A Plea for Something Greater Than More Government

I’ve discovered a new source of incredible reading material lately. The Federalist Papers were written in 1787 and 1788 by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. Eighty-five articles were written on various topics, but the primary purpose was to encourage people to support the ratification of the United States Constitution by the thirteen states then in existence.

I would love to expound on each of these eighty-five at some point, but I fear I would quickly lose readers. An article on The Federalist Papers just doesn’t grab most people. That’s a little unfortunate, but also understandable. What I would like to point out is the incredible faith and ability to reason that these men had. They can write on a topic with such grace and beauty that I am left in awe. I intend to give one example here.

In Federalist #51, James Madison is discussing the idea of limited power of the government – a timely subject given the recent news headlines. His point is directed along the lines that government power must be limited, because government possesses the same flaws as man. His words on this topic specifically:

“It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”

Madison’s treatment of this subject using the comparison of men and angels is brilliant. When put in this light, the concept becomes relatively simple. If men had the character of angels, they would not need government oversight because their lives would be pure and free from corruption. Since men are not angels, we require such oversight. But, unfortunately, the government is made up of men – who, once again, are not angels. One look at the day’s news will reveal the corruption that is rampant in our government officials. This flaw in government’s character means that the power of the government must also be limited, because left unchecked, the government will begin extorting the people it is supposed to serve – all for its own ends. Does that sound familiar?

And so we are left with the third choice – that is, a government of men watching over men. And this naturally implies that there will be imperfections and injustice along the way. If you are looking for the government to always do the right thing, or settle things fairly and impartially, you will be left wanting. It is a system which has distinct advantages and often serves very well but it is rooted in the imperfection of man, which means that it will go through periods of injustice and inequity.

What we need is an overseer that is fair, just, good, and who never changes. And for this, we have a solution. The Lord God is exactly who we need in times such as this. We can look to Him for wisdom and instruction – on secular topics such as politics, economics, philosophy, and ethics. If our political leaders would return to this fact, then our nation would once again live under God’s blessing and power. Even a casual observation of the founding fathers words reveals their great faith and belief in God as the Creator and Ruler of all. Patrick Henry said, “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ.” And John Jay, one of the authors of The Federalist Papers and the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court said, “God has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” Imagine how our nation would be changed by leaders such as this today.

Is it too late to expect this to happen in our nation? No – with God, all things are possible. We should be frequently on our knees in prayer for our nation, our leaders, and our fallen world. That is one of my resolutions for 2009.

Get Out of My Wallet

$825 billion.

It’s staggering to imagine a number that high. The value is so large, that typing it out as $825,000,000,000 is too long for most printed articles, so we see it shortened into words. What other kind of everyday number creates that necessity? Think about “four”. Think about “twenty-two”. Nope – it’s far easier to type “4” or “22” than to write out the words – at least for numbers that have some meaning to the average person.

$825 billion is the amount the government is proposing for the next wave of bailout money. Add this to the $700 billion that seems to have been wasted in the first round. And add it, also, to the $1.2 trillion budget deficit that is forecast to occur this coming year. I’m going to ignore for the moment my revulsion for the leaders in Congress who truly think I will believe the idea that more government intervention is the answer to our economic woes. And I’ll set aside any arguments that I’m tempted to make about government waste and worthless spending programs – dropping billions on programs that not only are unconstitutional, but to which I am morally opposed. No, instead I want to think about one question – where does the government get $825 billion, anyway?

Three ideas come to mind. The first is that they got it from you and me, the American taxpayers. Governments are funded primarily by taxes, so to some degree, the source of this money came out of the pockets of every working American. Indeed, $275 billion of the total program is supposed to take the form of “temporary tax benefits” over the next two years. To me, this seems the same as if the government said, “Oops, we might have been taking too much money from you in taxes previously and it’s stifled your spending, so here – have some of it back.” And I have no illusions that the $275 billion that comes back started out as significantly more than that amount. The federal government isn’t known for being terribly efficient with our money.

