Category Archives: books

Why Salvation?

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Click to buy

In an uncharacteristic move, I am posting a second personal study.  This morning I was struck by a thought in a book I am reading, Getting to No by Erwin Lutzer.  A quick aside:  I recommend this book for all Christians.  The subtitle is “How to Break a Stubborn Habit” – and there may be some who don’t believe they have a stubborn habit to break.  I won’t argue that here, and that is not the reason I recommend it for all.  As the author works through the power of God, how to acquire it, how to ask the Holy Spirit within us to move on our behalf, how to approach God in prayer, how to live our day in prayer – these are powerful instructions for every Christian.  In this book, Lutzer makes the statement that we are saved in order to have a relationship with God.  That isn’t an earth-shattering thought.  It fits perfectly into Christian belief, and yet, as the thought sank into my mind, I realized that it meant a shift in my view.  With a little thought, it is obvious.  We are not our own 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.  In a previous post, I spoke of Timothy Keller’s description of a dance we are invited to join.  It seems clearly evident now, but I didn’t notice it then, that we are saved in order to join in that dance.  Not for any other purpose!

Yes, our purpose is to glorify God, but as I mentioned before Christ is the glory of God.  We glorify God by living Christ in our lives.  What does that mean?  What do the words “…Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27 mean?  In light of the knowledge that Christ came to earth to suffer and die to save me, in order that I might have a relationship with God; join the dance of love with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; I have a slightly different perspective – one that builds on my previous viewpoint, but changes my viewpoint in an important way.

So, the relationship we are called into is a relationship of love.  That seems evident.  Christ was God made flesh.  God is love.  Christ was the embodiment of love.  Our only hope of glorifying God, is Christ in us, or the perfection of love in us, through us to all we meet.  So glorifying God is being filled with His love, and expressing that love through our lives.  That is also our relationship with God, our dance of love, our communion, our conversation, our security in Him.

I remember, a few years back, being struck by the peaceful, confident attitude of my young nephew, and I confided to a friend that he, my nephew, seemed so secure and sure of his place, rocked in a cradle of love.  That picture of contentment and security is how I picture our relationship with God.  Surrounded, protected, nurtured in love.  With that attitude, with faith in God, in His love, we are able to face difficulties with confidence and trust.

We know that God cannot be in the presence of sin or wickedness.  Before we can begin our relationship with Him, we must be cleansed.  Christ became the atonement for sin, creating the condition, sinlessness, by which, and only by which we can approach the Father.  John 14:6 the only chance we have for a love relationship with Him.  Our only hope of glory.

If, then, the very reason for salvation is to enter a relationship with God, then our lives should be dedicated to that relationship, should it not?  We are not saved to pursue our own ideas, desires, pleasures – confident in the security of our salvation.  That does not glorify the Father, that does not show our gratitude and love for the gift we have been given, that does not express an understanding of love, made human, in order that we might dance.  And not dancing, we miss the whole purpose of our existance and our salvation.

The Essence of Christian Faith

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Today, my thoughts are on the very core of Christian faith: the love of God, God’s love within us, our love for God, God is love.  This is a theme that I expect to repeat often, as this is a repeat of that theme from earlier posts.  But, as the core of my faith, it should be the theme of my life and at the forefront of my thoughts.  I am linking my verses to Bible Gateway, and the New American Standard Bible translation.  You will see that it is easy to change translations at the top of the page if you prefer a different version, or wish to read alternate translations.

The first passage Matt 6:19-21 is not so obviously about love – but where our heart is, is what we love.  1 Timothy 6:6-11 shows us the wickedness of having the wrong sort of treasure.  The passage begins with the blessings of contentment, and climaxes with the oft misquoted passage about the love of money, and then brings us back, gently to the pursuits of righteous men.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 is again, not so obviously about love.  But as I think on this passage, as I do often, I realize that our love of Christ, and our respect for what he has done in laying that foundation of redemption and salvation, is what should motivate us to build beautifully, with God’s help.  The precious materials used to build, speak to me of the purity of the love God gives us, and wants from us in return.  As our love is corrupted by the cares and desires of the flesh, the purity and beauty of our building materials diminish.  The eternal value decreases, the fire finds more fuel, our heavenly reward dwindles.

