Kraftwerk: "Computer World"

Even though desktop computers are waning in popularity, they still are useful devices. I personally like their size and having a full 101-key keyboard in front of me when I write.

In 1981, the German electronic music band Kraftwerk recorded a full album on the theme of computers and their growing role in the world. Listen to the title track of the album here:

When the Bible was being penned, the common materials used were parchment and ink.  Psalm 45:1 (Bible in Basic English) is one verse which mentions writing. "(To the chief music-maker; put to Shoshannim. Of the sons of Korah. Maschil. A Song of loves.) My heart is flowing over with good things; my words are of that which I have made for a king; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer."

Writing solidified the laws of the land and particularly of God. That's why the Lord said in Joshua 1:8 (BBE), "Let this book of the law be ever on your lips and in your thoughts day and night, so that you may keep with care everything in it; then a blessing will be on all your way, and you will do well."

Before pocket calculators, people wrote down amounts of products and payments required. Christ told a parable about a dishonest steward and how he solved his employment problem. Luke 16:4-6 (BBE) says, "'I have come to a decision what to do, so that when I am put out of my position they will take me into their houses.' And sending for every one who was in debt to his lord he said to the first, 'What is the amount of your debt to my lord?' And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' And he said, 'Take your account straight away and put down fifty.'" Please don't try this with your fuel bill.

Through letters in the scriptures, we get a feeling for how the various apostles lived. For example, Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:19-21 (BBE), "Give my love to Prisca and Aquila and those of the house of Onesiphorus. Erastus was stopping at Corinth; but Trophimus, when I last saw him was at Miletus, ill. Do your best to come before the winter. Eubulus sends you his love, and Pudens and Linus and Claudia, and all the brothers."

Thanks to an old program called Quickverse, I can find scriptures easily. Another called Bible Seeker lets me find the verses in basic English. Without them, writing my posts would be much more tedious.

If Christ delays his coming by Thursday, I hope to post about hypocrisy and a junk food junkie.

Bruce Atchison, Kraftwerk, "computer World", desktop computers, parchment, Psalms 45:1, Luke 16:4-6, Bible in Basic English, 2 Timothy 4:19-21, Quickverse, Bible Seeker

Saxon: "Never Surrender"

During the years I tried hard to make my Amway business grow, I used this song to motivate myself to make more calls on prospective distributors. A friend introduced me to Saxon when he sold me an LP of their album "Wheels of Steel." Unless you don't like heavy metal, check out the song here.

Though we are called by Christ to be meek, there are times when we need to make a stand. Like Ecclesiastes 3:7 (Bible in Basic English) advises, there's "A time for undoing and a time for stitching; a time for keeping quiet and a time for talk;"

We see where the disciples took a stand to follow Christ in Acts 4:19 and 20 (BBE). They could have obeyed the rulers, "But Peter and John in answer said to them, 'It is for you to say if it is right in the eyes of God to give attention to you more than to God: For it is not possible for us to keep from saying what we have seen and have knowledge of."

We also see where Paul and Silas were wrongfully imprisoned in Philippi. They were publicly beaten and arrested but the officials wanted to send them away, But Paul wanted nothing to do with sneaking out of town.

Acts 16:37 and 38 (BBE) reads, "But Paul said to them, 'They have given us who are Romans a public whipping without judging us, and have put us in prison. Will they now send us out secretly? no, truly, let them come themselves and take us out.'"

Paul also rejected an offer by Governor Festus to be judged in Jerusalem. He knew that his Roman citizenship gave him the right to be judged in Rome.

Acts 25:10 and 11 (BBE) reads, "And Paul said, 'I am before the seat of Caesar's authority where it is right for me to be judged: I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you are well able to see. If, then, I am a wrongdoer and there is a cause of death in me, I am ready for death: if it is not as they say against me, no man may give me up to them. Let my cause come before Caesar.'"

So we understand that we accept persecution for preaching Christ but we also can use the laws of the land when it's right to do so.

If Christ returns by Monday, I hope to post about computers and how we used to communicate with one another.

Lenny Kravitz: "Bank Robber Man"

The lyrics on this song are hard to hear so I'll explain the song. It's about a man walking on a city street when the police arrest him. He fit the description of a man who had just robbed a bank but it wasn't him who did it.

Listen, if you can, to this song:

I don't blame black American folks for hating being mistaken for criminals. Though a higher percentage of African-American men commit crimes, it's still insulting to be thought of as being guilty until proven innocent.

We Christians are in the same sort of situation. Non Christians make assumptions about us such as what Paul wrote in Romans 3:8 (Bible in Basic English). "'Let us not do evil so that good may come' (a statement which we are falsely said by some to have made), because such behaviour will have its right punishment."

