I know that Dale Carnegie would disapprove of my methods for winning friends and influencing people, but I’m afraid I must post another installment of “Neocons and How They Are Destroying This Country.”

Yawn?

Don’t fall asleep yet. If you want to be part of the solution to reversing the rapid decline of the society which we all must occupy until Christ returns, don’t be lulled into complacency by those who would assure you that their form of big government is okay because it’s for a “good cause.”

Were you as mad as I was about the Supreme Court’s ruling against the Texas sodomy law? I shudder to think what perverse plans are percolating to finish off the tattered remnants of traditional marriage. We don’t need to fear the evil people (Prov. 29:25) as God will judge them for their rejection of His law. But we do need to be bold as lions proclaiming the truth and resolve to model godly obedience in our homes and marriages. R.C. Sproul, Jr. articulates the issue, as usual, quite well:

As horrible as sodomy and racial discrimination are, the real problem is the federal leviathan run amuck. The U.S. Supreme Court is a danger not because it is liberal, but, just like those fascist bureaucrats in Massachusetts hounding homeschooling parents, because it has no concept of the first point of law, jurisdiction.

My friend John Stoos also understands jurisdiction and that the only source of law is God. Those who cringe at the term “theocracy” ought to ask themselves where just laws originate if not from God. Is it possible to have a pluralistic society which is truly free? Law is not neutral. John says in his article:

Now this may sound simplistic, but these are the only two choices. Either people understand that basic rights come from God and choose to live in a proper fear of God by acknowledging His sovereignty, or people reject God and look to the wisdom and understanding of man to establish what is right and wrong. There are no other choices.

Sheldon Richman points out what should be obvious: the definition of a true constitutionalist is one who believes that the leaders of our civil government should stick with the original document that they swore to uphold and defend. Yet our friends have jumped on the “living document” bandwagon to justify their so-called conservative causes. Mr. Richman says,

It should be obvious why this is such a dangerous practice: it effectively repeals the Constitution. As Thomas Sowell put it: to say the Constitution is living is to say that it’s dead. Or as Walter Williams suggests, those who like a “living Constitution” should think about what it would mean to play poker with a “living” rule book.

We’ve seen the effect on our society of people treating the Bible as this kind of “living” document rather than the living, unchangeable law-word of our holy God. Please don’t be pragmatists; be holy as He is holy.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:12-13

Since I am married to a brilliant software engineer, you would think that our computer set-up would be the cat’s meow, laboring quietly in the background with nary a hiccup. We had a hiccup.

I would never complain. How could I when every day I benefit from the marvelous technology my dear husband has provided for our family’s use? Our high-speed internet connection, available any time, day or night, has become so ubiquitous that I take it for granted. Of course, such marvels and wonders make it possible for Steve to more-than-adequately provide for his larger-than-average-size family. But I enjoy the technology which gives me an outlet for my wordy wanderings, both reading and writing.

All this to say: I apologize for any technical difficulties you may have had reaching my site (or Pieter’s) the past couple of days. It was due to circumstances beyond my control. All should be back to normal (?) now. Please leave me a comment if you are so inclined…I’m getting lonely here (and if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.)

I also apologize for so blatantly mixing my metaphors in this post.

Maybe Dorothy said it first (or made it famous), but that line pops into my head every time I walk through my front door after being away, whether for a shopping trip to the city or a vacation like the one from which I just returned.

I spent the last few days having a mini-retreat with one of my dear friends. It was a special gift from my husband who knew that it would be a time of physical and spiritual refreshment for me, and it was. But now I’m back and so happy to be with my dear ones who greeted me when I drove home late last night by running out to the car before the engine was off with hugs and smiles. Even the furry kid had a smile. And the house was still standing.

Yesterday my friend and I went on a treasure hunt, seeking another treasure hunter. Brent Walters has an impressive collection of books on church history. He used to have a business which was open to the public, and I wanted to see all those lovely old books. We followed the sketchy directions of my friend’s friend and ended up at an intersection, looking for a two-story building where the library was supposed to be housed on the second floor. We finally decided on the most likely building and boldly entered. There was a business called “Think Outside The Box” which occupied the entire second floor, listed on the building directory. This didn’t sound like our guy, but we thought we would ask. The door leading to the second floor was locked, and there was a buzzer. I hesitated and asked my friend if pushing the buzzer would lead us on an adventure to Wonderland. I felt like Alice before she drank from the “Drink Me” bottle.

I buzzed.

We didn’t get a white rabbit, but a nice man came downstairs and said that the book guy used to be there, but no longer. He took us upstairs and we waited while he checked on the internet to see if he could find where our book guy went. He found an article about him but nothing else. Sigh.

Speaking of Alice, we visited a cute store in Carmel called The White Rabbit. I bought a Mad Hatter teapot, and I’m looking forward to having an Alice in Wonderland tea party with my children very soon. I also got a great idea for my library from this store. There was a fake tree in the corner which looked real. It is made out of chicken wire armature and spray foam, then painted various shades of brown. The owner of the store, when he was constructing it, kept running outside to look at the real trees to make sure it would look like the real McCoy, and it does. It has a large knothole which is used to display some items for sale; I would like to do the same but use the hole for a little family post office.

