Sow it, and it will grow

"These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matt. 10:5-6)

I have read right over this and never given it any thought. Why does Jesus instruct them to go not into any city of the "non Jew" (being that of the Samaritans), but instead specifically to only the Jews? At least, that is what I infer from this.

Theologian John Gill offers this:

"he commanded them, as their Lord and Master; he gave them strict orders, which he expected them to comply with, and closely enjoined them, as they must answer it to him again, saying, go not into the way of the Gentiles; meaning, not the customs' and manners of the Heathens, they were to avoid; but that they were not to steer their course, or take their journey towards them: they were not, as yet, to go among them, and preach the Gospel to them; the calling of the Gentiles was not a matter, as yet, so clearly revealed and known, nor was the time of their calling come: besides it was the will of God, that the Gospel should be first preached to the Jews, to take off all excuse from them, and that their obstinacy and perverseness in rejecting Jesus as the Messiah, might manifestly appear; and since Christ himself was the minister of the circumcision, he would have his apostles, for the present, whilst he was on earth, act agreeably to the character he bore, that there might be an entire harmony in their conduct."

We can take from this a spiritual maturity and growth process that the Lord will reveal and provide in all of us. It is not necessarily our place to go and preach, or in some cases nag and annoy others "in the name of Jesus" until we truly know the power and deliverance to which we are preaching, or until our ultimate and true calling has been given to us from above.

I have been looking for a message of Christian maturity for some time now, but the right verse seemed to elude me; yes, despite all of the incredible messages from Paul.

Have you been saved and felt God's commission on your life to "go to the ends of the earth" and testify, but you feel as though once you get there you'll be silenced by your critics? You feel as though you are prepared to preach the message of salvation to all who may, or may not, want to listen, but once you get that out, ask yourself "How will I ever explain this beyond that moment?"

Maybe God is urging you to be cautious and not run before you can walk, really, really well? Maybe God is urging you be steadfast in His Word, and allow it to seep into and fill the cracks and voids you yourself know to be empty? Maybe, just maybe, He has a plan that if you wait patiently for, will be fulfilled 100x's over. Maybe, just maybe, once Christ initially commissions the Twelve, His disciples, it is then that He unveils the parable of the sower (ch. 13) to explain how the seed sown on good soil, nurtured, watered, and properly cared for, yields a harvest better than any other.

AUTHORITY (Matt. 7-9)

AUTHORITY usage:

"for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes" (Mt. 7:29).

"For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it" (Mt. 8:9).

"But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" (Mt. 9:6).

"But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men" (Mt. 9:8).

"Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority" (Mt. 10:1)

BibleGLO

As I read through Matthew 7-9 this evening, the word "authority" stood out to me like never before. Jesus had authority, but it was not in the sense of the religious leaders of the Jewish faith were accustomed to. His authority was not considered an earthly authority, let alone one of a divine nature, yet He spoke, taught, healed, and rebuked evil with authority. What is in the word Matthew uses in his Gospel account that will give us some insight into the authority of Jesus?

In Mt. 7:29, authority is "eksousía" ("delegated power") which refers to the authority God gives to His saints – authorizing them to act to the extent they are guided by faith (His revealed word). Matthew uses the word "authority" a total of ten times throughout his Gospel account (according to the NASB translation), and one-half of those uses occur within just 3.5 of the total 28 chapters, all of which occuring once Jesus' ministry begins. What is Matthew trying to stress to his Jewish readers?

Greek To Me

This Greek work "eksousía" is derived from two words. "Ek" that has a two-layered meaning (out from and to) which makes it out-come oriented (out of the depths of the source and extending to its impact on the object), and "eimí" meaning "I am, exist." Therefore, it should become easier to comprehend how Jesus' eksousía is a delegated power given of the heavenly Father that simply "is" in Him.