Likewise, Peter explained why we suffer for righteousness' sake and yet it's to our credit in 1 Peter 3:15-17 (BBE). "But give honour to Christ in your hearts as your Lord; and be ready at any time when you are questioned about the hope which is in you, to give an answer in the fear of the Lord and without pride; Being conscious that you have done no wrong; so that those who say evil things about your good way of life as Christians may be put to shame. Because if it is God's purpose for you to undergo pain, it is better to do so for well-doing than for evil-doing."

If you still wonder why we must suffer for being righteous, Paul provides the answer in Philippians 1:29 (BBE). "Because to you it has been given in the cause of Christ not only to have faith in him, but to undergo pain on his account:"

If Christ hasn't returned to reward us for our faithfulness by Monday, I hope to post about the folly of using faddish techniques to proclaim the gospel.

John Fogerty: "Deja Vu (All Over Again)"

How true it is that the more things change, the more things stay the same. For example, people have been murdering and warring against each other for millennia but it still happens in our supposedly modern world.

John Fogerty sang about this feeling that we've heard it all before in this song. Check it out here:

It's no surprise that the very first family was dysfunctional. We read how it was summed up in 1 John 3:12 (Bible in Basic English) that we should be, "Not being of the Evil One like Cain, who put his brother to death. And why did he put him to death? Because his works were evil and his brother's works were good."

Even squabbles in the family of Christ aren't new. James 4:1-3 (BBE) warns us, "What is the cause of wars and fighting among you? is it not in your desires which are at war in your bodies? You are burning with desire, and have not your desire, so you put men to death; you are full of envy, and you are not able to get your desire, so you are fighting and making war; you have not your desire, because you do not make request for it. You make your request but you do not get it, because your request has been wrongly made, desiring the thing only so that you may make use of it for your pleasure."

We have new concepts in governance but the basic purpose is the same. Note what Paul wrote in Romans 13:1 and 2 (BBE). "Let everyone put himself under the authority of the higher powers, because there is no power which is not of God, and all powers are ordered by God. For which reason everyone who puts himself against the authority puts himself against the order of God: and those who are against it will get punishment for themselves."

Until Christ returns, bad things will continue to happen. As he said in Matthew 24:8 (BBE) about turmoil, "But all these things are the first of the troubles."

If our lord delays his coming past Saturday, I hope to post about cases of mistaken identity.

Daryl Hall and John Oates: "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)"

This early-eighties hit by Hall and Oates is about a woman who wants her boyfriend's soul but like he said in the song, he couldn't "go" for that. Listen to this song here:

In our Christian lives, there are things we also won't allow. Sin is the chief no-no we struggle against.

Paul certainly knew the pull of the tempter. In Romans 7:14 (Bible in Basic English), he told his readers how the law alerts the flesh to sin. "For we are conscious that the law is of the spirit; but I am of the flesh, given into the power of sin. And I have no clear knowledge of what I am doing, for that which I have a mind to do, I do not, but what I have hate for, that I do."

In humility, we are able to fend off the temptation to compromise our beliefs for a little pleasure. James 4:7 (BBE) reminds us, "For this cause be ruled by God; but make war on the Evil One and he will be put to flight before you."

And even if we suffer for doing what's right instead of taking advantage of a sinful situation, we can be pleased to suffer for righteousness' sake. Joseph's imprisonment on a false charge of sexual molestation is a case in point.

Genesis 39:17-20 (BBE) shows how Potiphar's cheating wife blamed Joseph for not lying with her. "Then she gave him the same story, saying, 'The Hebrew servant whom you have taken into our house came in to make sport of me; And when I gave a loud cry he went running out without his coat.' And hearing his wife's account of what his servant had done, he became very angry. And Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, in the place where the king's prisoners were kept in chains, and he was there in the prison-house."

Just as Joseph was compensated for his suffering later on, so we will be blessed if we hold to the truth.

If Christ hasn't returned by Thursday, I'll post about how things in the world never seem to change.

Don Henley: "Dirty Laundry"

What a shame we hear so little good news. The motto, "If it bleeds, it leads," is continually followed by reporters and news editors. These days, political enemies of the leftist activists in the press are the ones routinely smeared.

Don Henley had a hit with a song about television newscasters back in 1982. The media landscape has changed but the ethos is the same. "Kick 'em when they're up. Kick 'em when their down."

Listen to this song here:

One sin Christians fall into is gossip. Unlike seeking a way to help a fallen sibling in Christ, folks use their tongues to tear others down while boosting their egos.

Gossips ought to heed Proverbs 10:18 (Bible in Basic English). "Hate is covered up by the lips of the upright man, but he who lets out evil about another is foolish."

