From “Morning Thoughts” by Winslow

“And do not be conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2

THE world, and the love of it, and conformity to it, may please and assist the life of sense, but it is opposed to, and will retard, the life of faith. Not more opposed in their natures are the flesh and the Spirit, darkness and light, sin and holiness, than are a vigorous life of faith and a sinful love of the world. Professor of the gospel! guard against the world; it is your great bane: watch against conformity to it in your dress, in your mode of living, in the education of your children, in the principles, motives, and policy that govern you. Grieve not, then, the Holy Spirit of God by any known inconsistency of conduct, any sinful conformity to the world, any inordinate pursuit of its wealth, its honors, its pleasures, its friendships, and its great things. Pray against the sin of covetousness, that canker-worm that feeds at the root of so many souls; pray against the love of dress, that sin that diverts the mind of so many professors from the simplicity of Christ, and takes the eye off from the true adornment; pray against a thirst for light and trifling reading, that strange and sinful inconsistency of so many, the certain tendency of which is to starve the life of God in the soul, to engender a distaste for spiritual aliment, for the word of God, for holy meditation, and for Divine communion and fellowship-yes, pray against the spirit of worldly, sinful conformity in everything, that the Holy Spirit do not be grieved, and that Christ do not be dishonored and crucified afresh in and through you. It is to be feared that much of the professed Christianity of the day is of a compromising character. The spirit that marks so many is, “What will you give me, and I will deliver him unto you?” There is a betraying of Christ before the world-a bartering of Christianity for its good opinion, its places of honor, and influence, and emolument. The world, the flesh, and Satan are ever on the alert to frame a bargain with a Christian professor for his religion. “What will you give me in return?” is the eager inquiry of many. Oh, awful state! oh, fearful deception! oh, fatal delusion! Reader! are you a professing Christian? Then guard against the least compromise of your principles, the least betrayal of Jesus, the first step in an inconsistency of walk; above all, pray and watch against a worldly Christianity-a Christianity that wears a fair exterior, so far as it is composed of attendance upon sanctuary services and sacraments and religious institutions, but which excludes from it the cross of the meek and lowly Lamb of God-a Christianity which loves the world and the things of the world, “makes a fair show in the flesh,” speaks well of Christ, and yet betrays Him with a kiss. Let not this be the model of your religion. The world is the sworn enemy of your Savior; let it not be your friend. No; come out of it, and be you separate.

 

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A Thought on Old Age and Decisions

There are times when you have to make a decision. Times when you must decide what it is you will do with your life, and how will you spend it. For some of us that decision comes early. For others of us that decision comes way too late, or at least we think, and believe, that we have wasted too much time, and therefore it is too late to do what we now realize we would like to do. We live in a society now that worships the young, and the energetic, and the athletic. The go-getters, and the power brokers, and we celebrate the celebrities of our time. We with a few years on us, such as myself, have quietly stepped into the background, and though I still firmly believe and am committed to the things I know, I no longer try to stand amongst the young lions who roam the streets of our towns and cities. I, like so many others, have grown older, and with age, have come other things, such as lack of desire, a body worn and wrinkled, and that now experiences pain beyond what I ever imagined. Yes, in some ways, I’m old. Of course, I’m not so old to those who are of my age group. It seems that the older we get the less likely we are to think of old age as being the age we are. Sadly, of course, the young are under no such compunction, and look at those of us who are over the age of 50 as being dinosaurs. Sadly, too, many of our young people think that we have the minds of one, too! I don’t know about you, but it irritates me no end when a young person talks down to me as if my inability to walk well means that I can no longer think so well either… Of course, I understand well their thinking that. After all I was young once, too, and I’ve been where they are at. We all have been where our young people are at…

I believe there’s a difference though between the people of my generation, and of those who came before. There was a time when one generation passed down the values and traditions of the one before. I remember well, all the time I spent with my grandmother, and the many things she talked to me about. Oh, the conversations we had. When she was young she came across the prairies in a covered wagon. Hard to believe, but it was true. She talked to me of her 3 sisters and 4 brothers, and their lives. I was stunned with amazement the first time she told me that they had no TV and only a radio to listen to for a half an hour or so sometimes in the evening. What in the world did they do with their time back then? It was utterly fascinating the world she talked of then, and now it’s seems that was only a figment of my imagination so far away does it seem from the reality in which I now live.

