The US and world financial markets are in a crisis not seen since 1929. With our 401K's and other investments losing value by the minute, there would seem to be only a few really safe investments we can make. By investing in these precious commodities, we can be assured of future wealth beyond our imaginations.
What are these rock-solid investment strategies? Your marriage and your children.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Some Things Never Change
At a time when the financial markets of the United States were crumbling, the government was going deeper in debt to try to prop up the economy and fund it's military, and America was at war with the fate of freedom hanging in the balance, here's what the politicians in Washington were saying:
In the US House of Representatives, Democrats railed against the Republican President and his policies. In a series of violent anti-war speeches, they cried out, "Ought this war to continue? No! Not a day, not another hour. The time has come for the soldiers to come home."
Things may have been even worse in the Senate, where the attacks against the President and his administration were vindictive and personal. Democratic Senators in speeches on the floor called the Republican President "an imbecile," and claimed he was "the weakest man ever placed into high office in this country."
While this may sound like Washington in 2008, it's not. This was Washington in 1862. And the Republican President who was the target of such vitriol? It was Abraham Lincoln.
Some things never change.
In the US House of Representatives, Democrats railed against the Republican President and his policies. In a series of violent anti-war speeches, they cried out, "Ought this war to continue? No! Not a day, not another hour. The time has come for the soldiers to come home."
Things may have been even worse in the Senate, where the attacks against the President and his administration were vindictive and personal. Democratic Senators in speeches on the floor called the Republican President "an imbecile," and claimed he was "the weakest man ever placed into high office in this country."
While this may sound like Washington in 2008, it's not. This was Washington in 1862. And the Republican President who was the target of such vitriol? It was Abraham Lincoln.
Some things never change.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
What Noah's Blog Might Have Looked Like
Day 1
Rain.
Day 2
Rain.
Day 3
Rain.
Day 4
Rain.
Day 5
Rain.
Day 6
So I was loading up the last of the animals last week when I walk past my neighbor Roger, the Molech-worshipper. He looks up and says "Hey, looks like rain."
True story.
Day 7
Now wondering if it was wrong to have borrowed Roger’s hedge clippers.
Day 15
It’s been the same every day for the last two weeks, but then last night, our mama elephant gave birth. I’ll put up some pics soon.
Day 18
Note to self: next time I’m on a long cruise and I want to play badminton and I only have one birdie, play below deck. I’m so stupid.
Day 20
I hesitate to write this down, but here goes. . . .
I was working late last night when I felt something bite the back of my neck. Without thinking, I slapped it. Long story short, the new world might have to do without the zhingi-zhingi fly.
Day 25
New Year’s Day. A few resolutions for this year:
- Lose weight (let’s face it, I’m not 300 years old anymore)
- Work out more
- Read the entire Bible (there’s only four chapters in the whole thing, you think I would have done this one already)
-After we land, once a week: date night with the missus.
Day 27
Not to diss my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather, but I’ve been hanging out with animals a lot, too, and I think I would have named some of them differently…
ADAM’S NAME MY VERSION
Rabbit: Hoppity-hoppity
Dog: Rowrf
Bat: EEEEEEEEEE!!!
Duck: Waddle-waddle-flap-flap
Day 31
You guys read this blog. You know I love my wife, right? But I swear, sometimes she just gets on my nerves.
"The roof is leaking, Noah."
"Noah, the sheep are soaking wet because the roof is leaking."
You know what? Sometimes Noah just needs a little Noah Time, okay?
Day 35
Here’s an item from the "you-learn-something-every-day" category: Hippo lovemaking is very, very noisy. Haven’t slept in five days.
P.S. I counted every knot in the cypress wood of the ship: 12,946.
Day 39
Somehow Ham keeps winning at UNO. Does he have a secret stash of Draw 4’s?
Correction: Earlier I wrote that the wood of our ship has 12,946 knots. However, I forgot to include the cover on the top deck. I included that, then recounted the entire thing three more times, just to be sure. We have 14,598 knots.
Day 45
Okay, so when God said he would make it rain forty days and forty nights, I assumed that we would be done after that. Apparently I was wrong.
Day 87
Very, very wrong.
Day 110
The wife says I’m getting paranoid, but I believe the primates are conspiring to mutiny. Can’t talk, more later.
Day 150
We’ve landed on top of some kind of mountain. More later.
Day 190
Sent out a dove, but it came back.
Day 197
This time, the dove came back with an olive branch. Going now to ask the wife if she has any recipes with doves and olives.
