I remember at school learning that the world’s population was around 3,6 billion–that was in the 1970s. Things have changed quite a lot since then, but it is likely that some of the poverty and other demographic ratios shown in the video are relatively unchanged.
View the video below (I came across it on Facebook) for an interesting schematic sense of how those ratios would look if there were just 100 people living on earth.
My son, Matthew, comes up with some interesting things he sources on the Internet. Below are some notes he wrote (I asked him to introduce a clip he shared with me) and a short video that introduces the capital city of each of the states in the USA. Notice Wakko’s quasi-Yorkshire accent… we find that amusing, too!
Animaniacs was a show that aired between 1993-1998 that was produced by Steven Spielberg (E.T., Indiana Jones films,etc.) and his company Amblin Entertainment’s television division. It was structured like a variety show, with different characters appearing in different segments. The main characters, however, were the Warner Brothers’ (Yakko, Wakko) and their sister Dot (unidentified as species, but they look like cats to me.)
The show was generally intended as a parody of Warner Bros’ Looney Tunes shorts (1930-1969) mixed with comic educational segments to soften the violence. This is one of the education segments listing all the states and their capitals. For those reading this article and watching this clip who do not understand the beginning, it is intended as a parody of Jeopardy, a popular game show here in the U.S. where the contestants have to answer the questions in the form of a question (e.g., Who is Road Runner?, What is the Bible?, etc.) I hope you enjoy this clip.
Psalm 121 distills several thoughts in the compass of just eight verses. I do not make it a habit to frequently post details about myself, but I thought it would be helpful to some readers if I were to share some thoughts on God’s overruling providence in recent days. But first, consider the words of Psalm 121:
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Ever since I was a boy, the phrase “Nor the moon by night” has held some fascination for me. As the psalmist writes of the preserving power of God, he notes this very point–that nothing under God is unforeseen or out of His direct care and providence.
Driving an elderly car–a 1996 Volvo which has traveled more than a quarter of a million miles–can lead to some interesting experiences.
Last week, unsuspectingly driving along, I heard the squeal of a fan-belt. The traffic was modestly heavy. “I wonder whose car has a squealing fan-belt,” I thought out loud to Sue and Matthew who were with me in the car. And with that, there was a vast burst of vapor from under the hood of the Volvo, along with the sizzling and smell of coolant on the engine cowling. Thankfully I was able to coast over the ridge of the hill and down the other side to a parking lot where I could inspect the damage. It was a relief that, when I went to a nearby shop, coolant was available for sale, so I trekked back to the car, filled it, and, notwithstanding whatever catastrophic event had taken place, I was glad to find that the system was able to hold enough fluid to enable me to drive home and get my car towed to the garage the next day. No harm, no damage, no danger to life, and a modest enough repair bill from the mechanic who faithfully nurses my vehicle–the replacing of the expansion tank that holds the coolant and that had suddenly cracked and sprung a leak.
“Do you think that the car is good to drive to Atlanta?” I asked.
“Sure, no problem,” was the encouraging response of the mechanic. I had promised my son we’d watch a ballgame as a special end-of-summer treat, and we had booked the tickets. The ride to Atlanta was uneventful, the temperature gauge for the engine reading just what it should, and we were excited at the thought of seeing the game after enjoying one or two treats downtown.
“What’s that smell?” Sue asked. Almost there, we were navigating heavy downtown Atlanta traffic, just a half mile from where we planned to park.
My heart sank. “Uh oh!” I exclaimed. “We’re about to blow up our engine.” Quickly navigating lanes, I turned as soon as I could into an empty parking space on a corner parking lot. The temperature gauge needle had literally jumped from normal to just under the red. Reaching for the ignition key, I was on the point of turning off the engine, but, alas, it was too late. A muffled explosion caused a blast of vapor to emerge from under the hood and a torrent of coolant cascaded from under the engine, ominously forming a large puddle and then running away to the sidewalk in an ugly green stream.