The second place they could get such a staggering amount of money is that the government can borrow it from foreign nations. And they do. And it furthers a mounting debt obligation to those nations, putting the United States into a worsening position of weakness on the foreign markets. Will moves like this put the Chinese yuan into the position once enjoyed by the US dollar? However you view it, a foreign debt of this size weakens America in the long-term, regardless of the importance of fixing the problem right away.

The third place that our government could obtain this money is to get it the old-fashioned way – they print it. Our currency is no longer pegged to a gold standard, so the feds could print $825 billion in a matter of days if they wanted to. They could return some of those green bills to the taxpayer, and still go out and commission the construction of some new roads and bridges. But inflation would be the result – meaning that the money they send back to us would be worth significantly less than when they took it from us in the first place. Hey, government, what did you do with my money?

It’s time to stand up and say, “No more”. Government intervention has repeatedly caused economic downturns in the past. It’s the problem, not the solution. Let’s face it – would you trust the federal government to step in and run a private business more efficiently than the entrepreneurs who started it? Would Washington make a better (and less expensive) iPod every two years? Do we really think the feds will do a better job of overseeing innovations in automobiles than the free market can do?

A fourth source of the $825 billion just occurred to me – the government could steal it. But on second thought, that’s really not any different than the first source…

Teaching The Sanctity of a Promise

I must admit that I am bothered when people don’t keep their promises to me. It may be something as important as honoring a debt, or something as small as the appliance repairman showing up when promised. But if someone gives me their word and then fails to keep it, I am not the most forgiving of people. I promise to work on that! Recently, I had the opportunity to reflect on the importance of keeping promises, and how critical it is that we teach our children about the sanctity of a marriage vow.

During a vacation where our family retreated to a desert condo for a week, we occasionally endured the banality of cable television and the constant assault of ridiculous commercials. I could write more about what I think of cable TV, but will reserve that for another time. While we spent very little time watching television during our vacation, there was one repetitive commercial worth noting. Specifically, this advertisement was encouraging people to trade in their gold jewelry to be melted down, in exchange for quick payment. One satisfied customer commented, “I traded in the wedding ring from my first marriage, and got cash the next day!”

Wow…

That quote contains the essence of our society’s latest attitude toward the institution of marriage. It’s summed up in one succinct sound-bite, and it speaks volumes. I’m saddened at how the advertisers can cheapen marriage to this degree. I’m even more disappointed that society seems to think little or nothing about such a statement. Would this advertisement have caused an uproar if it had been released on television fifty years ago? I think it would have, and for all the right reasons.

I recognize that there are people out there who have been through divorce and re-marriage. And I genuinely appreciate that it is heart-wrenching for all parties involved. Even when people talk flippantly about their former marriages, I believe that they hurt deep down inside over the pain – because God made marriage to be something more than just “teaming up” with someone. It’s a very special union – intimate and sacred – because He wanted it to be that way. And so I want you to know that I don’t comment on the subject in judgment on anyone personally, but as a comment about our society and how we collectively are made to think that marriage is nothing special.

The best part of this story is how much this commercial bothered my eleven-year-old son. Every time we saw it, he became indignant. To him, the irreverence for a lasting marriage was more than distasteful. He actually appeared angry about the commercial and continued to talk about it for a long time afterward. I know that my wife and I have talked occasionally with our children about the institution of marriage, and how they should pick a spouse, but I did not know how much it had affected their views. I’m pleased to see my son so deeply cut when someone mentions marriage in a cheap and demeaning way. Could a vow to remain true for life ever be satisfied in exchange for cash money? Is it possible that people are hurting over failed marriages far more than they would admit?

Let me share one tip with anyone who is married and has children of an impressionable age. One thing that my wife and I have always done and remain faithful over is our treatment of the mere mention of divorce. While I have never even thought fleetingly about a divorce from by beloved bride, we maintain a strict policy in our house. We will never mention divorce even in a joking way – not in front of the kids and not to each other. To us, the sanctity of marriage is at work one-hundred-percent of the time. We never let our guard down on this topic. We never casually even mention the word in our house, and the few times that our kids have done so, we stop what we are doing and talk to them about our rule, and why we maintain it. Judging by our son’s response to the television ad, it seems to be working. I pray that his marriage will be blessed by this developing attitude. A marriage vow is far more than a casual promise.

