Best Gadget for Writers

Writers in the 21^st century have a plethora of tools at their disposal. Computers of one sort or another—whether desktops, notebooks, or even smart phones—enable writers to record, edit, organize, save, and access their ideas permanently. Innumerable recording devices empower writers to monitor audio-visual information exactly as it occurs. This helps to authenticate or enhance their material. Even things like coffee shops help writers settle their minds and bodies into a serene working or interviewing environment.

But these modern blessings rank second to the ancient virtues of discipline and humility. The lazy writer may never finish the job, may never see new concepts or angles right before their eyes, may never discover the fine line between thorough and concise, or may never recognize their own potential. The proud writer might only consider one point of view, might only seek uncritical critique, might only allow personal preferences to guide a story, or might only care about profit and popularity.

Many of the best writers in the world never owned, used, or even imagined a word processor, digital camera, or Starbucks. But for both the technological haves and have-nots, good writers think through their stories, ponder—and maybe even include—data from multiple sources, let others have a say in their final products, and work as hard and as long as they need in order to create the very best narratives they can.

What's in a Name?

Well... "Nikolas, with only one C" is gone for now. At least, I have changed my blog's name and web address, though my profile and first post still bear the former name and idea behind it. To be sure, my name definitely remains spelled "with a k." So Christ -- the ultimate "C" in the English language -- is still the only "C" I use in self-identification.

My main motivation was to synchronize my blog name with my twitter name -- both because it looks better to me personally, and because I imagine that on my likely road to unfame and unfortune (using the world's terms), those who find me one place can more easily find the same me someplace else.

And though "C" equaling Christ in my former blog name far outranks "montana" in "montananik82," I have used the latter for a long time, and it frankly flows better for aesthetic, typing, and recollection purposes. So better now than later...as far as this strange-but-hopefully-intriguing writer is concerned.

Preachers and Patriarchs: U.S. Leaders Rally around Middle Eastern Christians

960 years. Let’s see, Jared and Methuselah lived longer than that, according to Genesis 5. But no one else. Eastern and Western Christianity split apart 960 years ago.

Yet last May, the head of the billion-member Roman Catholic Church met the leader of the 250-million-strong Eastern Orthodox Church in Jerusalem. The meeting—between Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew—continued a fifty-year trend of the two churches to nurture their mutual ties as children of God.

These two men are not alone in trying to build global ecumenical fellowship.

American Efforts

In early May, nearly 200 leaders across America signed a Pledge of Solidarity and Call to Action on behalf of Christians and other religious minorities in Egypt, Syria, and Iraq. Signers hail from a rare broad spectrum of Evangelicals, Catholics, Anglicans, and Orthodox Christians, as well as Arab-Americans, progressives, ambassadors, and journalists. Two congressmen—one from each political party—have addressed the issue on Capitol Hill as well.

The pledge concentrates on “this current wave of persecution” and “brutal extremist campaigns” against Middle Eastern Christians. Washington, D.C. Cardinal Donald Wuerl calls for protecting religious freedom in the Middle East: “If history has any lesson to teach us about silence, it’s not a good one.”

According to Fox News and other sources, the number of Christian Middle Easterners has fallen 60 percent since 2011. This number indicates many Christians have died or converted, but likely most of them have fled or immigrated.

In Turkey just one percent of the population is Christian, whereas Christians were one-quarter of the population a century ago. Christians in Iraq numbered 1.5 million a generation ago. Now they total 200,000. War has wrecked 30 percent of Syria’s churches. At least 40 Christians in Iran are “in prison, detained, or awaiting trial because of their religious beliefs and activities,” reports the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. And among both Israelis and Palestinians, the number of Christians has plummeted since 1948.

The pledge of solidarity asks Washington to defend and assist Christians and religious minorities in the Middle East. The question at hand: will this kind of document, or subsequent efforts, help?

Mideast Responses

In Orthodox churches in Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria, the incense smells as strong as it looks. The formality of the service is as rigid as it is long. The chanting of Scripture and ringing of bells and gongs is both beautiful and enigmatic. Floors are stone, benches are wood, and icons and images in stained glass windows stared. In many settings men and women sit separately.

Yet when you meet Arab Christians, be they Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant, you quickly learn they are not just waiting around for their Western brothers and sisters to save them. Besides, their churches are not just decades or centuries old. Many date back to the first millennium. If you mix that ancient strength with Western Mideast diplomacy that usually focuses on Muslims and Jews, you may start to understand why some Christians in the Middle East distrust or oppose what they call Western “intervention.”

