Ancient Witness

The forty-plus writers of the Bible give us their witness of their growing relationship with God. Their life stories were a lot like ours. Life was a hard struggle then as it is now. Even with advanced technology, our basic struggles are the same. We face the same temptations to sin against God and against other people, just as they did. Some of them obeyed God and were blessed, and some of them turned away from God and paid the price of their folly. We can learn from their successes and mistakes that God is quick to forgive those who repent and love. If you find that life is just too much, turn to your Bible, and you will find that someone before you has faced the same problem and has given you a witness for overcoming that problem with power and faith.

It is ironic that in the age of super fast computers, when our access to knowledge and information exceeds any previous age, that confusion is rampant. It is not the new and improved that we need to seek but the oldest source of wisdom and strength, God’s Word. The words and witness of the prophets of the Old Testament and the saints of the New Testament tell us that faith is more powerful than doubt, that hope is more potent than despair, and that only God’s love can conquer those forces within us.

The ways we spend money

Milton Friedman describes four ways we spend money.

1.     Spend your own money on yourself.

2.     Spend your own money on someone else.

3.     Spend somebody else’s money on yourself.

4.     Spend somebody else’s money on someone else.

One way or another, this is the way money gets spent. When you are in control of your own money you have a high incentive to pay attention to price and value. When you spend somebody else’s money you have less incentive to pay attention to price and value.

We often see government money as someone else’s money but that is an illusion. Government money is our money and we best start paying attention to price and value.

POLYANDRY

polyandry – Is a very rare form of marriage where a woman has more than one husband. I discovered this new item on the BBC News and wondered how that will work out.

"Two Kenyan men have signed an agreement to "marry" the same woman.

The woman had been having affairs with both men for more than four years and apparently refused to choose between them.

The agreement sets out a rota for Sylvester Mwendwa and Elijah Kimani to stay in her house and states they will both help raise any children she bears.

Mr Mwendwa told the BBC he loved the woman and said the contract would "set boundaries" and "keep the peace".

 One woman heard of this and said, "I have a hard enough time training one husband, much less two."

Ancient Medicinal Herb Cures

Cure:                              Ailments:

Arnica:        Mouthwash for inflammation prevents bruising and swelling in skin injuries.

Catnip:       For colic, fever, toothache, hemorrhoids, diarrhea, aids sleep and digestion.

Chamomile: Eczema, stomach ache, fevers, aids sleep, promotes healthy skin and hair.

Coriander:  Coughs, chest pains, fever, headache, dysentery, stomach ache.

Dill:             Colic, gas, bad breath, abdominal cramps, used as a diuretic and for circulation.

Feverfew:    Migraines, bruises, burns, hypertension, and alcohol withdrawal.

Lovage:       Kedney stones, jaundice, gout, boils aids appetite and circulation.

Mint:           Digestive ailments, cold and sinus symptoms, skin inflammations.

Parsley:       Aids digestion and circulation, sweetens breath, and eases muscle spasms.

Rosemary:  Dandruff, dermatitis, headaches, calms nerves, aids circulation.

Sage:           Indigestion, gas, anxiety, insect bites, mouth infections.

Sorrel:         Nausea, mouth ulcers, scurvy, sore throats, urinary infections.

St. Johns Wort: Lung and bladder problems, dysentery, depression, hemorrhage.

Tyme:         Dandruff, coughs, gum diseases, used as an astringent.

The Lord’s Day

Many Christians call Sunday the Lord’s Day. Often it is refereed to as the Sabbath when clearly Saturday is the Sabbath in the bible. So why call Sunday, The Lord’s Day?

In the very early days of the church the followers of Jesus were all Hebrews. As such they followed the tenants of Jewish worship. For the Hebrew people of Jesus day Sabbath began at sundown on Friday and lasted until sundown on Saturday. Most worship was done in the home or synagogue on Saturday.