I’d like to conclude this literary blog with a link to a poem by Remy Wilkins about various flavors of book lovers and a few more words to add to your bibliolexicon (taken from A Passion For Books by Harold Rabinowitz and Rob Kaplan):

Bibliobibule: One who read too much
Biblioclast: One who tears pages from or otherwise destroys books
Bibliodemon: A book fiend or demon
Bibliognoste: One who is knowledgeable about editions, colophons, printers, and all the minutiae of books
Bibliographe: One who describes books
Biblioklept: One who steals books
Bibliolater: One who worships books
Bibliolestes: A book robber or plunderer
Bibliomancer: One who practices divination by books
Bibliomane: One who accumulates books indiscriminately
Bibliomaniac: A book lover gone mad
Bibliophage: One who eats or devours books
Bibliophile: One who loves books
Bibliophobe: One who fears books
Bibliopole: One who sells books
Biblioriptos: One who throws books around
Bibliosopher: One who gains wisdom from books
Bibliotaphe: One who buries or hides books

I’ll let you guess how many of the above words apply to me.

Words have meaning. You would think that simple concept would be self-evident, but it really isn’t that simple. For example, have you ever tried to talk to the Jehovah’s Witnesses who come to the door? While I was gone this week, Pieter witnessed to a couple of Witnesses who made the long trek down our driveway. They will tell you that they believe Jesus is the Son of God. But if you dig deeper, you will find that they do not believe in his deity. Mormons call themselves Christians, yet they do not believe in Christ’s deity either. Both groups are cults, not Christian.

What about love? This word, like many good words which have changed their meanings, is not the same word for all people today. Even Christians have trouble agreeing about what it means. The Bible says “God is love,” so it should be simple to define love by starting with God. Yet sloppy theology has led many to give it a simplistic meaning: avoiding stepping on the toes of others or tolerating any perversion or blasphemy in order to keep the door open to witnessing to the blasphemer.

My friend Jo has written an excellent paper on true love. I hope it will clarify this topic for you as it did for me.

Joseph Fletcher in his book, Situation Ethics, states that the “ruling norm of Christian decision is love, nothing else.” What he is saying is that love stands by itself apart from any fixed standard of righteousness.

True love, therefore is a desire to be conformed ourselves, and to encourage our children and those we love to submit to the word of God, all of it, not just the “comfortable, ‘love-y’ parts.” God always wants and does what is best for His beloved. Not only is it unloving of us as Christians, but it is actually hatred of others if we do not do the same.

Note: Jo would like to acknowledge her thanks to Tabletalk Magazine for the article “The Grace of the Law” in the September 2002 issue, which helped her with some of the content and much of the inspiration for this paper.

Although, Toto would feel perfectly at home where we were. The lovely town of Carmel-by-the-Sea is full of charm and strangeness, all wrapped up together in one interesting package.

My friend and I took a walking tour of this 1-mile-square town. We saw lovely gardens, quaint alleys, and secret courtyards. And dogs. This town has gone to the dogs. There are water dishes for them permanently fixed in the sidewalks, the business owners don’t bat an eyelash if you bring Fido into their establishments and there are even complementary doggie-doo disposers inconspicuously placed in case your best friend can’t keep his legs crossed until he gets home.

This town is home to such luminaries as Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston (I’ve only seen one of his movies and nothing that she has “acted” in), Clint Eastwood (ok, I’ve seen a couple of Clint’s flicks) and Doris Day (now you’re talking). But Ms. Day is one of those for whom animals hold more appeal than their owners. She is especially fond of the canine species, and she owns a hotel in Carmel, The Cypress Inn, which caters to dog lovers. There are gourmet doggie biscuits on the concierge’s desk in the lobby.

Tonight, I held my first online book discussion with the Attractive, Socially-Skilled and Well-Scrubbed Bibliophiles Club. We talked about Part One of Les Miserables for two hours and it was quite fun for me, although challenging to do in a Starbucks with wireless internet access. One of the things that the tour of Carmel reminded me of was the fondness for multitudes of intrusive laws in France, during the Revolution and after, as various factions struggled to bring order out of chaos from their various forms of humanistic, anti-God philosophies. Les Miserables shows the injustice that came from the burden of harsh laws on those who were ignorant and poor. In Carmel, there aren’t many poor, but there are a lot who are ignorant. One law on the books outlaws the wearing of high heeled shoes because of the uneven pavement. Although, you can go to city hall and sign a waiver to your right to sue for any accidents, and be given a certificate allowing you to wear the footwear of your choice.

I would take the silly laws and the goofy animal rights activists any day over the person who ran the bookstore I visited this afternoon. It wasn’t until I went to the counter to pay for my books that I noticed the proprietor/tress was very tall, very large-boned, very deep-voiced and had a long, blonde wig and bumps on the chest area which didn’t look quite right (I tried not to look very long). I think it’s about time to go home. If anyone wants to flame me for this intolerant post, don’t bother. I won’t reply and I’ll delete it. I practice censorship here, and I’m not afraid to admit it. Part of my training as a mother.