We Didn’t Start the Fire

This was a popular song back in the late 80’s sung by Billy Joel about some of the discontent that the culture was dealing with at the time as they blamed the generation before them for all their problems.

“Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray

South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television

North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe

Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjon

Brando, “The King and I” and “The Catcher in the Rye

Eisenhower, vaccine, England’s got a new Queen

Marciano. Liberace, Santanya goodbye

 

We didn’t start the fire

it was always burning since the world’s been turning

We didn’t start the fire

no we didn’t light it but we tried to fight it.

 

 

Joseph Stalin, Malencov, Nasser, and Prokofiev

Rockfeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc

Ray Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscannini, Dacron

Dien Bien Phu falls, “Rock Around the Clock?

Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn’s got a winning team

Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland,”

And the list goes on—very long actually so if you are interested I encourage you to look it up and see how much you know about history?

Of blame I think. But what is this all about? History. Our History as a nation.

Does it matter? Some of it is good and some of it is bad but all of it is history.

Now we could erase the whole song or add the extra verses. We might read one thing and say yes I like that one and read another and say that is our problem today. The last generation really messed up the world we live in that is why we must fight for change and purify it of any unpleasant history like the H-Bomb for instance.

But can we deny it and walk away? Erase it from the pages of history books so that it disappears forever and never offends anyone? Well you get the picture.

History is important. Whether it is good or bad. It is the true story of a nation. Our nation. We should never forget the good or the bad because the quilt of our nation is made up of all of these. And yet we see people tearing down statues today because they find that person’s role in history odious.

Some were bad, some made mistakes, all of them still belong to our history.You can tear them down but they are never going away. They are there to be learned from.

There is a saying that “history repeats itself” that is why it is important to preserve factual accounts of history. Did you know that a protester chopped off the head of an abolitionist?  Yes he was a man who fought against slavery. Sheer ignorance about our history caused that destruction.

We are a nation that has a real vacuum in the history department. We are not taught anything of value and truth about our history in our schools so we go up thinking that everything and everyone in the past was bad because of the false light shed on them by educators that are trying to rewrite our history and fill it with hate and misinformation.

It is almost like an indoctrination in false facts and therefore it creates misguided and wrong actions.

History must be preserved. The people who championed slavery in the South must be remembered for their part in that terrible chapter in our history so it is never repeated again.

We must have reminders of what has come before so that we can choose the good and be wary of the bad.

Do we ever want to drop another H-Bomb? I think not but if we don’t remember the devastation it caused than we will not remember the consequences of grief and pain it caused the Japanese.

Do we want communism to seize the world again in an endless cold war? But how do we prevent that from happening? By understanding the evils of it as it has presented itself in the decades past.

The Bible is an ancient book that records the history of the Jewish People.  Like all people they had their good days when they walked with God and their terrible days when they rebelled against Him and brought judgment down on them.

We as a people can learn some valuable lessons from their history because we, all people, are really one people as far as our humanity.

God instructed the people to set up feasts and holy days to remember His working in their midst. He warned them about tearing down the old landmarks. He knew as a people, as any of us, they would soon forget His dealings with them and if they did not pass it on to the next generation valuable teachings would be lost. Teachings about the past and what to avoid in order to live good and peaceful lives.

Often in the Old Testament you find the phrase, “there arose a generation that knew not God.” This was dangerous and led to their going into captivity etc. Why didn’t they know about God? Their history was never taught to them by the generation before.

No, we didn’t start the fire it began burning when our first parents Adam and Eve rebelled and wanted things their way and disobeyed God’s commandment. Then came Cain who killed his brother Abel out of jealousy. There were the people in Noah’s day that were filled with wicked thoughts and violence was happening everywhere so much so God had to send judgment and a flood to stop the pain and suffering that was going on because of people’s selfish and hurtful deeds. Then we can look to the Tower of Babel where the people joined hand in hand to raise up a tower into the heavens to show that they were as great as God. Then God had to scramble the languages and the people went out and began to live in different places and produce different cultures. Our world today is definitely a result of that. Different skin colors, different languages, different cultures, and misunderstandings arising from those things that have led to violence and division. And so it continues.

