Saturday Song, Simon and Garfunkel, "My Little Town"

I'm sure that many older folks can identify with this song. Canada and America were once populated by farmers and ramchers. The countryside bustled with agriculture and small towns were meeting places where people bought supplies. Industries moved in and farmers often took side jobs in town.

Big cities and changing demographics changed all that. Jobs migrated to big cities and young people followed them. Hamlets, like the one I live in, are becoming ghost towns due to this trend.

Simon and Garfunkel came together in 1975 to record this poignent song of the decline of small town life. Hear the song here.

Cities have always had a bad reputation in the Bible. They inevitably became centres of debautchery and immorality as people became less accountable to one another.

Two notibly wicked cities show just how perverted folks can become. Jude 1:7 (KJV) explains, "Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."

The places in which Christ preached and performed miracles were even worse than those cities. Mark 6:11 (KJV) quotes Jesus as saying to his disciples, "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city."

Even today, I notice that people in highly-populated areas are generally more immoral than country folks. What do you think? Have you noticed that too?

On Monday, I'll post about the gift of faith and what it means to us.

Raising Children is a Ministry

Another problem evangelicals have is the misunderstanding about what ministry is. We often elevate missionaries to a special class while considering staying home and raising children to be less important. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Holy Scripture is filled with admonitions regarding the value of family in shaping future citizens. Psalms 128:3 and 4 (BBE) is one of these passages showing how godly families will be blessed. "Your wife will be like a fertile vine in the inmost parts of your house: your children will be like olive plants round your table. See! this is the blessing of the worshipper of the Lord."

And as we read in Proverbs 22:6 (KJV) godly parenting generally results in godly adults. "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

We also understand how beneficial it is to be a law-abiding person. Proverbs 28:7 (BBE) tells us, "He who keeps the law is a wise son, but he who keeps company with feasters puts shame on his father."

Teaching children to be industrious also produces hard-working adults. As Proverbs 10:5 (BBE) reminds us, "He who in summer gets together his store is a son who does wisely; but he who takes his rest when the grain is being cut is a son causing shame."

Training children how to read the Bible also helps them prosper. Though Joshua 1:8 (BBE) was given to the Israelites, we also benefit by heeding its command. "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."

Paul also pointed out how a godly lineage gave his son-in-the-faith his ready acceptance of God's Word. We read in 2 Timothy 1:5 and 6 (BBE) that, "Having in mind your true faith, which first was in your mother's mother Lois, and in your mother Eunice, and, I am certain, is now in you. For this reason I say to you, Let that grace of God which is in you, given to you by my hands, have living power."

I could point out more verses showing how being a mere parent, as some folks think, is an important ministry. Parents needn't feel inferior to missionaries because they aren't in some far-flung land. They have a captive audience to evangelize.

On Saturday, I'll post about small town life and how these places are dying out in North America.

Prayer Cover and Prayer Walks

One new fad making its way through evangelical churches is the concept of covering or bathing an event in prayer. This certainly sounds spiritual but is it really?

There is no mention of covering an event with prayer in the Bible. Certainly there are requests for people to receive boldness but, as far as I've found, nobody prayed for the Lord to cover a specific venue with his blessing.

Paul did ask for boldness in Philippians 1:20 (BBE) in the matter of proclaiming the gospel. "In the measure of my strong hope and belief that in nothing will I be put to shame, but that without fear, as at all times, so now will Christ have glory in my body, by life or by death."

The early Christians also were given boldness to proclaim the truth, though they were persecuted for doing so. Acts 4:31 shows that they needed no prayer covering. "And when their prayer was ended, the place where they were was violently moved, and they all became full of the Holy Spirit, preaching the word of God without fear."

The Bible also says nothing about prayer walks. None of the apostles walked around the places they wished to evangelize while praying silently to the Lord. This too is superstition.

What they did was go into towns and villages where they would preach wherever they could find an audience. Mark 6:7-10 (BBE) shows how they evangelized. "And he gave orders to the twelve, and sent them out two by two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits; And he said that they were to take nothing for their journey, but a stick only; no bread, no bag, no money in their pockets; They were to go with common shoes on their feet, and not to take two coats. And he said to them, 'Wherever you go into a house, make that your resting-place till you go away.'"

People think that walking around a certain area while praying for souls to be saved will make folks more receptive. What accomplishes this is God's predestined calling. After Peter declared the way of salvation to the Pentecost attendees, he said in Acts 2:39 (BBE) to whom this great gift would come. "For the word of God is for you and for your children and for all those who are far off, even all those who may be marked out by the Lord our God."

So we see that gimmicks such as prayer walks and prayer covering are superstitious works done to make God obey. What an insult this is to God Almighty.

I'll be writing more on presumption and superstition in You Think You're Going to Heaven? Far too many so-called Christians try to get "breakthroughs" to satisfy their lustful pride. God isn't fooled, knowing the depths of evil in the human heart.

Saturday Song: National Lampoon, "Lemming's Lament"

This song is a brilliant and astute send-up of Crosby, Stills, and Nash as well as the whole Woodstock concert of 1969. This parody, rather than being about peace and love, was a death fest where people who wanted to end their lives could also have their bodies composted. But even with this bleak emphasis, the actual song is quite a joke.

Unfortunately, the song has disappeared from YouTube so I can't put the link here.

Back in the sixties, Teens and young adults thought they could reform the world. To them, the hidebound ideas of the older generation were to blame for the world's unrest and inequity. The idea of a socialist utopia seemed like the logical answer.

The problem is that people's ideas lead to destruction. As Proverbs 14:12 (KJV) states it, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways  of death."