 I see in myself a direct correlation between love and faith, which is why I have included Mark 9:23,24.  This man’s faith in Christ’s power saved his son.  It helps me to substitute in this verse: Lord “I do love you; help my lack of love.”  When I put those words in, I clearly see Peter’s face, his love of Christ and his struggle for faith.  As our faith in God, in His provision though Christ, in the power and magnitude of salvation, grows, can our hearts fail to burst forth in “shouts of acclamation”?  I cannot talk or think of God’s love, and our faith, without one of my favorite hymns coming into my mind, from which “shouts of acclamation” comes – How Great Thou Art (outside of me singing it on the tractor, I have never heard a better rendition than Tennessee Ernie Ford’s – I kid, not about singing on the tractor, but about the quality of my song compared to TEF’s).   I want to quote here the 3rd and 4th verses, which are my favorites – although the most difficult for me to remember:

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin

When Christ shall come, with shouts of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim, “My God, how great Thou art!”

Those verses say almost all about the how and the why of God’s love for me, and mine for Him.

We often hear the phrase, “God is love”.  And that phrase always bring to mind my high school’s production of “Oliver”, where, in the opening scene in the orphanage, a sign with those words hung behind Mr. Bumble and his crew as they served gruel to the orphan boys.  This usage exemplifies how little thought most of us put into this familiar declaration. 

Click to buy this book

Click to buy this book

Timothy Keller, in his book, Jesus the King, describes the trinity of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as a dance of perfect love.  Their interaction is so pure, so true, so complete – the essence, the glory, the magnificence, the power of love – and they are completely fulfilled in that dance, that relationship.  However, their joy in that dance of love is so great that they invite us, through the blood of Christ, to join them.  We, as we learn to dance, are halting, stumbling and ungraceful, BUT Christ, God, the Spirit, teach us to dance, and share their great joy.  1John 4:7-14.

 

 

And finally, Paul’s great love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13.

I will just let that chapter stand in its beauty.

God is Love

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I have to write.  I have not been as faithful on these pages as I intended.  I want to focus on my quest, as I’ve mentioned before.  Since last I posted, I have made progress on this

East Friesian Dairy sheep

East Friesian Dairy sheep
(click to learn more)

journey – and I intend to get caught up on this blog over the next several days.

Where to start?  So much has happened.  I bought six milking sheep – yes, you read that right, milking sheep.  The intent is, with another local farmer, to use the milk to produce cheese.  Never heard of sheep milk cheese?  I think you have – Roquefort? Does that name ring a bell?  It is sheep cheese.

Lacaune dairy sheep (click for more info)
Lacaune dairy sheep
(click for more info)

 The six ewes that I bought are East Friesiian/Lacaune crosses.  Think of Holstein (East Friesian) and Jersey (Lacaune) cows.  The East Friesian is known for her milk production, the Lacaune is known for the quality of her milk.

 My beloved Beavers had a somewhat successful season, but lost at least three games, including their bowl game vs. Texas, due to an inexplicable reluctance to run the ball.  Rumors abound regarding a new logo/branding/marketing effort and has been raging on the internet this past week.  Maybe I’ll write more about these topics later.

What I want to write today are some thoughts that I should have recognized years ago – but have become clear to me only recently.  These have been directly related to my quest – since it became painfully obvious that I have quite a bit of clean-up and preparation work to do before I can be used by God in the way that he intends, the way he has lead me to understand he wants to use me.  This work is clearing out the clutter that has kept me from enjoying a closer relationship with God – and the clutter is all about idols, personal habits and foibles that had become more important to me than God.  If you had asked me, I would have denied that it was the case – but my actions and my daily decisions proved otherwise.  It doesn’t seem completely appropriate to go into great detail at this time – but I have been working, and continue to work on more than one sinful habit/idol.

Here is an amazing observation (I’m going to refer to the big one (idol), as The Big One, surprisingly enough):  I first became convicted in my heart about The Big One during my weekly, Sunday morning, men’s discipleship class at the church I attend.  It led me first to silent confession to God, then open confession to my pastor and to other close friends.  Once this confession was made, the way was open to invite God to help me with this idol – and he did.  Every time I asked (and sometimes simply asking was hard), he was mighty on my behalf, and victorious.  Now, to the observation; I discovered that as God worked on The Big One, he was also working on other aspects of my heart, mind and life that displeased him.  Some things changed, some other things are changing, and as one idol gets knocked down, more are revealed that must be destroyed.

Golden calf (click to learn more)

Golden calf
(click to learn more)

Before we go farther, let me recommend a website, http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com/ and a book, “Getting to No: How to Break a Stubborn Habit” by Erwin W. Lutzer.  Both were recommended to me by my pastor, and I recommend both as being very helpful and useful in destroying those golden calves that we are so prone to creating and serving.

Click to buy

Click to buy

At the very beginning of my personal house-cleaning, I was confronted with this truth: The purpose of my life is to glorify God.  That seems pretty simple, and it is easier to say and to type and to think than it is to live.  All of the elements have been prominent in my awareness for years. I just never put them together in a meaningful way.  I was given the most basic ingredients of this truth as a young child in a memorization verse – one I can still recite from memory – Rev. 4:11 (KJV) “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

Here are those elements – most of them stated directly or easily derived from Rev 4:11:

God created the universe and all that is in it.

