Blog | Reproach of Men

The Actor

In today’s society, the word “actor” doesn’t seem to carry any particular meaning beyond a job that one does to entertain or earn money. In short, being an actor is merely a career choice that is fundamentally no different than any other career choice. However, if that is our attitude toward the profession, perhaps we are not looking deeply enough at what it really means to be an actor.

For instance, when one acts, what does one really do? Acting, at its core, is the taking on of the character, nature and mannerisms of another in a way that is convincing to those who observe it. Whether this is done for pay or not is irrelevant to the fact that one takes on the identity of another. Whether one is successful at convincing others is also irrelevant to the fact that the person doing the acting is substituting another person for their own person, whether the character is real or fictional.

What we must do then, is consider what this really means to the person doing the acting. After all, we each have an identity. We are particular persons, with peculiarities that are unique and intrinsic to us as individuals. We do not hold these things collectively. Rather, they are individualized attributes of our unique personality. Now, to be sure, there are certain things common to all of us. The fact that we all are self-focused and generally like being the center of attention are a couple of them. But there are many things about our individual personalities that are distinctive to us, and that no one else shares in the same way. Though we may think much like someone else, we will dislike some things they like very much. In short, we have a particular makeup of characteristics and traits that are unique to us, and us alone.

Thus, the question arises as to what happens when someone takes on, or attempts to take on, the personality characteristics and traits of another? What happens to their own personality when this is done? Where does it go? We know that it cannot be allowed to come to the fore during the time when the person is acting, as it would ruin their performance. We also know that it cannot be allowed to compete with the personality the actor takes on, as that would also create a conflict and would ruin the performance.

Plainly, the only thing that can happen to that person’s identity is for it to be shunted aside, moved to the background and suppressed. However, most people have a strong enough identity that this creates problems that hinder their ability to act, which is why most people are not very good liars. Obviously, this is not the case with those who are successful actors. Either they have personalities which are weak and thus easily overcome, or they do not really do not know who and what they are.

The reason for this is clear: a strong personality will have difficulty with being shunted aside or moved to the background. Strong personalities are by nature assertive and intent upon being known for who and what they are. This is not the case with a weak personality, or with the individual who has no root in themselves to know who they are and what they are about.

This has major ramifications for the individual and the society that elevates such individuals to places of honor. Whether we realize it or not, when we elevate this type of person, we are implicitly stating that we would rather have the weak to be honored than the strong. We are also implicitly stating that we do not value individuality, other than what we can mold into an image that we like and that is pleasing to us. However, that is not the most destructive aspect of this weakness. No, it is most destructive within the individual.

One can only live vicariously for so long before they lose all touch with who they are or might be. They will be confused about what their true emotions, thoughts and feelings are. Moreover, how do they know what thoughts and emotions are truly theirs, and which are from some character they became sometime in the past? Groundless, they will drift, become unstable, and be unable to effectively choose a course of action that is consistent from one time to the next. They are difficult to live with and find difficultly fitting into any particular niche in society. They become oddities, whose every move is used as entertainment for those who like the characters they portray more than the actual individual they are.

What does this state about us as a society? What are we, and what have we become when we partake of the destruction of a person and think it is entertaining? It is understandable that people do choose to destroy themselves, for whatever reason. After all, that has been going on for all history. However, it is not understandable that a society would enjoy watching one of its members engage in the slow-motion destruction of their person. Worse yet, that we would pay someone to do that, all the while saying “its fine; there’s nothing wrong with it.”

It speaks volumes about why we are set for destruction as a society and a nation.

The Real Global Warming

I am always somewhat amused by the dire predictions of the environmental crowd and the craze of “global warming.” However, I am not amused enough to forget that they manipulate public opinion and the politicians enough to make life difficult for the rest of us. The amusing thing about the global warming crowd is the blindness to the fact that the weather forecasters cannot accurately predict the weather more than a couple of hours in advance. Yet, they swear up and down that they know for sure and certain that the earth is undergoing radical climate change in the form of “global warming.”

