Friday, November 15, 2019
What to Do?
Suppose a contingent of professionals from the World Health Organization were flown into a remote area of a country to help a people group that was dying off. When they arrive, they immediately find conditions to be much worse than expected. Although the people are intelligent and productive, having ample food, adequate housing and a reasonable climate, disease is rampant, children are emaciated, and life spans are short. Two key issues are quickly identified.
1. Almost everyone’s teeth are rotting, and their gums are receding.
2. Almost everyone is sniffling or scratching.
The reasons for these deadly issues are surprisingly easy to identify and rectify. No one is washing their hands or brushing their teeth. So, acting in common sense and on behalf of the people, the health officials move quickly to remedy the issues. First, they fly in massive quantities of anti-bacterial soap, toothpaste, floss and tooth brushes. Next, they set about to educate the people on these two simple practices of good hygiene. But, to their shock and dismay, the people recoil at the idea of getting their hands soapy or sticking a brush in their mouth. They are highly offended that their way of life is being criticized. Mind you, there were a few who accept help and will enjoy the resulting health, but most think it silly and inconvenient. Some even call a meeting and try to expel the officials and make laws against hand-washing and tooth-brushing. The contingent is shocked and dismayed at the people’s response to their kind efforts to introduce healthy hygiene practices to the community.
That brings me to three questions for the reader:
1. Are hand-washing and tooth-brushing practices philosophies or practices based on universal health principles?
2. Would it be right for the health officials to leave these people without a knowledge of healthy hygiene, just because they are not a part of their current culture?
3. Are the health professionals being arrogant or bigoted to push their hand-washing, tooth-brushing practices on this people group?
Consider this parallel story. A contingent of people live in a culture plagued by things like fractured families, violence, abuse, shame, depression and chemical addictions. They, on the other hand, are experiencing quite the opposite after having applied a few healthy moral practices. They can readily see how much better their neighbors could live if they would implement some simple practices to protect and improve their families. That brings us back to three questions similar to those above:
1. Aren’t there moral laws that are not opinions, but principles that work to make any culture healthier?
2. Would it be right for those people who have experienced healthier relationships to not try to help their culture?
3. Are people with high moral standards arrogant or bigoted to promote their morals and values?
My hope is that this simple example may help someone understand why those who have discovered that the morals values outlined in scripture make their social and spiritual lives vibrant and healthy, and why they are so eager to share them with others. They are not arrogant or bigoted; they are caring and generous people who want to see others enjoy a better life. In fact, it would be downright cruel not to share the wonderful practices that have made their lives morally clean and spiritually healthy. These practices might be called “moral hygiene.”
So, what are people who have discovered healthy principles to do? They should not be intimidated by those who think hand-washing and tooth-brushing are silly. Rather, they should share their knowledge. They should not be intimidated by those who think things like abstinence, honesty and modesty are silly. They should help them understand. They should also brace themselves, because not everyone will appreciate their kindness.
For more information or to watch online sermons, please visit www.ActsII.org. For digital books and prayer clinic manuals visit Amazon Kindle and query "John Hanson prayer".
1. Almost everyone’s teeth are rotting, and their gums are receding.
2. Almost everyone is sniffling or scratching.
The reasons for these deadly issues are surprisingly easy to identify and rectify. No one is washing their hands or brushing their teeth. So, acting in common sense and on behalf of the people, the health officials move quickly to remedy the issues. First, they fly in massive quantities of anti-bacterial soap, toothpaste, floss and tooth brushes. Next, they set about to educate the people on these two simple practices of good hygiene. But, to their shock and dismay, the people recoil at the idea of getting their hands soapy or sticking a brush in their mouth. They are highly offended that their way of life is being criticized. Mind you, there were a few who accept help and will enjoy the resulting health, but most think it silly and inconvenient. Some even call a meeting and try to expel the officials and make laws against hand-washing and tooth-brushing. The contingent is shocked and dismayed at the people’s response to their kind efforts to introduce healthy hygiene practices to the community.
