Inflation is now a manageable  3.0% according to the talking heads. Second thing, it is cold on the porch. So much so I have had to move the pondering to the back porch of my mind. Really does not mater, I can still clear my mind from here. For your consideration I share an article Daren Bakst, published in June of 2022 in the Washington Examiner. The three per cent figure I quoted is from a more recent article I read elsewhere. I don’t believe the three percent figure is correct. Here is a Quote from Daren’s piece.

“Food prices in May 2022 were a whopping 10.1% higher than prices in May 2021. The size of these food price increases have not been seen in over 40 years and are occurring across food categories , from fresh fruits (8.5%) to fish and seafood (12.2%). Over the past nine months, each month’s year-over-year food price increase has been above 4%, with each successive month higher than the previous — starting at 4.6% in September and reaching 10.1% in May.”

I am pondering what part of our society is most adversely affected my this figure and the others I am about to share with you. The war on energy is taking its toll on food prices. Now add the cost of fuel … gasoline and things only get worse. But we are not through yet. Data tells us that gasoline prices have gone up 109% since Joe and company took over. Mortgage payments and rent are up at least 50%. I am not claiming to be all knowing in this subject but I know a price increase when I pay it. Take for instance…A box of saltine crackers… a $1.09 price , not a name brand, that same box is now $1.99. Who do these increases affect the most? The lower income Americans, those who can least afford the increase in costs of items that are an ordinary every day expenses. I did not document these last figures but I will throw them in anyway. 

Increase in cost per cent wise as of this date:

Food- up 20%

Gas up 25%

Mortgage Payments & Rent up 50% 

It may well be that over-all the 3% holds up but from a closer look at those areas that affect the lower income Americans that 3% figure is insane. The truth is that us ordinary folks are being hit hard where it hurts the most. THE ORDINARY THINGS THAT MEET EVERY DAY NEEDS OF ORDINARY PEOPLE.

jk

I have written many times of the effort that The Pew makes to simply share the gospel and avoid the rhetoric of politics, church and social agendas. There are times that things happen and this becomes difficult but we try. There is no excuse for what has happened in Gaza and for the violence that takes innocent lives to advance an evil goal. There are many same things Between Christians and Jews, the most important is that we believe in the same God… we as Christians have been adopted into the family of God Through the blood of Christ, who died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins… For all our differences there are some things that are remarkable. Today’s blog addresses one such thing.

Sukkot is a Jewish harvest holiday, Christians celebrate Thanksgiving. The arrival of Sukkot ushers in the autumn season; Sukkot foods are inspired by the bounty of the harvest. (toriavey.com) 

There is a better than average possibility that our Thanksgiving tradition in many ways could have been indirectly inspired by the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. So here in lies the possibility that “The Difference between the Difference is Relative to the Likeness Thereof”. Without getting to deep the simple facts are. Both the Pilgrims and the Jews were victims of religious persecution. This persecution led to an early Diaspora of certain Jews from Spain in 1492. Some made their way to different parts of Europe and the Middle East. The pilgrims escaped England in 1608 because of the increasing intolerance of their views by the Bishop of Lincoln and Archbishop of York.Then somehow a small group Jews who had settled in Holland were joined by the Pilgrims because of the country’s religious tolerance. The time the pilgrims spent in Holland, about a decade, provided enough time to interact with each other and witness Sukkot celebrations. There are a list of similarities between Thanksgiving and Sukkot.  The first Thanksgiving meal is said to have been eaten out-of-doors, that corresponds to the Sukkot tradition of dining outside in the sukkah. Sukkot and Thanksgiving, are holidays of welcoming; the Pilgrims would welcome Native Americans to the original Thanksgiving table and Jews are encouraged to welcome friends and extended family to dine in the sukkah. Another common factor would be the food of course. Sukkot and Thanksgiving feature bountiful menus of delicious, seasonally-inspired foods.

These few things give us something  to think about…one being that the difference is not all that great between us. I pray that on this day when there are so many differences that keep us separated we can at least come together in truly seeking peace, tolerance and respect for our differences, which oddly enough have a relative nature somewhere in the Difference.

