Today, I had to have a tooth pulled.
I have had so many teeth pulled previously, that this tooth barely
hurt, but more felt uncomfortable when food got stuck in it. The
pain was greater on the back side of the dental work, as the
anesthetic was wearing off.
As such, for whatever reason, I
started poking around on the internet, and decided to go over to the
site of Gottalife Ministries. At one time, they ran an internet
radio station. At the time, it was somewhat ironic, as it was based
on organic church, which, as discussed many times on this blog, sees
discussion as a more effective method of teaching than giving
speeches, and every time I tried catchining the station, it was a
replay of a speech. Anyway, in poking around that site, I saw a
writing posted on the subject of false prophecy, which had below it a
place to say “like” or “dislike” on the writing, which had,
on this day, zero likes and 13 dislikes. That drew me into looking
at it—what did the person say which was so unanimously disliked.
To put it shortly, in the article, the writer specifically named
names of a variety of nationally known tv speaking personalities and
why he felt they were false prophets. The person, to the best of my
knowledge, appears to have his facts correct. The Bible directs us,
if we have a disagreement with a brother, to go to them privately,
but almost all big name teachers are just inaccessable. I'm not
saying that I like his writing, but it is a problematical point
specific to the culture that we live in, that there is a significant
degree to which freedom of speech is limited or enhanced behind the
amount of money one can put behind one's point of view being
disseminated. This doesn't just apply to Christian teaching and/or
ministry, but to politics, and secular opinions off all sorts. A
paid communication allows one to ignore ideas contrary to the idea
one is communicating. Maybe one can get a little free dissemination
of an idea if it shows exceptional talent (I am thinking of popular
music) or is unusual in an entertaining manner, such as stand-up
comedy, or the news-opinion programs in which the moderator allows
two or more opposing persons to argue such that one can understand
neither.
As I struggle with living to honor
Jesus with my life, and see persons overtly communicating something
that is at some level the message of Jesus in a way that is dependent
on getting money to communicate their message over a din of similar
messages, recognizing that some may not be doing so from a pure
heart, and others are decieved by the historical precedent of “this
is how others do it”, it is oftentimes dissapointing that the
communication seems to be no more than what Buffalo Springfield
referenced in the late 1960's with their line, “Singin' a song that
they carry inside/Mostly says 'Hooray for our side'”.
As I may have written previously, I no
longer have the stamina to work at a normal job, and live in my son's
house, which is in the suburbs. In spite of the houses being
relatively close together, I know few of my neighbors, as most only
go out the front of their houses to immediately get into a vehicle
and leave. The forming of a local community happens more easily in
an inner city. I might tack on that it also works on liberal arts
college campuses with dorms. As much as I might wish, I don't have
an excellent idea, but do desire to keep my spirit open to God's
daily guidance.
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