God certainly took harsh action against those who murmured against Moses. That generation wandered the desert for forty years. Numbers 14:36 and 37 (BBE) explains, "And the men whom Moses sent to see the land, and who, by the bad account they gave of the land, were the cause of the outcry the people made against Moses, Those same men who said evil of the land, came to their death by disease before the Lord." Only Kalib and Joshua were spared for their good report of the land."

We also receive a stern warning against harmful speech in James 3:5 and 6 (BBE) about how dangerous wicked talk is. "Even so the tongue is a small part of the body, but it takes credit for great things. "How much wood may be lighted by a very little fire! And the tongue is a fire; it is the power of evil placed in our bodies, making all the body unclean, putting the wheel of life on fire, and getting its fire from hell."

James 1:19 and 20 BBE) also reminds us, "You have knowledge of this, dear brothers. But let every man be quick in hearing, slow in words, slow to get angry; For the righteousness of God does not come about by the wrath of man."

In the event that Christ hasn't returned by Monday, I plan on posting about When to obey or disobey government edicts.

Deep Purple: "Highway Star"

People certainly do love their cars. They also are tempted to speed by their pride, thinking they can handle their vehicles at high speeds.

This song by Deep Purple shows how having a fast car seems like a right to speed. 

Listen to the song here:

The proverb, "hast makes waste," certainly applies in this situation. It's been my experience that drivers can't stand having a car in front of them, especially when that driver is doing the speed limit.

Proverbs 16:18 (Bible in Basic English) admonishes such speeders, "Pride goes before destruction, and a stiff spirit before a fall." Of course the only place that doesn't apply is in the dictionary.

Arrogant folks never heed the advice of Proverbs 8:13 (BBE). "The fear of the Lord is seen in hating evil: pride, a high opinion of oneself, the evil way, and the false tongue, are unpleasing to me."

We also see in Isaiah 23:9 (BBE) why God punishes hautiness. "It was the purpose of the Lord of armies to put pride to shame, to make sport of the glory of those who are honoured in the earth."

God and his prophets mourned the fate of those who refused to listen. As Jeremiah 13:17 (BBE) says, "But if you do not give ear to it, my soul will be weeping in secret for your pride; my eye will be weeping bitterly, streaming with water, because the Lord's flock has been taken away as prisoners." This verse refers to the Babylonian captivity.

Ezekiel 16:49 (BBE) shows the cause of pride, both then and today. "Truly, this was the sin of your sister Sodom: pride, a full measure of food, and the comforts of wealth in peace, were seen in her and her daughters, and she gave no help to the poor or to those in need."

This small sampling of scriptures shows how deadly the sin of pride is. Proud people think they need no help but they're in great danger of damnation.

If Christ hasn't come to judge the living and the dead by Saturday, I hope to post about people rejoicing in the disgrace and misery of others.

DC Talk: "Jesus Freak"

This song reminds me of myself during my junior high and high school days. I used to hand out tracts to the kids and I wore my Christian badges proudly. And when I had an opportunity, I defended Christ in class

Listen to this loud and proud song about our Lord here:

The worst persecution I suffered for the Master was mild compared to the suffering of God's apostles. Hebrews 11:36-38 (Bible in Basic English) reads, "And others were tested by being laughed at or by blows, and even with chains and prisons: They were stoned, they were cut up with knives, they were tested, they were put to death with the sword, they went about in sheepskins and in goatskins; being poor and in pain and cruelly attacked, Wandering in waste places and in mountains and in holes in the rocks; for whom the world was not good enough."

I'm glad Jesus made no secret of persecution to come when we follow him. He warned in John 16:2 (BBE), "They will put you out of the Synagogues: yes, the time is coming when whoever puts you to death will have the belief that he is doing God's pleasure."

I believe that when persecution comes to us, the Holy Spirit will strengthen us to go through it. Revelation 12:10 (BBE) reads, "And a great voice in heaven came to my ears, saying, 'Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: because he who says evil against our brothers before our God day and night is forced down.' And they overcame him through the blood of the Lamb and the word of their witness; and loving not their lives they freely gave themselves up to death."

And lest anybody thinks God won't avenge those who would rather die than abandon Christ, Revelation 6:9-11 (BBE) shows his concern for his martyrs. "And when the fifth stamp was undone, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been put to death for the word of God, and for the witness which they kept. And they gave a great cry, saying, 'How long will it be, O Ruler, holy and true, before you take your place as judge and give punishment for our blood to those on the earth?' And there was given to every one a white robe, and they were ordered to take their rest for a little time, till the number was complete of the other servants, their brothers, who would be put to death, even as they had been."

No matter what happens, we must keep in mind John 12:25 (BBE). "He who is in love with life will have it taken from him; and he who has no care for his life in this world will keep it for ever and ever."

If Christ hasn't returned by Thursday, I plan on posting about pride and a great song by Deep Purple.