Life is Good

jk

Cold up on the plateau today, could be also that these old bones don’t do cold as well as they used to.Great service at church today and some very special music. I won’t try to put the music of these three wonderful ladies in a box… but I will tell you where their music took me. Over the years Pat and I loved to go to the Smokey Mountains, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge which was not all that far from our home in Tennessee at that time and we soon learned our way around the tourist traffic. We learned the back roads and short cuts and saw more of what mattered about these fabulous mountains, minus the lights and hype of those things that were designed to capture the tourist dollars. I must not leave out Cades Cove, a treasure in time gone by but preserved by the Park Service, a winding road through the past that never gets old. There is a saying, I don’t know its origin but it is a good advice for anyone who just wants to savor a part of the past. Take the Road less travelled. Wears Valley Road winds from Pigeon Forge, TN to Townsend, TN. This 15 mile road offers scenic views of the Great Smoky Mountains … The other way is to go through Maryville Tn and take Wares Valley Road as the back door into Pigeon Forge. It has been awhile due to age and health that Pat and I have made the trip, so be sure and check me out on this. From Maryville Tn take 321 into Townsend and I don’t remember a lot but I do remember to Townsend is about 27 miles good road. Now I am sure that things have changed a bit over time… Wares Valley road will turn off this road to the left and if you elect to keep going straight the road will dead end, take a right and your on your way to Cades Cove. You can turn left and go to the Park Visitors Center and you will be just a short drive from Gatlinburg. Back to the singing…and where it took me.

There is an old Church on Wares Valley Road, about halfway up on your right, I think it was a Methodist Church at one time…You know the kind, one of those old white wood plank buildings, with a cemetery behind or beside it. Double doors, four or five windows down each side and an old pot bellied stove in the middle aisle between two rows of wooden pews. I told you before I am eighty years old and because of my age I had the privilege of hearing the old folks recall what to them were the good ole days. Come Sunday the ladies would put on the best dress they had, in the summer time grab a leaf or straw fan, hand made of course and their best bonnet and herd the family to Church or sometimes called Preaching. Now dad was not exempt and would be wearing his best overalls and a clean white shirt over which were a pair of braces. Some of the old folk I talked with told me on special Sundays, like dinner on the grounds, funerals or Weddings, the overalls and shirt were starched. Just a note of interest, dad would do his best to scrape the barnyard off his work shoes. The kids usually went bare foot, even to school if there was one but on Sunday they wore the only pair of shoes they had. Here is another note of interest…If the children didn’t have a pair of shoes they were expected to scrub the feet, even between the toes. Oh that music. If the church had a benefactor of wealth…there would be a simple piano. If not, like in Texas you gotta have a fiddle. There were all kinds if instruments, some home made, but on Sunday they were part of a praise the Lord singing that made you believe in the Bye and Bye. 

“By and by) By and by  (When I reach)  When I reach  (That home)  That home  (Beyond)  Beyond the sky

(Where the)  Wicked will cease from troubling  (And the)  Weary will be at rest  (Every day)  Every day will be SundayBy and by  (2times)  When I reach that city  (oh yes)  City so bright and fair  (oh yes)  Where all my friends and loved ones  (oh yes)  Are gonna welcome me up there  (oh yes)  Put on my long white robe Lay down my heavy load When I reach that city  (oh yes)  City so bright and fair  (oh yes)  Where all my friends and loved ones (oh yes) Are gonna welcome me up there (oh yes)”

It was a time of honest hard work, love of family, land and of course of the Lord, not necessarily in that order. It is the simple things that we remember most, I suppose because they are within our heart and always on our minds. 

jk

The verse I opened with, Genesis 1:27, is  plain and simple truth…for those of us who believe in God it is time we stood by our faith. I have spent many an hour pondering this gender stuff and have arrived at a place that tells me we as Christians are being overwhelmed by the “woke” community.  Every human being has either two X chromosomes, and is therefore biologically female, or an X and a Y chromosome, and is therefore biologically male. It was not until the past decade or so that a distinction between sex and gender came into being…or it might be said fashionable or popularized. It is also fact and a matter of record that popular culture and postmodern psychology have in this day embraced this subject as fertile ground to expand on theories and professional involvement. Popular culture and postmodern psychology, however, do not change the fact that human beings are either XX or XY. No amount of hormone therapy or surgery can change that fact.