Fawzi Khalil, pastor in Cairo at the largest evangelical church in the Middle East, highly values “the prayers and concerns of our Christian brethren around the world, and in the U.S. especially. But we don’t believe outside pressure would be best for our daily life with our Muslim friends. The government of Egypt with local Christian leaders is best suited to fix our problems.”

In Syria, many Christians support the beleaguered government because some militant rebels have attacked them. Father Gabriel Daoud is a Syriac Orthodox priest, and he resents that U.S. support sometimes goes to his enemies. He bitterly asks if Westerners would ever “let these militants into their countries to destroy everything.”

Then again, many Mideast Christians do crave more assistance from the United States. “We feel forgotten and isolated,” says Baghdad’s Catholic Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako. “If they kill us all, what would be the reaction of Christians in the West? Would they do something then?” Plus, many Christian immigrants to the West become activists for more action on behalf of their home countries.

The key is to pray faithfully and boldly for Christians throughout the Middle East, and then offer overt help to specific people with a humble heart that is eager to bless…and be blessed.

~~~~~~~~
(Originally published by The Presidential Prayer Team.)

Identifying Donors: IRS, NOM, Maine, Mozilla, and November

Gerrymandering is an old, subversive form of pre-election cheating. Officials in a state may draw up the voting districts in such a way as to help a certain candidate or party win a poll. The history of the practice includes figures such as founding father Patrick Henry and former Senator Barack Obama, along with institutions like Congress and the Supreme Court.

The current decade has seen a form of post-election underhandedness. The most popular example is the Internal Revenue Service scandals of the past year or two. IRS agents—if not the agency as a whole—allegedly conducted extra scrutiny from 2010-2012 on conservative non-profit groups.

The story broke in 2013, but is currently heating up again as many of the organizations are suing the federal government and various officials. Most Republicans and some Democrats resent such extra-legal targeting, and President Obama called it “inexcusable.”

But this game involves more than just the IRS. Some states want in on the action, too.

In 2009, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) tried to overturn Maine’s new same-sex marriage law. NOM’s efforts succeeded, and the law never took effect.

Then the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices began investigating NOM’s involvement. After some legal delays, the commission finally released its findings in late May. It found that NOM had failed to register its campaign or reveal its donors, contrary to state law.

Maine requires all donors—other than political action committees—to register in the state if they raise or spend more than $5,000 on a ballot issue. NOM contributed about $2 million. Therefore, the commission recommended fining NOM $50,250—nearly twice the largest penalty it has ever imposed.

NOM says it will appeal the decision. It does not contest the $2 million figure; rather, it says that most of the money it raised went into its general fund, and that most of its expenditures came out of the same fund. The dollars were not specifically earmarked for the Maine initiative. Therefore, NOM maintains, it should not have to reveal its donors or pay the fine.

Both sides have made strong emotional appeals—but weak legal arguments—to the press. NOM contends that Maine’s ethics commission is singling it out, and that its gay rights opponent in the 2009 political battle, the Human Rights Campaign, operated in the same way. Whether this claim is right or not, it hardly helps to prove their innocence.

On the other hand, the commission refuses to acknowledge that NOM’s money could have come only from general donations and expenses. Walter McKee, chairman of the commission, believes this assertion “strains the credibility here.” Still, the commission has the burden of proof to show any actual wrongdoing.

This issue has broader implications for donations and elections. In late March, Brendan Eich was appointed CEO of Mozilla. The next day, blogs, social media, and news reports began to oppose his new leadership role because six years earlier Eich had donated to the pro-traditional marriage Proposition 8 campaign in California. The attacks became so strong that Eich resigned one week later. Obviously, NOM fears that sort of retribution against any of its donors.

Also, presidential elections are not far away. NOM and other groups—conservative and liberal—might be forced to play more limited roles if their donors fear future identification. Both the IRS and Maine ethics commission have their place. But making one-sided, incompetent, or excessive inspections goes beyond their mission.

Please pray for:

• Humility, integrity, and forethought on the part of officials and private citizens who seek to restrict or examine other groups or individuals
• Dialogue and justice to prevail over bias and unilateralism all across America
• Politically-minded organizations to abide by all laws pertaining to their activities
• Religious freedom and biblical truth to prevail in today’s culture wars

~~~~~~~~
(Originally published by The Presidential Prayer Team.)