I am created by God.  

God created me for his pleasure.

As my creator, he has the only right to define that purpose (this is a critical link, to which I paid too little attention)

His pleasure is his Son, Jesus Christ.  Matt 17:5 “…This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.  Hear ye him.”

Jesus Christ is the glory of God. 2 Cor 4:6 “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”

And Paul tells us, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Cor 10:31

This led me to a “binding thought” that seems to tie together several elements of the Christian walk.  I hope I can state it here with enough clarity to be useful.

In Ephesians, Paul makes it very clear that it is by grace that we are saved. Eph 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” Then James, the brother of Christ, muddies the water for many of us by boldly stating, as boldly as Paul does above, that “faith without works is dead”. James 2: 20 (But read the entire passage 2:14 – 26)

What do we do with this?  Are James and Paul in argument or agreement?  We must first start with the understanding that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and that God cannot be in disagreement with himself.  So James and Paul must be in agreement.  How can that be?  So begins this binding together.

Jesus Christ is the glory of God

Jesus Christ is God manifested in the flesh (1 Tim 3:16), the physical expression of God on earth.

We are called to live Christ within us. Col 1:27  “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

As we see above, we are called to live for God’s pleasure, which is his Son, who is the glory of God.  So it is as we live Christ, and show Christ in our lives that God is glorified, and he takes pleasure in seeing his Son lived in our lives.

Just as Christ is the physical manifestation of God, so are our works the physical evidence of our faith, the manifestation of Christ within us, the author and finisher of our faith.  Heb 12:2

We are dead without faith (by grace are ye are saved through faith).  James tells us that faith without works is dead.  Jesus even tells us that “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” John 13:35.  This is Christ telling us that our behavior is the proof of our faith. John tells us God is love in 1 John 4:8 “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”  As Christ, the expression of God, love, flows through us to others, we show love, God, Christ, the glory of God in our lives.  We glorify the Father, and thereby fulfill the purpose of our creator in creating us.

Finally, why does it matter? After all, we are saved by our faith, and we are secure in God’s hand – are we not? Rom 8:38, 39 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  John 10:28, 29 “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”  Why worry about what we do?  We are saved.

It matters because God has saved us to a holy life. 2 Tim 1:9 “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”  And it matters because what we do, what we build on our foundation of Christ, our salvation, is tried by fire in judgment by God.   What stands, what is eternal, what is of God, what is Christ-like will enrich us for all eternity.  What does not, will be lost, and impoverish us.  1 Cor 3:12 – 16 (notice particularly verse 15) It matters because this is how we lay up treasure in heaven.  It matters because this is how we get closer to God, closer to the purpose for our lives.  It matters because this was what I was born to do.

R. L. Allan & Son Bibles, and Grandpa Bone

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I’m back again.  My well ran dry and I have been dealing with several issues in my life that have taken my attention.  Once dealt with, I had nothing to impart on this blog.

Today I return, not because I think I have anything much to say, but because I must.  I’ve missed the conversation.

A couple of months ago I rediscovered R. L. Allan and Son, and I have spent the time since buying bibles in various translations.  I have now in my

KJV Longprimer Click to see details

possession the Longprimer (KJV), the NIV Classic Reference Edition and the NASB SCR.  The King James is black (as all King James bibles should be) the NIV is dark brown and the NASB is red (more on that later).  The NIV is goatskin, the other two are highland goatskin,  softer and more supple than just goatskin.  I was unable to get the NIV in highland goatskin.  The  differences are noticeable but not significant.   

I will now take a small, but important, side road in our R. L. Allan bible tour:

Growing up, I believed that the only bible was an R. L. Allan King James, black, Moroccan leather (pebble grain) – without pictures, thumb indexes or red letter text. 

NIV – Click for details

Anyone I saw with anything different I immediately recognized as new to the faith or not of the faith!  I laugh at those early perceptions, they weren’t taught to me, I just picked it up by observation – EVERYBODY I knew, who was a believer, had the “right” kind of bible, so… 

 I remember one time at a breakfast bible study at Grandpa and Grandma’s home.   Several of the ministers (workers) were there, and everyone read a verse or two of the study chapter around the table.  One of the workers read from a different translation (probably the RSV).  As he began reading, I remember looking up in shock and horror. 

NASB Click for details

Grandma caught my eye, read the distress in my expression, and quietly nodded to me her reassurance that it was alright – and I was calmed.  I also felt a little bit wiser, knowing that different translations were OK, at least for breakfast bible studies.