Consider this…There are now over 50 gender options, we are overwhelmed by the alphabet people. I will not list them here…thank you. I believe the term is gender dysphoria and is in fashion now. It is time the people of the faith set the record straight. Forgive me as I throw some scripture at you. The Saints of old were not shy about making their position and that of God very plain about this letter thing. Some scriptural thoughts. Deuteronomy 22:5 has a lot to be said about transvestitism…two things of note. It  is an abomination to the LORD your God and is a sin of great proportions when used as a form of deception. Now this next note of scripture is harsh and to the point and when used to judge others is wrong. It is God who will judge and to fall back on another over used term not ours to judge these people. The New Testament is a consistent declaration of the sinfulness of homosexuality (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Romans 1:26–27; 1 Corinthians 6:9. ) The Bible is consistent in its belief that gender and biological stats are the determining state of gender as created by God. SO…Biblically speaking, human beings are male or female. There is no gender spectrum or continuum even hinted at in the Bible. This as Christians is what we need to do… The bible makes it clear that sin has devastating effects on humanity. We as Christians must recognize that we are called by Christ to repent of sin…to embrace, accept and defend the instructions of our God to His people through the prophets, preachers, apostles and His disciples by the word…the Bible. Simply put…we are not in the business of condemnation but one of restoration. Let God judge while we restore and defend the faith. We must stand on our faith and never accept that what God created can be altered by man.

Life is Good

jk

Welcome back, you might need a sweater or just a good old fashioned flannel shirt. It is hard these days to clear your mind if you are a person who stays up with the issues of the day. There are two issues that seem to find their way into print most every day. One that in my mind is a a bit complex and emotional for ordinary conversation, that being this gender issue. Remember when there was only a male or female? Sorry to say that ain’t the case today, this certainly is not your daddy’s world. The other issue would be Hamas, Gaza and Iran’s place in this war against Israel. 

The first thing about a good conversation is that we limit it to as much of the fact as possible…extreme emotion regardless of the direction tends to obscure fact and in these times it’s often the property of those who can talk the loudest…that’s is being nice. It should be a noticeable fact that when fact becomes …truth, it does not do well in a hostile environment. So here are some facts.

-Hamas is a an Iranian backed Palestinian terrorist organization that at the moment controls the Gaza Strip.

-Hamas rejects any alternative other than the complete annihilation of Israel.

-What have they done? In October of this year they carried out the worst terror attack in Israel’s history. Over the years  2000 Israelis have died from suicide bombings and other attacks. The October attack count is at 1300 dead and more missing or held hostage.

-They through their campaign of violence derailed talks between Israel and the PLO during the 1990’s.

-It is a recognized fact that after conquering the Gaza Strip in 2007, Hamas has maintained a standing army of fighters and supplied them with the necessary weapons to continue their terrorist war against Israel.

–It is reported that the funding for these terrorist activities while financed by other sources also, the bulk of the funds, $100 million come from Iran. 

-There are at least six Hamas leaders spread throughout this area of the middle east.

As I open the conversation here on the back porch it is my belief that the first thing we must do is to recognize that it is the goal of Hamas to destroy Israel…put plainly, kill all Jews. To the best of my knowledge I have shared the truth with you. What you do with it is up to you. Stay here on the porch if you like, or come back next week. There is no justification for microwaving babies, cutting off their heads while their mothers watch, none at all. In the weeks to come the protesters on all sides will offer solutions, slogans and the politicians from all over will vie for your ear. 

The answer my friend is not blowing in the wind… or here on the back porch. It will be found in the word of God and on your knees.

God forgive your people for their sin of indifference and strengthen us to keep the faith.

jk

Source: click here 

The Bible did not originally contain chapter or verse references. So what happened? Well it is not hard to understand that being divided into chapters and verses helps us find scriptures quickly and easily. Consider how much harder it would be to find even one of the best known verses, John 3:16, if you had to read through the words till you found it. Chapter and verse makes it much easier. Not every thing is perfect and there are some poorly placed chapter starts and endings but overall chapter and verse works well.The Chapter divisions occurred about A. D. 1227. Sometime later along came the verses. When I was growing up and first started attending Church and Sunday School the one thing I remember the most was the memorizing of Bible verses. I did not do well at it even though I loved to go to Church and Sunday School, I was what I call a present mark on the S.S. roster. The teacher would read a bible story, sometimes we even had coloring books or pictures according to the grade we were in. Let me mention also that we even had a work sheet to follow and then take home to show to our parents. In some classes we even had treats!

 Read this from  2 Timothy 3: 14-17 (NLT)

 “14But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. 15You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” Things change, I am now 80 years old and recall what the Apostle Paul Wrote long ago.

1 Corinthians 13:11 New Living Translation

 11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.