Billy Graham and Louis Zamperini: One Conversion Saga out of Five Million

If you do not know the story of Louis Zamperini, you are missing out.

Born during World War I, the young Californian set several speed records on his way to running in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. His speed continued to increase. But before he could compete in any more games, World War II broke out and Zamperini joined the Army Air Corps.

He was assigned to the Pacific Theater, where he partook in many missions against the Japanese. He already had a record of barely surviving—such as when his plane received 594 holes from the enemy—when an old B-24 faltered and took him and his crew into the sea in May 1943. He and two others survived the crash, only to float in life rafts on the open ocean for the next 47 days.

Their food was only what they could catch, and their water was only what fell from the sky. Both were scarce. Their enemies included Japanese planes, countless sharks, and deep despair. One of the men did not make it. The men flirted with death for weeks before Japanese rescued them and eventually sent them to POW torture camps.

For some reason, the most feared and brutal man in the camp, Mutsuhiro Watanabe—nicknamed “The Bird”—took especially vicious interest in Zamperini from day one. The Bird seemed to like inflicting great undue physical and psychological torture. And when Zamperini was not suffering under his blows, he was having nightmare after nightmare about him—for years.

Zamperini remained a prisoner until Japan surrendered in August 1945. When he finally returned home, his memories of hell on earth eclipsed his ecstasy of freedom. He got married, but dreams of The Bird continued, as did a chronic drinking problem. He became infatuated with going back to Japan to murder The Bird.

By 1949, Zamperini’s marriage was in shambles. But his wife Cynthia convinced him to attend a Christian meeting led by a young evangelist named Billy Graham. Zamperini left the first session abruptly. But the second time, he made a physical and spiritual about-face, and submitted his life to the authority and grace of Jesus Christ.

The Bird immediately and permanently left his dreams—as did Zamperini’s thoughts of revenge. On the contrary, he made his trip to Japan a few years later and forgave whatever former captors he could find. He never found The Bird, but wrote a note of forgiveness and Christian testimony for someone to give him.

Meanwhile, Zamperini’s marriage revived, lasting until Cynthia’s death in 2001. He recovered to excellent health, shared his faith with whoever would listen—culminating in Laura Hillenbrand’s recent best-seller “Unbroken”—and carried the Olympic torch in Nagano, Japan, in 1988. He left this world last July at the age of 97.

More than surviving World War II, Zamperini’s real legacy is faith, joy, and forgiveness. Yet his story depended on God’s work in the life of another man. Billy Graham has shared Christ around the world for more than 60 years. He has met with every U.S. President since Harry Truman. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) recently reached five million decisions for Jesus, via its online wing called peacewithgod.net.

According to The Christian Post, 20,000 people visit peacewithgod.net each day. And in just one month this fall, 112,000 found the site in three strife-ridden Middle Eastern countries.

Graham passed his baton on to his family. His wife Ruth raised their five children and stayed his closest friend all through their more than six decades of marriage. She died in 2007. Son Franklin heads BGEA, and also the major international Christian aid organization Samaritan’s Purse. And so on and so forth…

Billy Graham has had poor health in recent years. His family periodically issues medical updates. If he lives until next November, he will match Zamperini’s 97 years.

Few of the five million conversions through BGEA are as documented as Zamperini’s. But all of them are full of God and are celebrated in heaven. Moreover, few evangelists ever see more than dozens or maybe hundreds of transformed lives. But anybody who extends the light of Christ to a dark world is rewarded with unending riches and glory—no matter who responds.