All of my siblings, and all of my cousins and I eagerly awaited our 8th birthdays.  Well, maybe the eldest of us, Kathy, Barbara, Clair and Deonne didn’t, but by the time the second wave of grandkids came “of age” we knew that on our 8th birthday we would receive a “zipper bible” from Grandpa and Grandma Bone!  Black, King James, Moroccan leather – finer grained than the grown-up bibles – no red letters and no pictures (the zipper was an acceptable aberration for children – we knew it was acceptable because Grandpa and Grandma gave it to us). 

zipper bible with the exact same zipper pull I had on mine.
Click for more details

 

Either Grandpa or Grandma would take time to carefully show us how to “break in” our new bible: 

WASH YOUR HANDS!

Unzip your bible (only if it was a zippered bible, which it was when we were 8)

Hold the bible tightly together, with the spine on the table

Lay the covers on the table, gently pressing them down close to the spine

Take a few pages from either side, press them flat as you gently ran your fingers top to bottom near the spine.

Repeat the previous step until you reached the middle

Now your bible was “broken in” and it was OK to open it up and read it – something you DARE NOT do before breaking it in!

Having your zipper bible in your possession was proof positive that you were becoming a young man or young woman…you were at least 8, obviously.  This bible lasted me well into my teens, nearly through high school, I believe.  The stitching on the zipper had long since come apart.  Small splits in the stitching had appeared and grown until one day I just tore the whole zipper out – after all, zippers were for 8 year olds, and no longer necessary for a big boy of 12.  My folks bought me a new R.L. Allan bible in my late teens.   I was looking at it last weekend, but the inscription from them was not dated, just “versed”.  It is at home, and I am in Oklahoma City, and I cannot remember the verse Mom wrote on the flyleaf.  I will update this post with a comment this weekend. 

When browsing through the R. L. Allan website, thoughts of Grandpa Bone

Allan’s blue boxes

kept flooding my memory.  He kept what I now know was an expensive stock of new R. L. Allan bibles, in their dark blue linen-textured cardboard boxes in the bottom shelf of the built-in china cabinet just to the right as you came in the door from the big utility room/porch.  It was Grandpa’s bible drawer.  I remember him sitting there with different ones, opening the boxes carefully, lifting the bibles out with respect, and showing the person the various features of that particular bible.  I always marveled at Grandpa’s knowledge of the bible.  He knew verses, passages (especially the Psalms), names, histories, details…he knew the bible.  He also knew styles and covers and font size and reference styles and margins, and he always seemed to have a sober, kind and gentle recommendation for a particular individual’s needs.  Grandpa sold the bibles at cost.  It was something that he did – providing fine (I thought they were just regular) bibles to those who wanted them.  It wasn’t until he was gone that I realized what a special service he quietly performed for God’s people.  It wasn’t until I started looking for an R. L. Allan bible recently that I appreciated the investment Grandpa had tucked into his bible drawer.

I have learned recently that R. L. Allan and Son is generally acclaimed as the publisher of the finest bibles in the world.  And I always thought they were just regular bibles!  I always imagined that R. L. Allan probably knew almost as much about bibles and The Bible and Grandpa did, and they might have a fine conversation on the topic.  The son, I figured, was not quite there yet, and would be obliged to listen.

Now, back on the main road.  As I continued to be drawn back to R. L. Allan’s website, and to Evangelical Bibles, Allan’s only “official” distributer, as far as I know, and to the Bible Design blog – all of which I found by Google-searching “R.. L. Allan bibles” – I determined to own various translations of the bible from R. L. Allan and Son.   I wanted these fine bibles and a concordance for my desk at home, so I can read the various translations when I am studying in depth.  After deciding on, and ordering these bibles, I realized I needed a few bibles to take on the road with me also.  So I ordered 3 smaller, compact bibles for travel. 

Before I talk further about the bibles I have ordered, I want to tell about my adventure with the red NASB highland goatskin bible.  I wanted to buy this beautiful, red bible as a gift.  But as I tried to order it, I discovered to my dismay that both Allan and Evangelical were sold out of that bible.  Now, on the Allan site I found a note when I opened the details for the blue version, stating that there were very limited copies of this bible available, so I ordered it immediately.  Red, blue….blue would do.  Red was my first choice, but blue would do.  So I ordered.  The next day I received the email I didn’t want to see, telling me that they were completely sold out of the blue bible as well.  I was disappointed to say the very least.  I kept checking back on both sites, hoping to see that one of them was now available – to no avail.  I also checked, from time to time, on the internet at large for copies for sale, even used copies.  Imagine my surprise when I found a red one for sale.  Used, but in new condition and still in the box!  I ordered it immediately.  When it was delivered, I found that it was as advertised, beautiful and in new condition.  Unfortunately, I then found out that both Allan and Evangelical offers embossing services.  I wanted the recipient’s name embossed on this lovely bible, so I sent emails to both companies.  Sadly, I have yet to hear back from Evangelical.  Because of the pressures of the season, I will grant them grace.  I did receive a response from the CEO of Allan and Son, Nicholas Gray.  He suggested, avoiding the expanses of the Atlantic Ocean by getting the embossing done by Evangelical.  (I did not want just anybody to emboss this bible.  I wanted the work done by someone familiar with the superior quality of the Allan bibles.)  I then asked Mr. Gray if he had a publishing date for the next run of the blue NASB, his reply:

“We have one only copy if the crimson edition of NASB1R left, but no blue edition.  Is this of interest to you?

Of course it was!  I immediately ordered it, embossed, and expedited shipping to insure delivery in time for Christmas!  (I just learned today that it was shipped yesterday, and will arrive tomorrow!) Then, early last Sunday morning, I discovered that Evangelical had just received their shipment of NASB bibles!  I immediately ordered the blue copy I wanted for myself…so I now possess an extra copy of the very lovely red NASB bible.  Hmmmm, if it works as a gift for one, it might work as a gift for another, no?

Now, for the copies I have on order – first my “desk” copies:

ESV Click for more details

 ESV – tan highland goatskin (after I ordered, I saw the brown with tri-color ribbons.  I was tempted, but I resisted)

 

 

 

HCSB Click for further information

 HCSB – brown highland goatskin (I have ordered different colors for each version, but I had to duplicate brown and black)

 

 

 

NASB Blue-currently out of stock

NASB – blue highland goatskin – I love the red ribbons with the blue binding.

 

 

 

 

NRSV Click for more information

NRSV – black highhland goatskin 

 

 

 

 

NKJV – red; a beautiful red highland goatskin for the NEW King James Version.  I’m not sure if that violates my Black for King James rule or not, but I absolutely needed a red bible somewhere in the list!  This will not arrive until sometime early next year, and I can find exactly zero pictures  of this bible. but imagine the Longprimer in the red highland goatskin, and I think you will be close.

Cruden’s Concordance Click for more information

Cruden’s Concordance – black goatskin

 

 

 

 

 

 

Different bible in Sea-green. 3rd from top
Click for more information

And one not yet ordered:  NLT – sea-green Alhambra goatskin, which Mr. Gray assures me is virtually identical to highland goatskin.  This edition will not be published until June or July.

 

 

 

 

The traveling copies: 

Ruby KJV Click for more information

 KJV – Ruby edition, black highland goatskin

 

 

 

 

NASB – brown goatskin (this is the Cambridge Pitt Minion copy.  I am not sure if it is an Allan binding or not.  I guess I’ll find out).  I can find no pictures of this bible, but there is oredering information here.

 

ESV Compact
Click for more information

ESV – sea-green Alhambra goatskin, which Mr. Gray assures…oh, I already told you that part.

 

 

 

 

 Finally, to enhance my studies, or to help prepare for this blog, or…well, really because I think they are fine: 

Journal
Click for more information

 

Journal – black goatskin

 

 

 

 

Pocket Journal
click for more information

 

Pocket journal – black highland goatskin

 Aaaaaah – so now you know about my recent indulgence.   My Christmas gifts to myself. But more importantly, MOST importantly, my detour down a certain, special memory lane with Grandpa.

“Mr. Gorbachov, tear down this wall”

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In my FranklinCovey planner, at the top of the page for today, is this quote from Horace: “It is courage, courage, courage, that raises the blood of life to crimson splendor.  Live bravely and present a brave front to adversity.”

President Ronald Reagan - click to watch video of the speech

Did you realize that Reagan stood at Brandenburg Gate and verbally confronted the Soviet Union and Mikhail Gorbachev with the title words of this post 25 years ago today?  Read the text of his speech here. I stumbled upon an article on Free Republic this morning, or it might have passed me by.  This was a significant moment in European, US and world history….and yet, its 25th anniversary passes remarkably unremarked.

