227 Pentecost 2: Idolatry Makes You Stupid(er)
227 Pentecost 2: Idolatry Makes You Stupid(er)
“I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.” ~ Psalm 81
Idolatry Makes You Stupid(er)
Satan is mad. He is a lord of confusion, a perverter of words, a spinner of chaos. He rules by demanding you accede to his jargon. He reigns by asserting that power trumps reason. He does not need to show himself in all his power. He only needs to you believe his stories.
You do not get justice by obeying evil’s boastful demands. The effectiveness of true religion is its resilience in the face of screaming terrors. Willingness to suffer for the truth is the glory of truth.
Remember whose side you are on. In an age run by evil men, good men do not have the luxury to hide. You can't see it coming. So, stop trying. Christianity is supposed to be risky. Heedless trust in the arcane authorities established by the crucified God shall focus your inner life into the inspirational channeling of his Holy Spirit by means of certain and irrevocable promises which Jesus Christ left for us in his Holy Scriptures.
Light does not tolerate darkness. Fear is rooted in misplaced trust. Jesus loves authority. So, own it: organize disorder and challenge cowardice; fight weakness as a disposition. Don’t trust people who steal stuff, and assume that no gods, no masters, is a terrible plan.
There is never any greater threat to peace on earth than the work of the AntiChrist. Judgment Day is payback day, or the cross is emptied of its power. Do what you will, it’s in God’s hands, but you get the God you believe in. The only reason to fear death is because you do not believe that someone who loves you is waiting at the door.
It is not the strength of men, but the gifts of God that endure forever.
Till angel cry and trumpet sound,
R.J.M.F
It’s that time of year.. (hat tip to John Calvin(ist) for the pic.)
Crime and Punishment
A “gender fluid” man has been charged with stabbing several people in Massachusetts. The man entered a theater and attacked four young girls before stabbing two more people later at a McDonalds. All victims sustained non-life threatening injuries. Police have also connected the man with a separate murder earlier in the day. (WNG, Not the Bee)
Families of victims of Uvalde school shooting are suing “Call of Duty” maker, Activision, social media giant, Meta and firearms manufacturer, Daniel Defense for “grooming” the teenage shooter who killed 19 children and 2 teachers two years ago. The lawsuit argues that this “three-headed monster” knowingly trained the young man to think of firearms as the solution to his problems. The group recently settled a $2million suit against the city. (BBC)
The strange case of Cechnyans in the night. A suspected illegal immigrant who was shot dead in Carthage, North Carolina, may have been surveilling a Special Operations soldier’s home. (Red State)
The Supreme Court of the U.S.A. has ruled unanimously against the city of New York after it pressured banks to cease doing business with the National Rifle Association. (Not the Bee)
Security camera has captured the moment an explosion ripped through an Ohio bank over the weekend. One person died and several others were injured. It is believed a gas line may have been the source of the blast. (Not the Bee)
Thunderdome 2024
The Democrats plan to officially nominate President Biden as their candidate for November’s election through a virtual meeting. The remote nomination will ensure President Biden meets Ohio’s ballot deadlines. (WNG)
Federal Judge Aileen Cannon has denied a request from prosecutor Jack Smith to gag Donald Trump from speaking about his classified documents case. (Just The News)
Politics
The U.S. Senate has reauthorized the Federal Aviation Authority in a $105 billion bill. The bill includes measures to reduce fees for passengers and to increase safety after several near misses between aircraft in recent years. The bill also allows special codes for private aircraft to fly under the radar, as it were. Celebrity plane trackers say that the law will not hinder them, but gives cover to bad actors to pursue nefarious activities. (Think Epstein island..) The C.E.O of fashion brand Louis Vuitton, Bernard Arnault famously sold his jet a couple of years ago, saying climate activists tracking his plane had made him want to fly coach. (Reuters, Not the Bee, The Independent)
Harvard University has announced it will no longer comment on “political or social issues that don't impact the institution's "core function.” A group set up in response to waves of protest on campus recommended that university and institutional leaders should focus on the mission of the college, which presumably is open inquiry and critical thinking. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell. (ABC News)
Non-troversy. Supreme Court justice, Samuel Alito has been upsetting progressives with his habit of flying various flags at his Virginia home, including military flags and recently, Old Glory hung upside-down. (Mrs Alito had raised that one to protest some obnoxious behavior on the part of a neighbor.) Not that the naysayers generally care about the stars and stripes, but the “Appeal to Heaven” flag has critics of the Court insisting Justice Alito recuse himself from cases related to the January 6th riots.The pine tree flag is now associated with that event, for reasons known only to themselves. San Francisco’s town hall hastily took down their Appeal to Heaven flag. (The Federalist, HotAir, The Federalist)
Transport Secretary, Pete Buttigieg has suggested during a recent television interview that climate change is responsible for air turbulence, which is wrecking havoc with air travel. Secretary Buttigieg was also grilled about charging spaces for electric vehicles (or lack of). President Biden’s 2021 infrastructure bill set aside $7.5 billion to build 500,000 chargers across America but only 7 or 8 stations have been constructed so far. One analyst calculated the U.S. will need six times the amount of chargers we currently if every gas car was replaced with an EV. (Face the Nation via YouTube, Wired)
