I have long said that one of parents’ main jobs is teaching their children the meaning of “no.” Here is a great article from the Hartford Courant in which the writer, John Rosemond, calls this kind of teaching for children “Vitamin N.” Mr. Rosemond also mentions that far from dashing the happiness of children, the experience of “Vitamin N” actually contributes to their long-term happiness. On the other hand, the nonstop indulgence common today is producing increasingly depressed people who can’t get enough kicks to keep the party going.
These two articles talk about scientific investigations that have started to show that what happens in one generation can affect the genetic makeup of the next. Specifically, the first article showed that a specific gene was altered in the children of Jewish Holocaust victims compared to children of Jews who did not experience the Holocaust. If this kind of linkage proves out, it will be one huge reason why the Bible teaches that God is very interested that the home be preserved intact. Breaking up a home is traumatic for children. Our society does not think about how its actions and lifestyles affect its children. Then we expect the children to do better and better on tests regardless of what is happening at home. It doesn’t work that way. A stable, loving and supportive home environment is the beginning and continuing foundation of a good education. It may prove to also be related genetically to the mental health of the next generation.
I watched the last 90 minutes or more of the Republican debate tonight. Who impressed me as I watched? It was not exactly the ones I thought would impress me. My top three were John Kasich of Ohio, Jeb Bush of Florida and Scott Walker of Wisconsin. They were running on solid records as governors. They measured their words well, a trait I believe speaks for the wisdom, maturity and self-awareness of a candidate. Each handled a challenging question very well. My least favorite was Trump. He is full of himself and of empty rhetoric. He has no experience in government and said nothing of substance that I heard. Frankly, he could not be trusted. I could not give Rand Paul a chance because I have been familiar with his positions and he is way too libertarian for me, even though I thought he debated well. Ben Carson is a delightful person who seemed out of his element, he should be running for Surgeon General. He’s probably running for VP, but he would make a weak campaigner. Huckabee is probably the best public speaker in the bunch but his rhetoric is divisive. Both he and Cruz seem to harbor plenty of political rancor. Rubio said some divisive things too. He is still young. One wonders if he is running for a VP spot. Christie I dismissed because of the news out of New Jersey while he has been governor.
The danger in this campaign is that the conservative base is very angry at the state of the country. Candidates like Trump, Huckabee and Cruz are great at tapping into that ground swell of anger in the Republican conservative base. Voters in general vote their impressions and their feelings rather than looking for a strong leadership record. Today we tend to like brash, flash and attitude. But none of these make a good president. I pray that voters will have enough maturity this time to look past impressions and rhetoric and look for solid positions and elect people with wisdom, steadiness, and good character, people like John Kasich, Jeb Bush and Scott Walker.
This article was reprinted in the Hartford Courant from the Washington Post. It is excellent both in content and in spirit. We need to realize that those who follow the values of the Bible are now more clearly than ever a minority culture in our own country. Moore’s challenge to the church to take its role of living its values with integrity more seriously is right on.
A corollary to this idea is that we need to cooperate more closely in the public sphere with Catholics and mainline Mormons whose family values are the same as those of conservative Protestants because they are drawn from the Bible.
Our hearts are broken by the horrific murderers at Emmanuel church in Charleston. It is unfathomable that the horrid deed was done in prayer service by a man who sat in the service for an hour and enjoyed the hospitality of the group before turning on them. The young man’s acts are certainly inexcusable, hate-filled and pure evil.
But my focus in this article is how I am seeing the grace of God released in others surrounding this tragedy. To begin, consider the testimony of the woman who helped to catch the young man. http://www.today.com/news/debbie-dills-florist-who-helped-police-find-charleston-shooting-suspect-t27281. She could not have made it more clear in her interview that she considers the whole circumstances surrounding her noticing the car and helping the police locate him to be a direct answer to the prayers of people in Charleston. She testified that God was using her to accomplish what needed to be done.
I notice also the Christ-like desire of victims’ families to forgive even through their tears. http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/19/us/charleston-church-shooting-main/. Only those seeking to follow Jesus and drawing strength from his Spirit would even attempt this. And, speaking as a pastor, I know they will need continuing help from God’s Spirit to keep that intent through the days to come as forgiveness is usually a journey rather than a one-time thing.
