Ecclesiastes 12:10

    In our modern world, you have to be careful to protect your identity. Once a thing like your social security number was freely given, but now it’s wise to be protective of it lest someone steal it.   If your number is 078-05-1120 it is already too late.   This number is the most misused S ocial S ecurity N umber of all time. It reported that over 40,000 people reported this as their SSN. In reality, it belonged to Mrs. Hilda Schrader Whitcher a secretary at E.H. Ferree company. The company was selling a new wallet and her boss placed a sample card in it to show how it could hold a Social Security card and used her number on the sample. The wallet was sold at Woolworths stores across the country. Even though the card was obviously not legit (it was only half the size of a real card, was printed all in red, and had the word "specimen" written across the face) many purchasers of the wallet still adopted the SSN as their own. Even 40 years after th...

 In 1937, a natural gas leak at the local school in New London, Texas caused a massive explosion that killed upward of 295 students and teachers, the deadliest school disaster in US history. As you can imagine people were heartbroken for the community. Condolences and sympathy poured in from all over including foreign nations. Once such letter read: “For the terrible New London catastrophe costing so many young lives, I convey to Your Excellency my sincere condolence as well as that of the German people”. – Adolf Hitler  It is because of this tragedy that natural gas now smells. In its natural state, it is odorless as well as colorless so the pungent smell is added so a leak can be sensed. Some things may seem harmless but can be very, very dangerous.  If you were only to read Hitler’s letter you might think him a decent sort of guy. Yet the reality was very different. Jesus warned us about those who cloak themselves as innocent yet in reality as on the attack (Ma...

      It’s the summer of 1999 and I’m in college and wanting to go into youth ministry. So, I traveled with the local youth guy to a youth minister conference. One evening, I was excited because the keynote speaker was a man that I had just heard do a rather good presentation earlier that week. As the lights dim, he exclaims, “I know I was assigned this other topic but tonight I really want to talk about Y2K”. He then goes on to speak about how an Old Testament prophet was warning us about the danger that were coming. The Bible was proclaiming the danger we were all facing when the computer could not handle the new date.   I could not believe how this speaker was twisting the Scripture to justify his paranoid belief. I remember trying to look around during this to see if anybody was buying this. I couldn’t tell the temperature of the crowd (it was dark) but it seemed like the guy I was sitting beside was.  I left shortly thereafter and went to bed bumfuzzled. ...

    On May 31 st, 1848 the home of John Fox began to experience strange rapping noise. Mrs. Fox, described as gullible and excitable, told the neighbors about the unusual phenomenon. They of course wanted to hear for themselves. The noises seemed to center on the two daughters Margaret, age 8, and Kate, 6. The noises seemed random and mysterious until someone suggested a simple code, which allowed the raps to answer questions. Slowly the family and visitors to the house were made to understand that a disembodied spirit was generating the sound.   An older married sister, Leah, returned for a visit and discovered the local interest in the strange raps. She quickly organized a Society of Spiritualists and took charge of her young sisters, promoting their occult powers. For a hefty fee, audiences could commune with the spirits and ask their own questions.   The girls became the center not only of a Victorian fad, but also a religious cause. The new religion ...

   There is a new phenomenon that some are calling death by GPS, deaths of people attributable, in part, to following GPS directions or GPS maps. Global positioning system or GPS is a revolutionary technology developed for the military that now is used by millions in car navigation systems and programs like Google Maps. They allow the computer to navigate a person with step-by-step directions on their travel.   The problem is the directions are not always spot on and in some places, like Death Valley or Joshua Tree Park, it can lead to death. People are reluctant to deviate from the prescribed path even when what was in front of them, such as road signs and signals, barriers, and terrain warn them of continuing.   Following in another’s steps is great but only when the one laying them out knows where they are at and where they are going.   This is an issue in religion today. Many follow a path because a leader or family member has told them this is t...

  It’s one of those traditions we have seen for years, a bride and groom leaving their wedding in a shower of rice. Only we don’t do that anymore.   It's bubbles or confetti or a host of other things but not rice. Why not?     So birds won’t explode.   The story goes that baby birds eat the rice, it swells up in their stomach and those poor avian are left to die a horrible death.   It’s everywhere. Ann Landers wrote a column about, it been on TV shows and state legislatures have passed laws banning rice at weddings   Only that story isn’t true. Ornithologist having been saying so for years, rice doesn’t kill birds. Rice doesn’t swell up any more than anything else birds eat. Birds consume wild rice all the time and suffer no grotesque effects.     So why does everyone think it does.   I’d like to think some church janitor came up with the rumor after having to sweep up the mess one too many times, but we don’t know w...