David Bowie: "Fashion"

This song speaks of the changing political scene in general. For awhile,leftists governments are popular. Then right wing parties come into office to try and undo the damage from the previous administration.

Listen to David Bowie's song here:

Israel had its times of loyalty to the lord and then apostasy set in. Joshua 24:15 and 16 (Bible in Basic English) is one example of how the people claimed to be faithful. "'And if it seems evil to you to be the servants of the Lord, make the decision this day whose servants you will be: of the gods whose servants your fathers were across the River, or of the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living: but I and my house will be the servants of the Lord.' Then the people in answer said, 'Never will we give up the Lord to be the servants of other gods;'"

How sad it was that when Joshua died, so did the faith of the Israelites. Judges 2:10 (BBE) shows how the new generation abandoned God. "And in time death overtook all that generation; and another generation came after them, having no knowledge of the Lord or of the things which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord and became servants to the Baals; And they gave up the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had taken them out of the land of Egypt, and went after other gods, the gods of the peoples round about them, worshipping them and moving the Lord to wrath."

This pattern of sinning and repenting went on for generations, as the Book of Judges shows. People never seemed to learn from past disasters. We see that same tendency in our history today.

Neither did having a king help to keep the Israelites faithful. We see in 1 Kings 11:4 (BBE) how the religious "fashion" changed. "For it came about that when Solomon was old, his heart was turned away to other gods by his wives; and his heart was no longer true to the Lord his God as the heart of his father David had been."

No matter which political party is in power, God's kingdom continues on. Every generation had faithful people who bucked the trend and worshipped him. How nice that we can have his help even when tyrants rule over us.

If Christ doesn't return by Monday, I hope to post about Jesus freaks.

Crosby, Stills, and Nash: "Long Time Gone"

When this song was recorded, the Vietnam war raged and student protests against the draft were commonplace. Those years certainly felt like dark days to us who lived through them.

Crosby, Stills, and Nash recorded this as their commentary on the anti-war movement. Check it out here:

Every age had its dark days. All through the Old Testament, Israel ended up conquered and enslaved whenever they abandoned God. And as we read in Hebrews chapter eleven, faithful folks endured hard times with the hope of heaven in their hearts.

Long before Christ and the apostles, Abraham sought after the Lord. Hebrews 11:9 and 10 (Bible in Basic English) said of him, "By faith he was a wanderer in the land of the agreement, as in a strange land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who had a part with him in the same heritage: For he was looking for the strong town, whose builder and maker is God."

Though it seems like Christ has been "long time gone," his return is a certainty. James 5:8 (BBE) reminds us to, "Be as calm in your waiting; let your hearts be strong: because the coming of the Lord is near."

Likewise, Paul trusted his readers and wrote in 2 Thessalonians 3:4 and 5 (BBE), "And we have faith in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things about which we give you orders. And may your hearts be guided by the Lord into the love of God and quiet waiting for Christ."

Two angels also gave the disciples the good news that Christ would return someday. Acts 1:10 and 11 (BBE) tells the story of how it happened. "And while they were looking up to heaven with great attention, two men came to them, in white clothing, And said, "O men of Galilee, why are you looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come again, in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

May our Lord come soon. If he hasn't arrived by Saturday, I hope to post about fickle political fashion.

Bachman-Turner Overdrive: "Give Me Your Money Please"

When I first heard this song in the spring of 1976, I didn't like it. It sounded like BTO were glorifying robbery. My mind changed when I listened closely to the lyrics. The robber in the song was polite. That's the whole point of the song.

Have a listen and tell me what you think:

No matter how people justify it, theft is theft. Exodus 20:15 (Bible in Basic English) is quite clear on that matter. "Do not take the property of another."

Even obsessing about what somebody else has is an evil activity. God is quite clear on that too in Exodus 20:17 (BBE). "Let not your desire be turned to your neighbour's house, or his wife or his man-servant or his woman-servant or his ox or his ass or anything which is his."

And any excuse we give for confiscating something from somebody, except if our children get hold of something dangerous, is still theft. Paul asked a very good question in Romans 6:16 (BBE). "Are you not conscious that you are the servants of him to whom you give yourselves to do his desire? if to sin, the end being death, or if to do the desire of God, the end being righteousness."

Our Lord and Master made it plain that we must obey him and his Father in Luke 6:46 (BBE). "Why do you say to me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not the things which I say?"

Nobody likes being assaulted or robbed. Even so, Christ commanded us in Luke 6:29 (BBE) that, "If a man gives you a blow on one side of your face, then let the other side be turned to him; from him who takes away your coat, do not keep back your robe."

Of course this doesn't mean that we can't report the assault or robbery to the police. They're appointed to keep the peace and to prevent bad behaviour.

And if Christ doesn't come to judge the world by Thursday, I hope to post about the seemingly-long time Christ is taking to return.