Next consider how this incident is calling people across our country to prayer. Immediately in Charleston people were praying. Now even in Washington people are praying. Oh that we did not need tragedy to call us to prayer! But thanks be to God that when there is tragedy we do turn to Him who can truly help us. http://blogs.rollcall.com/hill-blotter/staff-lawmakers-gather-to-pray-for-charleston/?dcz=. Our church joined in prayer for the situation in our morning service. Perhaps God’s Spirit is using this tragedy to call us again as a nation back to God.
In addition, tonight (6/21/15) there is a great unity march in Charleston. Jesus prayed that God’s people would be united (John 17:21). At this time we are being drawn closer to one another by calamity.
I have advocated for some time that American Christians have an ongoing giving relationship with a reputable charity that helps in third world countries. When crises such the earthquake in Nepal happen, my wife and I know how we can help because of our continuing relationship as donors to World Hope International. We are fortunate to know both the founder of World Hope and also the current leader, John Lyon. We can’t give very much by ourselves, but every little bit helps and as we each do our part, the need is met.
My heart is filled with grief at the picture of Muslims affiliated with IS lining up Christian Copts for martyrdom. My mind reels. In addition, religiously motivated shootings in Denmark and France are shocking as the specter of anti-Semitism appears. The potential in humans for barbarity is surfacing in several places. On another front, I am saddened also at the losses and broken promises in the war in Ukraine. One country invading another to take over more territory – sounds like greed in action, lightly covered under the pretext of a rebel cause. There is so much fanaticism and aggression!
Is there a word of wisdom for our warring world today? This morning I was reading James 3:13-18 and was impressed by it. It is a rebuke to the spirits both of fanatics who kill and to aggressors fulfilling their selfish ambitions. A popular paraphrase brings it down to a more personal level and warns, “Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats” (James 3:16 The Message).
In New Testament times the fanatics were the Zealots. The word translated envy in this passage is the word for zeal that they used. The Apostle James warns that in contrast to hearts filled with bitterness and selfish ambition and behavior marked by evil, “true wisdom is the wisdom of peace not of violence” (IVP Bible Background Commentary on the NT). A person who is truly wise shows gentleness and consideration for others. They are merciful, impartial, reliable and straightforward in their dealings. Those who sow bitterness and violence reap bitterness and violence. But the harvest of peacemakers is joyful. I pray for wise peacemakers in our world.
On the issue of immigration, I am appalled that the Republican party cannot see the need for compromise and the necessity of fixing a badly broken immigration system. When families are being tragically divided and young adults who were brought here as children are being deprived of their futures for lack of paperwork, justice is not being done. How long will the Republicans hide behind tired rhetoric about “amnesty” that doesn’t get the job done. I agree with Obama on this issue that the Congress has had long enough to act (and I seldom agree with Obama). This recent statement by John Boehner just shows once again that the Republicans don’t get it on this issue. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30049038. They are completely unconcerned with the human plight of illegal alien families while being perfectly happy to live in a society that takes advantage of, in fact depends upon, the labor provided by immigrants. I wish the Republicans would replace Boehner with a leader who understands the issues from a less partisan perspective. They need to do something about immigration for justice sake and they also need to remember how much they needed the Latino vote in 2012.
For the first time, I was able to watch at least some of every game of the World Series. For a long-time baseball fan, this was a big deal that has been a long time in coming. But since I am not a big TV watcher, I am not as adept as some at escaping the commercials. Oh yes, I take snack breaks, probably a few too many of them. But, still over the course of the World Series, I watched a lot of ads, many of them multiple times. So I decided to make watching ads a little more interesting and become a critical observer of them. The results of this are my own annotated lists of the best and worst of them.
Here are five of my most important criteria.
Was there creative energy in it?
Did it have a positive message overall, positive for the company and for our culture?
Was it interesting? Did I enjoy watching it?
Did it respect my intelligence?
Did it fit and respect the venue?
