Couldn't Find a Bible

Anyone who has had to take a vow or promise in public can surely sympathise with John Roberts the Supreme Court Chief Justice after his faux pas with the swearing in of President Obama. When the powers that be in Washington decided to do a rerun of the inauguration vows one TV news station reported that a Bible couldn't be found. Surely someone somewhere in the ranks of the many who work in the White House had a Bible and could have hurried it to the Whitehouse Map Room.

Not that I am particularly in favour of taking vows on the Bible but I can't help but think that this was a startling illustration of the tragic state of our world today - the Bible is no where to be found. The one book that has the answers for the US and UK and every other nation on earth is pushed to the sidelines. But again this is no great surprise, it is just what the same Word predicted would happen over and over again, “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,“when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,but of hearing the words of the Lord. Amos 8v11

When the nations of the earth have the Word of God at the centre of all that happens in their nations there will be blessings untold. Let's hope that President Obama finds a Bible or we are in serious trouble.

Which Are You?

Came across this clipping which I unearthed some time ago from a March 1967 issue of the Covenanter (yes you have guessed how I while away the winter evenings - not!) The poem sounds a bit naff but if you like this sort of thing it punches well above its weight. If you feel the thumps do something about it.

The poem is entitled, Which are You?

Are you and active member, the kind that would be missed?
Or are you just contented that your name is on the list?
Do you attend the meetings and mingle with the flock?
Or do you stay at home and criticise and knock?
Do you take an active part to help the work along.
Or are you satisfied to be the kind that "just belong"?
Do you ever go to visit a member who is sick,
Or leave the work to just a few and talk about the clique?
There is quite a programme schedule that I am sure you've heard about,
And we'll appreciate if you, too, will come and help us out.
So come to the meetings often and help with hand and heart,
Don't just be a member, but take an active part.
Think this over member, you know right from wrong.
Are you and active member, or do you just belong?

Disclaimer: The publisher of this post has no one particularly in mind at the time of posting, but if the hat fits get rid of it.

When People are Big and God is Small, Edward T. Welch

Edward Welch is a lecturer and counsellor with the Christian Counselling and Educational Foundation in Glenside, Pennsylvania. In this book the writer deals with overcoming peer pressure, codependency and the fear of man. The book comprises some 239 pages and divides in to two main sections. In section one the writer deals with how and why we fear others. In the second half of the book, the main section, overcoming the fear of others is the focus. Welch deals well with the Biblical theme "the fear of the Lord." He has that uncanny knack of prising the lid off our lives to show the factory of idols that lie within. The main argument that Welch unpacks is that we need people for our own sakes rather than loving them for God's glory. The writer's intent is to bring us to the point where we need people less and love them more. This is a book for every Christian to read. It will bring you to your knees in repentance. It is also a helpful volume for anyone wishing to build up a good resource library for counselling. The conclusion to the book is simply wonderful - fear God and keep His commandments.