This is not a birthday plug. I don't even want Facebook comments if I can escape them. It is just I think that I have come to the realization that it is very possible I was born about 50 years later than I should have been. I know what you are thinking, "You could not write and share this if you were almost 80 years old". Let me outline the argument.
Number One- Simplicity-Growing up in the 40s and 50s life was simpler, especially where I am from.
Anyone who knows me will tell you that my weak point is that I tend to over analyze and over think. My nostalgic mind tells me there might be some beauty in going home from work and not having one of three different types of electronic devices for me to indulge my ever curious mind.
Number two- Entertainment- How far and how low our entertainment has come. There are myriads of things that can ensnare and detract from the things that really matter. There is a generation of men that are throwing their entire lives away playing video games. I love video games s much as the next person. I have a Wii in my house. I do not however have an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 because I know the time suck that they can be. It would have been nice to live in a time when you had to go all the way to the movies to see a B western or read a book for entertainment.
Maybe even pick up the Bible?
Who knows? Stranger things have happened.
Number 3- Writing-I love to write. I love to write notes, letters, and even sermons(I actually do enjoy it). I even love to write blogs I have found out this past week. However, electronic communication is not as enjoyable a medium as hand written communication. I would just send letters to all of you that actually care to read my blog, but you would not know what it was. You might call the law thinking it was a bomb because if you are like me the only thing that comes in the mail is bills and junk. This year Sarah and I visited Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. This man spent upwards of 6 hours writing letters every day.
There is such beauty in the hand-written word. It conveys a sense of relationship that no email or Facebook comment ever could. Two generations ago we still cared enough to write letters. Call me old fashioned(you're old fashioned!)
Number 4- Love of Country- When did it become popular for people to hate their own country. Do not get me wrong there are plenty of reasons for anger in the halls of government, but government does not make a nation, people do. To see not just honest protest, but violent hatred of our country from within turns my stomach.
Love of country was built into our upbringing and education back then and I wish it would be now. As a Christian I often ponder on the biblical opinion on nationalism, for we are all citizens in God's kingdom if we have been redeemed. I am thinking of writing extensively on the topic. Anyways, I see no benefit in hatred of country.
Number 5- Family- I have been blessed with a close family. Sadly, this is not the norm. Take it from a youth pastor. The average teenager has so many step brothers-sisters-cousins-grandparents, that they barely know who their relations are. Genesis shows us that the devil always attacks the family. He used the divide and conquer technique to get to Eve, then Eve got to Adam. I wonder what it would be like to live in a time and place where culture honored true marriage and family values?
Number 6(and final)- Church- I do not think that everyone should go back to the way church was done 50+ years ago. In our culture today it would not work. What I wonder about is what the culture looked like when even the drunks made it to Sunday morning preaching?
Surely it was easier to reach people when they sat in the pews within shouting distance of a devout man of God. Church held an honored place in daily/weekly life and we have undoubtedly lost that.
Let's be clear. I probably would be dead if I was born fifty years ago because of all the medical condition I have had that their weren't medicines for then. I appreciate we live in a society that has much more racial equality than back the. Technology is nice(air conditioning, heck yeah). There is the old preacher cliche that says we need some of that old time religion. Maybe we need some of that old time everything. Old time work ethic, respect for elders, respect for country, respect for God, etc.
Proverbs 22:28 says "Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set". Somehow I feel like maybe we have removed too many of the landmarks of our fathers in every facet of life. Be blessed.
Bro. Russell
Number One- Simplicity-Growing up in the 40s and 50s life was simpler, especially where I am from.
Anyone who knows me will tell you that my weak point is that I tend to over analyze and over think. My nostalgic mind tells me there might be some beauty in going home from work and not having one of three different types of electronic devices for me to indulge my ever curious mind.
Number two- Entertainment- How far and how low our entertainment has come. There are myriads of things that can ensnare and detract from the things that really matter. There is a generation of men that are throwing their entire lives away playing video games. I love video games s much as the next person. I have a Wii in my house. I do not however have an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 because I know the time suck that they can be. It would have been nice to live in a time when you had to go all the way to the movies to see a B western or read a book for entertainment.
Maybe even pick up the Bible?
Who knows? Stranger things have happened.
Number 3- Writing-I love to write. I love to write notes, letters, and even sermons(I actually do enjoy it). I even love to write blogs I have found out this past week. However, electronic communication is not as enjoyable a medium as hand written communication. I would just send letters to all of you that actually care to read my blog, but you would not know what it was. You might call the law thinking it was a bomb because if you are like me the only thing that comes in the mail is bills and junk. This year Sarah and I visited Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. This man spent upwards of 6 hours writing letters every day.
 |
| Jefferson's polygraph apparatus that made copies of his letters as he wrote them. He kept the originals and sent the copies. |
Number 4- Love of Country- When did it become popular for people to hate their own country. Do not get me wrong there are plenty of reasons for anger in the halls of government, but government does not make a nation, people do. To see not just honest protest, but violent hatred of our country from within turns my stomach.
Love of country was built into our upbringing and education back then and I wish it would be now. As a Christian I often ponder on the biblical opinion on nationalism, for we are all citizens in God's kingdom if we have been redeemed. I am thinking of writing extensively on the topic. Anyways, I see no benefit in hatred of country.
Number 5- Family- I have been blessed with a close family. Sadly, this is not the norm. Take it from a youth pastor. The average teenager has so many step brothers-sisters-cousins-grandparents, that they barely know who their relations are. Genesis shows us that the devil always attacks the family. He used the divide and conquer technique to get to Eve, then Eve got to Adam. I wonder what it would be like to live in a time and place where culture honored true marriage and family values?
Number 6(and final)- Church- I do not think that everyone should go back to the way church was done 50+ years ago. In our culture today it would not work. What I wonder about is what the culture looked like when even the drunks made it to Sunday morning preaching?
Surely it was easier to reach people when they sat in the pews within shouting distance of a devout man of God. Church held an honored place in daily/weekly life and we have undoubtedly lost that.
Let's be clear. I probably would be dead if I was born fifty years ago because of all the medical condition I have had that their weren't medicines for then. I appreciate we live in a society that has much more racial equality than back the. Technology is nice(air conditioning, heck yeah). There is the old preacher cliche that says we need some of that old time religion. Maybe we need some of that old time everything. Old time work ethic, respect for elders, respect for country, respect for God, etc.
Proverbs 22:28 says "Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set". Somehow I feel like maybe we have removed too many of the landmarks of our fathers in every facet of life. Be blessed.
Bro. Russell
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