our lives was impacted to some degree, even a child had things they could do to help in the war effort; many things were rationed and some in short supply. Scrap metal was collected even to saving the foil on chewing gum wrappers; waste paper was collected and sent to processing plants to be recycled; I spent many an hour collecting waste paper for the war effort.

Two war related events stand out in my memory; the first was the appearance of a huge dirigible that hovered over my street one day, it seemed to stretch from one end of the block to the other. I had never before or since seen such a large object floating in the air above me. If you’re imagining the Goodyear Blimp, which was about 192 feet long, think bigger, the WW II K class blimps were just over 251 feet long.

The second was a city wide blackout practice for the entire City of Houston. For a few minutes every light throughout the city was to be turned out and absolutely no traffic moving. I remember when the blackout went into effect walking a half block to the busiest street in the area which ran many blocks in both directions and seeing no light or movement. That left a vivid mental picture which I can still easily recall.

News of the war was slow in coming to the people, there was information on the war in the newspapers but this was usually several days old before it got to us. There would be newsreel shorts at the movie theater but this information was also weeks old; the public simply didn’t know what was happening until well after the event was passed.

One thing that was clear was the identity of the enemy and our reason for fighting; our nation was united in working to bring about the defeat of our enemy. Many have paid a great price for us to enjoy the freedom we have!

By the end of the Second World War I was almost a teenager and no longer a little boy; I had a lot of growing up left to do but that’s another story.

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | March 11, 2015

Once Upon a Time I was a Little Boy, Continued

Mystery and Danger

There was no air conditioning, no TV, essentially nothing electronic except a Philco radio in the living room. During the summer the inside of the house was not a comfortable place to be; children looked forward to going outside because it was cooler by far than inside. In those days, most houses were built with a crawl space beneath the house which just happened to be the coolest place around and offered the added touch of mystery and danger that would appeal to a boy. Needless to say, I spent many an hour playing with my toys in the cool crawl space under the house.

In the evenings when everyone was home we would usually gather around the piano and sing while my grandmother played the piano or listen to some of our favorite radio shows on the Philco radio. I still have a big box of popular sheet music from the early 1900’s to the Second World war. Although my grandmother could not read music she was very comfortable with the piano keyboard as she played the piano in church and had played in a silent movie theater as a young woman.

There were some good mystery shows on the radio in the evenings such as “Inner Sanctum” and “I Love a Mystery.” We would turn off all the lights and listen to the show by the glow from the dial of the Philco radio; after all, mysteries are much more mysterious in a dark room. I would usually be sprawled out on the floor and sometimes, at a climactic point, my grandfather would grab my leg and give me a good scare.

One of my favorite shows was the Tom Mix radio show and I looked forward each week to his solving of the latest mystery. In those days all shows were broadcast live and you heard the voice of the actor playing the part on live radio. Mr. Mix was in the middle of a mystery named, “The Black Cat Mystery” when one day the announcer came on and said the show was cancelled because Mr. Mix had been killed on October 12, 1940 in a car accident. I was truly stunned by that announcement and have never forgotten that moment.

As I grew older I added roller skates which strapped on to our shoes and stilts, which we would build ourselves, to our boyhood collection of toys. Racing down the sidewalks on either side of the street on our roller skates partially satisfied our desire for competitive activities; seeing who could build and walk on the tallest stilts satisfied another part of our competitive spirit. We got to the point where we could only get on our stilts from the vantage point of a front porch and would tower over our stilt-less friends.

The Anonymous Boy

David Baby Picture

Baby boy Bower

Before I forget to mention it, I didn’t have a legal name until I was 18 years old. There was much discussion about what my name should be but by the time I was taken home no decision had been made; all my birth record showed was “baby boy Bower.” When I was 18 I wanted to join the United States Naval Reserve and my mother had to get a copy of my birth certificate and only then discovered the error. She filled out all of the paperwork needed and at age 18 I finally had a legal name. I thought it was funny that she did not mention a word of this to me at the time and it was over two years later that I accidentally discovered the paperwork that gave me a legal name at age 18. It appears that the Houston Independent School District accepted me without determining if I had a legal name or I might have had one sooner.