We all experience this in our lifetimes… they have a term for it…the growth and maturing process. At this time even at my age I have only a small revelation of what God in time will reveal to me.  There will come a time in the future when all of us will have a have a complete knowledge of God’s will. Here is a caveat we would do well to remember. It will be revealed on a completely different road, one devoid of the sins and temptations of the earthly world. How do we know which is the road we should take? In his second letter to Timothy, Chapter 3:14-17 might be a guide we could follow.Most of us have read at one time or another 2 Timothy  3:16…

What is that different road and what would it look like? Well for one thing it would follow those things you have learned, confirmed by those who taught you, by the way they have lived. You will retain and refresh the sacred writings which you were taught from childhood. These words have given you the wisdom to bring you to salvation through Jesus Christ. You will be careful to follow only God inspired scripture not the writings of those who seek to produce their own literature to support their own claims. We can and must respect the scripture that has open the way to God. If you are a seeking the truth you must read the Bible, no other book has such a record of bringing people to God and Christ and must not be disregarded. The scriptures in the Bible are a necessary tool in teaching others about our God. It is here in the New Testament we have the teaching of Christ and a record of his life. We as Christians can use the scriptures to convince people of the errors of their way and put them on the right road. I have no numbers to present but I do have the testimony of Saints past that Scriptures can and have convinced people of the errors of their way.  We must study the Scriptures to make ourselves useful to God and to other people. No one is saved who does not have a burning desire to save others. 

Life is Good

jk

This in an unusual extra post, I usually only write one a week… well I only publish one Pew a week. I started in 2013 on a very tentative note. I am not a professional writer, I don’t have any letters behind my name, I am just an ordinary guy that found God late in life. How did that happen? My way back to God was through the word. I started reading reading the Bible, going to church and the reasons aren’t that important. There was no great Damascus Road experience, no great sermon, preacher or any pressure of any kind. I just could not get over how interesting the Bible was and was drawn into the history and this fantastic story of my God, the creator and my place in this world. I could go in to detail but the point is in those early years of finding God, it was the written word that drew me in… God spoke this world into being by the power of his words. Of all the creatures on this planet, only humans can communicate through the spoken word. There is power in words, consider that words have the power to create or destroy. How are we using this power? Do we seek to build others up, or do we use words to destroy them? Where is the one place that words are used to disseminate knowledge in a positive way about this God I found. It is the bible of course and while words won’t led us to that perfect state of Wisdom because that comes only from God, you can ask Solomon about that. Solomon also called Jedidiah, was a monarch of ancient Israel and the son and successor of King David, according to the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament. Solomon was the biblical king most famous for his wisdom. In 1 Kings he sacrificed to God, and God later appeared to him in a dream, asking what Solomon wanted from God. Solomon asked for wisdom in order to better rule and guide his people.

I started writing The Pew to share the power of the word and now some 10 years later and over 439 posts I still love sharing the word. I have had over 10,000 reads in that time…bragging…no, it is a testimony to the power of the word. Consider this. A very ordinary guy has been given the privilege to share the word of God…to tell the story of His Son and pass the word on of the greatest gift ever…Salvation and Life Everlasting. The Pew is about the word and I am so thankful to have been blessed to share that word with you. Remember to come back to Pew this Saturday eve when I post my usual blog.

jk

When you reach a certain age and let me make note of this… for each one of us that certain age comes at different times. For me from my sixties to now at eighty years of life, each year has proven how important it is to adjust not quit. As each of my endeavors became harder to do due to health I always put my foot in the door to prevent it from closing completely. For us old dogs it is important that we know that there are other trails out there. You who have read The Porch in the past, you know that I have written it is best to stay on the porch and let the young dogs run. I still believe that with one caveat… there are other things you can do from that porch but you can’t let life close that door on you, you will become blind to reality. This is from an old man with an opinion…take it for what it is, an opinion. Three things that are important while sitting on that Porch:

God – The relationship you have with God, your creator is what will sustain you in hard times.

Reality – One harsh fact of life was told to me as being an old Jewish saying.  Life… “it’s what it is.”

