MInTheGap

Tax Time

It’s tax time. Doing my taxes is a conflicting experience. Most of the time I am due for a refund. Yet, this means that the government has had my money, not giving me interest, for a whole year. This is quite the gimmick / setup, because it’s made to look like you should be happy that you’re getting money back. In fact, that they take more than you owe should bother you.

What’s the solution? We could move the filing date to November 2, and eliminate withholding from our paychecks. That would eliminate the thought that somehow I’m getting money from the government, and keep taxes low because people would be able to vote on taxes.

What I like better is the idea of eliminating income taxes altogether, and going for a nationwide sales tax. That way we’d only be taxed on what we’d buy, companies could hire for the exact price the people would get paid, and savings would not be taxed.

What do you think?

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The Passion Movie

What do you think? Is the movie good or bad?

I guess I am perplexed. For the months leading up to this movie event, I’ve been excited about someone portraying the last few hours before the Crucifixion in detail, someone staying true to the Gospel accounts. Any why shouldn’t I? I mean, in a society where a majority of everything that we are fed is from television and movies, a visual depiction of what happened on the cross might show millions how much He suffered for you and I?

And then I have the questions. The Bible says that people come to Christ through the preaching of the Word, not entertainment. As believers, we are to separate from those in doctrinal error, and yet every church is trying to use this to increase its numbers and get people “saved” according to their own religion. This means that if it has the desired effect, many will be lead astray.

Then there’s the question about whether the crucifixion should be more emphasized than the resurrection. I’ve read where Gibson said that he learned that redemption comes through pain (or something of that nature) and this shows Christ’s pain. And what about Mary’s prominent roll?

Will this make it more difficult for the true message of Christ to get out?

The God of All Comfort

Isn’t it great to know that God is always there for the Christian? That He doesn’t just give us directives, but gives us ways to accomplish His will?

Take for example the verses telling us to rejoice in the Lord always (Php 4:4) or in everything give thanks… These directives are not isolated things apart from God’s power, but He gives us strength for the adversity and ways we can use it to glorify Him when we’re on the otherside!

Next time you find yourself in a difficult situation, give God the glory and praise for how He is at work. Focus your thoughts on others, and His goodness, and realize that your situation is only temporary!

How great God is!

Acting like Babies

Did you ever notice how difficult it is to get children to behave consistantly. I mean, I guess I’ve known this fact for a while, but becoming a parent has just confirmed it. It seems that no matter how well they behave at home with their parents, they never seem to behave as expected when Grandma’s there, or over at the neighbors.

How different they are, and yet how much we are the same as them. We also have this ability to be different people in different places. We are one person at work when people are watching. We’re another at church. We’re another at home.

The Lord doesn’t want inconsistant people. It is the total opposite of His character– and one of the greatest perfections of God on which to cling. He will love you the same today as yesterday. He will keep His Word no matter what.

Let this be an encouragement to us to follow His example and work toward being a consistant, unvieled person.

All Things Work Together for Good

All things work together for good is more than a polite saying or wishful thinking, it’s a fact you can take to the bank!

I was recently reminded of this when thinking upon finances. It is extremely easy in this day in age to get credit. It is even easier to spend yourself into a hole that will take a long time to get out. Just look at all the credit counselling services!

But how can good come out of debt? Surely God dislikes indebtedness. He bountifully provides for us, and even had rules on debt for His chosen people. However, He knows that if we had the money, we would be tempted to use it all on ourselves. Debts teach us discipline, as well as provide for greater income when paid off. Could it be that debt teaches us humility in the area of money, and good stewardship when we get out?

Something to chew on…

The Lack of Space

In case you are seeing what I am seeing– it appears that my last post suffers from a lack of space– or spaces. I’ve tried twice to fix it, but to no avail. I will endeavor to fix it in the near future. Just so you don’t think that I’ve missed it or have a broken space bar!

Bush vs. Kerry? Should be interesting. Is the hatred for Bush enough to give John Kerry the Presidency? Should it? Would it be better to have different parties in control of Congress and the Presidency? Should you vote for someone based on electability?

All of these questions, and so few answers… yet.

The Passion of the Christ

It’s interesting to read about Mel Gibson’s movie. It coincides with some evidence I have been reading about the Bible and its veracity. I have been thinking a lot about the times of the writings of the Scriptures– what was going on, what they were doing, the structure.

What would have it been like to witness a crucifixion? How about Jesus crucifixion? Is it any wonder that 3,000 men came to Christ when Peter preached? These people would have probably been witnesses to this gruesome sight, and then come to find that He had risen!

I can’t image that there will be a dry eye in the place next Wednesday– if one can stand the horror of what happened. Yet how easily it escapes us as just another fact that Christ paid the ultimate price for us. What should that do to us, to know we caused His death because of our sin?

Authority of Christ

This past weekend we were over watching the movie Time Changers and it reminded me about separating the authority of Christ from moral discussions. In the last post, I talked about homosexuality and homosexual marriage. Since then, hundreds of gay couples have lined up and / or gotten married in San Fransisco. When discussing this with a coworker, he ruled religion out of the conversation, and basically said that if an act doesn’t harm someone else, then we should be free to do it.

But should we? Certainly sin has a way of spreading, and encouraging deviant behavior, be it homosexuality or any other such behavior, cannot be good for anyone. This is not the starting point, but the continuing of making sin acceptable.

If we look back in history, we can quickly see the effect of sin on a culture that did not reign it in or follow God’s laws. The entire Old Testament record of time shows God using one empire against another to keep them in line. We can see Noah’s flood keeping only 8 alive. We see Sodom and Gomorrah punished with fire.

One sits and wonders what will become of America– how is it that this “great” superpower isn’t mentioned in the end times? Is it that we would have been judged for how far we have gone away from God? Is that a big enough effect on everyone else to warrant our attention to keep God’s laws?