What happens when a girl falls for one or more of the following ?
A chef? (You get buttered up.) A chauffeur? (You get taken for a ride.) A gambler? (He cheats on you.)
A telephone operator? (He gives you a phone-y line.) A trashman? (He dumps you.) A clockmaker? (He two-times you.)
A pastry cook? (He desserts you.) A shoe salesman? (He walks all over you.) An elevator operator? (He lets you down.)
An artist? (He gives you the brush.) A jogger? (He gives you the run-around.) So marry someone just like Howdy...
(Did all of you beautiful ladies see his picture above???)
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The latest fad in the world of toys is pop musician action figures. McFarlane Toys makes a miniature Alice Cooper figure with a little guillotine, a little severed head, and a little basket to catch it in. >From Art Asylum comes an Eminem figure, screaming and swinging a chainsaw, his face distorted with rage and malice. That's only the beginning: The next Eminem action figure will include a dead woman in a car trunk, memorializing the lyrics and cover of the rapper's first album. The company's promotional literature says that "the traditional jack-in-the-box, once the king of every kid's toy box, is being reinvented for the twenty-first century." Its slogan is "Psycho Toyz for Crazy Kidz," and they are being sold in toy stores.
You would expect widespread shock, outrage, and horror over this. But if you're expecting any of these things, you'd better revise your expectations. Nobody seems to care. Commenting on Eminem's fantasies of incest, one music critic writes that he is just "one of those charming rogues" -- "indubitably dangerous" but "exceptionally witty," "thoughtful," and "good-hearted." The critic says that if these things bother you, you need to "disable your prejudgment button." Prejudgment means judging before the facts are in, but he isn't asking us to delay judgment about whether the music is evil. He more or less admits that it is. What he means is that we should delay judgment about whether or not evil can be fun.
In his powerful book WHAT WE CAN'T NOT KNOW, J. Budziszewski says we shouldn't be surprised by any of this. Our society has been desensitized to evil. Desensitization is one of the ways that an organism adapts to its environment. If you touch the tiny creature called a hydra, it flinches. But if you touch it fifty times, by the fiftieth touch the flinch is much less pronounced. Eventually the hydra stops flinching.
Like the hydra, we too have been desensitized. "Mainstream" movies outdo the ancient Roman amphitheater by showing every spurt of blood close up and ten feet tall. Video games allow the player to feel that every time a victim is stabbed, shot, dismembered, eviscerated, decapitated, or burned to death, he is doing the killing himself. Lust and gore beyond the dreams of cruelty fall into our waiting hands. Hardly a word of protest is heard; merely the ironic murmur, "We need more research."
You see what has happened. We were touched by abomination, and we flinched. But nothing seemed to happen. We were touched again and again. And by the five-hundredth touch, we stopped flinching. But something did happen. We've become the sort of people who endure the abominable touch and have ceased to notice.
In his excellent book WHAT WE CAN'T NOT KNOW, J. Budziszewski explains how we got into this mess and what we need to do to get out of it. I know of no better resource for understanding the effects of sin on our contemporary culture.
By the grace of God, the task before us is to be re-sensitized. Instead of "adapting" to our fallen society, we need to seek to be salt and light so that our culture might be redeemed. (Chuck Colson)
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES In WHAT WE CAN'T NOT KNOW J. Budziszewski, author of the acclaimed REVENGE OF CONSCIENCE and HOW TO STAY CHRISTIAN IN COLLEGE, sets out to explore the lost world of common moral truths -- what we all really know about right and wrong. Bolstering the confidence of plain people in their common moral sense, Budziszewski explains its rational foundations and why it is under attack. His bracing account will prepare those who wish to defend common truths to address the uncertain, the disoriented, and the self-deceived in a way which may bring them back to moral sanity.
Philosophy says: THINK your way out; Indulgence says: DRINK your way out; Science says: INVENT your way out; Industry says: WORK your way out; Communism says: STRIKE your way out; Fascism says: BLUFF your way out; Militarism says: FIGHT your way out; The world says: ENTERTAIN your way out;
But Christ says: I AM the way out!
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Thought for Today
Live as if Christ died yesterday, arose this morning, and is coming back tomorrow!
Listen to the audio broadcast! http://www.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/ramhurl?p=pnm&f=/rhm/sounds/awwy/awwy4892.rm
They're a family of superheroes with super capabilities that normal humans don't have. And they're the subject of an animated movie hit. They're called "The Incredibles." And because of the powers they have, they are incredible. Or they could be. But the movie shows them living a very un-super life; just going through the motions of everyday life, living in the same kind of mediocrity everyone else is. They're the "Incredibles," but they're sure not living like it.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Incredibles."
People with the power to make a tremendous difference - but they're living ordinary. That's not just the plot of a movie. It's the sad story of many followers of Jesus Christ.
The day you invited Jesus Christ into your life, He brought with Him all His resurrection power - power that was great enough to raise Him from the dead. He gave you His Holy Spirit who is all-powerful. The same Holy Spirit lives in you who lived in those first-century believers; those ordinary folks who turned their world upside down for Jesus in one generation. He's just as powerful as He was then, but something happened to us along the way.
If you belong to Jesus, the Bible says some amazing things about who you are now. You are "the light of the world" (Matt. 5:14), "the temple of the living God" (2 Corinthians 6:16), you are a "son" or "daughter" of "the Lord Almighty" (2 Corinthians 6:18). That's pretty incredible stuff. But tragically, like that cartoon family of superheroes in the movie, maybe you've been settling for ordinary - living in maintenance mode; doing your daily drill but not making much of a difference. And you're restless inside, aren't you? That's because the Jesus in you is saying, "There's more, man. I made you mine to make you so much more."
Our word for today from the Word of God spells out part of the amazing assignment God has given you. II Corinthians 5, beginning with verse 15, tells us that Jesus "died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again." A small life is a life that's all about you and your agenda. This passage goes on to say that Christ has made you "a new creation" and given you a powerful purpose to live your life for. He says: "We are, therefore, Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God."
The President of the United States has a personal representative in each country - his ambassador. The Son of God has a personal representative in your corner of the world - it's you! nd that assignment is what should define each new day in your life - you look in the mirror and you say, "Everywhere I go, everything I do today, I am there 'in Christ's behalf.' I am the face of Jesus where I am. I am the voice of Jesus, to say what He would say. I am the hands of Jesus to do what He would do." Suddenly, the most everyday stuff becomes eternity stuff because you are going to be there representing Jesus!
How can you ever be content again to just live like a "space taker-upper"? You're not here primarily to make money or make friends or make an impression or just make it through - you're here to make a difference! Like Jesus would in the same situation! How are you doing? Your heart's telling you that there's got to be more. And there is - much more. Don't settle for ordinary anymore! Lay down "business as usual" and tell Jesus you're ready to step up to what He made you for, what He saved you for! Because of the risen Christ living in you, you have the power to make a difference in every life you touch. You are one of God's "Incredibles!"
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"A Word With You" by Ron Hutchcraft is a daily radio challenge, with slice-of-life illustrations and insights - providing practical help on the issues that matter most. If your local Christian radio station does not air "A Word With You," please let them know how much you value this program. Over six years of transcripts are available online, at http://rhm.gospelcom.net/awwy/