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Friday, January 8, 2016
Men or Wimps – Sacrifice or selfishness Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness. ~ Napoleon Hill
Are men really the men they should
be today?
Flocking to movie theatres throughout
the world, we are eagerly watching the new STAR WARS movie.
We watch to live virtuously through
Han Solo as this hero leads in a sacrificial manner that overcomes his greed until the battle is won.
Whether it is Star Wars, Rocky, Terminator or other movies, the men are depicted
as taking on overwhelming odds with integrity and a raw will to succeed while providing and insisting on a respect
for truth and striving for a better world.
On the other hand...how
often can we say that we felt joy and fulfilled when we have been watching men succeed at being greedy, stomping others down
to get their way, and selfishly put themselves first in order to get everything they desire.
Can we say never…or almost never?
Why is this?
Is it perhaps that
we as men are wired to know our purpose is to serve with respect, honor, and integrity?
Is it true that throughout the world, the movies
have upheld the American Marine Core as examples of true men?
I think they are held in this light (although there
are many others that should have this same honor)
What
is the Marine core motto?
"Semper Fidelis"
("Always Faithful") which they share with England's Devonshire Regiment, the 11th Foot.
Is this a selfish motto?
No!
Here are some characteristics of true men;
·
True men are not selfish but sacrificial in what
they do.
· True
men put the health, safety and needs of their family over their own.
·
True men look to serving their family and their
communities.
· True
men serve a higher calling than their own lives!
Why then is it then that today so many of our young people miss this fact?
Maybe men have adopted the woman’s advice that they give to children who are going out
to play.
"Have fun and keep safe."
This is not a man's motto!
We as men are NOT going out to play!
Have you heard young men say they have no purpose in life? I hear it all the time!
Why do we lose purpose?
Perhaps we lose purpose simply because we are not looking to the core of human existence as
men. Maybe we are putting our happiness and our desires (as an aside in the first world men think desires are needs)
ahead of selfless sacrifice.
We as men find purpose in our sacrificial
love of others, not in our selfish gratification of self.
Particular
as Christian men this must be the case. We are not here on this earth for our own enjoyment, but to make a difference and
build the future.
We say we
look to Christ but do we really do it?
Are we willing to lead in a self-sacrificing manner until the battle is won?
God wants us to be the real Hans Solo’s, the real Sylvester Stallone’s, the real
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s of the world today. Not virtual images but real men! Not fighting dreamed up enemies, but fighting
the hard cold reality of a sinful world. Not making no real difference, but making a significant difference in the lives of
those around us.
We are not here to wimp out of life, but to
stand firmly and using the inner power of Holy Spirit we are to be bastions of strength, sacrifice, integrity and honorable
action.
After all, Jesus showed us how when he died without complaint
on that death machine about 2000 years ago. He sacrificed ultimate power and control for service and humility for us. In so
doing he did a typical movie ending manoeuver, winning everything out of an impossible situation.
The difference is that this was no movie. It was reality for our universe and world.
How about will follow his example and become faithful men in times of
great selfishness?
Think about it!
Paul one of Jesus Followers did give us this advice…
Brothers and sisters, God has shown you his mercy. So I am asking you to offer
up your bodies to him while you are still alive. Your bodies are a holy sacrifice that is pleasing to God. When you offer
your bodies to God, you are worshiping him in the right way. Don’t live the way this world lives.
Let your way of thinking be completely changed. Then you will be able to test what God wants for you. And you will agree that
what he wants is right. His plan is good and pleasing and perfect.God’s grace has been given to me. So here is what I say to every one of you. Don’t think
of yourself more highly than you should. Be reasonable when you think about yourself. Keep in mind the faith God has given
to each of you. – Romans 12
Today as we work, let
us know we work for a higher calling than ourselves, we do not work for a boss, or to gain wealth, but to serve God, our family,
our community in a sacrificial manner.
May God give you the strength
to be a hero.
"Semper Fidelis"
Fri, January 8, 2016 | link
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Caretakers of Climate change“Men argue. Nature
acts.” ~ Voltaire
Our stuffy arguments have not
done much in recent years. Greed and pride combined with the need to maintain control of one’s political position has
inactivate true progress in taking care of our planet.
When God
said;
“Let us make mankind
in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock
and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
And then
“God
created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.”
He was expecting more from us as mankind. We were to look after
the Earth.
