Invertebrate: an animal lacking a backbone, such as an arthropod, mollusk, annelid, coelenterate, .. and some forms of Christians. ​

But first a bunny trail> 
With all things  COVID-19 related it is easy for everyone including Christians to hyperfocus on this very real health risk.  So hyperfocused that we almost forget to breath.  Almost.

But the world does not truly go on hold.  Life  is still lived and as Christians we should not lose focus on Jesus and living out His truth.  The evening  news does not give you truth.. it gives you what will get you to watch their 'shows'.  Cynical much? you ask. No, I think of it as  being realistic.

So no matter, we all of course need to be careful, stay healthy but this is NOT the Black Plague. Stay informed, but don't swallow the bait cast out every night at 6pm at your favorite news fishing spot.
<End of bunny trail

Now put down your Purell for  a  moment and  let's talk about the Church.  Not the buildings where we all gather in,  but  those good folk  called  to be the body of Christ.

A strong body will have bones, muscles, a heart pumping, brain thinking, lungs breathing, and we have eyes, ears, nose to enhance our senses to the world around us.  This is why the body analogy works well in describing the Church and how  it should function. All parts of the body are different but important.

So here is my concern of the day.. the church appears to suffer at times from a hardened and/or weak heart.. and our brain perplexed while attempting to blend God's truth into a 'very' secular world view (a true square peg in a round hole dilemma). Of course we should instead share how this very secular world needs to align with God's Truth. 

Hmmm.. let summarize my concern with these attitudes.. Any Church (or person) without Biblical convictions.. that does not follow Christ teachings,  listen to the Holy Spirit cannot truly worship/obey God and.. is maybe not really a Christian.  And certainly appears to be a 'Christian Invertebrate'

To exist in a luke-warm compromised Oprah Winfrey morning blend of religions that serves self with at best a wink and a thumbs up gesture towards Heaven will not get you to Heaven, and certainly not lead others to God.

So what better time than now to grow a SPINE. In the midst of the pandemic panics, partisan politics, border & homeless crisis, racial tensions, failing marriages, and LGBTQ confusion we (The Church) best grow a spine. I MEAN NOW.

Your Will on Earth? So how is that working out?

• I turn on the evening news (SHOW) I doubt I hear mention of God or His will. 
• In Washington DC there is a lot of MY WILL BE DONE attitudes legislated in their 'swampy' ways, but nary a mention of God or His will.
• So I check out Twitter (I should know better) and find the same world as in the news where chaos is king.
• So I filter down to tweets by 'Christians' and while there are very good views, scriptures and inspiring quotes shared with the hope of Jesus love..I still find chaos.
  
  

Christian Tweeters are all quoting the same Bible and while there are honest differences, tweets tend to be divisive as tweeters congregate in their own denominational or theological camps/gangs?. 

With all the tension I am looking for an MMA pay-per view event with Catholics v Protestants to determine once and for all.. who really is saved?  It can't be the both.. can it?  I mean, one of the two must be on the fast track to HELL.  Or will there be a Pro(testant)-Wrestling match with a high flying Beth Moore coming off the top rope attempting to way-lay John MacCarther. 

kidding, I think.

But while I DO LIKE TO DIGRESS.. let us now return to the LORD'S PRAYER. God your will be done on Earth.. starting with me.

Through my life (I am 62 now) I have prayed "Lord show me your will for my life." many times. At times regarding big decisions and that is a good always to seek the Lord and His will, but I am just recently realizing often the prayer"what is your will for my life?" is me-centric. Prayers focusing on the right job, house, finding Mrs. Right/Larson, or even a car purchase.  

Now onward and forward we go..

​Do you remember Hagar in Genesis 16, The fact that she had a son with Abraham now complicated life. Tensions and jealousy rose between Hagar and Ishmael with Sarah and Isaac, so Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away.

I obviously do not understand this whole dynamic or know how to justify this.. except I do know that Hagar and Ishmael were not how God planned to bless Abraham but through the birth of Isaac. 

