Cell Sell

Cell Sell, a photo by pdw's atelier on Flickr.

Cell Sell
“Do you think that I like to see wicked people die?" says the Sovereign Lord. "Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live." (Ezekiel 18:23)

If you think God is only referring to lawbreakers locked away in some prison cell, then you sell God far too short. He desires for each and every one of us to turn, follow and pursue Him, and begin to live.

Cell Sell

Cell Sell
“Do you think that I like to see wicked people die?" says the Sovereign Lord. "Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live." (Ezekiel 18:23)

If you think God is only referring to lawbreakers locked away in some prison cell, then you sell God far too short. He desires for each and every one of us to turn, follow and pursue Him, and begin to live.

Morality

Morality
If you take God out of the equation, it's not a matter that you've now eliminated morality, it simply means you have broadened or narrowed it's scope to the place that it becomes viably debatable and unsubstantiated, and could include or exclude anything you want it to. Arguably, no one is an expert or authority on that type of morality and there's very little wrong with breaking the law on a legal system based upon it. But when morality is defined by a higher authority, then it becomes set in stone; is unchangeable; fulfills a much higher purpose; and transcends time, place, culture and people's immediate whims. It now becomes an anchor to laws which have an authentic authority allowing them to be unarguably enforced and obeyed.

You can easily diminish or eliminate morality from your life, and perhaps believe you are none the worse for doing so, but the very nature of morality insures there will always be a price to be paid somewhere down the road, and at that point you will wish you had adhered to it back when you had the chance.

Entitled

I just drove through, and shopped in a part of town where it seemed like half the cars had 'handicap passes' hanging from the mirrors. The skeptic/cynic in me refuses to believe that so many young, healthy-appearing folks are honestly handicapped. It's easier to believe that there's just a lot of dishonest entitlement folks living in those neighborhoods. Now, that assessment makes total sense.

(I also noticed that the closest handicap parking spots are just not close enough for the dishonestly handicapped... they have to park in the 'no parking' zone in order to get close enough!)

One Hit Wonder

"One Hit Wonder". This is a term that gives much of the world yet another chance to hate America (at least dislike us). We take a musician who had only one big hit on American charts and never followed it with another and then we assume they weren't good enough to release any other mega-hits. We give them the belittling title of One Hit Wonder even though this performer might actually be an international superstar with a huge following in many parts of the world.

The perception is that once again Americans are being arrogant and unconcerned about the rest of the world, where the reality is that we are probably nothing more than ignorant about many global affairs. But hey, that's another story!

Prepare

Some extreme conditions which result from your decisions prove far better than others.
Example: It is much more comfortable to sit there holding a coat on your lap because it proved too warm than it is to sit there shivering and freezing because you didn't bring your coat along. Preparation is valuable and worthwhile, whether needed or not.

Should Be Yours

"That's your thing" might prove to be the most regrettable sentiment you ever hold.

Hurricanes

Watching news... a woman who is a victim of hurricane Sandy makes the statement "Who would have ever thought that in the United States of America that someone could be without power for eleven days!?" I instantly yell at the TV "I sure have no trouble believing it." That's life. Perhaps she's finally living in the same universe as the rest of us.

I'm not being heartless in the least. Her sentiment only emphasizes one of our fallacies in putting confidence in either big business, or especially in big government... unexpected catastrophes only show us how quickly our best efforts prove ineffective. We can never put full confidence in the endeavors of humanity or we will consistently be let down and experience just how greatly we fall short.

DNA DOA

We tend to think that life can only happen in a physical/material world simply because that is the arena in which we live and are familiar with, but we tend to ignore that life makes no sense in a universe of dust and rock and would not even be here in the first place unless given from the location of where life is natural and derives from.

Are we simply physical bodies housing an intricate brain which is capable of thought, or do we possess a physical body which is the home and tool for the much more important life which is temporarily housed within? Science has done an excellent job of understanding the physical body but miserably fails at getting to the real operations behind the tissue and DNA.
Give credit where credit is due... but heaven forbid if you simply stop there!

Digital Law

One of the greatest dangers of the digital age is we tend to think and act as if many of the laws, warnings, and principles from ancient times are outdated and no longer apply. Unfortunately, this is one error that is not comprehended or fully understood until it is too late. And if we would take history more serious, we would see that in every civilization where similar thinking and actions took place, these same unrecognized principles proved to be their downfall.

New President

I lift up the president and pray he becomes wise, moderate, and pleasantly temperate in his second term!

A Better World

Too many people say they want to make this world a better place but in reality are mainly interested in making it into the kind of place they personally want it to be. The abstract aspects of 'better' is what keep it from becoming a better world for all people.
Many lose out in a selfish person's 'better world'.

Election Day Prayer 2012

Remember to say a sincere prayer before voting from the list of candidates, and once again before pulling the lever. This is one of those prayers that is most definitely a "Your will be done, not my own." And later, accept the outcome no matter what it might be... you have done your part! Don't be smugly elated or despondently depressed.

Don't Say It

We now live in a 'bite your tongue' world. This is supposed to be an improvement but I'm not convinced it's better to look the other way about some important things and be confrontational about other things which really don't matter.

A Politically Correct Conversation

Confession:
Sometimes I just hate a politically correct response within a conversation. When this happens, it makes me wonder… did I say something which this person has taken offense at? Did I say something which made them answer in the currently correct way that we are supposed to think on that issue? This is especially irritating if the conversation had absolutely nothing to do with their remark. It's as if they are throwing in a buffer for fear the conversation just might head in that direction.

Heaven knows we hear far too much of the societal news media telling us how we're supposed to feel and think about certain hot issues! We sure don't need to hear a person who we are conversing with suddenly throw-in the same old jargon that gets stuffed down our throat far too often. The way I interpret an uncalled for politically correct response is that it's now time for that conversation to come to an end. The other person has now quit being authentic and they feel that an acceptable pseudo-brainwashed response is needed… for some odd reason.

So, uh, do you know what I mean? And please, try not to be too politically correct in your response… it's not always called for.