Day 204
Sent the dove out again today to bring back some more olives for dinner, but it didn’t come back. So good news is we may be off the boat and onto dry land soon. Bad news: Mrs. Noah’s Greek Dove Souffle is a no-go.
Day 231
So we’re on land now. Yay! Big thanks to everybody who wrote to check on us. BTW, my new e-mail address is noah@mtararat.com. I’ll still post from time to time, to keep you guys up to date. To answer a question that so many of you have asked, no, I don’t have a MySpace page yet.
Man, I could really use a drink.
Rain.
Day 2
Rain.
Day 3
Rain.
Day 4
Rain.
Day 5
Rain.
Day 6
So I was loading up the last of the animals last week when I walk past my neighbor Roger, the Molech-worshipper. He looks up and says "Hey, looks like rain."
True story.
Day 7
Now wondering if it was wrong to have borrowed Roger’s hedge clippers.
Day 15
It’s been the same every day for the last two weeks, but then last night, our mama elephant gave birth. I’ll put up some pics soon.
Day 18
Note to self: next time I’m on a long cruise and I want to play badminton and I only have one birdie, play below deck. I’m so stupid.
Day 20
I hesitate to write this down, but here goes. . . .
I was working late last night when I felt something bite the back of my neck. Without thinking, I slapped it. Long story short, the new world might have to do without the zhingi-zhingi fly.
Day 25
New Year’s Day. A few resolutions for this year:
- Lose weight (let’s face it, I’m not 300 years old anymore)
- Work out more
- Read the entire Bible (there’s only four chapters in the whole thing, you think I would have done this one already)
-After we land, once a week: date night with the missus.
Day 27
Not to diss my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather, but I’ve been hanging out with animals a lot, too, and I think I would have named some of them differently…
ADAM’S NAME MY VERSION
Rabbit: Hoppity-hoppity
Dog: Rowrf
Bat: EEEEEEEEEE!!!
Duck: Waddle-waddle-flap-flap
Day 31
You guys read this blog. You know I love my wife, right? But I swear, sometimes she just gets on my nerves.
"The roof is leaking, Noah."
"Noah, the sheep are soaking wet because the roof is leaking."
You know what? Sometimes Noah just needs a little Noah Time, okay?
Day 35
Here’s an item from the "you-learn-something-every-day" category: Hippo lovemaking is very, very noisy. Haven’t slept in five days.
P.S. I counted every knot in the cypress wood of the ship: 12,946.
Day 39
Somehow Ham keeps winning at UNO. Does he have a secret stash of Draw 4’s?
Correction: Earlier I wrote that the wood of our ship has 12,946 knots. However, I forgot to include the cover on the top deck. I included that, then recounted the entire thing three more times, just to be sure. We have 14,598 knots.
Day 45
Okay, so when God said he would make it rain forty days and forty nights, I assumed that we would be done after that. Apparently I was wrong.
Day 87
Very, very wrong.
Day 110
The wife says I’m getting paranoid, but I believe the primates are conspiring to mutiny. Can’t talk, more later.
Day 150
We’ve landed on top of some kind of mountain. More later.
Day 190
Sent out a dove, but it came back.
Day 197
This time, the dove came back with an olive branch. Going now to ask the wife if she has any recipes with doves and olives.
Day 204
Sent the dove out again today to bring back some more olives for dinner, but it didn’t come back. So good news is we may be off the boat and onto dry land soon. Bad news: Mrs. Noah’s Greek Dove Souffle is a no-go.
Day 231
So we’re on land now. Yay! Big thanks to everybody who wrote to check on us. BTW, my new e-mail address is noah@mtararat.com. I’ll still post from time to time, to keep you guys up to date. To answer a question that so many of you have asked, no, I don’t have a MySpace page yet.
Man, I could really use a drink.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Voices
"I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won't follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don't know his voice."
~ John 10:1-5
Shepherding hasn't changed much in 4,000 years. Multiple flocks are still kept in "sheepfolds" at night to protect against predators. A sheepfold is an enclosure made with rocks, or maybe even a cave with only one way in or out. That gate is kept by a porter, or gatekeeper.
Each morning, when it's time to lead the sheep to pasture, the shepherd comes to the gate and calls to his sheep. His sheep know his voice. That is the only voice they will respond to. They will not follow another shepherd. They don't know his voice.
Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd. The meaning is clear. His sheep know His voice. They follow Him.
But what happens when the sheep can't hear the voice of the shepherd? What happens when there are too many other voices calling to the sheep, competing for their attention? Or when all the noise around the sheep drowns out the shepherd's call?