So let’s begin to educate our young people in true history without bias. Let’s make sure the right history curriculum returns to schools not one slanted towards one person’s view of  our Founding Father’s etc. Which by the way is biased by reporting only the bad a person did instead of the good. Everyone is plagued with good and bad in our lives. We all make good decisions and we make bad ones. Sometimes, thinking of slavery, people made bad decisions because they weren’t taught any better. They didn’t totally understand the problem. That is why many other informed good and compassionate people went to war to stop that terrible practice. No part of that story should be left out. We never want to think it is alright to mistreat others or look down on them. We must become wiser so that we don’t fall into an evil trap set by our enemy Satan who wants us to hate, kill, and destroy instead of heal and help.

God help our nation and the next generation!

 

 

THERE IS SOMETHING HAPPENING

In the 1960s  Buffalo Springfield sang this song titled “For What it’s Worth”

“There’s something happening here

what it is ain’t exactly clear,

There’s a  man with a gun over there

Telling me I got to beware.

 

I think it is time we stop, children,

what’s that sound

Everybody look what’s going down.

There’s battle lines being drawn

Nobody’s right if everybody is wrong

Young people speaking their minds

Getting so much resistance from behind

It’s time we stop , hey, what’s that sound

Everybody look what’s going down.

 

What a field day for the heat ( a name for police back in the day)

A thousand of people in the street

Singing songs and  carrying signs,

Mostly say, hooray for our side.

 

Paranoia strikes deep

Into your life it will creep

It starts when you are always afraid

You step out of line the man come and take you away.

We better stop, hey, what’s that sound

Everybody look what;s going down——–”

Back in the day we thought this song was about protesting Vietnam or some other issues we had as teenagers.  But it wasn’t it was about LA. Was it racial? No. it was about too many teenagers and “beatniks” hanging out everywhere in places where people had upscale restaurants etc. When LA put in a 10PM curfew the teens started revolting and protesting against law enforcement.

The police who came out to make sure the curfew was obeyed were not friendly towards anyone breaking the curfew and did not stop at using any force available to them. Not so much guns as billy clubs etc. No pepper spray in the day by the way. Just brute force.

Then came the “Sunset Curfew Riots”.  Hundreds of protesters and many severely beaten by police.

The “60’s “s were tumultuous times. I know a lot of young people today look back to that era and would say it was “cool.” Trust me it was not.

Most young male teenagers were well aware that as soon as they graduated high school “Uncle Sam” was sending a letter and they were drafted to go fight a war they did not understand. In spite of the difficulties experienced by our Senior Class of 2020 it really isn’t so bad when  you think of this alternative.

Yes there were marches and police shooting at marchers. Of course the Civil Rights Movement was gaining momentum. It was a time of anger and change. and Praise God change came to the black community in many ways. Of course it will never be quite enough.

Today is really nothing like those days, thank goodness.  Our recent protests have not included real violence by our police force because it is a different force today more educated and less prone to use force than to use negotiations. Actually the use of tazers and pepper spray is part of using less force to apprehend criminals. In reality our police are a force of men and women who did not put on a badge with the desire to harm people. Their desire is to help and serve and protect the communities they are in.

Are there bad cops? Of course. Every organization or group of people since the beginning of time has had bad people sprinkled amongst the good. Mankind is born with a sinful nature that creates hate, anger, disrespect, racism, you name it.

No organization is perfect not even the church because wherever mankind goes with their pride and rebellion there will be trouble.

So we see mostly peaceful protesters who earnestly believe in their cause for what they see as a need for change in policing our black communities. There is nothing wrong with that. It is the insidious behind the scenes people encouraging the movement who want power more than change. They are filled with hate and violence. They can’t hear the truth that all policeman are not bad because they do not want it to be true.

In the 60’s we disrespected the police a lot. Why? Because they were there to uphold the law. Which meant we were not supposed to do drugs, steal, speed down the highway, or any other thing we felt we should be free to do no matter the consequences to us or others. We did not see the police for who they really were –protectors from sinful, lawless self. Yes there were corrupt and bad cops then but that was never the majorities purpose. They were there to uphold the law and sometimes to save us from ourselves.

God in His Word admonishes us to obey the laws of the land in which we live. Jesus spoke of it and He spoke of it even when that law was corrupt or biased. The Romans hated the Jews so naturally the law was unfair to them. Jesus however never taught his followers to protest against the laws. He shared a different message. One of peace, hope and change. Yes change. Change in the human heart. What would stop the wicked soldiers over them to change their behavior? A change, a different perspective, in that soldier’s heart. By hearing the gospel and believing on Jesus their hearts and therefore their behavior was changed. During those early years of the church witnessing to lost people this often happened. The Gospel knows no bounds of either race or position in society.