The School

Elementary School

The Third Grade Class Photo

Schools were just like homes, no air conditioning and during the late spring and early fall, the schools were very hot inside. Some classrooms had fans which had been purchased by local parent groups and having a classroom with a fan, especially on the West side of the building was a great privilege. As I think back on my elementary school it has just dawned on me that the older children’s classes were on the West side of the school and the younger children’s classes were on the East side of the school.

The photo above was my third grade class; Miss Hudson stands out in my memory as a favorite teacher. The man was Mr. Elrod, the school principle. I’m the first one on the left in the front row.

Getting to and from school was solely the responsibility of the student and their parents; I walked to school down the busiest street in the whole area and thought nothing about it, that was what everyone did.

In the last few weeks before school was out for summer vacation, the boys, if they wished, could come to school barefooted. This was a big thing to the boys and I cannot recall even one who didn’t want to take advantage of that offer. We all looked forward to coming to school barefooted and saw it as a promise of future freedom from school offered by summer vacation. School was over by the end of May and didn’t start again until September; August was just too hot to open a school with no air conditioning.

The high point of the year was a May-fete which included a Maypole; it was thought an honor for a girl to be selected to participate in the wrapping of the Maypole. There would be singing and refreshments and a generally happy time for all who attended.

Next time church and World War II

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | March 5, 2015

Once Upon a Time I was a Little Boy

The Companion

My earliest memories are of life with my mother and her parents at their house in the Houston, Heights area. I have read that the years between 1 and 7 are very significant years in the development of a child and those were the years my life was greatly impacted by my grandmother, grandfather, and my Aunt Bell, a maiden aunt who also lived with this family group.

Both my grandfather and mother had to work to provide the basic needs for our little family. She was a working, single mom at a difficult time in the history of this country which meant I didn’t see very much of her during the day.

My Aunt Bell was my constant companion with whom I spent many hours growing up. While we had fun together, it was my grandmother who was the authority figure in my life and she ruled with a firm hand. I have many happy memories of that time in my life.

The Giant

One of the blessings of living life before technological developments brought improvements is you had no idea what you were missing! Air conditioning was yet future as were refrigerators. Our phone service was part of a party line which means there were three or four families that shared the same line. Our particular phone had an assigned number of rings and the other parties on the line had their own number of rings. If the phone rang our number of rings it would be for us and we would answer; if it was a different number of rings one of the other families on the party line would answer.

We had an ice box that used real ice to keep things cool. This meant we also had ice houses and ice men who delivered ice to each house on the block. A large cardboard sign had the numbers 25, 50, 75, and 100 printed on each edge. If you needed ice delivered that day you would place the sign in the front window with the required amount of ice showing on top.

Although I cannot swear to this it seems that my very earliest memories of the ice man involved a horse and wagon; later it was definitely a truck but there is a horse and wagon mixed in with those early memories. The visits of the ice man were exciting to me; he looked like a giant coming into the house with a large leather apron which extended over his shoulder and carried a pair of ice tongs with which he could steady the ice on his shoulder and place it in the ice box. When he saw the sign in the window he would stop and take the required amount of ice out of his truck and carry it into the house and place it in the ice box. It took me and several others a number of years to stop calling a refrigerator an ice box.

There was also the all important drip pan under the ice box where melted ice water would drain and required occasional emptying. My grandmother had an ice pick and would chip off ice for ice tea for the evening meal when everyone was home from work.

The Chickens

Our backyard was occupied by chickens and was pretty much off limits to me as a child. My grandmother would go out and feed the chickens every day and gather the eggs they had produced.

On special occasions we would have fried chicken and those of you raised on a farm probably know what that involved. I was both fascinated and horrified by the preparation process that my grandmother always followed when it had been decided we would have fried chicken. For some reason she did not object to my watching the process and, almost in spite of myself, I could not resist watching the gruesome spectacle.