This story is harsh, but in these verses we learn God heard the cries of Hagar and was with the boy. 17 ..the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven "Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying ..Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

FIELD OF STREAMS (Ge 6-9)
If you have ever seen the movie Field of DREAMS you will know  it’s about an Iowa farmer who hears voices telling him to plow under his corn crop and build a baseball field where the ghosts of old pro players, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, would play.  Now of course, the neighbors and the town folk think he is nuts, and that he is risking his farm for the sake of old baseball players that no one can see but himself.

The decision for this Iowa farmer to listen to whispering voices saying, “If you build it, they will come”, and then to build a ballpark without having a real explanation of what this is all about takes some faith.  So what about Noah? 

The Bible tells us that Noah was a righteous man, and faithful to God in a world of sin.  
​
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. Genesis 6:5-6

and so God tells Noah, If you build it, they will come.  Genesis 6:13-21 in this case THEY are a literal ‘boat-load’ of animals.

Next, please note the Ark Project was constructed by 600 yr. old  Noah with the assistance of  his 100 year old sons.  

Think about it, Noah was approximately 10 times older than me, and his three 'boys' were 3 times older than my two sons.
​
ALL ABOARD!
Anyways, the ark is built, and then the collection and storing of the animal pairs begins.

Let me add a little perspective here..

• if my ONE DOG was in line to board the ark, and spied Mr. & Mrs. Squirrel about to board.. he would be gone with any chance of him getting back in line before the rain falls is almost NILL.
• Then there would be the other house pet of choice.. THE CAT. There is a reason why the phrase 'like herding cats' is used to describe near impossible tasks, and so it goes without saying boarding two cats onto a big boat filled with numerous other animal sounds and smells is not a given.

and Regarding dogs & cats folklore has it if not for Noah’s keen 600 year old eyes and senses, the demise of the common house cat would have been a certainty.  

Also illustrated below are a few more boarding the Ark highlights.. including the demise of the Unicorn.

LIFE AT SEA..
So now there is a time where God floats the boat. Loaded with animals of every kind I cannot imagine how this all worked out.  I am challenged to get my one rescue dog out several times a day to ensure he does not do his 'bizness' on the carpet so 'say-no-more' bout' waste management on this sea sick petting zoo. But on the bright side the excursions and amenities not found on any other Cruise line, and since they would be in the Ark for I believe 371 days, they might as well make the best of what Noah's Luxury Cruise had to offer..

• Good time for FISHING, or
• maybe WATER-SKI, or
• enjoy the irony of having two GOLDFISH on the Ark
• and let's not forget Noah's summit of MT EVEREST.  

A while back our pastor gave a sermon on getting to know God by reading our Bibles regularly and systematically.  During this very good sermon our pastor joked that the most read books of the Bible are Genesis and Matthew, because our inspired intentions in January to read through our Bibles fades once we are through Genesis, and Matthew. (Leviticus has killed many a Bible study ).. then the next year we are back in Genesis and Matthew.  I call this bible study plan.. The BEGINAGAINS.

I must be honest and say I have followed the BEGINAGAIN plan many times and not until 2003 did I completely read my Bible from cover to cover AND I CARTOONED THRU IT TOO! Note: Neither Billy Graham or the Pope could say they cartooned through the Bible.  Then in 2018 lightning struck again as I read through my Bible from Genesis through Revelations. YEAH ME!

I confess #IHATEHASHTAGS is not the most endearing blog title, but my purpose is to focus on a Biblical response to the glut of #movements in our VERY SECULAR society.

This messy world is inundated with Virtue Signalling / Social Justice Crusaders all whipped up into a frenzy by the media and social media with images, sound bites, tweets, etc, which often lack context promoting 'feelings' over 'facts', agendas over truth. Collectively I will label these the dreaded #SJWCRUSADES (social justice warrior crusades). 

These #SJWCRUSADES exist in a land where everyone is a victim, and/or bullied into a fragile 'snowflake' condition barely able to function. Their victim status paralysis is someone else fault when 'feelings are hurt', and/or they were made to 'feel uncomfortable' which is considered an 'act of violence' against them. Who is to blame?  Mostly, Men.. more specifically WHITE MEN. And the luck of the draw, I was born a white male have continued that status for my entire life. So.. sorry? I guess for something I did or didn't do inherently because I am white? and male?