Please pray that…

• Billy Graham’s ministry and legacy would carry on for decades more
• Louis Zamperini’s story—currently very popular—would draw many to Christ
• God would spur you and your church to ever more obedience in sharing the Good News

~~~~~~~~
(Originally published by The Presidential Prayer Team [www.presidentialprayerteam.com]. Reprinted here with permission.)

National Day of Prayer: Seeking God’s Heart for America…and the World

Abraham Lincoln is often credited—erroneously—with commencing America’s days of national thanksgiving and prayer in 1863. In fact, he merely prompted these important days to occur more often. It started fourscore and nine years earlier, according to the U.S. House of Representatives, when “the first act of America’s first Congress in 1774 was to ask a minister to open with prayer and to lead Congress in the reading of four chapters of the Bible.”

Last year, House Resolution 547 called for observing the 63rd annual National Day of Prayer on May 1. U.S. Code Title 36 obliges the president to pronounce such a day on the first Thursday of each May. H.R. 547 specifically cited America’s “long history of turning to prayer both in times of crisis and in times of thanksgiving, including over 130 national calls to prayer by the President of the United States since 1789,” when George Washington decreed a day of national prayer and thanksgiving.

National prayer trends have begun elsewhere as well. Canada’s legislative branch of government will host that nation’s 49th National Prayer Breakfast from May 6-8. The United Kingdom has a National Day of Prayer and Worship team that has visited more than 150 municipalities over the past three years. Filipino President Benigo Aquino led a National Day of Prayer and Solidarity in January to remember those lost in natural disasters in 2013. And what began in South Africa as a national prayer movement in 2001 has evolved into an annual Global Day of Prayer event—with millions of participants in virtually all countries.

Australia’s prayer effort deserves special attention. Last year, Canberra hosted a National Day of Prayer and Fasting, followed by 40 days of prayer and fasting during Lent. Then after Easter, the Australians kept going. In a spirit of grace and gratitude, they directed their intercessions toward the United States.

For 48 hours last spring, Australia’s national prayer day team not only called on Australians, but 100 countries across the planet to pray for America! They did this in 2013, too, garnering prayers from 28 nations. They highlighted three prayers in 2014: “that America would repent of its pride and self-idolatry…and welcome God back;” “that America would seek wisdom from God;” and, inferring Revelation 2-3, that the U.S. Church “would reject her lukewarm apathetic attitude and arise to her full God-given destiny in Christ and together walk in their first love for God.”

This selfless effort on the part of America’s brothers and sisters in other parts of the world offers three things to the Christian American—especially with mid-term elections approaching this fall. First, Christians in America are not alone. They are merely an extension of the universal Church. Second, Christians in America need not over-focus on the effects of politics on faith. The greater prayers may focus on the impact faith can make on politics. Third, since Christian Americans are a prayer target for Christian non-Americans, then Christian non-Americans must also be a prayer focus for Christian Americans.

This fit well with the theme for the 2014 National Day of Prayer, “One Voice, United in Prayer,” which had Romans 15:6 as its key verse: “That together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Senior organizer John Bornschein believed Americans had “an unprecedented opportunity to see the Lord’s healing and renewing power made manifest.”

The Global Day of Prayer offers a key strategy to transformative prayer. They ask participants to pray for 101 days: ten days before the event, the day of the event, and ninety days afterward. The ninety days are meant to create permanent habits of prayer and faith in the hearts of worshippers, irrespective of what happens in their lives or in the elections and events of their countries and all the Earth.

~~~~~~~~
(Originally published by The Presidential Prayer Team.)

Unwavering Support: Helping Soldiers in All Situations

Do you think many small towns ever host six million visitors in four years?

Sixteen million Americans served in World War II. Many took troop trains to the West Coast en route to the Pacific Theater. Others rode to the East Coast on their way to Europe. Most also took the trains home at the end of their service.

Six million American soldiers stopped at the railroad depot in North Platte, Nebraska, population 12,000. The people of North Platte decided to serve those who served them. For more than 1,000 consecutive days, from 5 a.m. until midnight, volunteer staff and funds poured in to what became known as The Canteen.

Trains stopped all day long, and the townsfolk offered the soldiers everything from food to notes, cigarettes to kisses. They refused to let the monotonous schedule become stale. They knew every train brought new faces to town – some scared, some tired, some eager – all going toward danger and away from home. It was North Platte’s way of supporting the war effort above and beyond.

Blessings are hard to forget. These troops wrote letters to North Platte from overseas. They went back to visit. And decades later, Bob Greene found enough of them to write a book called Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen.

Opportunities to support American service members continued after World War II. Group efforts can go a long way toward encouraging, honoring, and protecting veterans in countless situations.

Consider Robert Freniere, a retired Air Force colonel, whose family military heritage dates back to World War I. After spending 30 years in the Armed Forces, he has been looking for a job and living in his vehicle. Last year, the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote an article about his plight.

Mr. Freniere is divorced, but he has two sons, multiple degrees, and a lot of experience. He told the Inquirer he was in the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. He specialized in intelligence and earned respect from his senior officers. In 2006 he retired after having back surgery and draws a yearly pension of $40,000.