She would select one or two chickens from the flock and take them by their heads and swing them in a circle until their bodies flew off through the air but when they hit the ground they would run around without their heads for a few seconds until they collapsed on the ground. Then my grandmother would pick them up and take them into the house to clean them and pluck off their feathers. In spite of this rather graphic depiction of life and death I still looked forward to fried chicken that night.

Coconut Cake and Spaghetti

There were two other items that left an indelible impression on me, my grandmother’s spaghetti and her coconut cake. She made her own sauce and always added small pieces of green bell peppers to the mix which gave her spaghetti a very special, and to me, a marvelous flavor. The other never to be forgotten item from her kitchen was her coconut cake. She would buy a coconut, drain out the milk for the cake mixing, and break out the coconut meat to shred for the cake. I would always beg for and get a small piece of coconut to enjoy while I watched her make that incredibly delicious cake.

Next time, children having fun

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | February 18, 2015

This World is Simply not Good Enough!

But it Didn’t Start out That Way

We can probably all agree our world may be a pretty amazing place but it does have problems and I’m not talking about the problems mankind creates but the problems our world creates. It would not be too hard to write a rather lengthy list on how the world hurts people; such things as deadly cold and heat, have made the news recently. Sao Paolo, Brazil has been experiencing a severe drought while the northern hemisphere has been experiencing blizzards and record breaking snowfalls.

To that list we could add earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunami’s, hurricanes, floods and tornadoes by way of examples. It is easy to conclude that while this world is an amazing place it is not a perfect place. In the beginning that was not God’s plan for this world; in the beginning, God created a world that was good and offered an ideal environment for mankind.

What Happened to Change Everything?

The Bible tells us of two events that resulted in profound changes to the world; the first was Adams deliberate disobedience to God’s command which resulted in God’s curse being placed on this world. In Genesis 3:17-19 it is written:

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”

This was followed by their expulsion from the Garden as described in verses 22-24:

22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.”

The expulsion from the Garden was an act of God’s love and grace, living forever with a fallen sin nature would be a severe curse indeed.

This first failure on man’s part was to be followed by a second which would profoundly alter the face of the earth and life on the earth. This was the great flood during which the water vapor canopy protecting the earth was destroyed exposing the earth to radiation and creating the seasons as we know them. At that time the entire surface of the earth was changed and the topography we have today emerged.

Another Major Change is Coming

The world as we know it today has remained in largely the same condition since the flood but another judgment is coming that will again include major alterations of the world. The Bible tells of a time of terrible judgment that is coming called the Great Tribulation that will drastically alter the world yet again. We can also know from the Bible that if this time of judgment were not limited in length that no one would survive; fortunately it will be limited to three and one-half years.

After this we are told of a time during which the world will be restored to vastly better conditions which will last for 1,000 years, a period during which the Lord Jesus Christ will rule on the earth and Satan will be bound.

A Final Change and a New Forever Home

This last change is so huge, so all encompassing as to overwhelm the imagination, this last change will mean the total destruction of the entire universe as it has existed from the creation. The earth and everything that exists throughout the heavens will be destroyed by fire to be replaced by a new heaven and a new earth which will be good enough to serve as a forever home for God’s family.

Most of us have probably had the good fortune to visit a place or at least see pictures of a place where man has created an environment of beauty, contentment, and peace. We can all imagine such a place even as we labor under the curse of sin.

My family and I always enjoy the occasional trips we take to Disney World; Disney has done a remarkable job in creating an idealized environment that appeals to all of us. If Disney can do it, if we can imagine such a place, then just think what an omnipotent God will be able to do for those He loves.

I’m absolutely convinced that the New Jerusalem, the new heaven and the new earth will be a place of unsurpassed beauty, peace and joy. God is our creator, He knows us better than we know ourselves and He is the one designing our new home. I suspect you join in with me in joyful anticipation of our coming forever home.

“Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | February 10, 2015

Why the Increase in Terrorism?

“Throw a dart at the map of the world and you are likely to hit a nation where corruption is influencing current events.”