Important note: I am not insensitive to injustice, but am concerned with a #SJWCRUSADE response to injustice, and where they place hope.  For me, I would like to place my hope in the following Bible Basics..

Getting back to the (Bible) Basics..

• So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.​ Matthew 7:12 (#do_unto_others)
• He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD. Proverbs 17:15 (#true_justice)
• “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” John 7:51 (#innocent_til_proven_guilty)​
• “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Mt 22:37-40 #loveGod&Others Hey.. WHAT IF.. we really did #OBEY these two commandments?
• For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God. Romans 3:23. #AllHaveSinned.

In these verses we find justice and an outline for just behavior. So I ponder again.. WHAT IF.. we simply follow the above Bible Basics instead of launching into another #SJWCRUSADE?


​Welcome to the #SJWCRUSADE Jungle..
#metoo, #churchtoo, #BLM, #believewomen, #toxicmasculinity, #whiteprivelege, #woke, #lgbtq, #prochoice, #abortionisawomansright, #impeach45, etc etc.
In most of these movements GUILT, MOTIVES, and PRIVILEGE are assumed.. and terms like INTERSECTIONALITY are spewed out (yes spewed). But honestly most #SJWCRUSADES add nothing to justice not already covered by God's Word and common sense, and #SJWCRUSADES often have their own agenda that perverts truth.

​​So with this in mind, onward and forward to societies #SJWCRUSADES parade of Injustices.
​

1. Respect Women (#believewomen, #metoo, #churchtoo, #toxicmasculinity) 
I believe all these #SJWCRUSADES have hijacked/injured truth where guilt is assumed (and very public) because we must #believewomen.   After all.. Why would a woman lie? A. Because for women, just like men Romans 3:23 applies.

• ​Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with [them] according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. 1 Peter 3:7 

• Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price [is] far above rubies. Proverbs 31:10-11
  So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Genesis 1:27 
  
  Simply put, there is no place in our Bibles condoning the disrespect, harassment, or assault of women. ​In all instances seek truth and justice without assumed guilt.
  
  ​

2. Racism (#BLM, #woke, #whiteprivelege)
Slavery, racism, and discrimination based on the color of your skin is foolish sin. Please note, when the Bible speaks of slavery it was a different culture and the meaning of the term slave was very different from what it means today.  The Bible never condoned slavery as we think of it today, or any bias against anyone based on the color of their skin.

• We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 1 Timothy 8:10
• There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28
• For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16
  

​Again, God created all men equal and so racism is simply put.. stupid.  Now, I must say that racism is found within all races.  ANYONE who judges the motives, intention, and abilities based on race is wrong, and could be racist.


3. Abortion (#prochoice??, #abortionisawomansright) 
There are ZERO valid arguments for abortion. Science and common sense tell us the unborn child is a beautiful human life and to be #prochoice is at it's heart a deception of truth or worse. There is a beating heart, there is the developing body of the unborn child. The birth canal is not the arbiter of life... conception is.  And abortion needs to be seen for what it is.. the ending of this life by violent methods.

• For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalms 139:13-14 
  

​Note: There needs to be great compassion for the expecting mother and her circumstances. There needs to be loving counsel available for these 9 months and beyond. There needs to be resources available for the expecting mom, and the kind words encouraging life over the alternative choice of abortion.

4. LGBTQ & Gender Issues (#lgbtq) 
​It matters what we Christians believe on these issues. Of course Christians should respect, appreciate, and love those who are LGBTQ, But.. we should not turn a blind eye to ANY sinful sexual lifestyle from infidelity, porn, adultery, and including LBTQ issues where the scriptures are so clear.

• and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men .. Romans 1:27
• Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men. 1 Corinthians 6:9
• We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, or slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 1 Timothy 8:10
  

​
​Again, The pursuit of Justice and Truth are biblical. Justice where we are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and where a just punishment is delivered to the truly guilty. 