All right, that’s just fine. Actually, I will agree with them. They are right. The earth will undergo a radical climate change and it will indeed be global warming. Even the word of God agrees with them on this. Yes indeed, the Bible and the anti-God, humanistic, atheist crowd actually do agree on something — global warming.

Now, I know that some will think I am off my rocker about this. Rest assured, I am nowhere near even getting out of the rocker, let alone falling off of it. No, there is sound biblical basis for my assertion that the radical environmentalists and the Bible agree. Here’s my proof:

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (II Peter 3:10)

And just so we don’t miss it, the LORD insures that it is repeated:

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? (II Peter 3:11-12)

Now, I do believe that the words “burned up” and “fervent heat” positively, assuredly indicate that global warming is coming. That it is indeed a reality and unstoppable. In fact, the “global warming” that will occur is not just confined to our little ball in space. No, the Scripture is quite plain that it will extend to all the physical creation:

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. (Revelation 20:11)

When the Scripture states that “there was found no place for them.” It plainly means that the earth and the heaven cease to exist. If there is “no place” for them, then there isn’t any place where they can be. Not to be flippant, but that’s some “global warming” for you.

You see, the environmentalists and the Bible do actually agree — there will be global warming. The really sad part for the environmentalists comes in the time after the universe is burned up. They will not get to see what the LORD God will do in making a new heavens and new earth:

For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD. (Isaiah 66:22-23)

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. (Revelation 21:1)

Instead, I am afraid all that the environmentalists will see is a great white throne, and a lake of fire:

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:12-15)

Why? Because they do not believe God, or His word. And, they refuse the commandment to repent and believe the gospel. Hence, they are unhappy as they know deep down inside that God is displeased with them for their disobedience:

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)

You know, I wish the environmentalists were as concerned for their own welfare, as they supposedly seem to be for the rest of the world’s. If they were, perhaps they would try to insure that they don’t end up in some “warming” of their own.

God’s Box

One of the subjects that invariably comes up when the judgement of God upon individuals or nations is discussed, is why the LORD God sees fit to leave certain individuals on this earth long after it is obvious that they are condemned and cut off from any hope of salvation.

Now, to be certain, there are those who are indeed cut off from any hope of salvation. Romans, chapter one makes this plain, as does the example of Pharaoh in the book of Exodus. It is quite plain that Pharaoh was not going to repent and neither was the LORD going to allow him to repent. This was also the case with Esau when he despised the birthright of having the Messiah come through his lineage. The operative rule for this is Jeremiah 17:9-10 which states:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

Thus, according to what was in Pharaoh’s and Esau’s hearts, they received the due reward for their attitude toward the LORD God and the things of God — the LORD cut them off. Yet, the LORD also left them on this earth. Although, Pharaoh did not make it as long as Esau did, he still lived a considerable length of time. Yet, the question remains: Why did the LORD let them continue to live?

There are two answers to this question. The answers to both questions require an understanding of how the LORD uses the evil nature of man for judging man, and the sovereignty of God and how far that extends.

In the first instance, we do well to understand that the LORD God does not have to raise His hand (so to speak) against someone who is utterly rebellious against the law of God. The reason for this is that there are plenty of wicked men who love nothing more than to destroy someone else for a variety of reasons. All the LORD has to do is give His permission for wicked men to act against another, and it is done. There are specific instances of this in Scripture. Of the many that exist, I will only use two to illustrate. The first is the judgement of Ahab, the wicked king of Israel.

And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil? And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee. (I Kings 22:18-23)

In the above incident, all the LORD had to do was allow the lying spirit (a devil) to give the wicked prophets of Israel the words to say to convince Ahab that he would be victorious at Ramothgilead. The false prophets were all too happy to say what Ahab wanted to hear, and Ahab was all too willing to believe it. In fact, both Ahab and the false prophets got angry at Micaiah for telling them what they did not want to hear. Unfortunately for Ahab, Micaiah was quite correct, and Ahab died in battle the next day. Thus, all the LORD did, was allow the devil the leeway to do what devils love to do, and allow the false prophets and Ahab to say and do what they loved to do, which is tell lies to each other.