HOPE –  

 1 Corinthians 13:12 — The New International Version (NIV)

¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Isaiah 40:31(NIV) but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 41:10 (NIV) I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Enjoy your time on The Porch and don’t go in and shut the door.

jk

We have reached the last section of the Book of Psalms and as we have done with the other four we will  read the first Psalm in this section…107 which contains 43 verses. We are encouraged to consider The Steadfast Love of God. The New Interpreter’s Bible, breaks down these 43 verses into four sections. These sections are plainly seen if read in this manner. The first three verses calls us to congressional response. The other sections are as follows: vv. 4-9, 10-16, 17-22, and 23-32. I suggest you read this psalm in that way to better understand the message here. In vv. 33-42 we are reminded of the steadfast love of God. The psalm presents a picture of what God’s steadfast love is all about and a fairly complete theology of salvation. 

Open your bibles to Psalm 107 and let’s go beyond the word. We start with vv. 1-3. This psalm ties in with 106 but introduces us to a major theme…Steadfast Love. Right away in verse 2 we are introduced to a counter theme… Trouble. We encounter a new term “the redeemed” those gathered from exile. Post-exilic generations were known elsewhere as “The redeemed of The Lord. Moving on to vv. 4-9 the theme presented here is not one of experience had by any person or group, but when applied to those of Israel’s experience of the Exodus, wandering in the wilderness and return from exile their meaning is central to these verses. There are happenings that are experienced by the Jews such as hunger and thirst which are satisfied by God. We are shown here that they are taken care of by God’s leading the way, and they happen in a display of wonderful works. These verses  aways show the one factor, that of connectivity…the crying out of the people is always a part of the experience of salvation. Next we move to vv. 10-16. These verses could allude to anyone’s experience of oppression. We also see how some of the words here paint the picture the psalmist is putting forth. Darkness, shadow of death, gloom, prisoners, misery, affliction and distress. There is the connection with Psalm 106, it is in God’s character “to help those who have no one to help them.” Reinforcing the fact that God is steadfastly loving. There is one other thing to note in these verses…the people are delivered and are expected to publicly proclaim what God has done. In these next verses 17-22 we are told of an adventure at sea that exposes the weakness of men and shows God moving to comfort them. These men were at “their wits end”and in their wisdom cried out to God, they acknowledged their total dependence upon God and had faith in His steadfast love. We finish with vv.33-43. A few quick points to leave you with. The first psalm in Book IV defined wisdom as a humble, daily dependence on God. So the simple context to wrapping this up lies in some part to Plasm 107 v.43.

Those who listen will learn this lesson. It is best to renounce mortal wisdom, cry out to God and be the beneficiaries of God’s wonderful works. It could not be more appropriate a thought for these days and Israel’s plight this very day

God’s enduring steadfast love has always throughout history aided and endured exiles everywhere to have hope. It is Our hope as well.

Life is Good

jk

Sun sets earlier now and the chill of the early evening is noticeable in my old bones. With that said, let’s get to pondering…We are now three days into this week and there is no lack of material and the bad news is the bad news. There are always good things to ponder but we can and do get overwhelmed by all the bad stuff. I just came in from off the front porch, I am eighty years old and old traditions die hard. I love watching the kids dress up and for some of them it will be the first time they have interacted with a stranger…well a strange old man at least. I love the memories of days gone by but times change and for us old folks it can be a bit sad. With all the trouble in today’s world handing out candy to kids is a break in the chaos of the day… a bit more about that word in a moment. I am an observer of people, a people watcher and their actions, attitudes and behavior in a world that has become divided by hate and misunderstanding driven by personal efforts or a groups organizational agendas, which provide all kinds of fodder for pondering.

Now…that brings me to the word of the day, Chaos. The simple definition of that word is “complete disorder and confusion”. Consider this, those who implement chaos through their actions or encouragement have a special line in the dictionary. They are described as people who are completely unordered, unpredictable and confusing. Some synonyms they have are disorderly wild and they have an extreme lack of restraint or control. I will leave it to your discretion to name these folks. I have out of respect and better judgement simply gave them a group name. I refer to them as the AGENTS OF CHAOS. They are everywhere and they have no particular domain. They are in government at all levels. They do not have a record of introducing any positive solutions to the problems we face. Their line of thought is very simple…to find fault, encourage differences and if possible encourage others by doing what they do best, “create disorder and confusion”.

I do not want this to become a rant…don’t want to be like them. Let me put it this way. I would rather decide how many bags of candy I will need to purchase… than spend my time complaining about the evils of celebrating Halloween. In short I turn to scripture…

John 8:12

I Am the Light of the World

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

When we succumb to chaos we walk in darkness but we have the Light of Christ’s coming to show us the Good Way.

jk