Week Thirty-Five, 2023
There is a way that seems right to a man: Proverbs often speaks of the way, the path of life a man or woman walks upon. Solomon observed that this way often seems right to a man. His path of life seems fine to him, and he wonders why God or anyone else would have a different opinion. Proverbs 14:12
He was an icon in broadcast journalism. For decades people watched him every evening on CBS as he brought the evening news. I met him once over lunch and admired his wit, his honesty and as a much-respected journalist who was as interested in talking about his sailboat as he was about current events. He was Walter Cronkite.
“And that’s the way it is.” Sitting behind his desk at CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite delivered that iconic sign-off for the final time on March 6, 1981. That moment put a wrap on an incredible journalistic career spanning forty-six years, three major wars—four if you count the Cold War—the civil rights movement, the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., the Watergate scandal, and thousands of nightly broadcasts.
At the peak of his career, Cronkite spoke to twenty-nine million viewers every night. He shared the news of the day with honesty, impartiality, and a cool levelheadedness that helped his viewers remain calm even in the most uncertain of circumstances. What is perhaps most remarkable about Walter Cronkite is that he understood the position he occupied within the culture, and he took it seriously.
He often described his role as someone asked to “hold up the mirror—to tell and show the public what has happened. That was it. No flooding the airwaves with opinions. No strong-arming the public to move in this direction or that direction. He simply spoke the truth about the world, and in doing so he helped millions find their place in it.
Given that reality, perhaps it’s not surprising that he was often identified as the most trusted man in America. Regrettably, there are no Walter Cronkites today—no voice or team of voices the majority of us trust to tell us what we need to know. Instead, our world is filled with innumerable prognosticators and prediction-makers ready to share their opinions.
It makes me think of a spiritual parallel. To me it is shocking how many Christians, even some in the pulpit, are reinventing the Bible, to make the Word more comfortable and more in line with the new social culture and morals. The Bible is static; it’s words don’t change and it is never updated. The lessons it gives are independent of the time or age you are born in.
You shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish ought from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. Deut. 4:2.
The Bible is true and inerrant, never changing. The church cannot be the salt of the earth if we continue to sugarcoat the Gospel.
And that’s the way it is!
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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES
According to a new Fox News survey, only 43 percent of Americans think our best days as a nation are ahead of us. This is a nine-point drop from two years ago and a nineteen-point decrease since 2017. In similar news, Gallup reports that only 31 percent of us have confidence in the US government, a decline of twenty-five points since 2006.
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”And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants.” Leviticus 25:10a. NKJV
There’s a difference between liberty and freedom. Freedom is a right given to us by governments and is generally thought to be and expressed as the absence of slavery or restrictions of movements or being unreasonably bound to some action. And, therefore, can be removed by that government.
Liberty, on the other hand, is given to us by God simply because we are created in His image. No person or government has the right to deny us liberty. Liberty means we are able to make choices about our lives like where we live, where we work, what we think or what we say. Those rights are inviolate.
Our founding fathers understood that difference and enshrined it into the documents which formed and govern our country. All the rights enumerated in those documents clearly underscore that rights are a matter of liberty. We “are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Government’s job is to protect them. Our job is to ensure that government does.
Rich Jensen
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I hear a lot of people talking today about the need to “find themselves.” But according to Jesus, the best thing you can do is to lose yourself.
Speaking to His followers one day, Jesus explained the first requirement for discipleship. “If anyone desires to come after Me,” He said, “let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). To seek Jesus, you must deny self. You must give up the habit of self-centeredness.
The greatest example of selflessness the world has ever seen happened on the cross. Though his preference would have been to let that cup (the cross) pass from Him (Matthew 26:39), Jesus laid aside His own will to obey the Father’s will.
Lose yourself in Jesus Christ.
The one who lives only for himself and thinks only of himself will lose everything in the end. That’s because you can’t keep any of those things that you do for yourself. All the successes, all the accomplishments, all the trophies will ultimately burn in the fires that will test our works. The only things you can take with you – the only things that will last forever – are those things you do for Jesus Christ.
Want to find yourself? Want to find the deepest possible meaning in life? Then deny yourself. Lose yourself in Jesus Christ and in so doing, you will find joy and peace that will last for eternity. Dan Shock
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QUOTES YOU CAN USE
Fear and faith are mutually exclusive. Dan Shock
You must be willing to give up something in order to grow up. Ken Weliever
The longer I live, the more convinced I am that this planet is used by other planets as a lunatic asylum.
If the Bible calls it a sin, then your opinion doesn’t matter.
Old age comes at a bad time. When you finally know everything, you start to forget everything you know.
You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality. Ayn Rand
The leading cause of injury in old men is them thinking they are still young men.
There are only two kinds of people: people who will do what they are told, no matter what and people who will do what is right, no matter what they are told.
Most people don’t really want the truth. They just want constant reassurance that what they believe is the truth.
Iron sharpens iron. You can’t be sharp hanging around butter knife people.
Only the guy not rowing has time to rock the boat.
The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.
Change doesn’t require motivation. It requires discipline.
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