As for the hippie ideal of free love, that too ends in heartbreak and destruction. As Proverbs 5:5 (KJV) warns of the immoral temptress, "Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell."

The socialist ideal of fairness also ends in destroying society. Back in the first century, the early churches had people who figured they need not work. Paul had to sort that problem out when he wrote in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (BBE), saying, "For even when we were with you we gave you orders, saying, If any man does no work, let him not have food."

The early churches also had young widows who sponged off of the church. As Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 5:13 (BBE) about these women, "And they get into the way of doing no work, going about from house to house; and not only doing no work, but talking foolishly, being over-interested in the business of others, saying things which they have no right to say."

So we see that the idealism of the hippie culture was utter foolishness. It plays out even today with sinners who want to change the definition of marriage and family. Even one's gender is considered fluid by these truth-rejecting sinners. May our Lord and Master come quickly.

On Monday, I'll post about the fads of prayer cover and prayer walks.

Are We Not Saints?

One disagreement I have with the Catholic denomination is that they think only those folks chosen by their church council are saints. That's not what the Bible teaches. Christ is the one who chooses and all those who believe in him are in that category.

A quick look at the New Testament books proves that all believers are saints. Acts 9:13 (BBE) shows how the early Christians considered themselves to be saints. "But Ananias said, 'Lord, I have had accounts of this man from a number of people, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem:"

Some folks might argue that those church leaders in Jerusalem were all those who had been with Jesus. Therefore they're the only ones who the Lord sanctified. Look at what Paul wrote in Romans 1:7 (BBE) about those gentile Christians in that city. "To all those who are in Rome, loved by God, marked out as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

Romans 16:1 and 2 also demonstrates that Paul regarded all followers of Christ as saints. "It is my desire to say a good word for Phoebe, who is a servant of the church in Cenchreae: That you will take her in kindly, after the way of the saints, as one who is the Lord's, and give her help in anything in which she may have need of you: because she has been a help to a great number and to myself."

But sainthood isn't some new Christian rank. Even in the Old Testament, God's people were called saints. Deuteronomy 33:2 (KJV) explicitly states, "And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he  shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery  law for them."

And Psalms 116:15 (KJV) shows that the saints were living people, not those who had died. "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints."

Psalms 89:5 (KJV) also shows that the people were the ones called saints. "And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the  congregation of the saints."(

I could quote so many more scriptures where God's people are called saints. I'll save that for my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Far too many followers of Christ feel inferior to the saints of old but they needn't feel so. Those ancients were just as fallible as we are or maybe more so.

On Saturday, I'll post about a satirical comedy group and their take off of the Woodstock festival in 1969.

What Writing and the Gospel Have in Common

The written word is special for many reasons. It preserves history for future generations. It can be referred to in matters of law and religion in order to settle arguments. And we also get the feeling of traveling back in time when we read ancient documents.

God understands the written word's power. The Ten Commandments were written in two stone tablets, making those laws permanent. Anybody needing clarification could just read what the law said rather than depending on people and their faulty and selective memories.

The phrase, "it is written" occurs seventy-nine times in the Bible. Jesus himself quoted the Old Testament during his temptation in the wilderness. As he told Satan in Matthew 4:4 (BBE), "But he made answer and said, 'It is in the Writings, "Bread is not man's only need, but every word which comes out of the mouth of God.'"

We can also understand what power the written word has in reviving the followers of God. Israel was in one of its apostate eras when God's written law was rediscovered. As 2 Chronicles 34:14 (KJV) explains, "And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses." This resulted in nation-wide repentance.

The apostles also wrote to the churches in order to correct misunderstandings among them and to give the congregation correction. As 1 Corinthians 5:11 (BBE) reads, "But the sense of my letter was that if a brother had the name of being one who went after the desires of the flesh, or had the desire for other people's property, or was in the way of using violent language, or being the worse for drink, or took by force what was not his, you might not keep company with such a one, or take food with him."

By these examples alone, we can tell how God uses the written word to preserve his truth. I hope to include this valuable lesson in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Without the written word to refer to, people can make all sorts of bogus claims of what God said.

On Thursday, I'll post about who is considered a saint according to the Bible.

Saturday Song: Lighthouse, "Little Kind Words"

This song was a huge hit in Canada during the summer of 1971. Part of its success was the recently-enacted Canadian content regulation where radio stations had to play thirty percent of their music recorded by Canadian artists.

But this song and this band were good enough without help from the government. The lyrics and harmony make this classic a joy to hear.

Listen to "Little Kind Words:

We Christians must say these "little kind words" to each other often. As it says in 1 Peter 1:22 (BBE), "And as you have made your souls clean, being ruled by what is true, and loving one another without deceit, see that your love is warm and from the heart:"

Likewise, Hebrews 10:24(BBE) reads, "And let us be moving one another at all times to love and good works;"

Also, we read in Hebrews 3:13 (BBE) the reason why we need to strengthen one another. "But give comfort to one another every day as long as it is still Today; so that no one among you may be made hard by the deceit of sin:"

This seems to be obvious but we do sometimes forget to give encouragement to each other. As 1 Thessalonians 4:9 (BBE) exhorts, "But about loving the brothers, there is no need for me to say anything to you in this letter: for you have the teaching of God that love for one another is right and necessary;"

Additionally, we must be humble and consider others. As Paul wrote in Romans 12:10 (BBE), we must, "Be kind to one another with a brother's love, putting others before yourselves in honour;"

By doing this, we give each other encouragement and we keep each other's faith strong. Even a quick e-mail or text of comfort can make a big difference.

On Monday, I'll post about what writing and the gospel have in common.