He has held two jobs over the last two years, but he quit the second job to live closer to his sons. Since then he has been applying for jobs on public library computers. He spends nights at motels, at friends’ houses, or in his van. “You start getting hopeless” after job searching day after day, he explains. But he adds, “I’m a military guy. I’m mission-oriented. You don’t give up.”

Mr. Freniere is not alone. According to the Department of Veteran Affairs, 50,000 veterans were homeless as of January 2014. And according to the Department of Labor, 191,000 veterans from the post-9/11 era were out of work as of December 2014, making their unemployment rate about 30 percent higher than the national average at the time.

But Mr. Freniere’s story may change. The Inquirer wrote a second report about him a week later. He had received two dozen offers of help per day all week. Civilians and veterans from Alaska to Philadelphia offered jobs, housing, and even tax assistance. He promised to reply to each one and thanked those who reached out to him and other veterans: “God bless you…It means a lot.”

Please pray for U.S. military personnel and veterans on a regular basis. Pray that they serve their country with honor, at home and abroad. Ask God to protect them and their families and to bring many of them to repentance and faith. Pray that He would provide jobs and homes for those who need it, while guarding them against temptation. Finally, consider whether God might use you in ministering to service members in your community or state.

~~~~~~~~
(Originally published by The Presidential Prayer Team.)

Teaching Astronomy for Sunday School (God Knows!)

College? Harvard?

God’s Control

Isa 40 – “To whom then will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; not one is missing.

Josh 10 – Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon; and Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the people had revenge upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel.

Man’s Ignorance

Ancients couldn't see what we can see, but God could, and He knew everything about everything – just as He does now!

Modern debates over Messier objects (Show Pictures, Ask Questions!):

M32; E2/D; 2.5M/5500 LY; 0 GB/OC/GAS/DUST?; LG

M31; ANDROMEDA; SAB/O; 2.5M/130K LY; 300 GB; 25+ SAT GX; LG

M77; CETUS A; SAB/FO; 45M/90K LY; YELLOW */* FORMATION IN NUCLEUS

M45; PLEIADES/7 SISTERS/SUBARU/SORAYA; 400/13 LY; 500~1000 *

M79; V; 40K/100 LY; 40 BSS; FROM CMA DWF GX?

M42; ORION; 1300~1600/25~30 LY; BH?/2000 *?/13 III?

M35; III3R; 3000/25 LY; 200~2500 *

M81; BODE'S; SAA/FO; 12M/90K LY; -30V; 200 GB; < DM; 2M-M82/1M-3077

M82; CIGAR; I0/EO; 13M/40K LY; 200V; 100 GB, FROM M81 FLYBY?; 2M-M81/3077

M65; SAA/O; 40M/120K LY; NOT DEFORMED; LEO1G

M66; SAB/O; 30M/75K LY; DEFORMED; LEO1G

M40; 2 * 9 MAG; 500~2000 LY; F~G/G~K *; 500 LY GAP?/X-NEB?

M87; VIR A; E1P; 55M/110K LY; 12K GB; BH GAS JETS 5000+ LY; VIRGO

M13; V; HERCULES; 25K/120 LY; 100K~1M *; EARLY 1974 ET TARGET

M80; II; 30K/75 LY; 300K *, > B~F; > * COLLISIONS?

M10; VII; 14K/60 LY; 50K *, > CORE BINARY *, SO NO BH CAUSING CORE DENSITY

M27; DUMBBELL; 500-3500 LY

But God knows all about all of these!

God’s Focus on Us…and His Timing

Psa 139 – O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether…Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You.

Matt 10 – And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Heb 11 – And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

100% Confidence

Phil 1 – He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ

1 Cor 10 – God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Matt 11 – Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Acts 16 – Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.

Which State Sins the Most? Contrasting Kansas State University Study with Scriptural Truth

“Only the naïve really thought Prohibition would do away with alcohol consumption,” mused the Chicago Tribune long after the infamous 13-year period in America when alcohol was outlawed. From 1920 to 1933, the 18th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution barred the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” in America, until the 21st Amendment repealed it.

The Tribune continued: “Chicago’s gangsters, crooked cops, corrupt politicians, and the booze-consuming public all conspired to keep the drinks coming…By 1924, there were 15 breweries in the city going full steam and an estimated 20,000 saloons.” Al Capone’s gang raked in some $70 million a year—roughly $900 million in today’s dollars.

Despite the Prohibition drama, at least a dozen states had outlawed alcohol before the Civil War, and a strong anti-saloon movement had been growing for decades prior to World War I. Further, the 18th Amendment era saw a 60 percent drop in alcohol consumption per capita throughout the nation. The amendment did not produce organized crime, and most Americans respected the law. But the national effort to forbid alcohol eventually collapsed.

Many people resist attempts to legislate morality. Ironically, some secular groups aim to analyze biblical precepts by their own standards. An example of this was a Kansas State University study in 2009 on the prevalence of the “seven deadly sins” in America.

Geographers at the university sought to quantify how much pride, wrath, lust, sloth, envy, greed, and gluttony existed in each county across the United States. They mapped the results with color codes: red, more sin; white, average sin; blue, less sin. The study did not try to predict future sin.

The study suggests that much of the eastern seaboard from Connecticut to Louisiana, as well as a large portion of Washington, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Michigan, and Arkansas, commit the largest percentage of the seven deadly sins. Meanwhile, the central states from North Dakota to Kansas, and across to West Virginia, commit the fewest.

The study has two key flaws. First, the quantity of each sin is based on statistics that may or may not accurately relate to that sin. For example, the reported amount of envy pertains to the number of thefts per person in each county. But theft can be more related to greed or sloth. Similarly, the extent of wrath is based on murder, assault, and rape rates. Yet these crimes can come from envy or lust just as easily as wrath.

Moreover, the criteria for sloth and gluttony are too broad, because nearly the whole nation rates as average. The gauge for greed may be the most controversial, measuring the average income of a population against its number of poor people. This suggests that communal wealth correlates to individual sin.

But Elise Amyx, of the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, says: “In the Bible, Jesus makes it clear that there are righteous rich and there are unrighteous rich. There are righteous poor and there are unrighteous poor.” She concludes that “greed is a heart issue, not an income issue.”

This leads to the second flaw of the study. Iniquities like murder, adultery, and theft are typically the result of a long line of evil thoughts, words, and deeds. Yet when people grow closer to God, they also grow more aware of their own unrighteousness. They strive to avoid the so-called little sins, believing that “whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.” (James 2:10)

So how sinful is your state? If you ask enough genuine Christians, the answer may be surprising: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today.” (Ezra 9:6-7)

Yet darkness submits to dawn: “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Please pray boldly and often for repentance, faith, and salvation for your family, community, and state.