Reagan has been in the news lately.  He passed away 8 years ago, June 5th.  The date was commemorated by brief notices about Nancy Reagan placing flowers on his grave…and not much else; EXCEPT the misuse of his

Brandenburg Gate - click for more information

memory and his legacy by conservative pretenders and their willing Big Government accomplices in the media.  Most recently, and most prominently, Jeb Bush foolishly commented yesterday that Ronald Reagan would struggle to be nominated in today’s GOP.  He also threw his father’s name into that kettle, presumably to add weight to his statement.  Much as I respect George H. W. Bush as a decent and honorable man, his name does not bolster his son’s argument.  Bush and Reagan were not philosophically compatible in this respect.  George Bush would be a nominee similar to George Romney today; nominated, or presumably so, but without the excitement and enthusiasm with which a Ronald Reagan would be selected.  Jeb, speak about your father and his place in history all you like, but keep quiet about things you know little about.  Gov. Jeb obviously does not understand who Reagan was, nor what is shaping in the Republican Party today with the Tea Party movement.  

Many people, even Obama, have tried to cloak themselves with the robe of Reagan, and most, and most assuredly Obama, only see the richness of the robe, and fail to see that it was the strong, upright, optimistic and steadfast character of the man who wore the mantel  that gave it the substance and the dignity that inspired, and still inspires, the love and respect for the man and his memory.  When these lesser figures try to achieve stature by draping the Reagan cloak over their own, unsubstantial shoulders, they only cause us to notice the frailty of their character…as we gaze wistfully upon the symbol much as I used to look at my father’s jacket, hanging on the coat rack months after his passing; wishing, with an aching heart, that his form and substance were supporting the meaningless article of clothing – not a mere wooden peg.

Biography of Reagan - click to buy from Amazon

The story goes, that Reagan’s speechwriters and advisors tried to take those resounding words out of his speech, and he put them back in.  Repeatedly, they edited the passage for being too confrontational, repeatedly, Reagan put them back in for being necessary to his message.  Finally, the man spoke them with passion and conviction, in his speech at the Brandenburg Gate, an enduring symbol of the former greatness of the German people, then standing isolated and unapproachable – next to the wall dividing the city of Berlin, the nation, the people and their spirit. 

 

 

 

President John F. Kennedy

That wall was erected in defiance of another US president, John F. Kennedy; as a result of the fecklessness he displayed in the Bay of Pigs disaster, and the beating he took in talks with Soviet Premier, Khrushchev.  Khrushchev, emboldened by his successes, began shipping Soviet missiles to Cuba, triggering the Cuban Missile Crisis, 13 days of fear for citizens of the United States as the world held its breath, wondering if nuclear war was upon us.  Kennedy, to his credit, finally found sufficient steel in his spine to stand up to the bellicose Khrushchev, back him down, and turn the missile ships back to Russia.

The Berlin Wall was a symbol of American defeat and shame.  Reagan stood boldly before it, decried its symbolism, and conquered the indignities it represented, with 6 brave, concise and powerful words: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”  Six words that changed world history…25 years ago today.

Thank you, and God bless you for your courage Mr. President.

Auntie Mable’s creamed onions – a Bone family tradition and a tribute to great lady

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A Bone family Thanksgiving or Christmas is never complete without Auntie Mable’s creamed onions.  The first time I tasted the creamed onions I was conflicted – I loved the cream sauce, and especially the buttery HiHo cracker topping, but I DIDN’T like the onions.  (Auntie Mable’s recipe calls for HiHo crackers, but I can rarely find them now, so I use Ritz crackers and silently apologize to Auntie Mable as I put the box of Ritz in my shopping cart.)  I would take a serving of the dish, gobble down the crispy topping with the creaming filling, and to not offend my dear Auntie Mable, I would always nibble at the onions – until one day, I found that I liked the onions too.  I have spoken to others of my cousins and siblings, and several went through the same taste progression.

I know for me and my siblings, we look forward to the creamed onions more than we do the turkey or the dressing or the candied yams or just about anything else – with the exception of Mom’s sour cream raisin pie…and that is a tossup, in my opinion.

Interestingly enough – I acquired a taste for sour cream raisin pie, much the same way I acquired a taste for creamed onions.  I loooooooved the filling, but I wasn’t so enamored of the raisins.  I would eat that pie last, after all the other pies were gone.  I would eat around the raisins, suck every last bit of filling off of them, and leave a pile of rejected raisins on my plate.  Over time, it got to be too much of a bother to do it this way, so I just ate the raisins, and over more time, I decided the raisins were good, and the pie became my favorite!  In fact, today I will ignore other pies if any sour cream raisin remains – and sadly, it seems that most of my siblings, their spouses and their children do likewise…the sour cream raisin pie is usually the first to be devoured.