There seem to be so many other voices screaming at us today; so much noise going on all around us that I fear we miss the voice of the Shepherd as He calls us to follow Him. The danger is especially real in a nation where the constant media barrage is unrelenting, and in a season where politicians keep up their incessant chattering day and night.
With all of the noise in our lives today, how long has it been since you heard the Good Shepherd call you by name? How long since you cut through all of the noise, and all of the various voices calling to you?
His desire is to make you "lie down in green pastures, and lead you beside still waters." Isn't that just what we need?
~ John 10:1-5
Shepherding hasn't changed much in 4,000 years. Multiple flocks are still kept in "sheepfolds" at night to protect against predators. A sheepfold is an enclosure made with rocks, or maybe even a cave with only one way in or out. That gate is kept by a porter, or gatekeeper.
Each morning, when it's time to lead the sheep to pasture, the shepherd comes to the gate and calls to his sheep. His sheep know his voice. That is the only voice they will respond to. They will not follow another shepherd. They don't know his voice.
Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd. The meaning is clear. His sheep know His voice. They follow Him.
But what happens when the sheep can't hear the voice of the shepherd? What happens when there are too many other voices calling to the sheep, competing for their attention? Or when all the noise around the sheep drowns out the shepherd's call?
There seem to be so many other voices screaming at us today; so much noise going on all around us that I fear we miss the voice of the Shepherd as He calls us to follow Him. The danger is especially real in a nation where the constant media barrage is unrelenting, and in a season where politicians keep up their incessant chattering day and night.
With all of the noise in our lives today, how long has it been since you heard the Good Shepherd call you by name? How long since you cut through all of the noise, and all of the various voices calling to you?
His desire is to make you "lie down in green pastures, and lead you beside still waters." Isn't that just what we need?
Monday, October 6, 2008
The Foreverness of Vows
Yesterday I had the privilege of performing the wedding ceremony of some very dear friends. I never want any wedding I'm asked to be part of to be "just another ceremony." I want it to be a worship service where Jesus is exalted and glorified. And I always want to be certain everyone understands exactly what is taking place. So I always introduce the vows with these words:"It is very important that you understand the seriousness of what you are about to do. We live in a day when vows have lost the sacredness and significance that they once had. But I assure you God has not changed. God takes our vows very seriously, and we will be held accountable before Him for the way in which we follow through in honoring them. Your vows will be recorded in heaven forever, never to be erased.Let them be the same in each of your hearts today"
Later at the reception, someone said something to me that got me thinking. He said, "My wife and I have only been married since January. But the things you said reminded me of the vows that we took before God. I needed that reminder. And I think it would do everyone well to attend a wedding every few months to be reminded as well."
While I'm certainly not going to advocate attending too many weddings (It's a guy-thing) I do think we need to be reminded from time to time of the seriousness of our vows. God does hear our words. And the words that we speak, and the vows that we vow are indeed recorded in heaven. What we seem to take so lightly, or sometimes even forget completely, is a big deal to God.
Vows are permanent. They are a sacred promise that God expects us to honor.
"For You have heard my vows, O God; You have given me the inheritance of those who fear You name."
~ Psalm 61:5
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Almost
Almost. To me, that is the saddest word in the English language. Almost. Not quite. Nearly. Kind of. But not really. Just almost. Getting close, but not quite achieving.
The rich, young ruler who ran to Jesus in Mark 10 lived a life of 'almost.' He wanted to know how to have eternal life. He'd done alright according to the Law. But Jesus said to him, "One thing you lack, ..." Just one thing. "You've 'almost got it, young man. You're 'almost' there. But not quite."
Rather than a life of almost, I want a life of reckless abandon. I want to pursue after the Lord like a deer panting after a water brook. I don't want 'not quite' on my resume. I'm not interested in anything that just gets close. I won't settle for 'almost' in my life.
The rich, young ruler who ran to Jesus in Mark 10 lived a life of 'almost.' He wanted to know how to have eternal life. He'd done alright according to the Law. But Jesus said to him, "One thing you lack, ..." Just one thing. "You've 'almost got it, young man. You're 'almost' there. But not quite."
Rather than a life of almost, I want a life of reckless abandon. I want to pursue after the Lord like a deer panting after a water brook. I don't want 'not quite' on my resume. I'm not interested in anything that just gets close. I won't settle for 'almost' in my life.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Crosses to Crowns
"There will be no crown wearers in Heaven who were not first cross bearers on earth."
~ Charles Spurgeon
~ Charles Spurgeon
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