Matthew’s disappointment was intense. And the heat and brightness of the afternoon had a negative effect on Sue, who, having crossed the road was asking a traffic policeman some directions. The intense heat began to overcome her, and I had to steer her into a restaurant where she could revive.
Atlanta is 150 miles from where we live. Garages are not usually open on Saturday evenings, and I dreaded the thought of having to stay downtown in an hotel, especially on a nil-budget; and it turned out that the only person I knew in Atlanta whose phone number I had to hand was away out of town.
Jim waiting in Atlanta (Picture by Matthew)
We easily panic in these circumstances. To cut a long story short, notwithstanding a lengthy waiting time, my insurance company was able to secure a tow truck with a manageable out-of-pocket extra payment, whose driver was prepared to piggyback the Volvo to our garage in Greenville SC, and also to give us a ride home to our house after that. He showed up after a wait of over six hours, to our great relief. It was after 2 am when we finally bade him farewell, thankful for a trouble-free ride back to our home. Notwithstanding expense and inconvenience, at no point were we in any of the danger that might so easily otherwise have been the case. Anyone who has ever driven in or near Atlanta will know what it would be like to break down in the middle of a seven-lane freeway!
And the Braves? Well, that will have to wait for another time. A lesson in how we have to let our priorities be determined from on high. In the meantime, we learn to live in greater dependence on Him whose ways are past finding out, and yet whose love and care never fails to take into consideration the detail of our circumstances.
Featured images from www.publicdomainpictures.net.
I am not going into details at present, but anticipate being able to update you with an interesting development in the next few weeks. For the time being, consider this as being classified information that I’ll let out of the box below when I am ready.
As the saying goes, watch this (Blog)Spot!
Counting back from late November 2014, a little short of 1,500 days ago from the time of writing, a small family set foot on US soil in Wayne County Airport, Detroit, Michigan. This was not for the first time, but it marked a major new chapter in their lives. As they boarded their connecting flight to GSP—Greenville Spartanburg Airport, South Carolina—their minds were filled with what had been, and what was yet to be.
What had been: A settled life in the United Kingdom… What was yet to be? The challenge of relocating to a new way of life in the USA. New living and working conditions; new school; new friends; new church; new currency; and new ways of driving an automobile—on the wrong side of the road, to start with.
That family? The Holmeses—that’s us. And the first major event in the USA? Thanksgiving 2010!
We have much for which to give thanks, and the season of Thanksgiving is always a time to stimulate these thoughts. On a previous Thanksgiving, I was asked to share some truths from the Bible at a family gathering of friends, and my mind turned to the account of ten lepers who encountered Jesus. In a remarkable display of His power, Jesus healed them completely—yet only one of them acknowledged it. See Luke 17:11-19.
Here are some of the things I shared along the lines of giving thanks and glory to God:
Living in the twenty-first century here in the sophisticated United States, we may find it hard to imagine what it was like to have an incurable and defacing disease. We will easily go to the doctor’s office or the pharmacy and get a cream or lotion to help with a skin infection or irritation (or plastic surgery if needs be). But here were ten men with a horrible leprous condition, one which was (humanly speaking) incurable.
Imagine your fingers rotting away; the presence of a bacterium that won’t go away until it has feasted on your body, flesh and bones.
Smell the stench of flesh as it pulls away from bone; you would fear to see yourself in a mirror.
Perhaps your nose eroded so that you only see a cavity into your skull; your larynx affected so your voice is weak and reedy
Your nerve endings have been destroyed so you have no feeling of hot, cold or pain; you can burn yourself picking up a hot item from the fire and yet feel no pain!
You are visibly deformed; you are ritually defiled; you have no place in company with the people of God.