  Before we all had phones to distract us, if you were bored had something to write on and a friend you might have played a game of Hangman. It was a word game where you had to guess a word or phrase letter by letter. Each time you picked the wrong one, a little stickman had a body part added to the gallows. If you didn’t figure out the answer before the man was assembled, he’d swing from the rope.     Recently I read a post that suggests building a snowman instead. You see the act of hanging a man was deemed too violent with too many racial undertones. So instead you assembly a snowman piece by piece. Not only was it less gruesome, it also had the benefit of having more steps and made the game less trying for children. If you lost it was not a tragedy, you made a nice little friend.     I guess we have all the other problems in the world solved so we had to get onto fixing Hangman.   Isn’t it funny how much we want everything in the wor...

    The 91 st Psalm is one that teaches us about the deliverance of God. It paints a picture of God as a protector like a bird covering its young. It reminds us that even when all seems to be falling apart around us, God is there watching out. It’s a passage that encourages us to take refuge in God and to trust in him.   So it seems strange is the one that Satan quotes to tempt Jesus.   Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,   and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, 'HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU'; and 'ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.' " Matthew 4:5-6      Satan knows Scripture.   He will twist it to make us think his lies are legitimate. The psalm encourages us to rest in God not test him. Yet the Devil tries to paint the message that way. It a technique...

   If you ever have spent any time on the internet you have seen them.  The ads pose as news that have some shocking statement or breaking story that promises more information is just a click away, then you click and well it isn't quite what you expected it to be.  This form of advertising is known as clickbait.  The way it works is the ad provides just enough information to make the reader curious, but not enough to satisfy their curiosity without clicking through to the linked content.  The content is usually isn’t very good or accurate, but that is not the point.  The goal isn't to inform you but to drive you to the site and increase advertising revenue.  They aren't meant to provide you content or real information just garner your attention.    Clickbait may be a relative new phenomena but the concept is as old as the hills.  False religion has been using it for thousands of ye...

   Victor Lustigly was called the king of the confidence men.  With forty-five known aliases, the mastery of five different languages, and nearly fifty arrests in the United States alone, Lustig could swindle even the brightest of marks.  His signature con was the Money Box, a so called "money-printing machine".  He would demonstrate the capability of the small box to clients, all the while lamenting that it took the device six hours to copy a $100 bill.  The client, sensing huge profits, would buy the machines for a high price.  Over the next twelve hours, the machine would produce two more $100 bills.  After that, it produced only blank paper, as its supply of $100 bills became exhausted. By the time the clients realized that they had been scammed, Lustig was long gone.  He had gall as well, he once conned Al Capone. He was so good (or bad really) he even sold the Eiffel tower for scrap metal. Twice!    Victor Lustigly...

  Initially, there were no or few postal regulations governing packages mailed by parcel post.  So when a Salt Lake City Company wanted to construct a bank in Vernal, Utah, in 1916, they ascertained that the cheapest way to send 40 tons of bricks to the building was by parcel post.  Each brick was individually wrapped and mailed. The postal rules were promptly rewritten.   There will always be those that will in their craftiness come up with ways to skirt the rules.  Those that look for loopholes or create them, thinking they can get away with something.  To combat it, we try to make more rules and regulations but then that makes things worse for everyone and just gives the schemer more ways to do what he was doing from the start.  Simple clear rules are the most difficult to bend or break.   In 2nd Corinthians 11:3-4 we read, “ But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the...

   A young and nervous bride planning her wedding was increasingly terrified about her upcoming marriage. To calm her nerves, she decided to have a Bible verse which had always brought her comfort ( 1st John 4:18, " There is no fear in love; for perfect love casts out fear ") engraved on her wedding cake. So she called the caterer and all arrangements were made.    About a week before the wedding, she received a call from the catering company. "Is this really the verse you want on your cake?" they asked. Yes, she confirmed, it was the one she wanted, and after a few more questions they said they would decorate the cake as requested. The wedding day came, and everything was beautiful...until the reception, when the bride walked in to find the cake emblazoned with John 4:18 : " For you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband. "    Well, that wasn't the right verse but we can see how the mistake w...

   It happened again.  Some news story came out about a ( Pick One, Celebrity Death, New Law, Hollywood Scandal, Wonder Drug, New Research, Shocking Story ) that spreads like wild fire until someone bothers to check the facts and see that it wasn't true.  It is now getting to the point that any story I see on Facebook, Twitter, news sites, or the like, I instantly think the opposite is true.  It seems the media is so eager to be first with a story they never bother to check if the story is true.  If it is sensational enough or shocking enough why bother if it is true enough?  Now before we get to quick to blame them let’s remember who is forwarding and reposting all those stories!  I admit I am little  upset and worried at how quickly so many people are to buying into the half-truths and gossip in our world today. Without batting an eye, we will give our acceptance to things that are not so.      Now we all will ge...

