Posted by Rod Hamilton on Feb 22, 2009
So you’re the new president. Of course comparisons will be drawn between you and your predecessors. Contrasts between your leadership style and theirs, your personality and theirs, your believability and theirs...even your wardrobe and theirs are an unavoidable part of the spotlight. But can anyone live up to this?!?!
(mind you, this is both a sad commentary on America and a funny survey all wrapped up in one.)
Americans Pick Obama as Personal Hero; Jesus Comes Second
President Barack Obama’s popularity overwhelms that of Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King, and Mother Teresa, according to a new poll that shows Obama as the person Americans named as their hero. American adults (age 18 and over) spontaneously named President Obama as the person they admire enough to call their hero in a Harris Poll that did not provide a list for respondents to choose from.
The Harris Poll, released on Thursday, was conducted on 2,634 U.S. adults between Jan. 12 to 19, 2009 – just ahead of President Obama’s inauguration.
“The fact that President Obama is mentioned more often than Jesus Christ should not be misinterpreted,” The Harris Poll clarified in its report. “No list was used and nobody was asked to choose between them.”
Following Barack Obama, the next most popular personal heroes are Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Abraham Lincoln, John McCain, John F. Kennedy, Chesley Sullenberger, and Mother Teresa, respectively, to round out the top 10 people Americans say they admire and would call their hero.
In the top 20 list, God held the No. 11 spot while evangelist Billy Graham tied with former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt for the 13th slot.
Make no mistake about it; what’s closest to your heart comes first from your lips (or pen, in this case).
Read the whole article here.
Posted by Rod Hamilton on Feb 19, 2009
In these days of economic turmoil, it seems that even the best news about our near future is tainted with trepidation. But what you can love about researchers is that, given a little time and funding, they can turn that frown upside down, statistically speaking.
And now, the good news about the worldwide economic downturn - fewer shark attacks. Maybe that doesn’t offer much comfort to those of us who live inland, but there’s hope never the less. Check it out:
Shark attacks are on the decline due to the current economic downturn, a biologist speculated today.
In 2008, attacks worldwide dipped to their lowest level in five years, a sign that Americans may be forgoing vacation trips to the beach, said ichthyologist George Burgess of the University of Florida.
“I can’t help but think that contributing to that reduction may have been the reticence of some people to take holidays and go to the beach for economic reasons,” Burgess said. “We noticed similar declines during the recession that followed the events of 2001, despite the fact that human populations continued to rise.”
Shark attacks basically correlate with the number of people in the water. The more people go to the beach, the more they are in sharks home, the offshore waters, and the more attacks on humans.” Read the article.
Ok, ok, so if you really take a statistical look at it, it’s because we have less money and therefore less ability to get to the beach that the attacks are fewer. There’s no telling if the attacks per capita went down or not. But I see another silver lining yet in all of this: plan yourselves a vacation getaway to Paducah and blame it on the shark attacks in the oceanic areas. You’ll sound practical, save lots of money and maybe even a limb or two!
Posted by Rod Hamilton on Feb 18, 2009
Ralph Waldo Emerson said “whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.”
When, as a wild eyed college sophomore, I first heard this quote, it meant something entirely different to me then than it does today. To me then, to be a nonconformist meant to avoid letting “the man” keep me down. I would do things my own way, any way I pleased, because after all, that was the rock and roll mantra of my youth.
But, as I look at life now, nonconformity is both a highly encouraged blessing and a lightly regarded curse. The Apostle Paul wrote (under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, of course) that we should not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. In that sense, to be a nonconformist is utterly vital to being an effective Christian. In 2 Corinthians, as Paul warned the believers in the church at Corinth to not not be yoked together with unbelievers, he used scripture from Isaiah and Ezekiel to support his position.
So to be a Christian man is to be a nonconformist, right? Well maybe, but ultimately, no. To be a believer in Jesus Christ is to strive for conformity - to desire a Christ-mindedness and to offer ourselves as a “living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.” Without conforming to God’s desire - His very biblical picture of Himself in the person of Jesus Christ, we have no hope for a great life in Christ. Does that mean that we won’t go to heaven? No, not if we truly have received Christ as our Lord and Savior, but it does mean that the man who resists the things of God will forfeit many of the blessings of God.
So what is it truly to be a man? Whoso would be a man must be a conforming nonconformist.
Posted by Rod Hamilton on Feb 12, 2009
John 15:5-6
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”
The weak branches became very evident through the ice storm of a couple of weeks ago, and again yesterday, after the heavy winds. The sides of our streets are littered with branches of trees that simply could not bear the weight of the ice and snow that gathered on them, hence they twisted and snapped off from the tree. Some of these branches fell because they weren’t yet developed enough to withstand such a storm, and some fell because they were old and dead, no longer vibrant and strong like they once were. I even heard on the radio that many of the trees that were damaged so badly were so bad off because they never belonged in this environment in the first place. They were better suited for areas where such storms don’t happen, but yet these trees were planted here because of their aesthetic beauty and how they would affect the appearance of the homes, business and places around which they were planted.
Oddly, as things do so often when doing work with my hands outdoors, it occurred to me that these branches are very much like Christians in many ways. If we detach ourselves from Christ, we are weakened beyond repair and even small storms can destroy us. Outside of Christ we become useless brush piles that are of little to no use and serve as more of an eyesore than anything else. But for those who “remain in Christ,” they will be strong and ready to stand in whatever season and whatever storm may come.
1 Corinthians 16:13
“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.”