In the second illustration, the LORD brings judgement upon Edom (the descendants of Esau) for their lack of compassion upon Israel in the day of judgement of Israel. It is notable how the Lord does it.

The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle. Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised. The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? (Obadiah 1-3)

All the Lord had to do to have Edom judged, was allow the heathen nations around Edom (Teman) to despise Teman and determine that they needed to destroy Teman because of the arrogance of Edom and the way Edom viewed everyone around them. By the rest of the passage, it is plain that Teman thought it was unconquerable, and had an attitude to match. It became unbearable to the nations around them, and the LORD allowed it to be the impetus for the destruction of Edom.

So then, that (in a nutshell) covers one of the reasons why the LORD God allows wicked men who are cut off from any hope of salvation to continue on this earth. The second reason will probably be a bit more disconcerting to some.

One of the most misunderstood aspects of the LORD God is His sovereignty and how that works. Most people think that sovereignty means that the one who is sovereign must immediately call into account anyone who works against them. While that may be true for men, and particularly those who are unsure of their control of events, that is assuredly not the case with the LORD God. The LORD God has no such concerns about His ability to control events, or foresee the future. As pertaining to this, the LORD has made it plain in His word that He certainly knows the events to come.

(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. (Romans 4:17)

And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us? And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods. Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. (Deuteronomy 31:16-19)

And indeed, though the children of Israel had not yet departed, they certainly did, and moreover, they did everything the LORD told Moses they would do, and the LORD did every thing He said He would do in response. Thus, the question of events to come is not an issue with the LORD God. He sees all time all at once, and differentiates every point in time from every other point in time.

Moreover, there is no place where one may go to escape the LORD God and His judgement. In the Psalms, David was express in understanding this:

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. (Psalm 139:7-12)

Yet, this is not all, in Isaiah, chapter 40, the LORD endeavors to teach us that this physical world and all that is in it, are less than nothing to Him.

Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. (Isaiah 40:12-17)

Now, if all this physical world is counted as nothing, and less than nothing in the sight of God, what will all the physical universe add up to — seeing He created it all with “let there be. . .?”

Thus, even when those who refuse to acknowledge God and refuse to obey Him pass off this earth into eternity, they have not escaped the LORD there either as Christ made that expressly plain in John, chapter 5:

For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:26-29)

So it is when the Lord Jesus Christ orders those in the graves to come forth for judgement, they will obey. Even Hell will give up the those who are there as Revelation, chapter 20 clearly states.

Why does the LORD God leave those who are wicked here on this earth long after all hope of their salvation has passed?

Just where will the wicked run to? Where can they go to escape the judgement to come? The LORD God is not worried – they are not going anywhere. This is God’s box — and no one gets out of it.

Blog Upgrade

Did it Saturday evening. (No, I won’t go into what that makes me for doing it on a Saturday evening!) It was an interesting experience, particularly when I viewed the blog in the browser after finishing it, and refreshed the browser – and no posts whatsoever, no links, no calender, no categories, just the theme! Just a little disturbed, I went to login and that worked okay. Then a new screen telling me I had to upgrade the database.

Did that. It told me it was successful. That’s good. I then opened a new tab in the browser and revisited the blog. After refreshing the window, everything came back. Big sigh of relief.

Now we are running WordPress 2.3.3. Quite a few different options and upgrades from the older version that I was running.

However, this post would have been done last night, but the web host I use had a failure of the MySQL server about the same time I went to publish this post. You can just imagine my surprise when I received a white screen with the message “Cannot connect to database.” Uh, okay. That’s not what I call good. Tried to go to the blog. Not happening, same message.

I logged into my hosting account and tried to reach the MYSQL Administrator and could not go there. Called the host “We are experiencing heavy call volume at this time.” Hung up.

I’ll bet. I think I’ll go to bed.

Checked it this A.M. and the blog worked fine. Somebody (or sombodies) had a long night. However, they made sure that it came up as quick as possible. Which is why I use them (plus they’re very helpful when you call, and not rude like some folk).