That brings me to three questions for the reader:
1. Are hand-washing and tooth-brushing practices philosophies or practices based on universal health principles?
2. Would it be right for the health officials to leave these people without a knowledge of healthy hygiene, just because they are not a part of their current culture?
3. Are the health professionals being arrogant or bigoted to push their hand-washing, tooth-brushing practices on this people group?
Consider this parallel story. A contingent of people live in a culture plagued by things like fractured families, violence, abuse, shame, depression and chemical addictions. They, on the other hand, are experiencing quite the opposite after having applied a few healthy moral practices. They can readily see how much better their neighbors could live if they would implement some simple practices to protect and improve their families. That brings us back to three questions similar to those above:
1. Aren’t there moral laws that are not opinions, but principles that work to make any culture healthier?
2. Would it be right for those people who have experienced healthier relationships to not try to help their culture?
3. Are people with high moral standards arrogant or bigoted to promote their morals and values?
My hope is that this simple example may help someone understand why those who have discovered that the morals values outlined in scripture make their social and spiritual lives vibrant and healthy, and why they are so eager to share them with others. They are not arrogant or bigoted; they are caring and generous people who want to see others enjoy a better life. In fact, it would be downright cruel not to share the wonderful practices that have made their lives morally clean and spiritually healthy. These practices might be called “moral hygiene.”
So, what are people who have discovered healthy principles to do? They should not be intimidated by those who think hand-washing and tooth-brushing are silly. Rather, they should share their knowledge. They should not be intimidated by those who think things like abstinence, honesty and modesty are silly. They should help them understand. They should also brace themselves, because not everyone will appreciate their kindness.
For more information or to watch online sermons, please visit www.ActsII.org. For digital books and prayer clinic manuals visit Amazon Kindle and query "John Hanson prayer".
Saturday, November 09, 2019
Independent Voters
During every major, political, campaign season of my adult life I have heard people declare: “It is the independent voters who will determine the outcome of this election.” The 2018 mid-term elections were no exception. With 40-50% of voters not willing to declare their party, it seemed to make polling even more challenging. It left party leaders in government very unsure about their future. But do independent voters really have that much power?
Leandra Bernstein of the Sinclair Broadcast group thought so. One the eve of the 2018 election she wrote:
If history is a guide, the party that secures the largest margin of independent voters controls Congress. As Republican and Democratic enthusiasm crests ahead of the official opening of polls Tuesday morning, it's the less predictable independent voters who will be the most likely determining factor in the midterms.
Control of the House of Representatives has flipped three times in the last 25 years and each time, it was the party that rallied the largest share of independent voters that won the majority. In 1994, independents favored Republican candidates by a 14-point margin, enough to usher in a GOP majority. In 2006, Democrats regained the majority with an 18-point lead among independents. And in 2010, Republicans won independent voters by a margin of 19 percent and control of the House.
Evidently on November 6, 2018 a good number of independent voters were convinced to vote Democrat when it came to their state representative, because the voters returned control of the house to the Democrats.
Watching elections play out in the real world reminded me of a much more important struggle that is playing out, on a daily basis, all around us. The party of good and the party of evil are in competition. They both court voters. They both launch campaigns to convince independent voters to join their cause. The battle is fierce because each side understands that the world is only as good or evil as people choose to make it. Whenever enough independent people whole-heartedly follow the teachings of Jesus, nations are changed, communities are safer and families work better. Whenever people choose to love rather than hate, riots are diffused, marriages are reconciled and children sleep more soundly.
Unfortunately, there is a misconception afloat; many people blame God for the evil that is in the world. They wonder how a good God could let so many bad things happen. They err in not understanding the system. God gives every human being a vote. You and I are independent voters, until we choose sides. Unlike Satan, God does not try to control and enslave people by hook or crook. God runs an honest campaign, and waits to see how people choose. God’s kingdom prospers to the extent that people choose his ways. Life is made better when more people humble themselves and accept God’s ways. So, if evil abounds, don’t blame God, blame the independent voters.
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