It’s become common place to dismiss our history, and our living history – in the form of our senior citizens – in this country. We dismiss them, discard them, tolerate them, warehouse them, rant at them, and forget many of them. Though I’m not that old, at least to my mind, I’m beginning to see the subtle shift in how people younger than I am view me. I remember the first time a young lady behind a counter gave me my senior citizen’s discount. I liked to have gone into shock, and I’m not so sure had I a cane then that I wouldn’t have smacked her upside the head with it; especially, when you consider the fact that at the time I wasn’t even 50 yet! Thankfully, I took her well-intentioned offer gracefully, and made no reply. Not so much because I’m cheap, but rather because had I confessed, it would have been an admission that I look really old. I realize now of course it wasn’t that I look old, but rather that she just had very young eyes…

In case, you’re wondering where this is leading, it’s to this. I may be older than you, but that does not mean that I’m a dinosaur, and it doesn’t mean that my time is up, or that I can’t still accomplish great and wonderful things. It will probably come as a shock to the young people reading this, but every truly worthwhile invention, book, painting, scientific breakthrough, and anything of any real merit has been accomplished by people well advanced in years. It also means for you older folk reading this that your time has not passed until you’re dead and in the grave, and depending on a decision you’ve made at some point in either your young or old life, it may very well go right on into eternity.

It has always been and will always be the responsibility of the generation that came before to lead the way for those who come after. We, are the ones, who sit in the seat of experience, and who have garnered the wisdom of years spent in living and in the pursuit of truth. We have the benefit of seeing life in hindsight which as anyone will tell you is 20/20. Now, for another truth, If you’re a child of God; if you’ve accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior; if you’ve ever read the Bible – God’s Holy Word – then you know that old age is not a viable excuse to sit on your butt and not do anything.

I’ve made my decision. I’m going to live all out from here on in. I’ve lived the biggest part of my life pretty much the way I wanted, and if you’ve read my blog from the very beginning you know how that worked out. The time has come to decide if I’m just going to live life waiting for my Savior, or if I’m going to live the rest of my life in the middle of the greatest adventure I’ll ever know…serving my Lord. Serving, as in laying down, and laying aside myself, and emptying myself, and allowing My Lord to take me from the inside out and use and spend me howsoever He desires…

In this world there’s a good chance that I may not ever amount to much, but in the Kingdom of God I have nothing but endless opportunity in front of me. Maybe the world says I’m fit for a shelf, but with my Lord and Savior living within me there’s no end to what can be accomplished through me. I know this to be true…and you do, too.

From “Morning Thoughts” by Winslow

” And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:3

When heart and flesh are fast failing, and the trembling feet descend into the dark valley of the shadow of death, to whom shall we then look but unto Jesus? The world is now receding, and all creatures are fading upon the sight; one object alone remains, arrests and fixes the believer’s eye-it is Jesus, the Savior; it is Emmanuel, the Incarnate and now-present God; it is the Captain of our salvation, the Conqueror of death, and the Spoiler of the grave; it is our friend, our brother, our Joseph, our Joshua, loving and faithful, and present to the last. Jesus is there to confront death again, and vanquish him with his own weapons. Jesus is there to remind His departing one that the grave can wear no gloom, and can boast of no victory, since He himself passed through its portal, rose and revived, and lives for evermore.

Sick one! in your languishing, look to Jesus! Departing one! in your death-struggles, look to Jesus! Are you guilty?-Jesus is righteous. Are you a sinner?-Jesus is a Savior. Are you fearful, and do you tremble?-the Shepherd of the flock is with you, and no one shall pluck His sheep out of His hands. How fully, how suitably, does the gospel now meet your case! In your bodily weakness and mental confusion, two truths are, perhaps, all that you can now dwell upon-your sinfulness and Christ’s redemption, your emptiness and Christ’s sufficiency. Enough! you need no more; God requires no more. In your felt weakness, in your conscious unworthiness, amid the swelling of the cold waters, raise your eye and fix it upon Jesus, and all will be well. Hear the words of your Savior calling you from the bright world of glory to which He bids you come, “Arise, my love, my fair one! and come away.” Believer! look to Him-lean upon Him-cleave to Him-labor for Him-suffer for Him-and, if need be, die for Him. Thus loving and trusting, living and dying, for “Jesus only.”