New website launch

I have built a new website for Faith Baptist Church in Harrison, Arkansas. You are invited to go there and take a look. Your comments are also welcome.

The URL is www.fbch-ar.org

I was holding off announcing its launch until an issue with the domain name pointing was resolved, but I do not believe that will be an issue.

Enjoy the site.

One little note: Due to the type of domain redirection (stealth), the pages will not validate. The validator will attempt to validate the frame the page sits in and not the page. It will fail every time.

Update: I finally migrated everything over to the new platform and moved the Domain www.fbch-ar.org to its rightful account and everything is pointed correctly and working. thank the LORD for small miracles. The stealth redirection is no longer in effect.

What happened to America?

When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end; And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.(Deuteronomy 8:10-20)

In America, we have forgotten from whence we came. We no longer read the Declaration of Independence and understand the import of its words. No, they are the words of a fairy tale to us, without much meaning at all. The phrases and sentences carry no weight, though they should, as the words declare the heart and intent of a people who understood from whence all blessings flow.

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, . . .”

“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.”

“We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, . . .”

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

The words are plain, and the meaning clear. For the first time in a very long time, a people appealed to the LORD God of Heaven and earth for their liberty. Make us a free nation.

Like the first generation to enter the land of Canaan, early America appreciated what the LORD had done for them. For a time they were the wonder of the world. When France tried to emulate the American revolution, absent the LORD, their revolution failed to produce the same blessings. It should have been a lesson for future generations.

However it wasn’t, and like the children of Israel, a people arose that knew not the LORD:

And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. (Judges 2:10-12)

And so, like Israel, we too have provoked the LORD to anger.

Now, I know that there are those who say that we have nothing in common with ancient Israel, and what applied then, does not apply today. However, there could not be a greater error made than to assume this to be the case. The following passages of Scripture, which were first preached to Israel in the Wilderness, applied to those nations Israel was about to dispossess by the commandment of God. The message given to Israel was to inform them that they were not possessing the land due to their goodness, but due to the utter wickedness of the Amorites, which the LORD detailed.

When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do. (Deuteronomy 18:9-14)

Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion. Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants. Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. (Leviticus 18:22-28)

The listing of sins is far more extensive than this. It is simply that these are the most egregious of the things done by the nations in the land of Canaan. However, if you have read the above passages, which of these has America not done? Which of these has America not condoned under the guise of “personal liberty?” It is sad, for the Founders of this nation would blanch at the thought of the government condoning any of the above listed sins. It is not that they didn’t occur in this country during the time of the Founders, they did. However, these things were condemned and frowned upon, and the practitioners of such driven out. The Founders would have never conceived of condoning the killing of an innocent unborn child simply because the mother and/or father find the child to be “inconvenient” to their lifestyle. Thus, we added yet another abomination to the long list of things the LORD will not pardon.

Yes, this last one — abortion, is particularly egregious to the LORD God. When we allow the killing of the innocent for the convenience of the guilty, we justify the wicked and condemn the just. The Lord Jesus Christ made it very plain that little children hold a special place in the sight of God:

Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 18:10)

It was this particular sin, the killing of their children, that finally provoked the LORD God to remove Israel out of His sight and send them into captivity for 70 years.

In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets. Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon. (II Kings 24:1-4)

Now, if the LORD did that to His chosen people, what do you think He is going to do to us? After all, its not like we don’t have all history to review and see the consequences for condoning wickedness as a nation.

America, you have forgotten the LORD that formed you.

test post (I’ve been migrated)

New platform test

This post was originally done earlier today when testing the new platform that my webhost implemented. I was testing the blog in this environment, in parallel with the blog in the old environment. Rather than delete the post, I decided to use it as an announcement of the change, and a warning that I am also in the midst of changing registrars. If that doesn’t go well, this website may disappear temporarily. Only in the world of computing can something be there, but not be there. In short, the physical server and disk space will exist, and the logical partition, ip address, directories and files will still exist, but the address will vanish. In the world of computing, without an address, we don’t go anywhere.

We shall see what the LORD allows. If may be interesting.