Great Expectations

Palm Sunday saw Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem as king. Unfortunately the people saw Him as their political savior coming to throw out the hated Romans but Jesus knew that although He was indeed King, His Kingdom was not of this world. Of such things are crucifixions made. 

The expectations that we have, often subconscious, determine our reaction to outcomes. If I expect that a church service is only a church service with traditional hymns, then I am going to be disappointed with contemperary music regardless of how worshipful it may be. If I expect my spouse, if they really loved me, to know what I want even if I have not told them, then if they don't deliver, it's not just that they truly didn't know, but they really must not love me. It can be a very poisonous state of affairs.and it is precisely how the crowd that hailed Jesus as king one weekend and demand that He be crucified the next. They were expecting a political king and when Jesus did not deliver, well - off with His head!

The only expectation that we should have about God is that He is good and He loves us, regardless of the circumstances in which we may find ourselves at any given moment, and in the end He will somehow bring it all to the good. It's sad that so many missed the first coming of the real king because they were looking for the wrong person and could not imagine anything else. We do well if we do not fall prey to the same error in our day. 

The Reality Behind Current Events

As Spring belatedly begins to make an appearance Washington continues in its usual disarray. Despite having been given control of the White House and Congress, Republicans still can't get anything done. Democrats are collectively having a full-blown seizure spewing spittle and uttering guttual sounds from deep in their throats while their eyes have roll back and they twitch uncontrollably at the name of "Trump." Closer to home, the Legislature is in session and Our Finest (by their own proclamation) are studiously avoiding the PERS unfunded liability of $22 billion dollars and spending time with bigger things like enhanced penalties for "left lane hangers" on I-5, probably because Portland Democrats can't get out of Hicksville fast enough. So let's talk about Easter. 

Easter is glorious, the most important day on the Christian calendar because we remember and celebrate that through Christ's death we have been reconciled with our God. It is easy to let Easter become ho-hum, however, because we don't really understand what this means. I am reading a new book entitled Imagining Heaven and the author says:

"I'm convinced a main reason many people (Christian or not) live materialistic, self-centered lifestyles is their poor view of the life to come. They can't imagine Heaven, so they don't live for it." 

Mea culpa. If Heaven is a bland, amorphous place where everybody sits forever in some kind of church service, it's hard to get excited, especially if we have a brochure of Maui in our hand. But fortunately, Heaven is not like that if we are to believe the experiences of people who have had near death experiences (NDEs) and who have talked about it.

The forward to the book is written by a pastor who had been declared dead at the scene of a horrendous traffic accident but sprung to life quite a few minutes after medics had placed the sheet over him. The Heaven he describes is anything but boring and the sense of overwhelming love was, well, overwhelming. A number of other accounts are offered and the important point the author makes is that they are all consistent with Scripture. 

As I am preparing for Easter I am trying to imagine what Heaven looks like because I want to understand, to the point that a human mind can, the enormity of the Prize that Christ won for us and then try to live with that finish line in view. As C.S. Lewis said,

"Aim at Heaven and you will get earth 'thrown in'; aim at earth and you will get neither."

You Really Put a Spell on Me

You may have read that recently a gathering of witches put a curse on President Trump. Andrew Klavan has the inside story of these strange goings-on and it's worth your while to read what the Dark Side is up to. 

pjmedia.com/andrewklavan/2017/03/03/witches-putting-curse-on-trump/

W's Metamorphosis

W is undergoing a remarkable metamorphosis in the media and on the Left. Why? He's said some nice things about the press and some mildly critical things about Trump. Take Glenn Greenwald, for example:

“2005: George W Bush is a pillaging, torturing war criminal who let a city drown. 

 2017: I may have disagreed with Bush but he was A Good Man™.”
Ain't no hypocrites here. Glenn, he was always a good man. 

www.nationalreview.com/article/445492/george-w-bush-liberals-freedom-press-media-russia-investigation-donald-trump

A Political Shaped Charge?

I'm back from a trip to the Carolinas - my they have a more conservative view of things down there - and one of the first things I read is a column by Victor Davis Hanson that asks a perspective changing question:

"In some sense (to adopt a taboo military metaphor) is Trump a sort of shaped charge? That is, is Trump’s combative coarseness the radiant outer shell that is necessary to melt through the deep state and bureaucratic armor so that the inner explosive of a conservative revolutionary agenda may reach its target intact?"

Good question and I suspect the answer is "yes."

A shaped charge is used by the military to direct all the explosive force of the charge toward a very small area to penetrate a hard shell such as tank armor and explode inside. It should be apparent to pretty much everybody that President Trump is impervious to the usual crap thrown up by Leftist critics and plows ahead to accomplish his goals. And thus far his goals have been laudable, as have his Cabinet appointments. 

A shaped charge relies on brute force that is focused and that seems to describe the President. The Federal government has hardened over the years to a point that it has seemed almost impenetrable and no longer subject to the will of the people - an immovable object if you will. Well, the immovable object may be meeting the irresistible force. The results should be interesting and spectacular.

www.nationalreview.com/article/445294/donald-trump-metaphysics-bad-man-good-deeds

Happy Valentine's Day

I was reading a daily Bible mediatation yesterday, this one written by a woman. She was marrying later in life and after reading the various bridal magazines and lamenting the $70,000 "minimum" cost (wedding industry's suggested retail price of course!) of a wedding, she decided: "I didn't need to be a princess for a day; I simply wanted to be a wife for life." Not a bad idea for the groom to be equally dedicated on his part too. The wedding is not nearly as important as the marriage: if you start with a fairy tale wedding, it's likely to go downhill from there.  

Did You Say Something?

Gov. Jerry Brown of California has asked President Trump for Federal help with the flooding and possible disaster resulting from the Oroville Dam. Excuse me Jerry - say what? Isn't it California that wants to secede and doesn't need the rest of the country? Isn't it California that has told President Trump to "Go fish!" on sanctuary cities and a host of other issues? Nothing like a real disaster to cut through the crap and get down to basics, e.g., - if we don't pull together, we sink separately. Remember that Jerry and the rest of you yo-yos when this crisis has passed. 

www.breitbart.com/california/2017/02/12/california-governor-asks-president-trump-help/