What is evidence of our caretaking in the
past few years?
· Tornadoes in Madrid
· Waterspouts coming ashore in Marseille, France
· Floods along the French Riviera,
· Floods in South Carolina (1000 year water mark overreached)
· Landslides in Guatemala killing hundreds
· Cyclones in Russia far East
· Typhoons blasting through the Philippines into China
·
Indonesia wildfires pumping CO2 into the air
·
Volcanic eruptions in Mexico
·
Hailstorms with hail that destroyed cars in Mexico
·
Floods washing away land in Northern Turkey,
·
Exceptional tidal flooding in Miami
·
Permafrost in Russia melts releasing vast quantities of methane from
marshes and seas into the air (methane is 3times worse than CO2 for global warming)
What is the prediction patterns?
·
Double the earthquakes experienced by humans by 2027
·
Heating decreasing crop yields perhaps by a third within the next
two to three decades
· As
ice in Greenland melts, the loss of weight causes isostatic rebound which will generate Earthquakes in the sea with potential
of devastating Tsunami’s
· El Nino is getting stronger (this year exceptionally hot weather patterns are and will be experienced)
·
CO2 is higher by over 100 ppm than it has been in the last 650 000
years.
· Any
temperature rise above 3 degrees C is expected to be devastating, we should not be going above 2 degrees, but the scientists
say that is going to happen now.
· There has been no slowdown in global warming since the 60’s and it continues to increase.
·
As the oceans warm, they setup a cycle of heating, more ice melts,
the sun is reflected less, water warms more, as the sun heats, permafrost disappears, methane and CO2 is released, the air
and oceans heat more, more heat is captured into our atmosphere.
· Bill Gates says by 2050 if we are not energy balanced, i.e. we use what we produce in a sustainable
manner, then there is little hope for humanity. By 2030 he says we have to have no coal fired power stations left if
we are to survive.
· The
artic cap melting raises sea levels by 16 to 20 feet
· The Antarctic cap melting raises sea levels by 200ft.
· Today there are cities that will likely be flooding soon as a result of the last 10 years of
CO2 emissions. 400 in the USA are predicted to be impacted.
· Venice and Netherlands and big parts of Europe will be impacted.
So how do we think it’s going?
Do we care? It’s interesting that at the Paris 2016 UN
climate change conference two big resistors of change, China and USA changed and started to support the change effort.
Why?
According to some predictions 2015 is the last chance to change and make a difference that could
save the humankind on this earth.
To put this into perspective,
the CO2 impact takes 10 years to work itself out and have its full impact. When we consider that between 1750 (before industrialization)
to 1880 the temperature raise was only 0.2 degrees C, that from 1880 to 2014 it was 1.17C and form 1880 to 2015 it is 1.26C,
we see we have a runaway situation.
Most of us ignore this. Christians
as much as any.
In
revelations speaking about judgement the bible says;
“The nations were angry,
and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
both
great and small—
and for
destroying those who destroy the earth.”
We have global warming, but our energy consumption is even more damning(I use the word deliberately).
China, India, and Asia are emerging as significantly developing nations and will increase the energy needs exponentially.
Every person born requires more energy yearly to develop. First world countries use more than developing countries. (five
times more) As the years progress we are simply overreaching our earth’s ability to sustain life effectively.
What does this mean?
It means we have to increase efficiencies, generating
power, decrease our populations and reduce our standards of living.
These
aspects will change our lives dramatically in the next ten years and definitely in the next twenty to thirty. We are on a
path for human disaster greater than world wars if we do not.
What can we, as Christians, do?
Support change, simplify our living standards, support legislation changes that support environmental
changes, stop criticising others are being negative and inaccurate in arguments that the environment is in trouble, plant
tree, ride more fuel efficient cars, decease electricity consumption, look at alternative forms of energy (hydro, solar and
wind).
Get informed!
It’s the small things that make differences. Speak out, change lights to use led bulbs,
try and access how to insulate your home so heating and cooling costs reduce.
Pray!
There is some good news for Christians.
We know how the World ends….
The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything
done in it will be laid bare.
The
current scenarios don’t predict any of this. Therefore it looks like we will win this fight and become good caretakers
again for a while.
Let’s remember the fight for our planet
is still on. Yes it is spiritual but it is also very physical. God came to earth to galvanize the human
hands and souls to action. How active will you be?
Wed, January 6, 2016 | link
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