How bureaucracy and entitlement undermined the Constitution. Host of Wade Show, Wade Stott has some hard words for those who believe the progressive Left still respects appeals to the Constitution. “We actually can have a government that stops getting in the way of people being normal. [At the same time] the people themselves have to embrace and celebrate normalcy…the solution is top down and bottom up, the problems are way bigger than most conservatives think and so the solutions are going to take a lot more work than conservatives are used to talking about.” Time to get praying! (Not the Bee)
The Digital Age
Federal investigators have taken down a vast botnet operating across 190 countries. A Chinese national used VPN products to create “an infrastructure highway for carrying out crimes such as bomb threats, financial fraud, identity theft, child exploitation, initial access brokering, and many other computer crimes.” The network was used to steal almost $6 billion from covid payment schemes. (CBS, Quartz)
Google is scrambling to manually remove the most ridiculous responses produced by its new Overview feature. The A.I. summary advised people that running with scissors is good for your health, using glue is a handy way to keep cheese on pizza and that eating one small rock each day can provide vitamins and minerals. (The Verge, Fast Company)
Anthropic researchers believe they have some insight into the “black box” of Claude Sonnet 3.0, its Large Language Model. Reseachers wanted to know why it gives the answers it does and how it organizes concepts. Their findings provide a “rough conceptual map of its internal states halfway through its computation.” (Anthropic)
xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup has announced that it has raised $6 billion in initial funding which will help it begin shipping products. (The Verge)
Training data for ChatGPT 40’s Chinese language version is full of spam and pornography. (Technology Review)
A little bit of friction: An app designer finds that making your phone more annoying to use reduces the amount of screen time. (Futurity)
An oddly-shaped version of Minesweeper. (Poly Replay)
Money, Markets and Jobs
T-Mobile is set to acquire most of U.S. Cellular including stores, customers and part of its wi-fi network. (CNBC)
What would you work on if you didn’t have to work? (YCombinator Reddit)
In case you were wondering, Porsche just released a hybrid version of its 911. (Robb Report)
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Hearts and Minds
Question-asking is a skill worth refining. “The biggest reason is because we don’t realize the question that needs to be asked in the first place. We size up situations so quickly and jump to conclusions. We feel that those conclusions are reality, and it doesn’t occur to us there is something we don’t know.” (Fast Company)
Debunking the 7-38-55 rule, the golden ratio of conversation. “Verbal and nonverbal aspects of communication are important, and trying to quantify the relative importance of such qualitative experiences is kind of silly.” (Big Think)
Curiosity is a cult-killer. “If we’re going to break the spell the Woke cult has cast over our entire educational infrastructure in the United States, we’re going to need curiosity to make a massive comeback. People need to start asking basic questions – the “who, what, when, where, and why” – and follow their curiosity down the rabbit hole.” (New Discourses)
Religion and the Church
A Puritan’s advice on how to deal with annoying people: pray for them! “It’s hard to despise someone after interceding for them in prayer.” (Plough)
The Lousiana House has sent a bill to Governor Jeff Landry’s desk which would require all government-funded schools to display the Ten Commandments. (WNG)
Worry is a spirit-killer. It turns our focus on ourselves and causes us to cling to temporary things, instead of Christ and his Word. (Patheos)
Arts, History and Sport
Interesting: The Windows 10 logo looked digital but it’s not. (Gmunk)
Last week in history:
1980 Ted Turner’s cable news network CNN begins broadcasting 24/7. (Britannica)
Health, Medicine and Food
No one can agree on a draft for the WHO's pandemic treaty but they think they'll work it out if they keep discussing it for another one or two years. (Reuters)
Shrinking waistlines, expanding GDP? Jan Hatzius, the chief economist at Goldman Sachs believes more Americans taking weight-loss drugs, such as Ozempic would grow the economy. “Combining current losses in hours worked and labor force participation from sickness and disability, early deaths, and informal caregiving, we estimate that GDP would potentially be over 10% higher if poor health outcomes did not limit labor supply in the US," Hatzius said. (Yahoo)
We really don’t understand obesity. (Unsettled Science)
Study finds that more Americans are using marijuana daily than are drinking alcohol. (CNBC)
God’s Green Earth
A new Vermont law will make oil companies pay for climate change. One lawmaker cautioned that this approach will increase utilities costs for households: “I’ve never in my life seen corporations choose the ratepayer over the stockholder.” In true bureaucratic form, hundreds of thousands of dollars will be appropriated to “to conduct an analysis of how the program will work and be defended in court.” (The Hill)
Could less colorful plastic lead to less microplastics? (Tedium)
Much of the American midwest was hit by terrible storms last week, with more than 20 lives lost. (WNG, USA Today)
Billionaire real estate mogul Larry Connor, says he’s heading to the wreck of the Titanic in a two-person submersible to show people that though the ocean is powerful, it is wonderful and “life-changing” if you have the right submarine. (Sky News)
Marine biologists say orcas are turning over yachts in European waters just for fun. (New Atlas)
Counting crows? A new study has found that crows can tally in a similar manner to a human toddler. (Audubon)
A 70-year old flamingo has laid her first ever egg. Keepers at Pensthorpe nature reserve say it is unlikely that the egg is viable, but were amazed to see it. Flamingos usually live around 40 years. (BBC)
It's Monday, but praise the Lord anyway!