I, along with many others, have discovered an interesting writer by the name of Alan Caruba; he writes regularly for “RenewAmerica” and in an article named “The other cause of terrorism” dated February 4, 2015, Mr. Caruba, who wrote the headline sentence, discussed the impact of widespread corruption on terrorist activities around the world.

Corruption impacts every nation and every people to some degree; those of us who live in the United States can certainly see corruption at work in many of our institutions both public and private and may well wonder to what extent corruption has impacted our national response to terrorist activities at home and abroad.

Mr. Caruba wrote, “By the time the Founders came together to create the U.S. Constitution, they had been well-schooled and experienced in what it would require to keep corruption at bay with a government whose powers were limited and divided among executive, legislative, and judicial branches.”

In George Washington’s Farewell Address he spoke these words:

“Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason, and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.” …”It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”..Washington’s Farewell Address, Sept. 17, 1796

We have turned our national back on God and the Bible and although a solid foundation had been laid, time and corruption have resulted in the growing power of a centralized government that threatens to destroy this nation as a constitutional republic; by disregarding Biblical principles we have let the same lust for power that has historically destroyed great nations in the past now begin to destroy ours.

The Root Cause of the Problem

The relevancy of Christianity, Christ, and the Bible is now being challenged in most Western Nations including the United States. What a tragedy the only clear source of information on the cause of the world’s problems and the one remedy that works is being discarded as irrelevant and, as a result, the problem is growing in scope and intensity as more and more time passes. Terrorism is but one of the symptoms that have emerged as the root cause continues to be ignored.

This root cause of man’s problems is his fallen, sin nature and his dead spirit. The Bible teaches us that all mankind died in Adam and that all of us with human fathers are born spiritually dead.

The one and only solution to that problem is to be born again and only by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior can that be achieved. Trying to deal with any of the symptoms without dealing with the problem is a pathetic exercise in futility.

From the Frying Pan into the Fire

Mr. Caruba’s article points out how many people are turning to Islam because it seems to offer a solution to the symptoms of corruption. He writes:

“Why then should we be surprised that many throughout the Middle East have turned to Islam to address the problems they encounter from the corruption of their governments?”Lured by militant advocates of a religious ordering of human affairs, they will seek to roll back four hundred years of political history.”

Sadly that is too similar to “jumping from the frying pan into the fire.” Those who turn to Islam for an answer are simply switching forms of corruption and terror.

While Mr. Caruba’s article is an excellent diagnostic piece he stops short of describing a solution to the problem that will really work and concludes the article with the following:

“The role of corruption in the nations experiencing Islamic terrorism cannot be underestimated. Its role in the conduct of the world’s affairs is huge and a constant threat whose many forms must be understood, addressed, and eliminated to the greatest degree possible.”

While that is all true, there is nothing there on how it can be accomplished; the problem is spiritual, not economic or political and must be addressed at the spiritual level.

Just as the Lord Jesus Christ told Nicodemus, “You must be born again,” the only answer is the new birth, a birth that brings spiritual life and delivers from spiritual death.

Human Depravity

The fallen nature of man is capable of terrible things; we have recently seen that demonstrated in the Middle East where a young man was burned alive. The Bible warns us that as we approach the end of days the situation will only get worse. In 2 Timothy 3:1-5 it is written:

“3 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power.”

I believe we are living in those times and watching prophetic events develop on a world-wide scale. As bad as things seem to be getting the Bible tells us they will get worse; right now God, the Holy Spirit, is still suppressing the worst manifestations of sin and will continue to do so until the church is removed by the rapture.

The Final Gathering of the Sheep?

Even as these terrible things are happening there is a wondrous movement around the world with thousands of people turning to Christ and being born again by faith. We are seeing this in the most unlikely places all around the world. Christ is calling His sheep and they are hearing His voice and responding to the call.

I think it possible that this age of grace, which has now lasted almost 2,000 years, may soon come to an end but I have no idea whether we’re talking about 2 years or 200 years; only the Lord knows.

