Each of them has a name.

Something To Think About, People of the Cross:

Aaron Earls posted about the twenty-one Coptic Christians who were recently murdered in Libya, by ISIS thugs.  I found his post very moving for one particular reason--he listed the names of all of them, but one.  Apparently that man's name was not available to him.  Below are the names of these men.  As Earls pointed out their murderers called them "People of the cross," intending to insult them.  Those of us whose lives have been changed as a result of Jesus death for us know there is no greater honor than to be associated with the cross of Christ. I encourage you to read these names.  Read them slowly.  If you are like me it will drive home the reality that these were not just a group.  We call what was done to these men a mass-murder.  It was not a mass anything.  Twenty-one individuals, each with a family, a story, a job, hopes, dreams, plans, and a name  were killed.   Milad Makeen Zaky Abanub Ayad Atiya Maged Solaiman Shehata Yusuf Shukry Yunan Kirollos Shokry Fawzy Bishoy Astafanus Kamel Somaily Astafanus Kamel Malak Ibrahim Sinweet Girgis Milad Sinweet Tawadros Yusuf Tawadros Mina Fayez Aziz Hany Abdelmesih Salib Bishoy Adel Khalaf Samuel Alham Wilson Ezat Bishri Naseef Loqa Nagaty Gaber Munir Adly Esam Badir Samir Malak Farag Abram Sameh Salah Faruq An unnamed worker from Awr village I've probably seen a score of news-stories about these men, but this is the first time I've seen their names.  Thank you, Aaron. You can read Aaron's post here. It's STTA

ISIS, and 50 Shades of Gray, I don't need to see either one do their work:

Something To Think About, Closing Our Eyes:

I didn't watch the video of the Jordanian Pilot being burned to death by the ISIS thugs who had captured him, nor will I read, or watch Fifty Shades of Gray.  I already know enough about both to draw the conclusions about them that I need to.  I have heard enough from credible witness to know that the former portrays an act of utter barbarity, and that the later presents a perversion of love and sexuality.  I also tend to avoid sitting in manure piles and bathing in cesspools. There are folk who need to look at, and even closely analyze the horrible and repulsive.  I sincerely hope that, somewhere in the bowels of some intelligence operation, there are technicians poring over the film the ISIS released.  I hope that as they microscopically examine each frame that they will find some useful evidence that will help bring these terrorists to justice.  Perhaps someone needs to read perverted books or watch movies of the same, I don't know.  I just know it's not me.  I am praying for those men and women who have good reasons to plunge into the filth.     "God give them soundness of mind.  Don't let this hurt them."  I make my choices about the ISIS propaganda film and Fifty Shades . . . for essentially the same reason.  Both of them represent perversions.  On the one had terrorists have perverted the sanctity of life.  For them human beings are totally subservient to their ideology.  They think that some human life--lives that agree with them--is valuable.  Fifty Shades . . . is based on a perversion of love and sexuality.  It puts forth a philosophy that makes caring for another subservient to personal pleasure.  It is love as in "I love chocolate cake."  In the end the cake is consumed, not bettered. Perversions ought to be avoided, not voyeuristically consumed. It's STTA

Kids Who Get It:

Something To Think About, Kids who get it:

My lovely wife, Kathy, teaches preschoolers on Sunday Nights.  She really enjoys hanging out with the Gopher Buddies.  You can look at the  picture and see why.  This was at a little hayride we set up for them last fall. This past Sunday night she was teaching them a foundational Bible story, Eve and Adam's eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. (Genesis 3) Kathy had spread rocks around the room to illustrate the abundance of trees in the Garden of Eden from which Adam and Eve could have eaten.  Their snack helped them realize that God had given the first couple all they needed, and more.  At a critical time in the lesson a three-year-old announced with wide eyes, "They disobeyed." Indeed, and we have been doing so ever since.  "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God."  (Romans 3:23)  And as Eve and Adam discovered, "The wages of sin is death."  (Romans 6:23)  The same God Who provided for the our first ancestors with the abundance of the garden, has provided salvation in Jesus Christ for all who turn to Him in faith.  Last night when Kathy told me about Gopher Buddies, she was still excited.  "He got it!" she told me and a couple of after church guests. Have you gotten it? Look at this link below to find out more. It's STTA Here is a site where you can find out about Jesus Christ and His plan for you.  You'll find several opportunities to explore.  If we can help you, let us know.  covingtonbiblechurch.com