Biblos offers this: "eimí ("is, am") – in the present tense, indicative mood – can be time-inclusive ("omnitemporal," like the Hebrew imperfect tense). Only the context indicates whether the present tense also has "timeless" implications. For example, eimí is aptly used in Christ's great "I am" that also include His eternality (self-existent life) as our life, bread, light," etc. See Jn 7:34, 8:58. (1)

In comparison to the authority of the earthly leaders, that of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, Jesus' authority was sourced by the Spirit, not that of a proxy or council, and was clearly being exhibited in His early teachings

Why didn't I see this before?

Leaning on the Word is vital to Christians, but we must not be afraid to dig into the text and discover the treasures of its context. Here, even though I extend the assignment by one verse (SUE ME!), Matthew is bringing the authority of the Messiah to a Jewish audience that had known nothing beyond that of their synagogue leaders. Let's keep reading and see how Jesus' authority is used and tested.

Fareed Zakaria: Plagiarism 101

Credit: CNN

By now folks, I hope you are not under the impression that I have "lifted" or "used" another person's work when it comes to my written material. Who else has a sick, bordering on psychotic infatuation with Whales crackers, after all? (BTW: my suggestion for a limited time offering of Whales 'with bacon' to Stauffer's has still not received a response - I'll keep you posted)

That said, in light of the recent accusations of plagiarism leveled against CNN host, The Washington Post, and Time Magazine, Fareed Zakaria, I can say nothing more than I am simply stunned that this sort of thing happens at the highest level of journalism. Are you?

When news of Mr. Zakaria's alleged activity broke days ago, my first reaction was not only surprise to the idea that someone at the top of the journalist and multimedia world would actually stoop to the level of simply cheating, but shocked at the idea that a mere suspension was given. At least, thus far.

I have attended college (online) for the past three years. Every single paper...EVERY SINGLE PAPER...I submit is required to be constructed in precise APA format with a cover page. Moreover, EVERY SINGLE PAPER I submit is to have a statement of academic honesty affixed at the bottom of said cover page. It reads:
 

I have read and understand the plagiarism policy as outlined in the syllabus and the sections in the Student Bulletin relating to the IWU Honesty/Cheating Policy. By affixing this statement to the title page of my paper, I certify that I have not cheated or plagiarized in the process of completing this assignment.  If it is found that cheating and/or plagiarism did take place in the writing of this paper, I understand the possible consequences of the act/s, which could include expulsion from Indiana Wesleyan University.

Plagiarism is defined by Dictionary.com as "An act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author."

Should Mr. Zakaria be fired? Is a fine sufficient? As a writer, frankly, I'm appalled.

What are we to infer from all of this? Is it that in today's political environment there is nothing new worthy of reporting or commenting on, therefore, it is necessary to go back and recycle stories from 2009 as your own? Talk about lame.

They Say, I Say

They Say, I Say

A guide to developing good content

They say, I say -- huh? Who says what, I say what? That's almost as confusing as the whole "who's on first" bit from Abbot & Costello!

This book title was a bit confusing to me at first, too. But after about two pages it made perfect sense. This is a book about the infamous "they" and all the things they say that always seem ambiguous, are usually anonymous, and typically as absurd as any arguments get.

You know...

THEY say it's likely going to rain...this week.

THEY say there's a good chance the Reds will win the pennant this season.

THEY say the economy is getting stronger.

What's the point?

Glad you asked. This book is based on making use of templates for arguing or creating dialogue in one's writing. Rather than expecting authors to just sit down and pull great topics from their mind (though I contend many can) accompanied with techniques for supporting the claim of your premise or thesis, this book gives numerous options for creating meaningful, engaging content while not relegating you to that of a writer only capable of creating ten or twenty new topics.

For example

The first exercise I encountered was this:

"If ever there was an idea custom-made for a Jay Leno monologue, this was it: (__________). Isn’t that like (__________)?

Whatever happened to (__________).

I happen to sympathize with (__________), perhaps (__________).

My response:

If ever there was an idea custom-made for a Jay Leno monologue, this was it: Congress can spend America out of its debt. Isn’t that like telling yourself "I make less than what I spend, and I owe more than what I'm worth, but by taking on more credit cards I'll eventually become debt free!"