Regardless of what happens or when it happens we have clear instructions from the Lord on what our attitude should be:

“4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:4-9

When God’s hand begings to move it can move with blinding speed; I believe we are seeing the hand of God at work in the affairs of men in a manner unprecedented in the experience of anyone living today! As for us, we should…

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | February 4, 2015

Returning to Normal

An Unexpected Problem Develops

Sometimes a totally unexpected event can take over and demand most or all of our attention. For example, I probably spend around 6 or more hours a day on a computer. I use it for my Global Media Outreach ministry, writing my blog, doing our family business, and various personal activities such as buying stuff and answering email; in other words, my computer is an important part of my life.

The computer is a Dell T3400 Precision Workstation I bought in 2008 and have generally been very happy with it. A few weeks ago it started having a problem starting and I would sometimes have to work with it to get it up and running; this reached a climax last week when it would no longer start, an epic event in my sheltered life.

Having seen the warning signs, by the way it was operating, I had carefully backed up everything that needed to be backed up on two external hard drives so the only question was what to do about my ongoing need for a computer; there were the two standard options, repair or replace. I’m a researcher at heart so I started researching those options to see which might be the best one to follow.

The Dell T3400 Precision Workstation

T3400

It did not take long to discover my computer had a very good reputation and was a popular item on the used computer market. I started reading reviews and discovered it had a record for long service. Fortunately Dell offers a diagnostic tool online which I had used and discovered that everything seemed to be working well except for the hard drive which needed replacement.

That was interesting as my original 250 gigabyte hard drive was filling up and I needed more space; the Dell online store offered a 1 terabyte hard drive at a reasonable price which I decided to order. It came in last Thursday afternoon and my work began; being somewhat driven, in certain areas at least, I worked until just before midnight that first night.

Fortunately I have been blessed with a great amount of patience so the following three days were not an insurmountable challenge. Installing the new hardware was quick and simple; downloading and installing the Vista Ultimate operating system, my normal software, and 7 years of updates and upgrades was a much slower process. Fortunately we have a fast download speed (81 Mbps) on our cable internet so that was a big advantage as some of those files were very large.

A normal part of this process is the inevitable glitch, the unexpected aberration which must be addressed if the job is to be completed. Sure enough there were some of those too; I tell my wife that those episodes offer an opportunity to learn new things. By Sunday evening, the computer was back in operation and doing a great job; it seemed to be working faster and better that ever before, at least I like to think it does.

The Bottom Line

I’m writing this on my repaired and updated T3400 using the new 1 terabyte hard drive; the curious thing about that episode was, I actually had fun doing it. My wife cannot understand how something like that could be fun, but I, on the other hand, cannot understand how she can draw and paint.

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | January 28, 2015

A Sad Messiah Substitute

The Futile Search for an Alternate Messiah

Throughout mankind’s long history there has been dissatisfaction with one or more aspects of life and an awareness that something was not quite as it should be. Efforts to address this deficiency have taken many forms.

One of the devices used has been the creation of an imagined individual who would heroically correct the problem, a superhero, a messiah. This individual would be willing and able to address the problem and bring it to a satisfactory resolution.

In other instances, individuals might even see themselves as the messianic figure that would solve the problems and deliver the people from some particular evil; I suspect a number of recent world leaders may come to your mind.

An Objectivist Messiah

I have read all 1,168 pages of Atlas Shrugged more than once and was interested in the decision to make it into a movie. The book is in three parts so the movie tracks that order and came out as three different movies. In this instance, different is the operative word as each of the movies features an entirely different cast of characters; while that was rather jarring it was manageable.

I had discovered Ayn Rand during my participation in a management development program over 45 years ago where the massive volume was assigned as required reading. The program also included several non-fiction works by Ayn Rand which were also required reading.

I developed an appreciation for certain aspects of Ms Rand’s Objectivist philosophy and actually subscribed to her magazine while she was still alive. Ms. Rand’s defense of capitalism and her opposition to socialism and communism struck a sympathetic chord in my thinking.

At the time I first learned of Ms. Rand I was already a serious student of the Bible and a staunch evangelical Christian; I did not believe there was any contradiction in that concerning the economics of Objectivism and Christian principles. Capitalism is the only economic system which realistically factors in the fallen human condition although this is likely providential and consequential.