For Hebrew Disciples of Jesus they would fulfill their worship as Jews on the Saturday Sabbath. Then at dawn on the first day of the week they would gather to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus and referred to it as “The Lord’s Day. At this worship the Gospel was preached, prayers were said, new believers baptized and communion celebrated. As Sunday was a work day then they would go off to work.

Later when Gentiles, that is non-Jews, joined the growing ranks of the Disciples of Christ they would for go the Hebrew worship and only attend the Sunday gathering at dawn to celebrate the resurrection. As the percentage of gentile Christians increased First Day or “Lord’s Day” worship became the most common form of Christian worship practice. Later Christians would begin calling Sunday the Sabbath even though that was not strictly true. Many Christian governments enacted “Blue Laws” to force complyanance even on non-Christians.

Today most Christians but not all practice Christian Worship on the first day of the week to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus the Christ. I do every Sunday for to me it is indeed The Lord’s Day.

The Entitlements Question

Entitlements

For a long time I have been following the political arguments about Federal Entitlements pro and con. It is not an easy problem to deal with and the political rhetoric is not helping. There is a difference between welfare like food stamps in the farm subsidies and entitlements like Social Security and Medicare.

Welfare comes in many forms and is an out and out give away for a variety of reasons. One is to help the poor and the other is to promote a segment of the business world like farming, energy, transportation, and others. Our federal government gives away a lot of money in the altruistic endeavors.

Entitlements like Social Security and Medicare are a form of insurance that people pay into through out their working lives and are thus entitled to the benefit payments when they qualify. In the beginning the Social Security trust fund was a separate thing from the Federal budget. It was supposed to be invested and draw good interest for an ever growing fund to support citizens when they retire. Then politicians noticed this giant fund sitting all alone and moved into the budget to show a balance that wasn’t there. Bad idea!

It was also an easy way to sell Treasury Bills and all of the Trust fund is invested in T’ Bills supporting our national debt. Everyone knew that when the baby boomers start retiring that one day we would have to start paying off some of those T bills and the day has come. Soon more people will be leaving the work force than entering it. That should solve the unemployment problem except for the fact that many baby boomers are relying on Social Security for their retirement and need to work part time to make ends  meet. I get almost $1,200 a month from SS and that would not be enough. Thank God for my pension and investments.

Added to this problem is that politicians found that increasing the benefit to retired people with the cost of living increases [COLA] was a way to curry favor from voters.  It worked but it wasn’t paid for. Well not entirely paid for but we did have an increase in our payroll deductions. As a minister I filed Self-employment Taxes and had to pay in the 15.3 percent of my wages to SS and Medicare. That was a lot of money for me to pay quarterly and there were no deductions that would lower it.

Now there are some politicians who are using the word entitlements as bad thing and are trying to get rid of them. While something needs to be done about the cost to the federal budget cutting off a lot of retirees who depend on this paid for insurance benefit is not fair. To do nothing about this problem will also not be fair for the whole thing will collapse. This is one of the most difficult questions facing our country and we need to work together to solve it.  Sadly it looks like co-operation in Washington is not going to happen any time soon.

Work for a good marriage

In the American society we often find that both husband and wife are employed. The pressures of conflicting demands and too little time for each other creates stress on the relationship. With all the distractions couples can easily forget that a strong, caring, and loving relationships need constant work.

With out constant attention to the relationship a marriage can wither without either noticing the decline. Couples can slowly and quietly drift apart.  Many couples remain married in name only and others live in a loveless relationship. At this point all kinds of events can trigger the dissolution of a marriage. The situation may seem hopeless to one or both and they start looking for comfort else where then infidelity, argumentation, alcohol or drugs take control. Anger can then come to a head and a rupture occurs.

There is help for the marriage. Many churches and counseling services offer ways to work through the issues and refocus the relationship. IT takes a lot of work and often more work than would be needed if the couple had worked on it all along. Meaningful communication is the key to renewal. Get help before it is too late better yet plan for it at the start of the marriage.