One Nation?

     That E PLURIBUS UNUM on our coins, what does it mean?  It has gotten to where it means practically nothing. Some say it mean “one of many,” indicating this is just one coin out of many.
     In reality, it means “out of many one.” Initially it spoke of two things. First, it referred to many differing people from different countries coming together to form one union, America. In a secondary sense it spoke of the several states being one nation.
     They brought with them different languages, customs, and beliefs which they blended to form one ethos. I don’t want to insult the intellect of anyone but since “ethos” is not a word used often I share a definition of it. It means the characteristic spirit of a culture or community.
     By no mean were all the people British or Christians, but those two factors combined to dramatically influence the ethos as expressed by our Constitution.
     ethos is referred to as “One nation under God.” How many nations? One!
     The factor of one has been a defining characteristic of America. That elementary principle has never been so contested as today. To a great extent America was developed by immigrants. However, those coming in have never made a more concerted effort to remain separate and change the nation to conform to them than now.
     I lived in New Orleans for years. There is the well know French Quarter, the Irish Channel, and other quarters, but those living there did not demand the others conform to their standards. While preserving much of their heritage, they accepted a new common denominator called America and its ethos.
     Today, some want us to have two official languages. Some are demanding their emerging immigrant population be governed by laws other than those of America. Others want voter ballots made available in many different languages.
     There are existing cultures where division within exists and confusion abounds. Czechoslovakia is divided into two republics. Belgium has a schism because of two official languages and Canada is struggling to prevent the predominantly French section from separating.
     Germans are historically and currently an example of people who have come in to blend and become part of the one. There are more people of German extraction living in America than any nationality.
     By no means are all Americans Christians, but the laws of our nation were dramatically influenced in their inception by the Christian ethic and basic Biblical morality. The people making those laws had a British heritage. Now there are those who deny that and want to have any evidence of it removed. Some of the Founding Fathers were not Christians, and some who were weren’t very good ones, but they knew such ethics and morality would contribute to the new ethos.
     In an era when pluralism and multi-culturalism is the battle cry it remains to be seen if we will be “out of many one,” or “one of many” divided.  Americans must always welcome legal aliens who qualify to come to this country to become part of the “one nation” not divide us.

Creation and Science

     You don’t know what you don’t know, you know!
     I marvel at the genius of mankind. Chemistry, physics, technology, and a variety of sciences have pushed back the frontiers of knowledge and opened the doors of creativity in mind stretching ways. I applaud those who mentally go where I can’t even conceive of adventuring intellectually.
     I marvel over accumulated knowledge. Inquisitively I muse over speculation and hypotheses based on assumption. Just when scholars think they have it figured out who we are, where we came from, and how long it took, along comes the Creator and says, “Surprise!”
     Astronomers have just found-did you get that-just found, a vast cosmic hole in deep outer space void of stray stars, galaxies, black holes, and not even unidentified black matter. It is 1 billion light years across. That is 6 billion trillion miles of nothing. Such space exists but this is 1000 times larger than any scientist ever imagined.
     I know this is an equation out of which some desire to omit God. That is a bigger void than the one just discovered. Many revere Him as Creator. Through the Old Testament character Job (38:4,5)the Creator asked: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements?”
     As we shuffle for answers, the Creator is depicted by the Psalmist (2:4) this way: “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh….”
     Remember those creative cartoon-like drawing depicting human evolution?  They start with a stooped knuckle dragger and step by step show man evolving into homo sapiens. Along the way there are other hominids. They reputedly represent the various stages of our alleged development. Just recently palaeontologists have encountered a startling conflict. Two of these models, one of which supposedly preceded the other, were found to have lived at the same time. Though this refutes the progression scientists have given assurance there is an explanation not yet known.
     Right! You don’t know what you don’t know, you know?
     There are some basic misconceptions regarding evolution. One is that all reputable scientists believe in evolution-NOT!. There are multiple scientific societies composed of persons with advanced degrees from highly reputable universities that believe in creation.
     A second misconception is that all scientists agree on the evolutionary progression-NOT! Go on the Internet and check on recent scientific articles on the subject. You will find conflicting articles by evolutionists who hold diametric positions on the same issues. Each postulate how the other could not be possible.
     Tonight go outside and search the sky for what looks like a small cloudy area. It is called Andromeda. It is so far away no individual member of the cluster is identifiable by the unaided eye. It consists of 100 million galaxies containing 100 billion suns larger than ours.
     There is so much order and design to all this millions call it creation. You know, like “endowed by their Creator….”

