My library has diminished in the last year as I have unloaded books to various friends.
Two I have kept for re-reading: "The Seven deadly sins" (a modern perspective) and the "Treasury of Puritan thought"
Let me bring some contrasts to bear; quotations from the Founding Fathers of America and their modern day progeny in the 21st century.
Concerning covetousness.
John. D. Rockefeller:
"Riches are a gift from Heaven which signify "Thou art my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
and the response of a preacher in the 1600's.
"Christianity teaches me that what I give charitably when I am alive, I carry with me when I am dead. The worldling knows nothing of this.His corpse shall carry only his winding sheet to his grave, but I shall be richer UNDER the earth than I was above it.
Jubilate.
Ian
In 410 A.D. Alaric the Goth arrived at the gates of Rome and demanded entrance for himself and his army. The city fathers pleaded in the name of God for mercy. Alaric replied "I have been sent in the name of this God to humble your city."
For the next ten days the great city was subject to pillage.
Thus began the fall of the Roman Republic.
The five major reasons for the demise of the Empire (Pax Romana) are being eerily repeated two thousand years in the unfolding history of the American Republic (Pax Americana)
.
Let me list the causes that brought about the collapse of Rome.
1) Bloated public spending that outstripped the national coffers.
2) An over-extended military largely made up of mercenary soldiers.
3) Rampant homo-sexuality ( a practice emulated from the Greeks)
4) A system of entitlements that gave free bread and public sport to the lower classes while most of the manual labor was done by an indigenous slave population.
5) Cronyism and corruption at the highest levels of society.
From start to finish it took a thousand years for Rome to rise, reign, decay and collapse.
As we look at events unfolding in the U.S. Congress today it is hard to believe that the great Republic, born 250 years ago will last in its present form for another fifty..........................unless there is another spiritual awakening for which I pray most fervently.
Jubilate.
Ian
With a full third of America's population overweight, adults, children and seniors included, it should be no surprise that the U.S. Government has followed suit in its extravagant consumption and bloated programs.
Tomorrow, after two weeks of shut down in Congress, the dreaded moment arrives when the debt ceiling must be raised (yet again, again) .Failing to do so will put the nation into default for the first time in its 250 year old history.
Shock waves will be felt around the entire global economy.
"Let it happen" is the opinion of at least half the lawmakers in Congress.
Their thinking has a stark logic to it.
With an astronomical national debt of 17 trillion dollars, they say it is better to go on a crash diet now, than to wait until 5 years from now when the nation will be bed-ridden with 10 trillion dollars more in over-load.
The Bible, as always, gives us simple and clear warnings and instructions.
Pay your bills today. Don't borrow money to pay off already borrowed money. If you fail to take heed, the House of the Tormentors awaits you. (Matt 18).
Enjoy your glass of skimmed milk.
Ian