Mom says that the closest she has found to her recipe (she’s not sure if it is EXACTLY the same) is in this book – except hers is the 1953 edition:

Joy of Cooking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Auntie Mary was the real gourmet chef in the family.  She made amazing dishes.  She made a cranberry sauce with orange juice and walnuts (I think) that was special.  She always had some special dish each time, and they were always very good.  An aside here – she made a dessert that I only tasted once or twice (and only for a cousin’s birthday) that was all creamy and coconutty and caramel-drizzled heaven – but I cannot remember the name of this (as Ira Reid or Uncle JC would say) extry-special confection.  As I said, I’ve only tasted it once or twice, but the memory of it lingers and nothing has ever measured up to it’s special goodness.  It was the rare dish that was visually spectacular, and tasted better than it looked.  I hope my cousin, Doug (or Barbara, or Caroline, or Russell), reads this and provides the name of this taste of paradise in the comments.

The thing about creamed onions (yes, back to that) is they are good the next day, and they are good cold, or reheated.  Each iteration of creamed onions – fresh-made, leftover, cold, reheated – has its own special qualities to recommend it.  And, in my experience, creamed onions never go bad!

Rodeos and Louis L’Amour: Some things are only good once every couple of years

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Day 50 of 1000

Now I know that what I am about to write is about personal taste and does not hold true for everyone, but there is something I really want to get off my chest.  It came clear, again, that some things are only good if you have not done them for a long, long time.  I am not talking about those things that one does every so often just to remind themselves why they hate them like driving through the campus at the University of Oregon or reading anything written by Noam Chomsky or Paul Krugman.  I am talking about those things that are really good, but only in small doses.

I was reminded of this when I downloaded Louis L’Amour’s Crossfire Trail and read it during my daily walk over the last couple of days.  As Louis L’Amour books go, it was great.  It has the tough, noble, good guy that gets the girl by shooting and beating up a small army of dastardly (although a little one dimensional) bad guys.  I knew when I finished the book that it would have been a much better read if I had waited two or three years.  You see, I read Utah Blaine by L’Amour last week.  The reason I bought Crossfire Trail was because I enjoyed Utah Blaine so much.  It is like the one time I ate too much Dungeness crab.  If you have every had Dungeness crab you would think that last statement was an oxymoron.  It is not.  I was actually TIRED of Dungeness crab for a period of about three days.

Now, to take this a little further, someone made the silly statement that Texas rodeos are better than Oregon rodeos*.  Well, beside the fact that it is not true, it made me think of what joy it gave me during my formative years to attend the St. Paul Rodeo in St. Paul Oregon.  Still, and many probably believe this disqualifies me as a critic on this subject, the reason it was enjoyable is because we went only once every three or four years.  Too much rodeo is the same as too much Dungeness crab or too much Louis L’Amour in too short a period of time.  How much time?  It varies depending on the subject.  With Dungeness crab, I can get back in the saddle (no pun intended) after about a week.  With Louis L’Amour it is one or two years.  With rodeos it is three to five years.

I am going to get myself into a lot of trouble for making this next statement, but, from my perspective, Oregon State University football games are a lot like rodeos.  It is a lot of fun to talk trash about the game at the water cooler on Monday morning, but sitting through a game is only fun every two or three years.

*It should be noted that even Larry Mahan, the best Texas rodeo cowboy in all of history, is from Oregon.

When is giving wrong?

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Imagine, six of us are walking down the street.  We come across a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk.  You all agree that the guy is a scammer, you’ve seen his act before; but I urge the entire group to cough up $20 apiece for the guy, and since I am bigger, stronger, and wield more influence in our social circle than anyone else in the group, you all grudgingly comply under the not so subtle duress. I collect $20 from each of you and give the guy $100. (I want to make sure you catch this – I take $20 from the 5 of you, and give the guy $100 – got it?)

Later that evening, you overhear me telling a girl I’m trying to impress that I just gave a homeless guy $100, and you watch me peel a couple of twenties off a roll of bills to pay for her drinks. I’m a really good guy, right?

Obviously, what I have just described is a grossly immoral act.  But it is perpetrated every day by politicians currying favor with certain voters.  (I could take the analogy further;  suppose prior to overhearing me at the bar you saw me outside the club talking to the homeless guy, and you later recognized markings on one of the twenties I used to pay the bar tab as the same markings on the twenty you gave me, and I subsequently gave to the homeless guy – but back to our discussion.) This brings me to my Law of Government Charity:  A government can be neither compassionate nor charitable, and it is immoral for one to try.

Before examining the magnitude of this immorality, I want to take a quick peek at the notion of an income tax.  Sometime after I had formulated my Law of Government Charity, I came across an opinion piece by Dr. Walter E. Williams that discussed the immorality of the income tax.  I cannot find that piece, but he has incorporated much of his argument here: . http://www.creators.com/opinion/walter-williams/are-americans-pro-slavery.html

 

In the original article I read, he made three points not discussed in this article:

1)      It is only by the whim of Congress that they don’t tax more, up to all, of our income.

