The Truth About "Little" Miss Muffet

And Mason said,

"Little Miss Muffet
sat on her tuffet
eating her curves away..."



HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Money, Money, Money, It's a Rich Man's World

Just over a week ago, Pope Benedict XVI took stock of the global credit crisis saying the world’s financial systems are “built on sand” and that only the works of God have “solid reality.”

Referring to Matthew 7, the Pope said, ‘’He who builds only on visible and tangible things like success, career and money builds the house of his life on sand.” He added, ‘’We are now seeing, in the collapse of major banks, that money vanishes, it is nothing. All these things that appear to be real are in fact secondary. Only God’s words are a solid reality.”

Jesus’ two-thousand-year-old words seem very relevant today:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:19-21).

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:25-34).

Amen.

I wish I had said it first! But then, I guess not even Pope Benedict said it first. It's a great time to take stock in our spiritual integrity when it comes to money and it's value to us.

A Quick Thought to Ponder

I came across this turn of phrase that will very likely (almost certainly) find its way into my sermons sometime in the future. I hope that it launches you on a spiritually reflective moment, as it did me.

1 birth, 2 deaths
2 births, 1 death

Check out what the Bible says about these ideas.

Why I almost skipped a Worship Gathering

I recently was driving around town in here in Mayberry, when I came upon a church sign. I proceeded to voice activate my cell phone (because it is illegal in Mayberry to use your phone without that ear piece too). I called my friend Scott to tell him that he may need to speak on the following Sunday morning because I needed to be at another church's gathering.

The sign was so provocative and I couldn't imagine where the message that was being promoted would lead that congregation... Well, I actually could imagine and guess with a great deal of certainty where it would go. The sign read, "What the Bible says about Obama."

If you know me, you probably know that I am not a fan of either candidate in this election and am becoming quickly disenfranchised with the 2-party system that we operate under. (I'm liking the idea of parliamentary government styled after the British model.)

DON'T WORRY! THESE ARE THOUGHTS MORE THAN OPINIONS....

Anyhow, I was discouraged that a church would overtly propagate a position on a candidate and pretend that the Bible directly addresses that candidate. I could already hear the rhetoric laden with Christian-eze and Christianized political idioms.

The Bible has a lot to say about the issues we face. It has a lot to say about what kind of character a leader must have in order to govern well. (I have been very disappointed with the revelations of our leaders' true character after they have promoted their authentic faith during campaigning.)

I hope that the church will stand up for the Bible. All that it teaches. All that it promotes. All that it embodies.

Politics, however, are so fluid and deceptive. I think it is patently dangerous for a church to support or denounce a particular candidate in an official stance. Politicians are professional liars. I trust those who sing the merits of their faith least of all. That being said, this preliminary campaign offered two candidates who seemed to have the highest level of fidelity to their faith in my memory (except, possibly, for Jimmy Carter who I am embarrassed to say I am old enough to remember and who will surely divide the opinions of my friends who read this). And both of those candidates we eliminated from the race in rather short order because of their distance from professional political culture.

I find politics so interesting, so discouraging, so distasteful, so far from the Christian ideal. I guess it is this conflicting set of opinions that makes me question how a church could conscientiously post such a blatantly political phrase on their church sign.

Prop 8 Again

I have always taken the "they will teach it in school" argument with a grain of salt (or less). This is pretty interesting though. Read this article.

I know many people have differing opinions about the role of Christianity in this issue and particularly how political we should become in regard to the issue.