The Missing Element, a Solution that Works

The problem came in when the subject of solutions to the problems facing mankind were proposed; Ms. Rand’s fictional solution was a messiah figure named John Galt. As a Christian I knew there is only one Messiah and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

I’ve commented before on the sadness I felt as I saw Ms. Rand propose such a pathetic alternative to the real thing. Try as she might, the philosophical concept of a John Galt fails miserably to measure up to the glorious reality of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, back to the Movie

I’m still trying to complete the adjustment required by the cast changes; I made the mistake of watching Part 2 just before watching Part 3 for the first time which only emphasized the different cast. Moving on past that issue, a rather predictable problem began to emerge as the movie progressed.

While I agree with Ms. Rand’s analysis of the economic ramifications of socialism I take exception to her concept of a solution. Ms. Rand falls into the same trap that ensnares the socialists and that is a failure to recognize the fundamental problem facing humanity which is spiritual death and the fallen sin nature.

The Bible explains the problem by identifying the disobedience of Adam as the cause for Adam’s and the balance of mankind’s spiritual death when Adam disobeyed a direct command of God. All mankind ever since, born of human fathers, have been born spiritually dead; spiritual life can only come on the occasion of the new birth by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.

While parts 1 and 2 do an adequate job of presenting human corruption and depravity, part 3, as it presents John Galt as the messiah figure, fails to live up to expectations and falls short in delivering a convincing answer to the problems demonstrated in the first two movies. The truth of the matter is the Bible offers the only solution that will work, a solution that is clearly beyond the ability of mankind, individually or collectively, to provide.

God’s Answer to Man’s Problems

The divine answer includes not only a new birth, but a new heaven and a new earth; a solution to the problem that is clearly beyond the ability of man to arrange. What a joy and privilege to know we are living in divine reality and not Objectivist fiction.

Regardless of whether it is a natural or supernatural messiah figure created in the minds of men; the results will be the same, miserable failure to measure up to reality. It is only in the Lord Jesus Christ that complete fulfillment can be found; it is only in Christ that we find a final solution that really works.

 

 

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | January 21, 2015

Money, Guns, Tire Tools and Christianity

Money is the Root of All Evil, Right?

No, not right, money is nothing more than a tool, a medium of exchange which facilitates commerce and trade. The Bible does not condemn money as evil; the better translation of 1 Timothy 6:10 would be:

“10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

Our Lord spoke on the subject of money versus God in Matthew 6:24 where it is written:

24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

The point is that money is an inanimate, amoral tool which exists as a convenience in the exchange of value. The form used today is light, portable and easy to use. In the past various things have been declared to have value as money; one of the stranger forms of money was the large round stones used as money on Yap, an island in the Western Pacific.

Rai Stone 3A Rai stone, used as currency on the island of Yap, stands in the atrium of the Bank of Canada “Rai stone from Yap currency” by Beades – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

These were massive stones requiring a number of men to carry them and were in no way a convenient, portable medium of exchange. They could, I suppose, be used as a weapon and then one might say that money kills. The point being that whether a piece of paper or a rock, money has no inherent tendency toward either good or evil but is simply a tool to be used by a human being as a medium of exchange. This principle applies to all other tools as well!

The Same Old Problem

What then is the source of this wicked misbehavior of tools about which one hears so much? Well, no surprise there, it too comes from the fallen sin nature of man; whether money, guns, or any other tool, all can be used for good or evil depending on the motivations of the individual human using the tool. A tire iron can be used to change a tire or bash someone over the head, tire irons do not kill, people kill; the same principle applies to all other tools as well. Tools are not good or evil, they are just tools!

We do ourselves and society a great disservice when we endorse the idea that societies’ problems are the result of tools gone wild. If we tighten up on the behavior of tools all would be well: let us pass more laws controlling tools and societies’ problems will disappear. I hope you realize just how foolish that sounds; what amazes me is that this is the popular solution in many parts of our society today. Legislating the ownership or use of tools fails to address the problem at its roots; the problem is the fallen nature of man, not the fallen nature of tools.