Never Give Up!

Deciding to homeschool is a big step, requiring a mixture of faith, desire, and often a bit of the attitude that says, “We’re different. We’re committed. We’re a little crazy. Get over it.” For the vast majority of the time, our family and friends have been very accepting and supportive. Many of our friends have made the decision to home educate as well, and we are seeing the growth of a community of like-minded people - people with the desire to depart from state-funded education, and who are committed to the daily discipling of their children. Yes, it’s possible to teach your children to follow God while still participating in the local school district. My wife and I both spent all of our education years in public school. But our family is now going down a different path.

Twice a year, without fail, I get a certain feeling about the upcoming homeschooling activities. This feeling occurs about a week before school starts up again, either after summer or Christmas break. It’s best described as a feeling of trepidation mixed with a little bit of exhaustion. It comes over me when I start to think about the time and effort that will be required in the coming sixteen weeks or so. Make no mistake, my wife spends countless hours more than I do preparing, teaching, grading, and planning for our children’s activities. But for me, preparing for the two or three subjects that I teach our children consumes a great deal of the weekend and even the evenings when I come home from work during the week. And I have to admit to a little bit of weariness when the cycle gets ready to begin.

This feeling hit me last weekend as I was getting ready for the next two quarters. I’m teaching economics to two of our children, and boyhood/manhood topics and guitar to my son. It doesn’t sound like much when I write it down. But I have to admit that I had those weary feelings again, as I began to read and write out assignment topics for an economics book which I had not yet read. Sometimes I feel guilty that I have these feelings. But, at no time do I ever feel like we should put aside our commitment to home education. Homeschooling is not typically compared to washing dishes – except that you have to get to it at some point, and you don’t typically hire it out to get done. So, I spent the better part of a Sunday afternoon getting up to speed on economics principles, and preparing two weeks of assignments in the kid’s daily planners. At the end of it, I was tired, but began to get that feeling of satisfaction that accompanies the completion of an important task.

The reward came four days later. I generally come home from work in the late afternoon on Thursdays and the house is left up to me and my son (my wife takes the girls to dance class for a few hours that night). It’s our “guys night out” time, and we both look forward to it. After doing a couple of chores around the house, my eleven-year-old son and I started into the task of schooling. We spent time discussing the topic of completing meaningful work (how appropriate) and what it means to save up for hard times. He went through a Q&A sheet of his own creation in Excel and summed up the topic very well. Then, we moved on to the subject of economics where we had a great discussion. Our talk about the importance of living debt-free and how government bailouts might not work was far more than I had planned for. But he gets it, far more than I did when I was at his age. That gives me a lot of hope for his future – and mine.

Finally, we concluded by breaking out our bass guitar and drum kit in the basement and having a jam session, in preparation for both of us playing in the worship band on Sunday. It was loud, and fun – and loud. We had a great time just playing and singing and worshiping. Did I mention it was loud, too?

What’s my point here? I would hazard a guess that anyone involved as the primary educator of their children has these fearful, exhausted moments when it seems it would be easier to just stop and let things slide. Chances are, many people experienced this feeling in the last couple of weeks as they prepared to start a new semester at home. But this endeavor is not without an eventual reward. Proverbs 13:22 says “A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children”. I see this happening in our household right now. My children have a deeper understanding about meaningful subjects – more than I ever did at twice their age. And even more, they are learning to pass these things on to their own children, perpetuating a cycle which I pray will remain unbroken until the end of time. If you are a homeschooling parent, and you have occasional feelings of despair, take heart. It’s all worth it in the end.

Now, I need to go set a reminder in my calendar to read these words next August 15th.

The 3rd Annual Carnival of Homeschooling

Today, I'd like to invite you to peruse The 3rd Annual Carnival of Homeschooling, a collection of blogs related to homeschooling, and those who make it their education system of choice. There are a variety of different approaches and experiences to read about. Just click on the picture below...

