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Difference

©02 The Media Desk
http://themediadesk.com

       "A difference that makes no difference IS no difference."
                                          Mr Spock, Star Trek

       The Desk heard a discussion on some weekend talk radio show, it is not sure which one, and the guy was talking about how he didn't see any difference in his life with or without a faith in God.
       The host wasn't sure how to respond to that.
       Meanwhile, the Desk is shouting and dancing to let it call in and respond. Except it wasn't a call in show.

       What difference has the Desk's faith made in its life?
       Every difference.

       What aspect of the Desk's life has it had an affect on?
       Every aspect.

       The Desk is basically honest, because of the Ten Commandments and the words on the Way to live in the Book more than anything else.

       The Desk is still married because its marriage vows were taken before God until Death... etc.

       The Desk does certain things, and doesn't do other things based on its study and understanding of the Word.

       We will go into these and more shortly.

       Most likely the guy on the radio show simply had no idea what he was talking about, although he was introduced as an 'expert' in the subject of various realities.
       Oh please.
       While he may be an expert in other universes and dimensions, he was evidently clueless about this one.
       What does it matter if you can see other realms when you yourself are stuck in this one until it's check out time? If you don't subscribe to some Order of Life from a Higher Authority, then how can you decide if You are better off now than last year besides the rather shallow definitions of bank account or what kind of car you drive? Those things can change in a matter of, well, these days, in seconds. Besides death and taxes, what other constant is there in this world when relationships, jobs, and everything else is basically disposable?

       The Desk has been into Apologetics, it has studied Exegesis, Metaphysics, Theo-dynamics, and half a dozen other headache producing big words. So it will attempt to answer that question.

CAUTION: Tangent ahead.

       No the Desk is Not on par with St. Thomas Aquinas or St. John of the Cross. It doesn't think anything it has written should even be on the same bookshelf as CS Lewis. Martin Luther had his act a lot more together than the Desk ever will. Joseph Campbell's great book and PBS series has nothing to worry about from the Desk.
       But still.
       There are very few Doctors of the Church in the general public. The rest of us mere mortals must do the best we can to seek what understanding and increase in knowledge we can obtain.
       And unfortunately watching re-runs of 'Cheers' or some TV shopping game show is unlikely to do much to achieve that end.
       And, if you ask the Desk where he would fall on that spectrum the answer would be that he may score just over a five on the ten point scale running from zero being the couch potato screaming 'don't pick the center square' at the 'oh' player to ten being a professor emeritus of metaphysics at an Ivy League seminary.

End of Tangent

       So what has that to do with God making a difference in the Desk's life?

       It's simple.

       The Desk has studied the Word, has studied the works of the Old Masters, and sat through its share of very insightful, and more than a few half-baked crackpot opinionated, sermons, and read printed diatribes by those who know what they are talking about and at least an equal number of some by... well, nevermind. And through all of it, the Desk has developed something of a feel for some of the more heady topics usually avoided by the Easter and Christmas crowd.
       Not to pick on those that think if they make it to a church service once a quarter they are doing good by God. The Desk knows some preachers that are uncomfortable with topics like the nature of the soul or who was Cain afraid of and so on. The Desk has no problem discussing or researching any topic. First it starts with a general review of the Bible, then it looks through those reference books and online resources from everybody and the Pope, it works its way through all of it and draws some sort of conclusion, or in some cases, a non-conclusion, then it is back to The Book of Books to check it all against Scripture.
       Some things just are not a Thus Sayth the Lord. Life would be so simple and easy if everything were defined black and white in the Bible. In fact. Life would be Too Easy.
       It would remove Choice and the powers and pitfalls associated with it.
       Instead of people with free will, we would be automatons without a sense of self beyond knowing we needed to go to the bathroom.
       But some preachers think it is the business of the local church to make sure their people hold to their own interpretations of things not outlined in Scripture but are products of their own minds.
       Such as?
       Such as women and teenage girls having more than one earring per ear.
       Such as wearing sneakers to church in the summer.
       Such as being friends with those of other denominations.
       Such as listening to (new music, whatever it is), dancing, using the designated hitter.
       Such as... ad nausium.

       Thou shouldnst drive an imported car. Or watch women's basketball. Or ... well, whatever the preacher doesn't like this week.
       All of which is simply the opinion of a man.

       According to the Apostle Paul in Galatians, we have freedom in Christ which simply galls the fire out of some people who wish us to be slaves. See Galatians the first part of chapter 5, and especially 2: 3 - 5

Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you.

              And there it is.

       In case you missed it, drop back a couple of paragraphs and re-read it. Start with the line 'But some preachers think...'

       The Desk has heard all these things. Don't drink, don't vote Democratic, don't make a right on the red on Sunday... And it goes back to the WORD to see what's what.

       Tangent:
              The Desk heard one Church Board seriously discuss if it was OK for them to buy a pulpit made of pressed board instead of real whole tree wood because the cheaper one wasn't 'Natural'.
              Excuse Please? Where are church furniture recommendations made in the New Testament? If anything, if the cheaper one will serve just as good it is their DUTY to buy it to better spend GOD'S money for the good of His Church!
       End of Tangent.
       And what most of these usually are is NONSENSE from a Man wearing an ugly tie.

       So ignoring at least half of what those men in their ugly ties said, and ALL of them under the general description of TELEVANGELIST, the Desk defies their wisdom and goes and looks it up in the Book of GOD'S WISDOM.
       And guess what?

       The Desk found some Rules for Life that actually Make Sense and Seem to Work.

       And it tries to live by them as dictated by and to the limits of its own consciousness and conscience.

       To what end?

       This may scare you.

       The Desk, if unchecked by the reigns placed upon it by Him Who Can Hold The Desk Back, (Which, incidentally, is not, nor has ever been, any mortal man regardless of some title printed on a business card.) could transform itself into something only the Desk itself can describe.
       The Desk could turn into a combination of Doc Holiday, Caligula, and Nixon, and the only thing preventing it is the knowledge that one day the Desk will stand before Him Who Judges and would have to answer for it.
       Yes. It COULD   it could   but it hasn't.
       And it won't.

       But the potential is there...

       The Desk has a trickle of violence running through it even now. And although it has surfaced on occasion, it has always been restrained. If it was allowed to expand itself to its full potential the Desk could visit onto society a flood of destruction on par with some of Hollywood's best given the depths of the Desk's imagination and ability to gather information.

       The Desk is capable of Sexual Depravity unknown since the days of Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus. Exceeding even the best rumors of the original Hellfire Club in London. If you don't believe it, you haven't read some of the Desk's 'other' works. And most likely, you never will.

       The Desk can do political intrigue and deception with the best of them. It has studied Nixon and Clinton and even Warren Harding and his string of scandals. It understands political machines such as Chicago's politics, and has researched la cosa nostra to some degree. It has investigated the Rose and Cross Societies, and delved into some of the arcania of the Masonic Order. Does the Desk belong to a Secret Society. No. It IS a Secret Society unto Itself.

       There is more, but that will do for this example.

       So what keeps the Desk on the Straight and Narrow? At least most of the time?

       Simply the fact that there IS a Straight and Narrow.

       And THAT is the difference between the Desk as it is, and the Desk as it would be without El Shaddai, the Lord God Almighty, in its life.

selah


For more... check out the Dancing in the Sight of the Lord series on the Desk's Religion page.
And its thesis (in progress) Metaphysical Boundaries

thank you

       

Pray the Revival in the Land Continues

http://themediadesk.com