Two Philosophies of Behavior

When my wife and I had little children we believed the notion that children should be taught to behave. There were clearly defined boundaries for their behavior and going beyond those boundaries resulted in certain discipline of some sort. We also knew that children were not born with this knowledge and had to be taught.

We had learned that it was not the severity of discipline that counted but the certainty of discipline that provided the deterrence; a violation of the boundary resulted in certain discipline, it was non-negotiable. The children learned very early that it was better to observe the limits set for their behavior so within a few years little discipline was ever required; they had learned the value of self-discipline.

During this time a new notion was becoming popular, a notion which we rejected for our family; a notion that avoided setting limits on children’s behavior coupled with efforts to remove all temptations that might result in inappropriate behavior. Families were trying to childproof the environment of the child so there was nothing the child could actually do to step over the boundaries of acceptable behavior; I referred to it as childproofing the house.

I was amazed at these efforts and thought of all the problems that a lack of self-control could generate when these children grew up and tried to integrate into society. What I had not anticipated were the efforts that society would eventually try to childproof itself and remove all things with which the out-of-control child/adult could damage or use to possibly harm themselves or others.

I had not anticipated society seeing these undisciplined adults as victims of an unfeeling society that had failed to adequately remove all of the dangerous objects from their environment. The beautiful vase was there so they broke it, the sharp object was there so it was used to injure themselves or others, and regardless they were innocent victims of a thoughtless society that had failed to properly prepare the environment for their arrival.

What Does the Bible Say about This?

In Proverbs 22:15 it is written:

15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far away.

Proverbs 13:24

24 Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.

Hebrews 12:7-11

“7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

These verses reflect our attitude toward child-raising and discipline; I can testify that they have worked as our children have harvested righteousness and peace, praise God for His mercy and grace. During the early years when I would occasionally have to discipline a misbehaving child the first part of the process would involve an explanation from me on why the discipline was required; we wanted them to clearly understand the reason discipline was to be administered. Later one of our boys told me that my lecture was the hardest part for them and was much more painful than the mild discipline which followed. Fortunately it got their attention and quickly became no longer necessary as they learned the value of self-discipline.

The Perfect Society

There is a perfect society coming but it is not in the immediate future; the Bible tells us we are in for troubled times which will get progressively worse until the Lord Jesus Christ returns to set things straight. I’m sure all of us who love the Lord look forward to those times!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | January 14, 2015

How Long will You Live? Concluded

Created in the Image of God

Previously we considered the fact that human beings were created in the image of God; now I would like to examine just one of the ramifications of that reality. The most significant fact is you will live forever; that is the answer to the title question, no matter how far you go into the future you will be there; there will never be a future time when you are not alive.

It is vital to acknowledge that fact if we are to establish a realistic perspective on the life we presently live in our mortal bodies and establish a rational order for our priorities. Every human being will live for all eternity; although our bodies, which are made from the dust, will not last, the true essence of who we are, the breath of God, will continue forever! Ready or not, you’re eternal, you will live forever; your living essence is made in the image of God!

The Christian’s New Body

Since we will live forever should we not wonder how and where we will be? Forever is a really, really long time and how you will spend your forever should be a topic of concern for you; our mortal lives, by comparison, are infinitesimally short. The Bible gives us some clues about our new bodies. In 2 Corinthians 5; 1-5 it is written:

5 For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.

When Paul says we, he is referring to Christians, only those who have received Christ as Savior during their mortal lives on earth will be included, only they will receive these heavenly bodies.

There is Bad New and Good News, the Bad News First, the Lake of Fire

What about those who reject Christ as Savior, what will happen to them; they too have the image of God and will live forever with bodies that will suffer in the Lake of Fire for all eternity. The Bible provides some information on that too; in Revelation 20:11-15 it is written:

11 And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. 12 I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. 14 Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. 15 And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

More information is provided in Revelation 19:20, “Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. 

