What is a "tiehacker"?

"Tiehacker" is a term originating in the Ozark hills of southern Missouri. It referred to a class of people from WAY back in the hills that made a living cutting trees into ties for the railroad. I first heard the term from my wife shortly after we married. I had been working outside all day and was dirty and stinky. When I came inside, she told me I looked like a "tiehacker" and had to get cleaned up. She had learned the word from her father, and thought it just meant "a bum". Never having heard it before, I looked it up. Although I am not really a bum, I thought it was interesting, and I do have a life-long love affair going with the Ozark hills, so ... there you have it!

Friday, February 16, 2018

Good and bad influences on us

https://www.biblestudytools.com/esv/1-corinthians/15-33.html

WHILE THINKING ABOUT this little verse, it struck me that it applies to more than just friends and companions. It equally applies to those whom we choose to accompany in other ways, especially the characters in our favorite TV shows, books, films, music, and so forth.

A LONG-STANDING truism, first coined by computer programmers, is "Garbage In, Garbage Out", or GIGO for short. What goes up, must come down, and equally true is that what goes in, must come out. What you watch, listen to, or read about will inevitably influence your heart and soul and mind. So choose wisely those with whom you associate! Both in "real life", and in art.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

GOSSIP: One of those common "little" sins that we often tolerate, but should not.



Prov 4:24 "Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you."
Col 3:8 "But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth."
I READ A great essay, entitled The Danger of Gossip by Jared C. Wilson. He briefly discusses a few characteristics of gossip. Malice, where the subject's best interest is not  in view. Self-Oriented Curiosity, which is not only malicious, but is served up as juicy "entertainment". Pride or Envy, when the purpose is to make yourself look better by comparison.

My best friend's wife defines gossip as "confessing someone else's sins." Very aptly put.

MR. WILSON THEN goes on to outline three  methods to deal with gossip.
1. "Don’t say anything negative about someone that you wouldn’t say to them". If it's important enough to share, then share it with the person involved.
2. "Redirect others’ gossip with a gentle query about the intent". "So, why was it important for you to tell me this?" is my favorite question to ask a gossip.
3. "Rebuke repeated gossip and discipline unrepentant gossips." Gently and lovingly confront the gossip. If necessary, eventually Biblical church discipline may be required.

TO HIS THREE tactics, which are very good and useful, I'd add these:

If your speech is consistently and intentionally gracious, gospel-oriented, loving, edifying, Christ-honoring, you won't be gossiping.

And, never forget the words of the Savior:
"You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." (Matt 7:5) 
Pay attention to your own self, and then and only then can you legitimately address someone else's problem.

I'D BE REMISS, however, to not mention James' warning: "[N]o human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison." (James 3:8) Getting your mouth under control is impossible apart from the Holy Spirit. Even the "best" Christian still has a sin nature that is not subject to "self-control". Attempting to put a stop to sin, any sin, by the power of the flesh is doomed to failure. As with anything else, confess, repent, accept God's forgiveness, and live in the power of the Holy Spirit, not the powerlessness of the flesh.

Saturday, February 10, 2018

RACISM, VICTIMIZATION, MILITANCY, AND OTHER SINFULNESS: One Christian's viewpoint.

Google images
IN AN ESSAY yesterday on The Imaginative Conservative Magazine website, entitled "Victim Privilege, Cultural Appropriation, & the New Enslavement", Joseph Mussomeli discusses how - fulfilling the words of the poet William Blake “The iron hand crushed the Tyrant’s head and became a Tyrant in his stead.” -

"... it is politically incorrect to ever criticize anyone considered a victim of our society. Like the ancient tribunes of Rome, all those categorized as “victims” are untouchable and their views sacrosanct. No matter how rude or imbecilic their opinions, few dare oppose them."

MR. MUSSOMELI IS quite correct, insofar as he takes this, with his somewhat humorous conclusion "When a particular noodle or spice or fashion is central to your self-esteem and identity, you probably need psychological intervention more than political affirmation."

However, from the viewpoint of a Bible-reading, God-loving, people-loving, sin-hating Christian, I cannot help thinking that he is missing an important point: the role that our sin nature plays in all of this. From the very beginning, people were feeling "victimized" and dealing with it by reacting militantly.

IN GENESIS 4, Cain feels angry and offended because God favored his brother Abel's sacrifice over his own. He took it out on Abel by killing him, making fratricide the very first homicide in history. God was merciful in his punishment of Cain, sending him into exile rather than striking him down. Cain, however, true to his human nature, gets bent about this and whines that he is going to be a fugitive and will be killed. Again, God responds with mercy, marking Cain so that everyone will know that he is not to be killed.

Fast forward several generations to a descendant of Cain, named Lamech. Lamech is a braggart with a bad temper. He boasts to his wives that he killed a young man for striking him. His last recorded words, in verse 24, are "If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold." Now, I don't know about you, but that sounds suspiciously like a lot of the militant "advocacy" groups today. "My forebearers had revenge coming to them, so I now will take a virtually infinite larger revenge."

MAKE NO MISTAKE! Mistreatment of others is ALWAYS wrong. It doesn't matter to me if it is done for personal reasons, or for racial or cultural reasons. Every human being that has ever lived bears the image of God [Gen 9:6], and is worthy of the love and respect due to a fellow image-bearer. To show animosity of any kind is purely sinful. For this reason, any form of racism or other forms of systemic discrimination is outside the pale, and should not be tolerated. Ever. However, for the same reason, the victim of such sin is ALSO responsible for how he or she reacts.

As Jesus put it, whoever is angry with his brother is guilty of murder. [Matt 5:22] More to the point, in the famous parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10, a Samaritan traveler is praised by Jesus for aiding and caring for an injured Jew, while the injured man's fellow Jews ignored his plight. What is not often spoken of, is that in that culture Samaritans were considered pariahs, worthy only of contempt, half-breeds. To call someone a Samaritan was a serious insult, comparable to today's "N-word" and the like. [see John 4:9; 8:48]

HATRED BREEDS HATE. Contempt breed contempt. A viscious and seemingly never-ending cycle. Thus is our sinful nature.

People of good will, no matter their race, creed, culture, political affiliation, whatever, are capable of learning to get along with each other. History is replete with examples of this. That does not change the fact, though, that our sin nature is going to inform and influence every relationship we have. To one degree or another, our every interaction with any other person, place, or thing, is going to have some sinful aspect. We don't have to like it, we can fight hard against it. We can even mitigate it to some extent. But we can never eradicate it.

THE CYCLE CAN only be broken by divine intervention. As Paul wrote, within the Church, the body of Christ, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." [Gal 3:28] Followers of Jesus, those whom God foreknew, predestined, called, justified, and glorified [Rom 8:29-30], now have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them, empowering them to "put to death" the sin that also dwells within.

"For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord." [Eph 2:18-21]

DO YOU WANT to see an end put to the endless cycle of hatred and oppression and tyranny? Do you want to be able to see, and know from experience, that the only really crucial difference between individuals is whether they are inside or outside of the Body of Christ? Do you want to know first-hand the joy of being free to love and glorify God by enjoying Him forever, along with all your brothers and sisters in Christ?

Then, very simply, in faith, repent. In faith, turn away from your sin, and turn to God. Respond to Jesus' call to believe in Him through faith. And the Holy Spirit will place you into that body of Christ, and will enable you to live a life of love and faith as you serve Him by serving your fellow believers and by showing God's love and mercy to all people.