So, what is true ...as it stands, who benefits from the truth and who benefits from a lie??

Building the horrific machine that would come to be known as the Nazis, of World War II, they attempted to reform the model of the church.  They sought to manipulate the people into believing that the Old Testament of the Bible was exactly that ...old, and in need of revision.  Some did not feel revision was enough, and more of a division was necessary, stating it was of entirely no use at all.  

And what of the New Testament??

They felt if they mentioned Jesus, it was not to be in the context of His death on the cross to cover our sins. Jesus was depicted as not that much unlike He is in many corners of our society today ...only focusing on the good of government, in looking out for our needs like Jesus had. Therefore, Jesus would be in favor of saving our planet, but not in the context of an atonement of our sins to benefit those individuals on our planet. 

In a nutshell, the outcry is to save the planet, not the people. If we imagine an impersonal past, and then group all our emotions into a future which desperately depends upon us ...we somehow take the attention away from how desperately spiritually desolate we are today.  And it seems too much like that cosmic eggshell idea that they hatched, yet perhaps each day resembling more a nutshell.

Eventually, the Nazis saw a need to do some real grass roots ground work ...and dealt directly with the youth, replacing praying with preying. They played upon the frustrations, doubts, and sense of loss of direction ...and they had them celebrate by burning books.

I don't really know how that would play out today.  I don't know how much resistance they would get if they decided to burn books.  But, I do know that it doesn't really matter that much ...as what is happening presently is much more effective.

Many bookstores are closing and going out of business.  The fact is, some people do still read, but the vast majority of them only regurgitate ...and it is not often of much substance in the first place.  It's like rapidly chewing bubble gum, then after a time spitting it out ...then popping another piece in our mouth. It's good on one level that people are communicating, and perhaps considering each other 'friends' ...after all, we've been a quite serious nation, and quite seriously depressed at times, leading the charge for a quite negative view on life.  

But, there is a place for seriousness, and also for reliable references.  

Life perhaps can stand to be a little more lighthearted at times ...as this time was when my wife told my Dad she'd bake him a Green Bay cake if the Lions didn't win in the play-offs.

Yes, it's good to keep in touch, and connect with people, but there is a certain thing to be said about living where we are at ...and it just does not seem like we should not be attentive to those around us, while we live on the iPhone or Tweet away our lives. Instead of the internet, it could be referred to as the internest, where we too often nest so long that, who knows, perhaps one day we will hatch a new cosmic egg ...or nut.

Of course, taking some time to yourself is good ...and reading is a good pastime. But, knowledge obtained from reading is not just good, without some discernment.  You can read the words of Fred Rogers, or the stuff that Saul Alinsky spews forth. You can read your children Winnie the Pooh, and send them to bed with a hug ...or let them join you in watching Hannibal Lecter, so they can't sleep.  Yes, it's very important what we read, watch, and listen to.  I miss the day when the PTA would stand up for what they believed to be healthy.  How many of us today even know what those letters P-T-A stand for??

Romans 1:28, states, "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient ..."   (Or maybe today ...a bit too convenient.)

2 Thessalonians 2:10-11, states, " ...because they received not the love of the truth, that they may be saved ...and for this cause God shall send them a strong delusion, that they should believe a lie ..."