The Simple Life

There is reality and there is a perception of reality. The more our perception aligns with what actually is, the more stable the individual, community, and nation. Perception, to many, is their reality, yet, perception is really nothing more than how I view what I consider reality. This may sound like a lot of philosophical mumble jumble, however, it is critically important that a civilized society be guided by the absolutes, and not by various perceptions of what is. The Bible starts by telling us that in the beginning, God. All good education should start with the same. It is obvious, even to the casual observer, that the universe in which we live was created, and that we were created, with purpose. For many, to ignore this means the undoing of the civilized world. Today there is a war, yet this war is not between countries, races, or color. It is a war between truth and error. It is a warfare, like all warfare, that will yield many casualties, leave many disillusioned, and pro...

And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news."  Luke  1:18-19  (ESV) “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you….” I am Dave. I, too, can stand in the presence of God. I, too, can be sent to speak to someone. The key to success in life is our proximity to God. Once we choose to be near Him, we choose to listen to Him, and we choose to obey Him, we will be successful. It is interesting how Gabriel stated his authority and from where his authority came. When Jesus was preparing to leave this planet, He told His disciples that is was best that He leave, in that when He did, the Holy Spirit would come and inhabit God’s children. This was the best news they could receive, for then, Peter could be in a position to say, “I am Peter, God ...

And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God…."  Luke  1:12-16  (ESV) “Do not be afraid” is a common exclamation by the angelic host when they make themselves visible to a human. It is so common that we must conclude that seeing an angel can be a terrifying experience. I wonder if it is the brightness, the voice, the strangeness of the sudden appearance, or the helpless feeling of being invaded by someone or something we cannot understand. The truth is this: angels are all around us now. ...

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. Luke 1:1-4 (ESV) Luke, the physician, does not claim to be an eyewitness account of what happened with Jesus, but he is one who personally evaluated the claims of those who had been with Jesus. As a doctor, he felt compelled to get the facts about Jesus’ miraculous birth recorded for Theophilus so he could have all his doubts erased. There is no reason to doubt Luke’s scholarship, methods, and conclusions. There is no reason to doubt unless your belief system has become the basis of your understanding, and you have slipped into thinking that whatever you belie...

And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”    Mark 15:37-39 (ESV) Jesus Christ existed. He was born, lived, and died as the Scriptures say. If anyone were to deny that Christ lived, they would be foolish. Those who were innocently on the scene were in the best position to see what was actually happening, and to them, the very death of Jesus was enough to prove that He was the Messiah. We often look at the resurrection as proof, and rightfully so, however to this soldier, it was what happened at His death. While on the cross, Jesus forgave his accusers rather than curse them. He submitted to human leaders even though he could have destroyed them. He prayed rather than complained. The universe responded to His death as the sky went dark. Then the curtain, the curtain...

And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”  Mark 15:22-26 (ESV) I wonder what the angels were thinking. I wonder if the Heavenly hosts were remembering the time they watched Job travel down his tough road. Did they think about Noah and the year of abuse he must have taken as he built the ark? I wonder if they thought of Daniel and “the boys” and the efforts to destroy them, and about David and Goliath, and Elijah on Mt. Carmel. The Heavenly hosts got front row seats for the major events in history, and there is no more major event than this. I wonder if there was a strange silence or a muted excitement for what was actually accomplis...

And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.  Mark 14:66-72 (ESV) Peter was confused. His friend, mentor, and the one he declared as the Christ, the very son of God, was being manha...

And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many."   Mark 14:22-24 (ESV) “The reality and character of the life beyond death. Christ speaks of it as “the kingdom of God.” This is not the idea of mere existence, but of being in the highest form of organization. The Father-King will pervade all life with His own spirit. The law will be the Father’s rule, which is love.” (The Preacher’s Monthly) Christ freely gave His body and His blood in order to allow us to enter the Kingdom of God. All enter the same way, through His death. All are secure the same way, through His death. Satan can do nothing to prohibit a payment that has already been made. He can work towards making the payment somehow unavailable to those who need it. One...

“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or  at midnight , or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”   Mark 13:32-37 (ESV) One of the oldest tactics of a formidable enemy is to lull the opposition asleep, for sleeping people are easy to defeat. Therefore, since Satan is a formidable enemy, he is waiting for us to relax our thoughts and standards. He awaits our distance from the Shepherd and focuses on easy prey. Those who stay awake, who are aware of his schemes, are impossible to success...

“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven."   Mark 13:24-27 (ESV) There will come a time when all those who have denied Christ will profoundly regret that decision. There will come a time when all men will see themselves as they are, helpless, small, inadequate, weak, and hopeless, without God. In contrast, there will come a time where all those who have placed their hope in God, and God alone, will rejoice and enjoy Him and others for eternity. God powers the universe, and without Him there is an existence but no life. Jesus came to this earth to give us life, yet so often we choose existence over living. We should a...

"And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand."  Mark  13:20-23  (ESV) When Jesus tells us to be on guard, there is good reason to be on guard. An enemy is stifled when those they want to attack are watching for them to attack. Even worse, is when they know the various methods of the attack and have prepared for them. Satan attacks those whom God loves. People are compared to sheep in that we have enemies we never asked for and cannot adequately protect ourselves against on our own. We must be on guard. Satan’s only tactic is to remove us from the presence of the Shepherd. If he is able to do that,...

When Ronald Reagan was president, the nation’s debt was less than $1 trillion. When Barack Obama was president, the debt was $10.6 trillion. In 2010, the debt was about $14 trillion, and now the debt is about $25 trillion, and climbing.  We have been  stealing money from future generations at the rate of more than $100 million an hour, and yet most of us don't seem to care. How could an individual, community, and nation ignore such an evident problem? Sometimes we ignore the obvious for the more urgent obvious. If I am hungry today, my hunger is the urgent obvious problem that can be solved if I obtain the resources to solve problem. In solving my urgent problem, I am creating a long-term problem from which, at some time, there is no solution.  Urgent situations are not new and will always arise and be urgent. We should not be surprised when they come even though we might be surprised by their timing.  For example, we all know that we will one day die. The ide...

And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”  Mark 13:1-2 (ESV)     There are wonders of the world, designed and built by the hands of man. We see them often, marvel at how we accomplished such feats, and celebrate ourselves with vigor. We make certain that others realize how wonderful we are, and how fortunate they are to be associated with us. Our myopic enjoyment is comparable to a small child’s fascination with a cardboard box. The man-made physical creations that awe us and point to man or this life will one day be in the trash heap of history. Chariots, stagecoaches and steam engines were marvels of their time and are now useless, other than collector items today. When Jesus looked at something, He saw it through the correct len...

Psalms 4:4-5 (NLT)  4  Don't sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent. Interlude 5  Offer sacrifices in the right spirit, and trust the Lord. It is sometimes easy to allow sin to control me, to think about things I should not think about, to be angry with someone, to sow seeds of hate and disgust. More often than not, I want to speak first and think later. I would much rather run into the situation, rather than walk away from it. I would much rather solve it, than live with it. This is good to a degree, but there is another side to the coin. In some ways, the problems in my life are problems that could have been set up by God to allow me to let Him work them out. It could be that the best course of action is one of silence. It could be that I need to meet with God, go to bed, and ponder what is going on, rather than spewing my thoughts out the instant they arise. There are times in my life where my desire for "resolution" outwe...