The Simple Life

"As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me."    Daniel 7:15 (ESV) Nehemiah was bothered by the fact that the city of God’s people lay in ruins. Daniel was bothered by what God was revealing to him. Nehemiah was not bothered because he himself would suffer but God’s reputation would suffer. Daniel was bothered by a vision, its meaning, and the finality of events that were going to take place. Those who know God should live lives that contrast those who do not know Him and sometimes they live “bothered” lives. They are bothered by the fact that the Godless around them will come to a sudden and awful end. They are bothered by the fact that wrong has become the new right, that self is the new God, and that mankind has gotten in the habit of using what it should love and loving what it should use.  Somehow, Satan seems to be diligent at deteriorating the standard of life and making acceptable what should be deplored. What

Trends in culture swing like a pendulum in old clocks. Often, areas in our lives that needed a slight correction get overcorrected, causing a new set of obstacles to overcome.   Those who might have high cholesterol become vegans, and those who have had an adverse reaction to green vegetables begin to eat only protein. Eating all vegetables or protein may work for a while, but common sense tells us the answers probably lie somewhere between the extremes. We also tend to be extreme in how we understand life and the events that enrich or diminish our lives. If we are naturally pessimistic, we tend to see how things will not work out. If we are optimistic, we tend to see how things will work out. Usually, it will not be as dark as the pessimist declares or as bright as the optimist believes. In the United States today, we see many shift into the ”mindfulness” thought process as a reaction to lives scarred by being embroiled in the past or consumed with the future. We are of