​

aka The Northwoods Good Samaritan of 2001. ​This is a story near and dear to my heart that I like to share most every December.  

Back in the December of 2001 on the roads of ice and snow near Hayward Wisconsin  a young mom with her preschool children loaded in the family car was heading home to the nearby town of Drummond when along the road she spots an older man with the hood up on his car.

This was a typical bitter cold December day, but though she has her young children with her she is impressed to stop and see if she can help. 

As she pulls over the old man approaches her car. She cautiously locks her doors and rolls down her window slightly to ask if she can help. The old man does not speak, tries to open the door, then reaches inside his coat.. making her all the more uneasy. 

The old man pulls out a small keyboard from his jacket and plays a pretyped short message explaining he has ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) so he can not speak. He then types needs a ride into town. The young woman opens her car to the old man she does not know and drives him home.

This old man was my father Walter Larson, and the young woman was Jen Herricks, and Jen was the the Good Samaritan of Northern Wisconsin 2001. I wonder how many cars drove by before Jen stopped to help. How many macho northwoods guys in their 4x4 trucks drove by too busy to help an old man stranded on a bitter cold winter day? Maybe none, but maybe too many. But no matter, my dad was cared for by someone with a family car, and a kind heart.

Drawing a line.. is a topic I can so easily relate to.  Drawing lines, and coloring inside those lines.. and viola' I have a cartoon.  Everybody loves cartoons.. ok, some of us more than others, but hey.. it's what I do.

Now the beauty and curse of a cartoon it allows me the liberty of exaggeration. Exaggeration in a world with big noses, bellies, expressions, and points of view.  The lines drawn in cartoons are just outside the lines where reality exists and in this world, I am among friends.

Let me share examples of these sharp contrasting lines

SIMPLE RIGHT & WRONG

• GOD'S LINE.. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8

• MAN'S LINE.. In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Judges 17:6  or today we might say with a smirk.. Whatever happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas... or maybe.. what happens on the internet, stays on the internet.

GENDER & MARRIAGE

• GOD'S LINE.. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” Mark 10:6-9 (note the red ink text.. are Jesus words) (note 2 - notice their are two genders.. no mention of gender being a social construct)
• MAN'S LINE.. 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. Romans 1:27

 
LUST & ADULTERY

• GOD'S LINE.. 27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:27-28
• MAN'S LINE.. We live in an over sexualized society now ranging from youth where lust and fantasy are fueled 24/7 on full display in ads, on our streets, all the way down a truly dark road of pornography.

CARING V SELFISH 

• GOD'S LINE.. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” James 1:27

• MAN'S LINE.. Man seems to prefer greed, and putting self ahead of others to the point we are not even aware of those in need. We look the other way. ie Lazarus and the Rich man Luke 16:19-31, and the Final Judgement Matthew 25:31-46, are sobering examples with eternal consequences... AND think about the goal of the whole 'Prosperity Gospel' movement where our earthly prosperity is paramount.  Living for self is not the road to Heaven!

Of course, no one wants to be labeled the uncaring bigoted judgmental Christian stereotype. So while we need to be sensitive regarding all issues of the day including today's hot-button topics (racism, abortion, homosexuality, and gender identity, etc etc ) we need to blend this with God's firm loving Truths . Remember always speak God's truth with love, but 'flip it' to realize love is found only in God's Truth. 

And.. the next time someone tells you "I like Jesus but not Christians because Jesus was about love.. but Christians are are judgmental, hateful, bigoted, sexist, patriarchal homophobes.. .  Read them Luke 12:49-53

Not Peace, but Division Luke 12:49-53 49 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! 51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

As I mull over this blog, I remember a couple years ago I had a job where my boss and I had honest mutual dislike for each other. I believed I was disrepected and mistreated leading to a mutual parting of the ways. Looking back I know I should have handled this better.  Love God? check, love this boss? I did not appreciate, or RESPECT him so loving him like myself wasn't happening.. but it should have.  I put my hurt ego over humbling myself and representing Christ. So my prayer coming from this bad experience is to get my eyes off of ME, love God, and care for others... even when the others are bosses from a no good very bad day.
​