Self Evident Truths

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. “

This is not from the Bible, it's from the Declaration of Independence.

From my interpretation, abortion and some other things in our country go against MAJOR aspects of the founding ideas of our country.  What do we do with this information?  Do we care?  Do we want our values to stay true to this document, even if some of the writers were hypocrites?

I’m a hypocrite myself since I haven’t (yet) adopted 100 unwanted children, but maybe that day will come...

The Father

Praying through the Lord’s Prayer is sweet, I’m not talking about just reciting it from memory, but taking time to look into what the prayer means.  Some friends and I have been doing that this week, and as many of you know, the prayer starts out with “Our Father in Heaven”.  I was thinking about what that means, to be ‘our Father’, and then I thought about my own father.  He was not perfect, but, he certainly was awesome.  I remember one time my mom, dad and I went to watch one of my sister’s basketball games.  On the way home we listened to the news on the radio.  We heard a story about a man who sexually abused a child.  After hearing this my dad angrily said, “If anyone ever touched one of my kids like that I would kill them.”  My mom didn’t take him seriously and said, “Oh Bob!” and looked at him in disbelief, but he persisted in his claim.  [I can only think of one or two other times when my dad really got angry...one other time may have involved a vacuum cleaner being thrown out the front door...but that’s a different story for a different time...haha.]   

That righteous anger my dad felt is just a tiny glimpse into how God the Father feels.  The Creator of the universe wants us to call Him Father.  That means we are his children through and through.  That means we are all in the same family we are all equal- no matter the level of our education or the color of our skin.  He calls us His own, His children.  He made us and we are His.  He defends us.  He provides for us.  It means that when someone really wrongs us God is more upset by it then you or I could ever be.  If you've been wronged, there is a day coming when God will punish those offenders.  We have to trust that He will come and make all the wrong things right and will unleash His wrath on our enemies.  Leave your wrath in God’s hands, He is righteous and just. 

John 1:12  Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-

Billy's Got a Rock

Billy carried around with him a particular rock his whole life.  When Billy was a boy his dad gave him this rock.  His dad told him it was very valuable and he should always keep it close.  Billy looked at this rock everyday and thought about what the value really was...$10,000?   Or $20,000...or was it worth a million dollars?  One day he lost the rock throwing him into a panic attack followed by a month of depression.  But, fortunately the rock was found and given back whereupon Billy resumed his daily ritual of looking at the rock and fantasizing about its worth.  Some time later he really needed money for medical expenses, he was diagnosed with cancer and was dying.  He went to the jeweler to appraise the value of the rock.  The appraiser laughed in his face, the rock was worthless.  Billy had been lied to.  He had his hope in something that would never deliver or satisfy.  He was left with nothing.