Squeaky Wheels

My sweet wife had pointed out several times that the clothes-dryer was making noise.  She wasn't nagging.  It just takes a while to get my attention.  I received a "squeaky" email yesterday.  The noise had escalated to a metal on metal sound, so she concluded that the machine couldn't be used until it was fixed.  So when I left the office I put on my grubbies, got my tools and began to do what real men do--finally. It kind of reminds me of an aptitude test I took back in high school.  "If wheel X is turning clockwise, which direction is wheel Y turning? You could look around the room and see guys--it was almost all guys who took this test--drawing circles in the air.  In yesterday's case the squeaky wheel--it turned out to be a worn out Drum Support Roller--caused my wife to be sweetly insistent (You really didn't think I'd go there, did you?), which finally got the well-rusted, amateur appliance technician to turn a screwdriver. As the saying goes, the squeaky wheel got the oil.  Knowing that this is only a temporary fix, the loud-mouthed wheel and its twin will soon be replaced.  Squeak too much and you get rejected. OK, this could go in a lot of directions: Perhaps you'll be amused to come up with a "moral to the story."  It will amuse me to hear your suggestions. If you need inspiration click this link. It's Something to Think (Squeak) About. STTA

Remembering God's Image In The Face of Great Barbarity:

Something To Think About, Recognizing the Image of God:

War is a horrible thing.  William Tecumseh Sherman who perpetrated its horrors on a wide swath of the rebellious South said, "War is hell."  One of war's most hellish aspects is the treatment that prisoners of war often receive.  I recently read two books about the treatment of American P.O.W.s under the Japanese in WW2.  My uncle lost a lung and his sight as a result of his imprisonment in Germany.  How a nation treats its enemies when they are helpless to either inflict further harm or do anything to protect themselves, is a powerful indicator of the moral ethos of that people. Recent news about the brutal execution of  Jordanian pilot,  Lt. Moaz al-Kasasbeh  is a powerful indication of the lack of respect for human life on the part of the ISIS terrorists.  The video showing his death was not leaked.  It was slickly produced and released as a propaganda tool.  Americans, and Jordanians, among others, are rightly outraged. Some realities about life on this planet are made plain: Evil--monstrous evil--is a reality.  Humans are capable of committing unspeakable atrocities. Human life--even when that life is our enemy--bears the image of God.  I believe that some wars are just.  In fact I think there are times when it is wrong to not use force to restrain evil.  But even in times of war the basic reality that all human life is a reflection of our Creator must be kept in mind. The evil that we see exhibited so powerfully by the killing of Lt. Kasasbeh is not something that only resides in our enemy.  All of us are descendants of the original sinner, Adam.  I'm not saying we are just as bad as them.  The reality is, though, that the forces that have restrained evil among civilized people need to be respected and nurtured.  Unfettered evil is horrible beyond imagination. This is just the beginning of a conversation.  I hope it is taking place on the highest level in our nation.  I hope for you it is . . . Something to Think About.

Who Is Moving?

Something To Think About, False Motion:

The picture might do it for some of you.  It generally happens to me while I'm waiting at a traffic light.  I have this sudden unsettling feeling that I'm moving.  My right foot reflexively mashes harder on the brake, then there is the split-second of panic because for some reason the brake has no effect on my drifting car.  Thankfully the terror is short-lived.  “Whew, I'm not the one rolling.  It's that semi right next to me." When I have that experience on the road it usually ends with a chuckle.  When it happens in the ethical realm, the disorientation lasts a lot longer.  Indeed, some Christians--even some Christian leaders--never get over it. We live in a world in which moral realities appear to swirl and waver like smoke rising from a just-snuffed candle.  It can be disorienting.  Are the "rights-and-wrongs" I grew up with really "wrongs-and-rights" or "maybes-and-maybes" or just a swirling spiral of choices spinning around even more options? An honest evaluation of the standards that we draw from the Word of God is always valid.  If we are going to say "God said," we need to be sure we heard Him correctly.  But just because we see relative motion between our culture and the standards drawn from the Bible does not mean that those standards are in motion or that they need to move.  In fact what we really need is a fixed point by which we judge everything else that swirls and drifts.  Part of the reason that the Bible is good news is it is dependable.  It is the rock that stands firm even in the storms of life. Don't loose sight of it. It's STTA. Here is a site where you can find out about Jesus Christ and His plan for you.  You'll find several opportunities to explore.  If we can help you, let us know.  covingtonbiblechurch.com