In Revelation 20:10 we are given further information on the beast and the false prophet; after the 1,000 years they are still identifiable as individuals at the time Satan is thrown into the Lake of Fire, “10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

During the 1,000 years, there will be others with the beast and the false prophet; all those who have survived the Tribulation but rejected Christ as Savior will have been judged and thrown into the Lake of Fire:

 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:41

This is an unimaginably severe punishment for rejecting Christ; it shows how very seriously God takes rejection of His Son; while there may be no immediate adverse results for rejecting Christ, the long term results are devastating!

Now the Good News, Heaven and the New Jerusalem

Those who have received Christ as Savior have an entirely different forever awaiting them; we get some indications how it will be in Revelations 21:1-7 where we are told something about that forever:

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” 6 And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. 7 All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.

Now this is a forever to get excited about and one that is available to all who will simply receive Christ as their Savior. God has paid a terrible and difficult price that salvation might be by grace through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.

The Choice Facing You Today

If you have not made the decision to receive Christ as your Savior, then I urge you to take this opportunity to move from darkness to light. Although you may have been born spiritually dead you can, by faith in Jesus Christ, be born again and become spiritually alive.

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. John 3:16-18

The stakes are infinitely high and there is no straddling the fence in this matter; you have to choose sides so I encourage you to choose life in Jesus Christ!

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | January 7, 2015

How Long will You Live?

How Long Do You Want to Live?

One afternoon I was watching “The Five” on Fox News; the subject happened to be longevity. If memory serves me correct one of the “Five” said she would like to live forever; since the speaker was young and beautiful that might be easier to understand but I was very sure that would not be what I wanted.

The difficulty I have with living forever as I am now is one I inherited, a birth defect, a problem I actually share with you and everyone else alive today on this planet including the young lady referenced in the first paragraph. We have all been born spiritually dead with a fallen, sinful nature living in us and we’re inhabiting a sin-cursed mortal body which will return to the dust from which it was made. Despite this common problem, many seem to be concerned about how long they will live; lifespan or longevity is a popular subject today.

The subject of longevity, as often viewed, seems to focus on techniques and procedures for keeping our mortal, dust bound bodies intact and functioning as long as possible. The number of options that are available to supposedly slow down the aging process are too numerous to mention in a short article and can range in price from pocket change to a king’s ransom.

What About our Bodies?

It is natural for each of us to associate others with their bodies; someone walks into the room and we identify them by their bodies, they are their bodies and if their bodies aren’t there neither are they. This is the way our human experience has conditioned us to think of others; if their bodies are there, they are there; if their bodies are not there then they are not there. This approach seems to work well so it is easy to buy into that way of thinking.

The problem comes in when the body starts to wear out and then, eventually, shuts down, dies; the body must then be buried but does that mean we have buried our friends and family; do they accompany their bodies into the grave or perhaps cease to exist?

There are some who believe our mortal lives are the beginning and end of who we are and when we die it’s all over; that is a rather sad perspective if this mortal life is all there is to our existence. As with any subject that is beyond our human experience, the Bible is the only reliable source of information so what does the Bible tell us about human life?

What Does the Bible Say About Human Life?

Those of us who have received Christ as Savior generally believe the Bible to be the word of God, inspired and free of error in the original languages, this is what I believe with all my heart. From the very beginning, the Bible provides some fascinating insights into the human condition.

In Genesis Chapter 1:1-25 we are given the account of the creation of all of the heavens and earth and all living things excepting mankind. All of this creation is spoken into existence by the power of our omnipotent God.

In verse 26 we encounter an infinitely significant and astounding change, God determines to make man in His own image; think about that for a moment, mankind is made in the image of God; mankind is unique in the creation account. We have the first record of mankind’s creation in verse 27 where it is written:

27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

We get more information on this event in Genesis 2:7,

7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

We see from this that while our bodies are from the dust of the ground, our living being, the living essence of who we are, came from the eternal creator God of the universe; we are made in the image of God, we share God’s image. Although the image of God in man was marred by Adam’s sin it was not removed; our living essence still shares certain significantly important characteristics of God’s image.

We will conclude our consideration of this matter next week as we examine the ramifications of being made in the image of God.

 

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