Currently Reading Deception Point By Dan Brown see related

Llama Mama

Yeah, well, I'm not really reading "Deception Point" right now, but it is next on my book list.  This is another earlier book by Dan Brown, author of "The DaVinci Code."

It has been a busy month since my last entry.  I've been making trips back and forth to Asheville for treatments for my neck.  The doctors think I need 6 cervical vertebrae fused.  I'm postponing that as long as possible and have had two epidurals in the meantime.

After that, Sam and I went to Asheville for the NC Mountain State Fair, which included a llama show and competition.  Our llama, Buck, had won dozens of ribbons before we bought him, so he was a veteran of the show ring, but it was a first for us and for our llama, Dusty.  We did pretty well, bringing home placement in five competitions.  We learned that we have two very smart llamas,....it's their handlers (us) who need more training!! 

We are looking for a smaller trailer than the camp's horse trailer, so that it is easier to get to competitions and I can drive to them by myself if Sam can't get off work.  Keep your eyes peeled for a good two-horse bumper-type trailer for us.

We just had a great, week-long visit from our son, Nathan, and his family.  Rachel is like a daughter to us and our grandkids are the best!!  Annie and Josiah are both beautiful and smart as can be.

Currently Reading Angels & Demons, Special Illustrated Edition By Dan Brown see related

Welcome Back!

I basically took the summer off from Xanga...but not from reading and studying, of course.  I hope that I can be faithful in catching Xanga up on my studies.  I'm also trying to put what I have learned into a book of my own.  We will see how far I get with that!!

7. Materialism promotes injustice and exploitation.

It was Lord Acton, the British historian, who said: "All power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Money is power.

Power is not intrinsically evil, of course, but it is intrinsically dangerous. Only God is all-powerful, and only our all-good God can afford to be. Among sinful human beings, an endless string of despots have proven the old adage correct, “All power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely."

James condemns the rich, almost assuming that anyone who is rich practices injustice to the poor and will come under God’s judgment as a result (James 5:1-6)

The Old Testament prophets spoke out so consistently against the oppression of the poor by the rich that they left the distinct impression that a righteous rich man is rare:

Isaiah 10:1-3

Jeremiah 5:27-28

Jeremiah 15:13

Hosea 12:8

Amos 5:11

Amos 4:24

Micah 6:12

The rich man will usually be materialistic. The materialistic man will always be unjust. The wealthier the man the greater his opportunity for injustice.

Of course, the wealthy man is no more inherently sinful than the poor man---he simply has more means and opportunity to subsidize and impose his sins upon others.

I'm here to confess another struggle in my life.  I have some dear friends who are coming to visit me next month.  One of them is the wife of an evangelist.  I hate to say it but he's very materialistic; much like some of the TV evangelists.  They live in a $400,000 home.  Four bedrooms and the only people who live in it five days a week are his wife and a soon-to-be married daughter.  Very rarely do they have anyone occupy those extra bedrooms.  He drives a Navigator, wears imported Italian suits, has the honking diamond ring on his finger....you get the picture.  He will only preach in churches that are large enough to support his lifestyle, whether or not those churches know how he lives.

His wife, on the other hand, is a simple lady.  Of course, she has to help him decorate his showhome, but I sincerely don't believe she would have to live that lifestyle if he didn't promote it.  She sells Mary Kay so that she has her own money.  It's a baffling situation.

The other friend is a sweet lady who has been married four times.  When we speak of her in private, we say, you know "Mary Jane Smith-Brown-Johnson-Jones." (names changed to protect the innocent).  She worked for Delta Airlines and got used to living the lifestyle of the rich and famous, jetting around the country, until she married this last, dear man.  She has had to drastically downsize her life and it's really affecting her.

Anyway, here's the confession.  I'm wondering how they are going to react to my modest home, a real fixer-upper.  I love my house.  It's spacious and great for having crowds over.  It's not the kind of showplace where people feel uncomfortable relaxing.  It's usually clean enough to be healthy but dirty enough to be happy.  What are they going to think?  I'm already planning to take time off before they visit, to give it a thorough going over and try to hide some of its major flaws.  Of course, I want it to be presentable, but I'm struggling with the shame of it not being "up to their standards."  That's materialism.

I take comfort in believing that they are going to be jealous of the homey, relaxed atmosphere, all the friends who come and go like they're at home, the great work atmosphere of Snowbird, etc.  I hope to be a good example to them of how wonderful life can be without wealth and riches of the earthly kind.  So, pray for me.  I need it.  Always.  They're going to be here in mid-July, so go out of your way to meet them if you're around here.  You'll like 'em.

Currently Reading Money, Possessions, and Eternity By Randy Alcorn see related

I continue now with my study from Alcorn’s book.

7. Materialism leads to pride and elitism

The Bible is full of references that prove that during our prosperity we tend to believe that we deserve the credit for what we have and that we tend to grow proud and thankless.