It is, as it were, the end of the line for you. You are destined to die, separated from friends and family, excluded from pleasures and enjoyments, and would have people run away from you. Perhaps you would carry a bell, and you would call out, “Unclean, Unclean!” to warn others of your approach. No sports; no social life; no close friendships, no embraces from loved ones. You are an outcast, the lowest of the low.
In the Bible, sin is sometimes described in metaphorical terms as leprosy. So I think it is easy for you, in your mind’s eye, see the picture of how sin is like leprosy, defiling us, separating us from a Holy God, marring our image, causing us to be unclean, unacceptable in His sight and presence. Sin has taken us away from God. “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” (Isaiah 64:6).
But God, in His wonderful purpose, had so worked the situation that Jesus was going to meet them. It was on His calendar for these ten men to meet the Savior.
Jesus was the only hope for these ten men. Jesus is the only hope for sinners today!
I believe it is on God’s calendar for you to meet the Savior of sinners. He is still calling sinners to Himself today, even though they are at a distance from Him (v 12). What will you do when He calls you? He calls you to cleanse you, not to leave you festering in your sinful condition. He calls you to repentance; He calls you to saving faith; He calls you to more than just an acknowledgement of His existence in general terms. He calls you to a personal relationship. He calls you to be a disciple, one who follows Him and learns from Him.
When the ten are healed, only one is serious in his response. People are happy to enjoy the kind providence of God, but do not want Him too near to them. They prefer a God-at-arm’s-length.
But let’s see what the one leprous man—this ex-leper—did:
He came personally to Jesus (v 15: He turned back)
He glorified God with a loud voice (v 15)
He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and gave thanks (v 16)
He, a foreigner, gave glory to God (v 18)
Let’s now try and connect this matter of glorifying God and giving thanks to God to our lives today. What are we taught in the Westminster Larger Catechism?
Question 1: What is the chief and highest end of man?
Answer: Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.
What is the connection between glorifying and thanking God? I believe the answer is in Romans 1. Romans 1 (Romans is the manual that shows how people and God have become separated and how they can be reconciled, brought back into a right relationship) makes its starting point as follows:
For even though they knew God, they did not honor (Lit glorify) Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened. Romans 1:21
But if we know the gospel, and if we are trusting in Jesus alone for our salvation, how will we intend to thank and glorify God? I believe there are three areas in which we may specifically cultivate glorifying and thanking God—words that theologians like to use, and words which we should ourselves love:
For His work of creation, for this reveals to us the wonderful, wise and powerful person that God is who could speak worlds and universes into being! Romans 1:20 makes it abundantly clear to us that “… since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made , so that they are without excuse.”
For His work in providence; consider how He preserves us in life, giving us life and breath and all things—health, strength, power to gain wealth, to labor and see results, to sow and to reap; to become well after we have been sick; to learn; to grow in experience. Consider the bounty and the beauty of what we enjoy. The lines have fallen for us in pleasant places. Who would not want to live in a place such as the upstate of South Carolina?
For His work, most especially, in redemption. He has appointed Jesus, a Prince and Savior, to save His people from their sins. Read about it in the Gospels, in Romans, in the New Testament, in the whole Bible. It’s all about Jesus. The apostle Paul said that there should be the giving of thanks (Ephesians 5:4); let us be giving thanks for Him who is God’s most wonderful gift (John 3:16)
2 Corinthians 9:15 urges us in these words “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” His indescribable gift is the person of Jesus.
Are you in a right relationship with the One of whom the Bible speaks? Is your heart drawn out in thankfulness to the Son of God who planted His feet on this planet? Consider how He became a real man—but without sin—and lived an ordinary life for over thirty years in order that by His living a life of active obedience to God’s law and requirements, and then by dying a death as if being punished as a sinner—for the sins of His people were imputed to Him in His sacrificial death—sinners like you and I can be brought back to a right relationship with God by turning from sin and unrighteousness, and by trusting in Him alone!
Image Credit: Luke Kapustka www.flickr.com/photos/lukekapustka/6688446127
Recent Comments