Solution or problem: You decide

ByHal Hammons

If you believe everything on Facebook that corresponds with your current world view and reject everything that doesn’t, you are not part of the solution; you are part of the problem.

If you feel compelled to get the last word in, even if the “conversation” is with someone who is just as determined as you and the “conversation” runs on for days, you are not part of the solution; you are part of the problem.

If you embrace faulty or downright incorrect argumentation because the people on the other side are habitual liars (irony alert), you are not part of the solution; you are part of the problem.

The “problem” is, people are afraid to challenge their own wisdom — an odd position for a Christian to take, seeing that (supposedly) that is precisely why we came to Jesus in the first place.  Our way cannot be accurately self-determined (Jeremiah 10:23).  Without guidance from those wiser than we, our own “wisdom” will destroy us (Proverbs 14:12).

The “solution” is a cocktail of humility, curiosity and love.  All three of these elements are essential characteristics for the Christian.  We don’t care about being proved right; we eagerly admit how wrong we have always been and wait for God to do the exalting (James 4:10).  Having acknowledged our woeful lack of true knowledge and wisdom, we scour the Bible and plumb the minds of respected men and women in search of it — always acknowledging the primacy of “the fear of the Lord” (Proverbs 1:7) through it all.  And we care enough about our fellow humans to view them as fellow seekers — flawed, as we are — in need of our patience and worthy of our respect.

Humility, curiosity, and love.  I’m noticing a distinct shortage of all of the above these days.  Let’s do what we can to address that, shall we? 

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Rabbits, eggs, and the Lord’s day

ByHal Hammons

Rabbits and eggs are in great abundance this time of year.  And anyone who knows anything about the history of Easter knows why.  They are symbols of fertility.  The spring equinox has always been celebrated as the time that the earth is in full recovery from winter.  The earth has come back from the dead, as it were.  The pagans, who saw the earth as an entity to be worshiped, turned the equinox into an opportunity for revelry — and, typically, debauchery.  (Children, if you don’t know what “fertility” and “debauchery” mean, ask your parents.)  The Catholic church incorporated local pagan worship traditions as it spread throughout Europe many centuries ago.  Thus, the celebration of the rebirth of the earth became the celebration of the risen Lord.  (The Greek word in Acts 12:4 rendered “Easter” by the King James Version translators is the same word rendered “Passover” every other time it occurs.)

Personally, I like rabbits.  And I absolutely love eggs. 

Priorities

ByHal Hammons

Here’s another Gene Stallings story.  Apologies if this offends any Auburn people out there.

Coach Stallings took his national championship team to the White House, as is customary.  (Or used to be, anyway.  Crazy world.)  Anyway, …

Puzzle

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A preaching mentor of mine recently compared the church to a jigsaw puzzle and its members to individual pieces — indented to receive other pieces, and protruding to be received by others.  As big a fan of puzzles, the church, and good gospel preaching, you would think I would have made better use of that word picture over the years.  Well, let me spend 300 words fixing that error of omission.

Stork

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Most references to “love” in the New Testament use one of two Greek nouns — agapao or phileo.  (Hide the children!  Hal’s faking a knowledge of Greek again!)  But there is another Greek word included in the compound word astorge, which is usually translated “unloving.”  The root storge is generally defined as “family love,” that…

Government

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I saw a story today about a man in Frisco, Texas, who was ticketed for speeding.  Nine miles per hour over the posted limit.  There seems to be no disputing the facts of the matter, nor is it in question how the man felt about the infraction.  He paid the $212 ticket in pennies, brought to the ticket office in buckets labeled “Extortion money.”  He dumped the buckets at the payment window and left.  It took the workers there three hours to count and roll the coins.

What a jerk.