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Satur-deja Vu

Yeah, no – I guess if you live in the State of California where they have rolling blackouts during peak usage times this might be necessary. The last time they opened a nuclear power plant was 1985. The population increased from 26 to 39 million in the years since. If you live in Texas, 78 degrees inside would feel a lot better than the 105 degrees outside. I live in Georgia and 78 at 100% relative humidity is sweltering. Our temp setpoint is 72 degrees during the day and we turn it down to 71 at night. Don’t get me wrong, I love summer. I would rather sit inside with the AC on than sit inside during the winter with the heat on. I love baseball games, swim parties, grilling out and late sunsets. I would rather cut grass than shovel snow. Everything people claim to love about fall – hoodies, bonfires, pumpkin spice lattes, snuggling up in blankets – those are all just attempts to keep warm.

Satur-deja Vu

Not a recent pic – I visited the Ark Encounter back when it was relatively new in 2016. I took the picture above before the sun, wind and rain started working on the exterior. I wrote a post this week about making the mistake of reading the comments when I saw an ad placed by the Ark Encounter on Twitter. Back in 2016 I wrote about my visit to the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter. There are links to albums full of pics on Facebook from both places. Reading that 2016 post reminded me that used to really write, not just post pics and links.

I Read the Comments

I don’t have a lot of interaction with Twitter but I am on it and sometimes scroll through the feed of people and pages that I follow. There was an ad from the Ark Encounter, linking to an article about which type of cubit Noah used (a royal cubit is a little bit longer than what we typically think of as a cubit, around 20 or 21 inches). I made the mistakes of reading the comments. However you feel about a global flood or Old Testament historical accounts aside; there were hundreds of comments about how it doesn’t matter what he used because there was never an ark/never a global flood/the ark should have been a box not a boat/foolish Christians that believe in fairytale stories and such like. There was not one defender of the faith or Christian apologist in the multitude.

Satur-deja Vu

Might have to read it twice – maybe three times. In the last series before the All Star break the Atlanta Braves with a record of 59-27 scored 2 runs while Tampa Bay, with a record of 57-34, scored 1. Not sure about ACLS but someone was obviously very excited (and maybe a little inebriated).

Satur-deja Vu

I’m stealing this meme – Lots of people say it but they are really just using the wrong words. Every social media post has a share button. Sharing a meme doesn’t take it away from the one that posted it, it just becomes visible to more people. Sharing the Gospel doesn’t reduce the amount of Gospel that exists. The more of us that share the more people get a chance to hear and receive. (Anything could be a sermon illustration, feel free to share this one.)

Weighing Patriotism Against Idolatry

I hate taking an extreme all or nothing position on anything. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. That’s just about the only total extreme I’m willing to stand by. Polarization on just about every other issue does more harm than good.

I read a tweet on Sunday afternoon that said if your church service is 4th of July themed that’s idolatry. I’m sorry I don’t know who posted it. I did not save it because I had no idea I would be coming back to it but now I can’t shake it. Anything can be taken to an unhealthy extreme. It is common for believers in our culture to get their strong feelings about Christianity and America mixed together. The image of a cross decorated with stars and stripes makes me a little twitchy. I can hear Michael Spencer screaming in my head. But just about every church I’ve ever been a part of has an American flag, and usually a Christian flag, in the sanctuary. Some would claim that displaying a flag in church or pledging allegiance to the flag – anywhere – is not something Christians can not do with a clear conscience. Our pledge and oath should be to Christ and no other. That is extreme at the other end of the spectrum. As is true with most things I’m more comfortable somewhere in the middle that at either far end.

Satur-deja Vu

Sometimes you see things in the Deja Vu and think “Why is this not in a Happy Monday post?” The joke above is kind of wordy. It’s too much to read first thing on a Monday morning, especially if you haven’t finished – possibly haven’t started – your first cup of coffee.

Satur-deja Vu

There was no Deja Vu last week and this post is already late but I’m gonna keep trying. Maybe I should take the summer off and regroup but I know if I stop I will never start again. We’re gonna push through it so here we go.

Online quiz is sus – I clicked on one of those stupid quizzes that show up in Facebook newsfeeds. It was Bible trivia and not asking for my pet’s name or the street I grew up on. (If you don’t know why you should not respond to those kinds of questions, ask me in the comments.) I think I scored 37 correct out of 40. One question I legit got wrong; looked it up, I was mistaken. One question I didn’t like the answers so I would deem that question and answer confusing. Then there’s the question about plagues in Egypt. The correct answer is 10. I picked C: 10. According to the graphic above, C is wrong and the correct answer is D. Then the explanation goes into why 10 is correct. And that’s why I got 37 responses correct and not 38.

Happy Monday

This is Happy Monday #533.