Lessons for Living

Still Far to Fall

That’s the title of Tony’s piece this morning over at WorldMagBlog. Here are just a few chunks thereof:

Nobody knows where the bottom is for our economy, but the experts agree we aren’t anywhere close to it yet.

We were spiritually poor as well, none of us attending church, mostly because we only knew the kinds of churches where people eagerly look for the failings of others, places where drinking and pornography were regularly denounced, but in which gossip ran rampant.

I carry it in me like a poison, this fear, not for myself any more, but for them, that they will want more food than we have, that they will have to sleep in someone’s basement.

And yet the lover of our souls tells us to worry not for tomorrow, because today’s troubles are sufficient. Let the children come to me, he says, and he may as well have said that we’d best bring them. Because if we are not leading them to him then we are leading them astray, and only God knows what he will do to such parents as that.

Things are going to get worse for many of us. Our children will be watching. The truth is, I don’t know if I trust the Lord to take care of us. And yet these little ones will be watching, and listening, and storing up memories of what it means to be a Christian in times of hardship.

Thanks again, Tony! This dad needs reminders like that.

Cell Phone Security

I keep trying to get the point across to people that email and cell phones should not be considered private and secure. I think most think I’m a paranoid kook. Or at least paranoid. Albeit a well-meaning one. Like a kindly old uncle (which I am, which I feel like, which I am) or a gentle befuddled grandpa (which I’m kinda, which I’m not, which I am) 🙄

Well, here’s something new I learned this morning while scanning the newsletter of a mission-related agency:

2) Is Cell Phone Security Even Worse Than We Thought?

Here’s a question from a field worker who writes, “Our mission team is located in a ‘police state.’ We know the police listen to our phone calls regularly. We also know they can use triangulation to locate us. We’re fine with that stuff. 🙂 But now we’re facing a couple of new concerns:

“*** REMOTELY EAVESDROPPING WHEN WE’RE NOT ON THE PHONE — The microphones in cell phones are now being turned on remotely to allow eavesdropping on their owners anytime (even when you’re not making a call). We’ve figured out how to overcome this problem… but we kind of hate to always have the batteries out of our cell phones. 🙂 [By the way, if you think this worker has been watching too many episodes of “24”, just do an Internet search for the term, “FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool.”]

“*** REMOTELY ACCESSING CONTENTS OF YOUR PHONE — We’re hearing (from some pretty tech-smart guys) that it’s easy to remotely hack into the contents of our phone, getting full access to our pics, calendars, docs, task lists, etc. The implications are huge. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Now what?

How to Pray for Them

Secret Service agents guard President-Elect Obama

Here are some ways to pray for President Bush, Vice President Cheney, President-Elect Obama, Vice President-Elect Biden, and those who guard them.

  1. Pray for their protection.
  2. Cover wives and children in prayer.
  3. Pray that they will govern with God’s wisdom.
  4. Ask God to keep them humble.
  5. Pray for wise and righteous advisers to surround them.
  6. Ask for the spirit of reconciliation.
  7. Pray that they will adopt pro-life convictions.
  8. Bind all evil forces assigned to manipulate our leaders.
  9. Pray that their door will remain open to the church.
  10. Pray that our nation will enjoy God’s peace and blessing during their administration.
  11. Pray that God’s people would honor them as the Master commands.

I modified these from Presidential Prayer. And I added #11.

What would you add to the list?

Hold to His Hand

Danny and Liisa, Liisa and Dan,
Walking together through life hand in hand
Raising a family, doing their best
Through thick and thin and every hard test
Holding to God and trusting His way
Living and laughing and loving each day.
Till one day God called
And He said, “Come home, Dan,
I’d like you to sing in my heavenly band
I’ll care for your family — trust Me on this,
They’re special to Me and I know they will miss
You, Dan, as their father,
But I want them to trust
And have faith in Me — that is a must.”
So now picture with me a brand new Dan
Walking with Jesus hand in hand
Now do you not hold to Jesus’ hand too?
Are you seeing the picture in this life so new?
You on one side, and Dan on the other
Jesus between you still holds you together
Yes, we must let go and not wish him back
Though our hearts break and we feel such a lack
God has a grand purpose, a wonderful plan
Keep trusting and hold to His unchanging hand.

My wife Ruby wrote this yet-unfinished poem for Liisa. (I just made up the title — Ruby hasn’t titled it yet.)

For those interested in the family connection, Dan’s mother is my first cousin Janet (Shetler) Ewing.

Danny and Liisa Ewing and some of their children

While I Waited

Here I sit, waiting for my slow (31.2 KB) dial-up connection to muddle its way through Amazon’s Pro Seller (or whatever it’s called by now) site.

So I looked at headlines at Drudge and Newsmax.

Do five simple things a day to stay sane, say scientists

Simple activities such as gardening or mending a bicycle can protect mental health and help people to lead more fulfilled and productive lives, a panel of scientists has found.

[…]

“A big question in mental wellbeing is what individuals can do,” Felicia Huppert, Professor of Psychology at the University of Cambridge, who led part of the project, said. “We found there are five categories of things that can make a profound difference to people’s wellbeing. Each has evidence behind it.” These actions are so simple that everyone should aim to do them daily, she said, just as they are encouraged to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables.

Five steps to sanity. That shouldn’t be too hard.

Palin: Election Result Rests ‘In God’s Hands’

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin describes herself as a “hard-core pro-lifer” and expresses confidence that in spite of disheartening polls, “putting this in God’s hands, that the right thing for America will be done at the end of the day on Nov. 4.”

She is right.

Above all, love God!
Private