Mary the mother of Jesus is an important figure in the gospels. She is probably the reason we know about Jesus as a young person (Luke 2:19; 51).  We see at important events like at the cross (John 19:25) and in the upper room with the disciples in Acts 1.  This has led some to make her into more than any other disciple.  In some circles she is prayed to and worshiped.  She is looked on a special intercessor for Christians.  Is this the way Jesus wanted us to treat his mother?   Consider what Jesus said in Luke 11:27-28. In this passage Jesus was interrupted by a woman who exclaims, " Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed ." Her thought is the mother of Jesus must be special since she had a son like Jesus.  But Jesus refutes her and says, " On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it ."  Jesus says she is not any more special that anyone that would do what God comm...

    In his book “ How Do You Kill 11 Million People?”  , author Andy Andrews asked that question about the Holocaust that occurred in Nazi Germany. It was not asked about why that it happened but rather how it occurred. He asks the question this way: “ Why, for month after month and year after year, did millions of intelligent human beings –guarded by relatively few Nazi soldiers– willingly load their families into cattle cars to be transported by rail to one of the many death camps scattered across Europe? How can a condemned group of people headed for a gas chamber be compelled to act in a docile manner? ”   The answer was surprisingly simple. In short, they lied to them. And, sadly, they believed it.  The Jews were told it was for their protection.  First, as barbed-wire fences were erected, encircling entire neighborhoods, leaders assured them that the physical restrictions being placed upon their community were only temporary necessities of war...

In the midst of the Vietnam War AP correspondent Peter Arnett wrote about the destruction of Bến Tre City during a battle on February 7 th 1968.  He cited an unidentified U.S. military official response to the question of why the village was destroyed. His answer was simple, 'It became necessary to destroy the town in order to save it '. The paradox of this statement is only explainable in the fog of war. It seems sometimes in the heat of battle the real sense of purpose gets lost. I see this happen in our efforts to keep false doctrine out of the church. In the battles against false teachers and in the modern culture war, our desire to win overcomes the purpose of Christ. As the battle grows, it becomes more about winning than teaching. The tactics, language and attitudes become as odious as what we stand against.   Some while “contending for the faith” (Jude 1:3), have simply become contentious for the faith. They seek out arguments and viciously tear apart those...

Right after we moved to Arkansas, the kids succeed in there campaign to get a dog.  For several years, every birthday request and letter to Santa contained the request for a dog.  We had been resistant to the idea since we felt we didn’t have enough space in our backyard.  Once we moved however that excuse was gone and soon we found ourselves at the animal shelter picking out a dog.  She is a good dog but like most puppies she loves to chew, on everything!  At first I thought it would go away as she grew up but little by little everything in our back yard has been chewed up. I tried everything I could think of to discourage this habit. The last straw came a week ago when she managed to chew the electric wires to our air conditioning unit (I don’t know how she managed that without killing herself). So now she is in dog training to get it under control.  The dog was unaware of the danger she faced. Until she is trained, she will continue to put herself ...

  The city of Butte, Montana had a problem when the large strip mine in the area closed down in 1992. They were left a 500-acre, 900-foot-deep lake of stagnant water filled with a amalgamation of toxic metals and acidic mine waste known as the Berkley Pit. An overflow of the pit would be an immediate danger to the entire community. Elaborate steps have to be to be taken to scare away waterfowl with loudspeakers, firecrackers and a boat, since some geese that have touched down there for a drink were then had been found dead, their insides scoured with burns and sores.    So what could they do with a pit of toxic water? Simple, sell tickets! The city found out that people would pay to come in and see the mess. One a chamber official calls it the “biggest tourist draw in southwest Montana." They even have plans to increase the ticket prices because attendance has been so high.     It goes to show that people can be drawn in to see anything. Sadly, many chu...

   Once I entered into a discussion with a person on a message board about the existence of Satan and Hell. They asked the question "does the Bible really talks about hell and the Devil or does it just speak against sin"?  I responded with several verses from scripture that show the reality of both Satan and hell, but as I began to watch the conversation unfold I saw that their intent was not knowledge but to have a consequence free approach to the word of God. This person wanted to keep believing the idea that Satan and Hell are just fiction to help steer us to right living. This way sin is not as dangerous.     In this belief, a person can stray from God easier since they don’t have to worry about any eternal ramifications. It remind me of the famous quote about the devil that said,’ the greatest lie Satan ever pulled off is when he convinced the world that he never existed.”  If the world dismisses Satan and hell, why avoid the life tha...

  A recent controversy erupted when the news channel C-Span decided to air a speech by a British author that denied the atrocities of the holocaust. The logic of the network was it was needed to “balance” a program by a professor of Holocaust Studies at Emory University. Over 200 historians in the United States and other countries sent a petition to the network demanding it be canceled. In the petition was the statement, “ Falsifiers of history cannot 'balance' historians, Falsehoods cannot 'balance' the truth ."      This is not too different to how many treat the truth of God’s word. When we treat falsehood on an equal basis as truth, we give it a credibility that it does not deserve. Truth cannot be subsisted for lies and remain truth. As the Apostle Paul warns in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and ...