~~~~~~~~
(Originally published by The Presidential Prayer Team.)

Foreign Aid: Dealing with Dictators

My home state of Montana shares some things in common with Ethiopia. Each location enjoys rugged mountains with many peaks over 11,000 feet. World famous rivers, the longest on each continent, originate in both places. Agriculture dominates both economies. But the similarities may end there.

Ethiopia is at least 3,000 years old. Foreign occupations have been rare and brief, so the outside world seems unable to help or hurt this ancient culture. When I visited 10 years ago, barefooted shepherd boys played together in the highlands while tending their flocks. A waterfall cascaded 1,500 feet into darkness. A kindly, middle-aged scout took his first automobile ride. The people and traditions there awoke a vibrant part of my being that I had hardly known before!

Yet starvation and disease were rampant. Many more blind people, beggars, and homeless folks lined the streets in Ethiopia than any other place I have been. According to Parade Magazine in 2009, Ethiopia was among the world’s 20 poorest nations and had one of the 20 worst dictators: Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. The people and crises there awoke in me a fierce sense of justice and love for the unloved that I had rarely felt before!

Following Ethiopia’s 2005 elections, former President Jimmy Carter praised what he felt was a free and fair vote. Weeks later, poll discrepancies were common knowledge; scores of protesters were massacred; hundreds of political prisoners were taken; streets and shops were eerily vacant. I was there that frightful June, and while Mr. Carter could not have known such tragedy was around the corner, his praise likely assured many that Mr. Zenawi’s “democratic” government deserved foreign aid.

At least forty cabdrivers, lawyers, businessmen, and others decried their leader as a despot or an ex-hero lapsing into totalitarianism—three Ethiopians defended him. Armored vehicles conveyed Mr. Zenawi’s control everywhere. If the majority was right, America’s $500 million in annual aid to Ethiopia needed review if Washington was to assist only honorable and responsible parties.