• Deuteronomy 6:1-15
• Deuteronomy 31:20
• Deuteronomy 32:15-18
• II Chronicles 26:6-16
• Psalm 49:5-6
• Psalm 52:7
• Proverbs 30:8-9
• Hosea 13:4-6

Paul asks the prideful Christians of Corinth, “What do you have that was not given to you? If it was given to you, why are you boasting as if you have it because of something that you did?” (I Corinthians 4:7). And, Paul tells Timothy to command those who are rich in this world not to be arrogant (I Timothy 6:17) because, after all, God is the one who has given us our intellect (Daniel 2:21), our abilities (Romans 12:6), and our capacity to earn money (Deuteronomy 8:18).

One of the uglier manifestations of pride is “elitism,” an illusion of superiority over others that’s held by a privileged class. Elitism is at the heart of racism, nationalism, and denominationalism. It is a driving force behind private clubs, hotel clubs, fraternities and sororities, certain churches, social cliques and countless other affiliations. Membership in these associations has its “snob appeal.” Alcorn doesn’t mention this one, but I’d like to add “gated communities,” and the like. These affiliations offer us the opportunity to say, “I belong and you don’t. So there!!”

How nauseating that is. Jesus came to die for every person of every social and economic level. Paul reminds us that the church is made up of the dregs of this world. As we sometimes say, the church is a hospital for sinners. Yet, elitism boosts our ego and lets us think that we are somehow better than others. This is repugnant to Christ (Job 12:5), yet our clubs and social circles, sometimes even our churches, foster this very attitude.

Currently Reading Gratitude For Shoes : Growing Up Poor In The Smokies By Cleo Hicks Williams see related

This is a fantastic book, written by a woman who grew up in Andrews!!!

The past two weekends, I’ve been laid up in bed and have not been very sociable to the Snowbird kids who come and go through the house. I’m glad that they still feel comfortable coming over to do their laundry, cook meals, watch movies, and even spend the night. When I’ve been talking with friends and acquaintances about how the staff hangs out at the house, I’ve had two or three people say something like, “you’re a better person than I am,” or “I don’t think that I could do that.” Well, I haven’t always done that. It used to rattle my nerves to have a bunch of kids come to visit the boys and act like they were at their own house. But God has changed me.

Let me tell you what I believe. I believe that if I have a house that is too big for me to use, such as having two extra bedrooms, that I am sinning if I don’t open it up for use by others who don’t have a place to live. I’m not saying that is a sin for anyone in the same position, but it is a sin for me because God has told me that I am to share in that manner. If I have more than I need, then if I keep it from other people in need, then that is a sin. For, the Bible says that if our neighbor doesn’t have a coat, and we have two, that we are to give him one.

We have to loosen our grip on our earthly possessions. I was watching TV during my illness. There’s a show on HGTV called “Cash in the Attic,” where people take some of their stuff to auction to make enough money to buy something else they want or to renovate their house. This lady on the show yesterday said, “I’m a collector. When I see something I want I just have to possess it.” Isn’t that a common mentality. I have to admit that I struggle against it all the time.

The other day, there was something that I needed that I knew that I could buy at the drug store or at the grocery store. I decided to get it at the grocery store because the drug store is such a temptation to me. I always come out of there with more than I needed or had on my list. I’m an impulse shopper and I know it and I have to fight it.

I remember years ago. There was a clay cooking pot that I wanted for years. It was called something like “rommenkopf” or something. Anyway, you soaked it overnight in water, put your roast in it, and without adding any water to the pot your roast came out fork tender. Finally, Sam bought me one. I loved that pot. One day, Sam came home to find me crying, sitting in the floor, in the middle of the kitchen. I had been pulling some pots out of the cabinet and a heavy metal pot fell on my clay pot and broke it. I was devastated. Looking back, how silly was that? I may have been crying in part because I was afraid that Sam would be mad at me for breaking it. Either way, it was just a pot. A jar of clay. And I had been holding onto a material thing too tightly.

When my son, Nathan, was learning to drive, he was at that point that all teenagers go through, where they will do anything to get behind the wheel; even if it is just to back the car out of the garage. That’s what he was doing one day with my car, while our other son, Zach, was getting in on the passenger’s side and Nathan wasn’t paying attention. He backed the car out of the garage with the passenger door open. It took the door off and messed up the garage door, too. I was at church and so they had to tell my husband, Sam. Sam didn’t get upset about it; he just told them that they would have to tell me what happened when they got to church. That was probably punishment enough. Well, when they got to church they told me and I asked them if either of them was hurt. Nathan said, “Aren’t either of you going to get mad at me?” We knew that getting upset and yelling wouldn’t change anything. It was just a car, a material possession. The important thing to us was that our children were not hurt. I wonder why we find it so hard to understand that God, our Father, doesn’t get mad and yell at us when we know we have done something wrong?

It’s funny. Over the weekend, while I was laying in bed, I heard something break in another room. It was glass, I know. I heard it being cleaned up, clinking together. Now, years ago that would have freaked me out. I’d have jumped up to see what it was. Not now. There is nothing that I could think of that would have freaked me out. It’s broken, whatever it is, and it’s okay. No problem. I don’t care. I thank God for helping me let go of things. If I have it and you want it all that badly, take it, it’s yours. Remind me that I said that if you ever see me holding on to anything too tightly.