Because change in the human heart is the only answer.  As it was in the 60’s so it is now. Only people realizing that all have sinned and come short of the glory of  God and they are no exception. Realizing that they cannot control their own desires and that all of us are part of the sin problem. All of us are tempted to lie and cheat and hate. No one is exempt. No one is even exempt from committing murder. All of us are lost individuals needing a Savior to save us from ourselves. He came, He lived, He died, and He rose again to give us hope that we don’t need to be stuck with our sins. We can turn to Him and confess our sins,  accept Him as Lord and Savior, and His Holy Spirit will indwell us to help us to be better than this. To see the truth clearly rather than be led about by other angry and hateful people and their rhetoric.

I know young people long for a cause that makes them feel significant. Why not accept the worthy cause of Christ and then affect change in your generation. Lasting change for the good. When the human heart is changed by God we will have peace, equality and justice in all places. In neighborhoods, in police forces, in schools, and at jobs . Racism will be a lost word only to be found in some old dusty dictionary generations from now.

This is the only way to heal our land. All the laws and all the listening to people’s complaints are not going to change a thing for the better. All of man’s reasonings will  fail only God’s wisdom remains.  “Truth has fallen in the street.” The Truth that God is on your side, and is calling you to receive Him as your Savior and commit you life to Him. Be “woke” to the real and lasting Truth and not some empty cause that has no solution without faith in Jesus.

 

 

 

 

Thankful

Being thankful is a way of coping with any situation I think. There is always something we can be thankful for.

Today on TV we see thankfulness being shown to our first responders and nurses and doctors like never before. We are thankful in spite of the tragedy that has brought about this thankfulness. In fact we were pretty blase about this whole thankful thing a few months ago. We took it for granted that our lives and our jobs would just keep clipping along and I think we got pretty comfortable.

In fact I think we found ourselves complaining about this and that. Things that in the face of this giant “the virus” we see as pretty petty.

Now instead of complaining because this or that was not perfect and did not meet o our standards we find ourselves thankful for little things like going for a walk or talking to someone through zoom.

We miss the intimacy of close friends and loved ones. We miss being able to hang out at our favorite restaurant. Don’t you miss that noisy chatter of a room filled with people? We might even miss standing in line at the post office. It is all very weird and surreal and all we want is for things to go back to normal.

We wonder why this has happened to us. There are many explanations both political and spiritual. But in general I wonder if it was our lack of thankfulness. God saw a nation of proud, overachievers enjoying life’s abundance and we were complaining. Yes I know I was. I would have to remind  myself to be thankful sometimes because I would start down that old bumpy road of complaining. If you have read and study the Bible for any length of time you have realized God just is not on board with complainers.

The Israelites complained on their way to the promised land and got 40 more years in the wilderness.

Romans 1:21 is pretty graphic about the this problem. “Because when they knew God ( in other words they knew there was a God) they glorified him not as God, Neither were thankful—but became vain in their imagination—-” if you read on  you find God passing judgment on them.

Thankfulness is the key to much of the depression and discouragement we feel at this time. Yes because Phil.4:8,9 reads, ” The Lord is at hand. He has not fled from us because of the disease nor is He hiding behind a mask.  Be careful(not filled with cares and worries) for nothing. but in everything by

prayer

suppplication asking humbly

with thanksgiving

let your request be made known unto God.

You know what happens when  you do this?  “The peace of God  which passes all  understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

And yes if you need resources of any kind He will provide but most of all He will give you peace in your heart.

A lot of us have experienced fear and anxiety to the point of losing it more than once during this crazy and unprecedented time. We need to just remind ourselves of who God is. He is all powerful and able to provide everything we need.

In fact when you begin to doubt that just look out any window and observe—you will no doubt see birds. What did Jesus tell us about the birds? Yes He said His heavenly Father feeds them and are we not of more importance than the birds to Him? Of course.

When I have been really down about finances God never fails to show me the birds and I can’t deny what He says is true for the birds and therefore is more than true for me. He will provide some way or some how. He is just encouraging us right now to practice thankfulness for what we do have. What He has provided already.

Be thankful even for little things and there are a thousand little things to be thankful for. Trust me when you make a concious  effort to begin to list the things you can be thankful for right now you will come up with quite a list and still there will be more.