2)      Because of the preemptive claim Congress places on our income, it is slavery, and therefore immoral of itself, not just because of how they use the money.

3)      A sales tax is associated with the citizen’s choice to buy, and thereby claims the moral high ground.

I was thrilled to discover that one of the great conservative economists supports my Law of Government Charity.  Here are some of his essays and brief monologues on the topic:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1252930/posts

http://www.creators.com/opinion/walter-williams/evil-concealed-by-money.html

 

View Redistribution of Income

 

 

View Liberal Compassion

 

 

View Government Charity

 

Now we return to our previously scheduled outrage.

I present to you another law I discovered, the Law of Personal Giving – Charitable giving requires a two-way responsibility; the responsibility of the giver to give to the receiver’s benefit and the responsibility of the receiver to use the gift to his benefit.  When performed responsibly it yields a two-way blessing.  The more removed from direct responsibility, the more dilute the blessing. I.e. Direct giving requires the greatest effort to ensure responsible giving, and returns the greatest blessing.  Giving through the Church or an established charity reduces both the required effort and the subsequent blessing. Compulsory giving returns no blessing whatsoever because it is involuntary and it gives no opportunity to exercise responsible giving.

When government attempts to be charitable, it is immoral, as we have already established; politicians claim credit not due them, which is fraud; and there is NO blessing coincidental to the act.  Think about that: The government takes and gives for which there is no blessing, NONE, anywhere.  Politicians fraudulently credit themselves. The taxpayer is then without the money with which he, by proper stewardship, could reap a blessing for himself and be the instrument of blessing to others.   Isn’t this colossal? Not only are politicians and the government committing immoral acts, they are depriving citizens of the blessings that are rightfully due them! Scandalous depravity!

The rot deepens – the government gifts create a dependency that corrodes the soul of the dependent, and the citizen shirks his God given responsibility, relying on the government to provide the thing Christ has instructed us to give. Notice, that while Christ tells us to render unto Caesar, He instructs us individually, not Caesar, to care for the least among us, thereby expressing our love for Him. The good Samaritan responded personally while the two Jews left it for someone else (Caesar?) to do.

Through the government system, we do not experience the depth of care and solicitude (true charity) that necessarily evolves from personal giving; and yet more egregious, the needy, lonely, outcast, hurting brother or sister is denied the love and care and kindness each heart craves and that can only be given through personal contact.  Try this – resolve to meet some pressing need of another, one they cannot meet on their own and one that involves some investment of yourself, then see what happens to your heart and your feelings for that person as you go about meeting that need. But be careful, this giving must not take the form of self aggrandizement. Christ tells us that it then becomes its own reward, and we miss the greater, God given blessing. This, then, is not some bleeding-heart blather, this is the plan and the promise of God.

Food for thought – “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

Recommended reading – The Tragedy of American Compassion by Marvin Olasky

Dave Christie, Loius L’Amour, and my Nook Color

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Day 46 of 1000

I have very fond memories of our recently passed friend, David Christie, sitting in his recliner reading old, tattered, Louis L’Amour paperbacks.  He must have read every one of them at least ten times.  I hope to write a little more of my memories of Dave before too long.  The reason I brought him up is because I though about him during one of my neighborhood walks earlier this week and remembered how much he enjoyed reading Louis L’Amour westerns.  I have been reading some pretty heavy stuff for several years now with just a short respite to listen to a Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey and a G.K. Chesterton novel or two from Librivox on my ZenStone Plus.

That all inspired me to download a Louis L’Amour novel to read on my Nook Color while I walked.  I picked Utah Blaine.  I just picked it at random.  It turns out that it is one of his earliest books written a year before I was born.  It was exactly what I expected it to be.  The good guys were tough, handsome, and bigger than life.  The beautiful pioneer woman kisses the hero about two thirds of the way through the book.  A great read!  I need to do that more often.  I think L’Amour is the MacDonalds of books.  Their food is not great, but it is good and, above all, very, very consistent.

Gun control only works when there isn’t any

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Wintery Knight come through again with another story on why Mexico would be a lot better off if the honest citizens have guns.  This Fox New articles describes how violent crime plummeted when onerous gun laws were thrown out by the courts in Chicago and Washington D.C.  I would suggest that Chicago’s crime rate dropped because Obama left, but that is mitigated by the fact that it also dropped in the town where he went.  It can only be attributed to the increase in the number of guns in the hands of honest citizens.

Update:  I should have know this article was written by John Lott, a one man wrecking crew when it comes to the facade of the effectiveness of gun control laws.  I am a big fan.  His book More Guns, Less Crime just went on my short list of books to read on my Nook Color while I walk.