Ministers Salaries

      Randy and Paula White, Benny Hinn, David and Joyce Meyer, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Bishop Eddie Long, Creflo and Taffi Dollar vs. Billy Graham.
     What a contrast! The first lineup is under investigation by Congress. The suspicion is financial mismanagement. Billy Graham, a man of integrity, lived a modest life in his mountain home with a board of directors that oversaw his finances.
     Regarding the first group, they have been dealt with in a most unusual way. It would have been appropriate for the IRS to be called on to investigate them if they were to be investigated. Such is usually done quietly and if indiscretion is found then it is made public. These persons may have done nothing wrong, but aspersion have been cast on them.
     I admire the norm for ministers. There are exceptions but most live within the lines of propriety. I respect the many who live at below the average income and never complain. I feel for those who when they retire they have little or no savings simply because their income has provided living expenses but not enough for retirement. There are many of these.
     Those who flaunt their affluence cast reflections on all who live prudently.
     There are various classifications of ministers who live lavishly. One group is simply self-indulging. A few even violate not only propriety, but the law. Even though they are very few some represent them as the norm. By no means are they.
     A second group consists of ministers who are willfully sumptuously provided for by their constituents. You might not like this and I don’t like it, but there are those members of congregations who know they will never be wealthy and they want their minister to live evidencing affluence. Why? Again, you may not like this and I don’t like it, but they want it so they can live vicariously through them. One such minister said, “I only have what my people want me to have.” He told the truth. No matter what the motive, excess always is wrong.
     I know one minister who had an international TV ministry  and a congregation of over 10,000 members. He was on salary and didn’t even know what it was. Years ago he called for a meeting with the Personnel Committee and his wife and instructed them to deal only with his wife in matters of his compensation. He asked her not to hint to him what it was. His trust in her was such he always signed the audited IRS report without looking at any figures. His reasoning, he said he wanted to do what he did for the joy of doing it and not for what he got by doing it.
     I am persuaded that is the motivation of most ministers.
     Back to Billy Graham. One of his first crusades was in Atlanta. As he was boarding a prop private plane to leave the city the treasurer of the crusade handed him a sack containing the offerings from the crusade. A photographer snapped a shot of him holding the moneybag just before the plane door closed. The press exploited the photo. He made it a point never in any way to be associated with crusade receipts. His many ministries and philanthropies have benefitted through the years.
     Long live integrity.

Time to Understand Time

The number one most successful word in sales is “new.” Products that are new attract.
Likewise, a new year excites interest. The dawning of a new year makes us conscious of time. If you love life, don’t waste time. Time is what constitutes life.
Here comes a new year offering us 8,760 new unspent hours. On average people will spend 2,000 hours working, 3,000 hours sleeping, 550 hours eating, and 1,500 hours watching TV.
A question often asked is where does all the time go. Priority Management, Inc. has the answer. In an average lifetime, the typical American will spend:
– Six months sitting at stop lights.
– Eight months opening junk
– One year looking for misplaced objects.
– Two years unsuccessfully returning phone calls.
– Five years waiting in line.
– Six years eating.
– Seven years in the bathroom.
– Twenty-one years sleeping.
Don’t rush away from the fast fading old year without pausing to reflect on it. Savor your achievements, enjoy your successes, rejoice over your wise decisions, and marvel over your blessings. Before you file these and other good memories in your memory bank, evaluate what lessons can be learned from them.
Who deserves an expression of thanks for helping you make it through the old year? Take time to thank them. Expressing thanks is beneficial to the one receiving thanks and the one giving thanks.
To what cause are you willing to commit yourself in the new year. What purpose should color your days? What spirit will you manifest? What is going to be your overall attitude toward life?
Not only can the coming days bring you a new year, but in reality, a new you! The father of modern day psychology said the greatest discovery of the 20th Century was that we can change our lives by changing our minds.
We don’t have to be held captive by old habits, stay in bondage to a pessimistic spirit, be enslaved by an unprofitable and improper overall attitude, or remain mired in failure.
The motivational speaker Charlie “Tremendous” Jones says we become the sum total of the people we meet and the books we read.
Let me suggest the reading of the one book that improves ones overall life more than any other.
The average reader can read the entire Bible in seventy hours. The Old Testament requires fifty-two hours and the New eighteen. Regardless of whether you are a person of Christian faith or of a different faith, there is much to be gained by reading the Book of Psalms, it will take about four and a half hours. Reading it will give a person an attitude adjustment.
I don’t want the new year to slip by without saying, HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Peace on Earth

“Peace on earth and good will toward men” are worthy objectives to be sought in the new year. Yet, the angels’ message is mocked by skeptics who say such a prophecy has not been fulfilled. In the last three centuries there have been more than 275 wars in Europe alone.
The classic poet Henry Wordsworth Longfellow wrestled with the proclamation.
In December 1862 Generals Robert E. Lee and Ambrose E. Burnside commanded their formidable armies at the battle of Fredricksburg on the Rappahannock River. The battle raged for several days leaving approximately 50,000 men dead or wounded. 48,000 were Union forces. The battle was so stunning it went unreported until Christmas Day. Among those listed in the paper as “seriously wounded; not expected to recover” was the son of Longfellow.
To commemorate he event the church bells in Washington rang every five seconds all day long. Wordsworth wrote in his diary, ““Merry Christmas’ say the children but that is no more for me.”
His grief was compounded by him and his wife being seriously burned. His face was so scared he could not shave thereafter and hence his beard. His wife Fanny died.
On Christmas day 1864 he wrote his timeless poem, “Christmas Bells” which was later set to music by John Baptise Calken in 1872. In a depressed state he wrote:
“I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
There is no peace on earth, I said;
For hate is strong;
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
It is from that perspective many interpret the angles’ message. However, Longfellow with his attitude adjusted and his spirit revived continued to write:
“Then peals the bells more loud and deep:
God is not dead; nor does He sleep!
The wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Longfellow evidently had a conversion of his thoughts by realizing what many have yet to comprehend. The angelic proclamation was not a prophecy of peace but a prescription for peace.
The one at whose birth the prescription was offered later in life assured His followers, “I guarantee all of you that in this world you will have tribulation on a regular basis.”
Then after a teaching time He said, “These things I have spoken to you that you might have peace.”
Indeed, experience has proven certain principles applied do lead to personal peace. Many Christians, as well as those who are not Christians, study these teachings and personally find they do bring peace and result in good-will.