On my fifteenth day in Ethiopia, a local resident and I hired a midday taxi for a 45-minute ride to the Lalibela airport, en route to the capital, Addis Ababa. The resident and driver asked questions one typically asks foreigners, but they soon digressed to American-Ethiopian relations.

Condemning U.S. “leniency” toward Mr. Zenawi’s “corrupt” government, the men boldly stated that America intrudes in Ethiopian affairs every time it offers money to Addis. “America should cut its aid to our country,” they said, certain that only the government would suffer. They hoped this might sever the lifeline of tyranny. But as such, they wondered each day whether they would return home alive.

These gentlemen were not peasants or unskilled laborers. Well-educated, they supported the local nonprofit organization, engaged provincial politics, and followed current events. They were fairly well off compared their peers. They were respected members of their community.

In June 2005, the world’s eight richest countries offered a massive debt cancellation deal to many of the poorest nations in the world, including Ethiopia. Yet while developed countries hailed this generosity, these two men denounced it, saying it would “absolutely” help only their government, not their people. Foreign aid could help their land under good leadership, they felt, but ostensible generosity would little assist them. They literally feared for their nation’s future.

As we neared the airport, the men asked how America could be so great and Ethiopia so poor. It is a difficult question to answer. They pled for help, but alone, I can only make ripples in the ocean. Dealing with dictators is hard.

In 2010 the ruling party won at least 95% of the votes. According to Human Rights Watch, “The most salient feature of this election was the months of repression preceding it.” The organization concluded, “The question is not who won these elections, but how can donors justify business as usual with this increasingly repressive government?”

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(Originally published by Yahoo! Voices.)

Teaching Astronomy for Sunday School (The Star of Bethlehem)

When did Jesus die?

26 – 33 A.D.

Must fit with the timelines of Pilate, Tiberius, Caiaphas, Herod (Jr.)

He rose again and was seen by more than 500 people (1 Corinthians 15)

When did Herod die?

5 – 1 B.C.

Passover, eclipse, accurate dates, after Jesus’ birth

When was Jesus born?

7 – 1 B.C.

Star, Caesar, before Herod’s death

What was the Star of Bethlehem?

[Matthew 2] Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ² saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him…” ⁷ Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. ⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.” ⁹ When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.

Jerusalem and Bethlehem are just a few miles apart. Also, the Star must have appeared in the evening (in the western sky), and it must not have appeared in the morning, so it must have risen during the morning or afternoon daylight hours.

Planetary conjunctions – Jupiter and Saturn (3x in 7 B.C.); Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars; Jupiter and Venus (very close in 2 B.C.); Jupiter and Regulus (king planet and king star)

Miracle – [Job 38] “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the belt of Orion? Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season? Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?

God could have used natural or supernatural phenomena…

When did the Star appear?

7 B.C. – 1 B.C.

Jesus the baby or Jesus the child; before Herod’s death; beware astrology; we’ll get final answers in Heaven; Jesus' birth, life, teaching, death, and resurrection are far more important!

Teaching Astronomy for Sunday School (Basketballs and Toilet Paper)

[Gen 1] Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. [He made] the stars also.

[Gen 15] Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

[Deu 4] “And [take heed], lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and [when] you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.

[Psa 8] When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?

[Psa 147] He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.

[Psa 148] Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light!

[Mat 24] “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

If the Sun were a basketball in the Big Timber Evangelical Church, what would the sizes and distances of the planets be?

Sun                             Basketball                                Center (Church)

Mercury                      Pinhead                                   36 feet

Venus                         Pebble                                      Pitcher to home plate

Earth                           Pebble                                     1^st base to 2^nd base

Moon                          Pinhead                                    3” from Earth

Mars                            Pinhead                                   .5 football field

Jupiter                         Golf Ball                                 1.5 football fields

Saturn                          < Golf Ball / Rings: .5 cd       3 football fields

Uranus                         Shooter Marble                       The Fort

Neptune                       Shooter Marble                       High School

Pluto                            Pinhead                                   RR overpass

Nearest Star                 Basketball                               England

Rough relative distances from the Sun to the Planets – in Toilet Paper Squares:

Sun 0               Mercury 2        Venus 4           Earth 5            Mars 8

Jupiter 26        Saturn 48         Uranus 97        Neptune 152   Pluto 200