All Humour Aside:

Do You Know?

What? Two State Solution:

 

The Heart of the Treasure, the Treasure of the Heart:

 

On the Mount, a talk given by Jesus places more empathsis on the inner being than on wealth in your pocket.

This belief isn't new but it was said 2K years ago. 

He stated deeply, yet without drama...

"For where your treasure is, your heart will be also."

True treasure isn't material wealth but the  transformed wealth of a surrendered heart and not the enrichment of your purse or wallet.

 Money is fleeting and has wings, enough to fly away when least expected.

A mistake:

By placing more value on  accumulated material possessions means that your heart inevitably sets itself on the wrong things.

A Fact:

Jesus posits that a simple rejection of material wealth is not enough but actually states more directly that one " cannot serve two masters...one will either hate one and follow the other or shall despise the other and love the one."

What seems obvious to me is that accumulating money as an end is decrying the temporal use of a significant tool to achieve the uplift of more by much.

It is God who enables one's livelihood with good measure,pressed down and poured abundantly into one's lap. It's impossible to achieve much without help from God and often fellow men.

 The pervasive poor can be enriched materially,morally and intellectually by the judicious use of opportunity, education and Christian ethics. This is and  amounts to the historic rise of the middle class since the first industrial revolution. The conferring and lifting of a better state of living in the social fabric from an individual, to a community and the nation to the massive boost of the standards of the earth's population overall has been achieved.

While some disparities  continue to baffle humanity, and solutions are confusing,  the uplifting of the global society has largely been accomplished  but there shall always be some poor  existing.

By Digital Anvil.

Final Comment: 

While Jesus did say, " the poor you will have always." He wasn't saying that that is good state of affairs.

He didn't condone the oppression of families,nor the alienation of the disabled and the condemnation of the few.

There will always be relatively poor,disabled and the rich entrepreneur. Each has a place at the table, but woe to the down-thrusting of the voiceless poor by greedy oppressors. 

Wealth by hard work, skillful enterprise and educated risks is actually an outcome of an imperfect system of principles,opportunities and social favour than much else. But without the favour of God, little can be achieved.

As always,please leave your comments below. Thank you.

WHAT DO WE WANT MEN AND BOYS TO LIVE FOR?

Christianity, like several great traditions, offers men a demanding vision: use your strength in service of something greater than yourself.

Provide. Protect. Take responsibility. Build families and communities. Love sacrificially.

Pastor Al Stewart describes healthy masculinity as being prepared to “give your life in the service of others”. Sometimes through extraordinary courage, but more often through the slow sacrifice of the “death of 10,000 commutes.”

There’s something deeply noble in this. But there’s also a tension we need to confront…

For decades, Western culture has increasingly told women: know your worth, pursue your ambitions, establish boundaries, become independent, don't organise your life around serving men or children.

Meanwhile, men continue to hear: step up, provide, protect, sacrifice, serve.

Add strands of feminism that frame masculinity principally through patriarchy, privilege and toxicity; an empathy gap around male suicide, workplace deaths, homelessness and boys falling behind; and a materialistic consumer culture relentlessly promoting autonomy, comfort, optionality and short-term self-interest.

Eventually some men ask: Why should I accept the old obligations when reciprocity has disappeared?

MGTOW offers one answer: don't. This asserts an important truth:

A man's life has intrinsic value. Men are not utility vehicles. Their bodies, health, time, dreams and earnings don’t exist merely for the benefit of others.

But complete withdrawal cannot be the answer either.

A civilisation of autonomous consumers maximising personal freedom while minimising enduring obligations will not sustain families, communities and future generations.

We need an enlightened middle path.

Keep the Christian call to responsibility, service and sacrifice—but rebuild the social contract around it…

Wind back adversarial feminism, one-sided female empowerment and sex-specific entitlement (but not women's equal dignity, liberties or opportunities).

Restore genuine reciprocity.

Take boys' education and men's health seriously. Honour fatherhood. Recognise male vulnerability as readily as male agency. Stop treating men's sacrifices as an unlimited natural resource.

Tell every boy:

Your life matters.

Your health matters.

Your dreams matter.

Your suffering matters.

You aren’t disposable.

Then challenge him: Because your life is valuable, make it count.

Become strong. Build. Create. Love. Form deep friendships. Become a husband and father if that is your vocation. Serve worthy people and purposes. Accept responsibility. Leave something behind.

And call women to the same principles of fidelity, responsibility, service and sacrifice.

The answer is neither:

 

MEN EXIST FOR OTHERS

nor

 

MEN EXIST ONLY FOR THEMSELVES.

It is: DIGNITY → AGENCY → RECIPROCITY → RESPONSIBILITY → SERVICE

We need to build families, institutions and communities in which men and boys can once again see a future worth growing into, and something worth giving themselves to...

By Celebrating Masculinity.

From Digital Anvil

 

 

New Moral Code of the West

For generations, there has been an agreed moral code in Western nations which centred around basic Christian ethics. It was the foundation of our legal system. This has changed and a new moral code has emerged. Authors Lyons and Kinnaman wrote that there are new guiding principles. 

here are four:

1. To find yourself, look within yourself

2. People should not criticise someone else’s life choices

3. To be fulfilled in life, pursue the things you desire most

4. Enjoying yourself is the highest goal in life

We are so used to these principles that we don’t notice them anymore. But we need to see that this has been a massive shift. We have moved from looking to a creator God as our central motivation, to ourselves.

Humanity now worships itself. Is this how we want to live?

Share this daily - reading.

My thanks to  my occasional " mentor" Karl Faase.

From Digital Anvil.

 

Re-Posted by design 

 

Christian Families

There is a narrative developing that Christian men who follow the Bible are exhibit A of 'toxic masculinity'. It is suggested they follow the Bible teaching that men should head up their family and as a result become abusive. Is that true?

Nancy Pearcey, academic and author, and a guest on our series for men, True North, made the point that research demonstrates that it is not true.

Christian fathers spend more time with their children, Christian couples divorce at a lower rate and have the lowest rate of domestic abuse of any group. As Pearcey says "... this totally shatters the negative stereotypes."

There is one caveat. These husbands are not nominal Christians, but active in their faith attending church three to four times a month. Active faith makes all the difference.

Thanks,Karl Faase.

Share this daily- reading.

(From Digital Anvil )

¹

Drawing An Image

What does a cave painting from thousands of years ago have in common with the most expensive paintings in art galleries today?

It is the ability to see and create an image of something that is distinct and separate from the object being painted. You may believe this is obvious, but as author Anthony Kronman states:

“...so far as we can tell, this peculiar way of seeing is the power that resides in human eyes alone.”

This is another way humanity is different from the rest of the created order. God created us with the ability to think, create and build a spiritual life.

Humanity is not just a slightly more evolved part of the ecosystem; humans are completely different because we are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:17).

Share this daily-reading.

Thanks to Karl Faase.

(From Digital Anvil)