Whatever happened to living within our means and not our egregious desires?

I happen to sympathize with politicians though, perhaps because I too might be tempted to promise everything to everybody if I were about to lose my job.

Think about it. How would you fill-in the blanks? Let me know.

'Whales' from the dad side

I love my family. I love to write. I love to learn. But deep inside, I have a deep affection.

Some might call it an addiction while others might say it's a mere infatuation.

It rules my thoughts - typically late into the evening - and controls my actions in Walmart.

I get frustrated, irritated, and downright infuriated when they're sold out.

If I get home and there are none in the cabinet, well, let's just say you don't want to see that happen.

I'm talking about Whales. No, not Goldfish; not some other knockoff brand that may be out there.  Dads: you know what I mean...don't act like you don't!

Look out, LaSorda!

Day two of this crash course weight loss "diet" - things are going well. Of course I didn't think I was going to hear the response from my wife when I divulged my perfectly devised strategy to health.

Me: Okay, here it is. I have a bunch of protein powder leftover from my last go at running and physical fitness. Rather than depleting my body of calories (a.k.a. fasting) I'm going to do a protein milkshake for breakfast, another for lunch, and we'll eat a healthy portion-controlled dinner. No late night snacking. No added coffee. No snacks or sugar. I will do this for ONE week and I'm sure to lose weight.

Wife: Oh, so you're doing Slim Fast! That works for a lot of people.

Me: What? Slim Fast? It's not Slim Fast....no!

Wife: Hahahaha, yes it is.

Me: You're right. Now that I think about it, I remember those famous Tommy LaSorda commercials back in the 80's-90's.

"I had a delicious shake for breakfast, one for lunch, and then a sensible dinner."

Hey, if he lost weight, so can I!

NO HOOPTY'S ALLOWED!

Can't park....can't park....can't park as close as me!

I vow to not make this a political ranting blog...you have my word on that.

Recently, while visiting a newly constructed building, as I approached the fresh blacktop - stop noticeable by its distinct smell from nearly a mile away - I saw about a dozen or so signs erected in the front row of the parking lanes.

As I approached I noticed that several were blue, obviously painted as such for the handicapped. But what about these other spots that were painted orange?

• Reserved for staff?
• Expectant mothers like at Baby's-R-Us?
• Visitor parking?
• Employee of the month?
• Senior citizens?
• Vans with side or rear ramps?

Credit: Ben Douglas

Answer: none of the above! These spaces were reserved for "FUEL EFFICIENT PARKING." I guess that's different than fuel efficient cars, or fuel efficient mopeds? Somehow "PARKING" now gets its own spot, too?

Why does a fuel efficient vehicle get preferential treatment? Wouldn't it make more sense from an environmental standpoint to have the less efficient vehicles park closer to the building, thus reducing their distance and carbon emissions as they drive circles around the lot looking for the closest possible spot?

What is the real objective here? Is it to make me want to buy a fuel efficient something so I can park closer than you? Is it a university's way of wagging their finger in my face if I still choose to drive about town in a hooptie or, God forbid, an SUV? Did the university find a loophole in governmental funding and by claiming "GREEN" parking were able to access government money to fund this project?

I often wonder why fuel efficiency, compact and electric cars, today, are getting such privileged treatment. If this parking spot were painted the exact same, in the same location but the sign read "RESERVED: Muslim Parking Only," or "RESERVED: Christian Parking Only," or "RESERVED: Whites Only," could you image how fast the ACLU and NAACP (amongst others) would be protesting? I doubt the construction worker would even be able to install all of the signs before hearing the chants of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. And perhaps rightfully so - our country has made huge strides towards equality of human and civil rights. Some would argue we're close to equal while others would say we're nowhere near.

Still, what about equal car rights? Why does fuel efficient parking - I mean, cars - get special privileged treatment? This happens to be on a college campus. They're kids! They can walk a few extra feet! GEESH!!!