How Much Does Your Soul Weigh?

In 1907, involved in a series of bizarre experiments, Duncan McDougall lifts a dying patient onto the special bed. It’s been attached to an assembly that allows him to weigh with accuracy the patient as he passes away. The goal of his experiment? To see if the weight of the patient changes measurably at the moment of death, as the spirit leaves the body, and thus determine if the human soul can be determined to have appreciable mass.

I know, this is an odd beginning to an installment. But this experiment actually took place, and it got me to thinking – how much do we really know about the soul? Perhaps even more importantly – how much do we think we know about it?

McDougall’s experiment was eventually proclaimed a failure, because he could not get a repeatable reading from patient to patient, and he only performed the experiment six times. Nevertheless, he published a paper declaring that he believed the human soul weighed three-quarters of an ounce (21 grams), as this concurred with some of his data. Curiously, he performed the same experiment on fifteen dogs as they passed away, and found that the scales did not change at all. He concluded that dogs must not have souls. My condolences go out to the dog-lovers out there.

The concept of the human soul can be very confusing. What does it look like? Does it exist in some physical way inside the body? Or is it more like a computer hardware/software analogy, where the body is the “hardware” and soul is the “software”? Can we prove the existence of the human soul? Who hasn’t reflected on the afterlife and how we will spend our time in heaven? But have we given much thought about the “form” that the spiritual body takes?

Our society reveres the topic of science more and more with each passing year. In humanist circles, people claim that science has replaced religion, because we have finally “arrived” and understand things in a more practical sense. While there is no denying that certain parts of science have allowed us to live longer and more secure lives, doesn’t the scientific community still change its mind rather frequently? The same crowd which uses bad scientific method to say that global warming is a fact were predicting a new Ice Age less than thirty years ago. One year we learn that butter is bad for us; the next year, we see a study that says it’s better than margarine. Does science really know as much as it thinks it does?

My point is that we don’t really understand the soul, though we may try desperately to grasp the concept. We attempt to explain things using the knowledge and methods available to us today, but there is a very real possibility that God’s design is much bigger than anything that we can test, prove, or even imagine. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Can anyone yet explain the difference between soul and spirit? God knows the difference, even if we are left wondering.

Man is naturally curious, and this explains experiments such as McDougall’s. Our efforts to learn more about God’s creation are good things. But we need to keep in mind that God is far more powerful and knowledgeable than we will ever be. His designs are intricate, elegant, and deliberate – ask any biochemist. And we should realize that there are certain things, such as the form of the human soul, which will likely stay beyond our comprehension – at least until we join God in heaven after the last judgment. At that point, I think it will be okay to ask Him a few questions.

http://www.snopes.com/religion/soulweight.asp

My Resolutions For 2009

In an effort to gain some accountability, and because I won’t be able to misplace them, I’ve decided to post my New Year’s resolutions this year. I am striving for something a little different this time – I want these resolutions to be more meaningful than the typical desire to get more exercise. Here goes:

1) Read the Bible and pray every day (this remains the same as previous years)

2) Faithfully ask God to reveal my mission going forward – what should I do with the rest of my life? Do I remain at my current job? Take off with Banyan Concepts? Move to Haiti and be a missionary?

3) Develop a community of loyal, like-minded Christian friends who are anticipating the return of Christ. This circle of friends should share in a vision and seek God’s leading together. These people will be the type that will get on The Mayflower together and sail for new lands without looking back.

4) Ask God to give me a more tender and broken heart for the suffering, the lonely, and the lost of this world

5) Write at least two books and get at least one on track to be self-published

6) Go on a mission trip

7) Spend more direct time each week with my kids – playing games, going on walks, having coffee – without outside distractions

8) Honor and serve my wife in some way every day – continually focus on being the best husband possible – together refine our mutual vision for our family and our marriage

9) Get my kids involved with a group of children and teens who share our family ideals – kids who are well-behaved, respectful, God-fearing, and who treat each other with civility

May God bless all of you this year! Thanks for reading!