Okay, here are the top five
Mo’ne Davis – This ad was sponsored by Chevrolet. It championed the rise of women’s sports in America today and fitted with the World Series by featuring a young girl who can pitch a baseball 70 mph at the age of 13. By the end of the ad, I wanted to know what company had the wisdom and welcome sense of Americana to sponsor it.
T-Mobile’s the Big 7th – This ad reflected the interactive nature of the world today, something that cell-phones are exploiting for better or worse. The ad was shown as part of the traditional 7th inning stretch. It allowed the audience to be part of the ad in the way that TV announcers at games are trying to do by showing fan clips.
Anheuser-Busch – the history of baseball. The ad showed great moments in baseball history through the experience of fans of that time in history. It was appropriately sepia in tone for the oldest ones too. I loved the Babe Ruth’s speech over the radio moment. I’m not a fan of alcoholic beverages, but I have to hand it to the people who do advertising for Budweiser.
Nissan Rogue – the little boy’s ride home. The ad was a gem of creativity. It seemed to flow from the fresh mind of a child where the line between fantasy and reality is very thin. It was fascinating to follow. It captured the desired feeling tone of security very successfully too.
HP ad with the lost iguana — This ad successfully showed that HP has many products while keeping attention with a mini-story of a child-prodigy manager who smoothly runs his campaign to find his lost iguana using HP technology. Two favorite moments – he’s in bed and lights up the town with big screen ads at the click of a button on his phone; and, like a big-time CEO with a little too much confidence, he rightly predicts the knock at the door.
When I finished making this list, I noticed that four of the top five winners also had great story lines. Interesting!
No ad rating would be complete without talking about the losers as well. The World Series had plenty of them too. When these played I went to get a snack whenever possible.
Painfully awkward Rob Lowe – This ad was banal and offensive to my intelligence from the beginning. Do ad makers really think people are that dumb? It was unkind to those who are not with it. It sealed its fate as the worst of the worst by sinking to offensive and unnecessary toilet humor at the end. Direct TV – you lose.
Dumb and Dumber 2 – This is the trashiest ad for a trashy program. Raunch and idiocy replacing humor! Enough said.
Geico – Ickey Woods – celebrate anything. This whole series of ads has long ago lost its punch. You can only ride a good idea (..but did you know that…) so far. This one rode it ad nauseam. More stupidity. Seeing ads like this confirms how TV in general has sunk so low that smart people seldom can find a show to watch.
Rob Lowe – Creepy – Direct TV loses again. This one was not quite as low as the other one as it had no toilet humor. But it still insulted my intelligence. Do they really think I would choose Direct TV because one creepy person uses cable? I’m not impressed by actors playing different roles. I felt creepy about the whole ad.
Sonos your home – The one where gold crept up the walls. This one is gross and seems more like a horror flick where the viewer is about to be engulfed in good-looking yuck. It is on the list because it failed spectacularly in the basic task of advertising – making a positive emotional appeal on behalf of the product.
Well, that’s my take. Any comments? What were your favorites and what ads were the butt of your jokes?
I can’t believe that a city in the US would try to force ministers of the gospel to act contrary to their consciences in their practice of Christian ministry. Yet that is exactly what is happening in the case of this couple from Idaho.
The radical homosexual lobby will not stop at being allowed to do their own thing. They also insist on forcing everyone else to agree with them which violates the right of others to disagree with their opinions and agenda. I pray that the courts will uphold the first amendment rights of these ministers of the gospel on behalf of all of us.
If you think this is an isolated case, think about the mayor of Houston who recently attempted to subpoena pastors’ sermons in her city to see what they were saying about her agenda. Talk about government overreach!! This was another attempt to violate first amendment rights. She quickly realized that the move was political suicide and withdrew it.
One of the great things about our country is religious freedom. Right now, this means that ministers in denominations which believe homosexual marriage is okay should be able to do such ceremonies if they also feel it is right. But if religious freedom means anything at all, it means that ministers in groups that hold to traditional views that homosexual marriage is not in accord with Scriptural teaching, and ministers who individually feel the same way, cannot be forced to officiate at such unions. It is their right in the United States of America to perform only those ceremonies that they feel comfortable in conscience to perform.