War and Rumors of War
The U.S.A has partially lifted its ban on Ukraine using U.S.-supplied weapons for strikes inside Russia’s borders, giving permission to hit targets in the Kharkiv region. (CBS, BBC)
Israel says it is investigating a fire in a Gazan tent encampment which claimed dozens of lives. The Israeli military launched a strike near the tents but are investigating whether munitions stored nearby exploded, setting the tents ablaze. The incident has once again drawn condemnation for Israel from many quarters. (AP)
Attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Houthi rebels have lessened but continue, according to reports. Joint strikes by Britain and the U.S. have claimed the lives of 16 and injured 42, according to a Yemeni military spokesman. The strikes were targeted to hit drone ground control facilities and storage. “The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, killed three sailors, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.” (AP, AP)
Stories from Far Away
🇨🇳 China has removed the dome of the last major mosque in a program of the “Sinification” of Islam in the country. Minarets of the mosque have been converted into pagoda style towers. (Semafor)
🇰🇵 North Korea has sent bags of trash (and worse) by balloon over the border to their Southern neighbors in retaliation for propaganda leaflets dropped in their backyard. (BBC)
🇭🇰 That didn’t take long. “Hong Kong police have made their first arrests under a newly passed local national security law over social media posts deemed ‘seditious’ by authorities.” (CNN)
🇵🇬 It is feared that more than 2000 people may have perished in a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea. (BBC)
🇬🇪 Georgia’s lawmakers have passed a contentious foreign influence bill. The bill has been protested for weeks, with critics saying it is too similar to a law in Russia which has been used to suppress independent media and speech against leadership. (BBC)
🇿🇦 South Africa’s African National Congress has lost after 30 years in power. Approval of the ruling ANC party was low leading into the election: “The national mood is grim owing to some of the world’s highest rates of unemployment and inequality, power cuts, water shortages and violent crime.” Votes were spread across several parties, meaning the difficult work of negotiating a coalition to lead the country is just beginning. (The Guardian, France24)
🇬🇧 British PM Rishi Sunak has set an election date for 4th July. Support for the Conservative Party has dwindled after its 14 years in power, but Sunak is hoping recent economic upturns will work in his favor. (AP)
🇰🇷 It’s a competition about nothing. Dozens of people in Seoul took part in the “space-out competition” in which the most chilled-out contestant wins. You aren’t allowed to sleep, but keeping your heart rate low is the key. “South Korea is known for its punishing work culture, with some of the longest hours in the developed world.” (The Guardian)
🇵🇪 Bright and colorful, maybe a little freaky for anyone who suffers coulrophobia. Hundreds of clowns hit the streets of Lima, hoping to secure a national day of recognition for their craft. Still, more preferable to a pride parade. (AP)
⚱️ Valuable relics that were used as doorstops
📚 Why books are rectangular
🛹 14 year-old manages to land Tony Hawk’s famous 900
🦫 Busy beavers building a dam
👀 Computer-controlled mechanical fingers mimic human speech on a regular piano
🇫🇷 Paris has hosted a huge picnic along the Champs-Élysées as part of Olympic Game events, with a giant picnic blanket and all
🧂 Virgin Airlines encourages its passengers to pilfer
🎓 A Chicago teen has earned a doctorate from Arizona University. Dorothy “Jeanius” Tilman was homeschooled as a child but began college at age 10 years of age
Pastor and Keri Wolfmueller will host the Lutheran Singles Cruise from August 1-5, 2024.
Who: Lutheran Singles between the ages of 21-41.
Date: August 1-5, 2024 (Departs 4:00 pm Thursday, Arrives 7:00 am Monday)
Depart and Return: Galveston, TX
Jonathan and Meridith spent a good bit of Stop the White Noise discussing “scarcity mindset” and how reading the Psalms can remind you that you have everything you need in Jesus Christ for every good work and every trial. Watch on YouTube or Rumble, or listen here. Show links:
Commentary on Galatians by Andrew Das
Psalms for remembering who is on your side: Start with 1,2,8,9,11 and 12
If you missed it, Meridith put out a call for anyone who would like to make a quilt for men who stay at the Hebron Collegium. If that is something you would be interested in helping out with, please reply to this email or send a message through madpxm.com/contact.
Our disclaimer: These are some resources the Fisks have found edifying, but when dealing with human-authored texts, apply discernment liberally!
This Week Preached:
Podcast Release:
Let us pray. Eternal God, Your Son Jesus Christ is our true Sabbath rest. Help us to keep each day holy by receiving His Word of comfort that we may find our rest in Him, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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