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Week of
July 12, 2010
Judgment Is
Coming to Your House
The
time has come for judgment to begin at the
house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the
end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
1Peter 4:17
The apostle Peter made
this shocking statement nearly two thousand years
ago, but somehow I sense God is saying this to us again. We have no
idea
how important our words and actions are in the plan of God, but we should.
The
world is watching.
The church should showcase the ideal. We should be standing proof that
our
invisible God is real and very much alive. Instead, our actions seems
to say He is a
liar or totally nonexistent. That is about to change.
In Saul's day a government gone wrong nearly destroyed its people. The
same
thing is happening today. When the house of God, the church, sets
itself in order
according to God's word, it will operate in supernatural power, vision, and
author-
ity as never before.
The true church, the separated church, has every solution the world needs.
We have
the authority and supernatural wisdom needed to right society's wrongs and
bring order wherever chaos reigns, but it all begins at the cross.
Pray this prayer with me:
Lord Jesus, today I return to the place where You first introduced me to
the Father's
true order- I return to the cross. Once again I confess my sin, as I
have so often
before. Although you have already saved me, I ask that You cleanse me
anew today.
Let my life be a visible proof that You live and love the people You
created. May
Your kingdom order be reestablished in my life today.
Neil Postman
Technopoly- The Surrender of Culture to Technology
“Because of what
computers commonly do, they place an inordinate emphasis on the technical
processes of communication and offer very little in the way of substance…
Computers make it easy to convert facts into statistics and to translate
problems into equations. And whereas this can be useful (as when the
process reveals a pattern that would otherwise go unnoticed), it is
diversionary and dangerous when applied indiscriminately to human affairs…
The computer argues, to put it baldly, that the most serious problems
confronting us at both personal and public levels require technical
solutions through fast access to information otherwise unavailable. I would
argue that this is, on the face of it, nonsense. Our most serious problems
are not technical, nor do they arise from inadequate information…
And yet, because of its “universality,” the computer compels respect, even
devotion, and argues for a comprehensive role in all fields of human
activity. Those who insist that it is foolish to deny the computer vast
sovereignty are singularly devoid of what Paul Goodman once called
“technological modesty- that is, having a sense of the whole and not
claiming or obtruding more than a particular function warrants…
When the Dallas Cowboys were consistently winning football championships,
their success was attributed to the fact that computers were used to
evaluate and select team members. When Dallas has been hard put to win more
than a few games, not much has been said about the computers perhaps because
people have realized that computers have nothing to do with winning football
games, and never did. One might say the same about writing lucid,
economical, stylish prose, which has nothing to do with word processors…
Technological immodesty is always an acute danger… Sir Bernard Lovell
expresses concern that “literal-minded, narrowly focused computerized
research is proving antithetical to the free exercise of that happy faculty
known as serendipity- that is, the knack of achieving favorable results more
or less by chance.” He proceeds to give
several examples of monumental but serendipitous discoveries, contends that
there has been a dramatic cessation of such discoveries, and worries that
computers are too narrow as filters of information and therefore may be
antiserendipitous…
Once upon a time, in a village in what is now Lithuania, there arose an
unusual problem. A curious disease afflicted many of the townspeople. (This
diseases is much like a slow real estate market with brokers who promise
the moon!) It was mostly fatal (though not always), and its onset was
signaled by the victim’s lapsing into a deathlike coma. Medical science not
being quite so advanced as it is now, there was no definite way of knowing
if the victim was actually dead when burial appeared seemly. As a result,
the townspeople feared that several of their relatives had already been
buried alive and that a similar fate might await them. How to overcome this
uncertainty was their dilemma.
One group of people suggested that the coffins be well stocked with water
and food and that a small air vet be drilled into them, just in case one of
the “dead” happened to be alive. This was expensive to do but seemed more
than worth the trouble. A second group, however, came up with a less
expensive and more efficient idea. Each coffin would have a twelve-inch
stake affixed to the inside of the coffin lid, exactly at the level of the
heart. Then, when the coffin was closed, all uncertainty would cease.
The story does not indicate which solution was chosen, but for my purposes
the choice is irrelevant. What is important to note is that different
solutions were generated by different questions. The first solution was an
answer to the question, How can we make sure that we do not bury people who
are still alive? The second was an answer to the question, How can we make
sure that everyone we bury is dead?
Questions, then, are mechanisms that give direction to our thoughts,
generate new ideas, venerate old ones, expose facts, or hide them.”
Albert Einstein
in his book Ideas and Opinions
(1954) points to the problem of teaching to specialties rather than generalizable knowledge and critical thinking. I love this segment.
It is so profound and puts into order so much- at least for me! :)
"I (Einstein) want to oppose the idea that the school has to teach directly that special
knowledge and those accomplishments, which one has to use later
directly in life. The demands of life are much too manifold to let the
idea of specialized training in school appear possible... The school
should always have as its aim that the young man leave it as a harmonious personality, not as a specialist... The development of general
ability for independent thinking and judgment should always be placed
foremost, not the acquisition of special knowledge. If a person
masters
the fundamentals of his subject and has learned to think and work
independently, he will surely find his way and besides will better be able
to adapt himself to progress and changes than the person
whose training principally consists in the acquiring of detailed
knowledge (p.62)."
"It is not enough to teach a man a specialty. Through it he may become
a kind of useful machine but not a harmoniously developed
personality. It is essential that the student acquire an understanding
of
and a lively feeling for values. He must acquire a vivid sense of the
beautiful and of the morally good. Otherwise he- with his
specialized knowledge- more closely resembles a well trained dog than
a harmoniously developed person. He must learn to understand the
motives of human beings, their illusions, and their sufferings in
order to acquire a proper relationship to their individual fellow-men
and to the community... Overemphasis on the competitive system and
premature specialization on the ground of immediate usefulness
kill the spirit on which all cultural life depends, specialized
knowledge included. It is also vital to a valuable education that
independent critical thinking be developed in the young human being,
a development that is greatly jeopardized by overburdening
him with too much and with too varied subjects."
"Overburdening necessarily
leads to superficiality.
(pp.66-67)."
"It is not the fruits of scientific research that elevate a man
and enrich his nature, but the urge to understand,
the intellectual
work creative or receptive (p. 12)."
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