Tag Archives: statistics

Who Needs a Treaty When There is the Lord

Posted on August 1, 2023 by expressyourself4him

The more I study the book of Genesis, the more I realize the need for a sense of spiritual direction for Israel. The addictions, bad habits, and unwholesome cravings displayed throughout the first book in the Bible illustrate the disease of sin deep inside the hearts and souls of mankind. When Simeon and Levi sought revenge over peace, Jacob was worried that surrounding nations would unite to completely wipe out Israel.

And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, You have ruined me, making me infamous and embroiling me with the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites! And we are few in number, and they will gather together against me and attack me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my household, Genesis 34:30.

The term treaty describes a variety of instruments, including conventions, agreements, arrangements, protocols, covenants, charters, and acts all done in the name of upholding peace. However, when Israel makes treaties in the Old Testament, they are putting their trust in another nation rather than the God of Abraham. In the passage below, Moses suggests who needs a treaty when the terror of the Lord consumes surrounding nations.

And they journeyed and a terror from God fell on the towns round about them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6 So Jacob came to Luz, that is, Bethel, which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people with him. 7 There he built an altar, and called the place El-bethel [God of Bethel], for there God revealed Himself to him when he fled from the presence of his brother, Genesis 35:5-6.

If you tend to be into mathematics, numbers, and statistics, the odds of Israel surviving as a nation in the 21st century isn’t good on paper. Yet, somehow and some way, the God of Abraham continues to watch over Israel today. When you search the internet for miraculous wars survived by Israel, a list of 17 different modern accounts exist. These Cinderella stories should not have happened, but the God of Abraham continues to do the impossible, using terror over treaties.

by Jay Mankus

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Law and Order or Chaos?

Posted on March 26, 2023 by expressyourself4him

As a student at the University of Delaware, I became intrigued with Sociology and Psychology. From time to time, individuals would asked to partake in experiments based upon a hypothesis. My most memorable occurred over a week as I was asked to wear certain clothes to class. The first day was pajamas, the second a full suit and the third normal attire. When I dressed down, no one noticed or said anything to me. However, when I dressed up, I received several glances and was treated with more respect by my peers and professors.

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil continually, Genesis 6:5.

Over the past five years. politician’s have participated in their own modern-day experiment. If you follow statistics like successful companies cling to metrics, there’s a clear distinction between states that embrace and support law and other and those who want to reinvent America’s justice system. As district attorneys in liberal states fail to prosecute anyone who breaks the law, crime is incentivized. For example, if you reside in California and take less than $900 from a store without paying for it, you go undisciplined.

You have not yet struggled and fought agonizingly against sin, nor have you yet resisted and withstood to the point of pouring out your [own] blood. 5 And have you [completely] forgotten the divine word of appeal and encouragement in which you are reasoned with and addressed as sons? My son, do not think lightly or scorn to submit to the correction and discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage and give up and faint when you are reproved or corrected by Him; 6 For the Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes, even scourges, every son whom He accepts and welcomes to His heart and cherishes, Hebrews 12:4-6.

In the chapter of the Bible known as the Hall of Faith, Hebrews 11, the author writes about the importance of discipline. Like an athlete who strives to improve daily, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, discipline serves as a means to highlight areas in life where you need to improve. During a sermon series at Willow Creek Community Creek, Lee Strobel examined the life of Dennis Rodman who was a member of the Chicago Bulls at this time. Strobel discovered that Rodman was never disciplined as a child. This shaped the person who he became. While progressives may not want to admit their error in judgment, most Americans prefer law and order over chaos.

by Jay Mankus

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Politically Divided

Posted on August 30, 2022 by expressyourself4him

In this age of statistics, athletes, coaches, and political leaders have so many numbers to analyze and crunch daily. While I am used to hearing stats on television, I recently heard a shocking statistic from the pulpit last Sunday. Due to political division within the Christian churches in the United States, 38 percent of pastors considered leaving the ministry in 2021. Perhaps two years of dealing with the Coronavirus have pushed preachers to their breaking point.

But I urge and entreat you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in perfect harmony and full agreement in what you say, and that there be no dissensions or factions or divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in your common understanding and in your opinions and judgments. 11 For it has been made clear to me, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions and wrangling and factions among you, 1 Corinthians 1:10-11.

Division is the action of separating something into parts or the process of being separated. Whenever a large group of people come together to meet, there will always be political factions who agree on issues. As a former elder, these sects often begin innocently within Sunday School classes. Depending on the particular leader and their desire for power, a spirit of unity can be maintained by the mature or used a weapon of evil to create dissension.

 If I am detained, you may know how people ought to conduct themselves in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and stay (the prop and support) of the Truth. 16 And great and important and weighty, we confess, is the hidden truth (the mystic secret) of godliness. He [[b]God] was made visible in human flesh, justified and vindicated in the [Holy] Spirit, was seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, [and] taken up in glory, 1 Timothy 3:15-16.

The context of the passage above is guidelines given to a teenage pastor for selecting biblical leaders within his church. If you lower your standards for somewhere that you may like, you open the door for future division. Paul makes a great point by saying “if a man can’t control his own household, how can they lead a church.” While some may refer to this as old fashioned, this is the living Word of God, Hebrews 4:12. May this blog help you improve the unity within your own church.

by Jay Mankus

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