Dumb Laws

Here is a list of laws regarding Sunday that are still on the books in some US states and cities.

In Denver it is illegal to drive a black car on Sundays.
In Hartford Connecticut it is illegal to kiss your wife on Sunday.
In Oregon you may not eat ice cream on Sunday.
In Marion oregon ministers are forbidden from eating garlic or onions before delivering a sermon.
Providence Rhode Island forbids selling toothpaste and toothbrush to the same customer on Sunday.
Nicholas County WV does not allow a member of the clergy to tell jokes or humourous stories from the pulpit during a church service.
In Georgia no one can carry an ice cream cone in their back pocket if it is Sunday.
In Columbus Georgia you cannot carry a chicken by it's feet down Broadway on Sunday.
Florida has a special law that prohibits unmarried women from parachuting on Sunday.
In Idaho it is against the law to ride a merry-go-round on Suncays while Boston forbids the eating of peanuts in church and taking a bath on Sunday.
In Trenton NJ pickels are not to be consumed on Sundays.

And then there is this classic: In Ohio it is illegal to fish for whales on Sunday.

When the Law is looked upon as a list rather than a whole then people will come up with their own rules has to how to keep the Ten Commandments. Why don't we let the Word of God speak.

Last Lesson

Tonight was our last lesson on the Ten Commandments. I will still continue to blog as I work through Joshua. There were so many lessons I learned. What started out as a reaction to Grace Walk turned into eleven lessons that were deeper, wider, higher and richer than I ever imagine. I do not think I can look at the Ten Commandments the same again. My thanks to Mike who partnered with me through these lessons. What a joy to work with him and I appreciate how much he taught me. God bless you Mike as you take your needed Sabbath rest.

Shameless Commerce

I love to listen to Car Talk on US Public Radio. One of the things they do is give away a prize that can be used in their shameless commerce division. At least they are honest about it. Some of the things that I see advertized by Christians make you shake your head. There is the WWJD bookmark, the Prayer of Jabez mug, the Purpose Driven Life journal and thousand more including T-shirts that advertize everything.
The other day my wife found this gem in the jewelry for the thrift store while she was shorting and cleaning.


Now I am not sure what that little braclet sold for but here is a plastic braclet that has all ten of the commandments hanging from your wrist. Makes you want to rush right out and buy one, doesn't it?

Demas and the Deceit of Riches

One of the sad stories in the New Testament is the story of Demas. In Philemon Paul describes Demas as a fellow-worker. In Colossians he sends greetings from Demas but in 2 Timothy Paul says, "for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica." A ministry is lost because someone loved this world more than he loved the Lord.

Grace Walk

A number of weeks ago I wrote a report on the book "Grace Walk" by Steve McVey. Though I found the premise of the book to be something I agreed with I did find his approach to be more of a knee jerk reaction to a life of legalism. He often made it sound that the problem was the Law but that is not true. If you read the New Testament carefully to realize very quickly that it is us that is the problem and not the Law. One cannot blame the "Do not walk on the grass" sign for the fact that we wanted to walk on the grass. The sign only woke the sinful nature that is in each of us. No one can tell me what I can or cannot do.That problem is the fact that we want to be on the throne of our lives. The Ten Commandments make it very clear that the problem is our inablity to keep the Law and not the Law itself. One thing is that we do not understand the Law. The purpose of the Law shows us what God is like. The effects of the Law show us that we need a Saviour. We are by nature undisciplined and that is why Paul told us that we are to discipline ourselves to Godliness. Let us not blame the sign for our disobedience. If you want to read my report on Grace Walk you can send me an email and I will send it to you.

Happy Birthday Son

Today is our third son's birthday. When he was born 27 years ago we had no idea what he would do for a living, where he would live or anything else. Even five years ago we had no idea but today he is a police officer. I wonder if we would need police officers if people took the Ten Commandments seriously? I know that we would need some officers to help us in situations that come our way because we live in a fallen world but so many times the police officer's time is taken up with lying, stealing, and other violations of the Ten Commandments. All of this starts in the heart that does not trust in our God.
I am proud of my son. I am proud of what he does and I know he does it well. I am even more proud in who he is. God bless you son as you uphold the laws of our land. Happy birthday.

Justice System

PROSECUTOR KYM L. WORTHY made some interesting comments in her press conference following the charges laid by her office against Mayor Kilpatrick of Detroit. She said:"You know the fundamental principles of the justice system are fairly simple – they aren’t hard. We learned them all as children:
Tell the truth
Take responsibility for your actions
Admit when you are wrong
Be fair and play fair
Don’t take or use things that aren’t yours
There are consequences for bad behavior
Even children understand that lying is wrong. If a witness lies, innocent people
can go to jail or prison, people can literally get away with murder, civil litigants
who deserve money may not get it or may get money they don’t deserve. And
lying cannot be tolerated even if a judge or jury sees through it."