My Prayer to the Father – July 29th, 2012

Our Father In Heaven
I come to Thee in humble adoration and gratefulness
Praising You, Father, as the One worthy of my Worship.
You, Heavenly Father, who created the heavens and the earth,
You, Father, who have given us all that we have, and know.
Heavenly Father, I know that You are love,
And without You we would not know Love
Not in it’s purest form, not in the way
That Love heals and restores.
You, Heavenly Father, are the Author of Love
As written in Your beautiful expression
Of Your Beloved Son, Jesus.
You, Father, who wrote it forever on the hearts
Of those of us who believe in Him.
Of those of us who know that He died for our sins
And thus are forever in Your debt.

Heavenly Father,
I come before You, Father, knowing what
A privilege it is to come before Your eternal throne.
Overjoyed in knowing that You, the Creator,
Not only hear my prayers, but
Are anxious to hear them.
I know Father that You love my prayers,
And not mine, only, but all that come
From a secure position in Your Son,
My Beloved Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Father,
It is with true sadness that I come before You.
So sad that I live in a country that
You gave as a gift to all who desire to be free.
To all who desire to Love and Worship You,
And to express the best things You gave to us
As a dim reflection of who You are
In Your glorious and eternal Image.
We, who used to be the best representation
Of Your love and Grace
To a world lost and blind,
And in denial.

Heavenly Father,
I’m so sorry for my part in the smearing
Of what was once so grand and glorious,
And Father, I ask Your forgiveness
Not only for my part,
But that You forgive all who have
Done so much to dim a light
That at once was a beacon that
Shined all across the world.
Not our light, Father, but Yours.
A light of love and grace and strength
That brought forth all the best
That my Beloved Lord Jesus exampled.

Heavenly Father,
In my heart, I know that what has been done
Cannot be undone.
We who have mocked You;
We who have brought untold shame upon
That which You gave us.
We who have taken that which was precious
And thrown it among the dogs and swine
Are deserving of Your wrath.
We who have taken the innocent and that which
Is incarnated in beauty
And we through our silence
Have allowed those who have no soul
To kill and destroy by the millions
what You deem so precious
Life!

Heavenly Father,
If that were our only Sin
It would be enough to bring forth the fires of hell,
But to my most unutterable shame
It is only the first in a long line of that which
We should bow down before You
In sackcloth and ashes
And bewail the terror which we have
Inflicted upon ourselves.
But, no, Father, we not only have taken Life,
But we have done worse if it can be so described
In that we have taken our position
As Saints, as the Royal Priesthood You
Proclaim us to be,
And we have disrobed before the world,
As well as our families and neighbors.
Heavenly Father,
We have built great and towering monuments to You,
And we call them churches
But they are no more and no better
Than the tower of Babel.
We have raised them to raise ourselves
And only we do they truly honor
For Your Word in all it’s truth
Has been sublimated to no more
Than a cheer and a rah, rah, rah,
And a self-help, and self-love philosophy
That were the very things
That put my precious Lord Jesus on the cross
And left him to bleed and die.

Heavenly Father,
I beg You to send a fire of revival throughout
Our land; not to save it;
Though I wish it so,
But that through it those of Your children
Who have yet to realize their state
Might meet Your son, my glorious Savior
And fall before Him in love and faith.
That we might at least once more
Cast our light so brightly around the world
That we leave a last shadow.

Heavenly Father,
I would have no strength to bear my shame
Of this country I have loved were it not
For Your love and grace,
And the certain knowledge
That I am only a stranger here waiting
Until my Beloved comes for me.
Until such time, Father, let me not be slack
In that which You have called me to do.
Let me be bold in my love,
And unswerving in my devotion to the
Mission You have called all Your children to.
Let me proclaim Your Son, My Lord Jesus
To all I meet; to stand upon a hill
And raise my voice so that all can hear,
And stand in the path of all who propose wickedness
In the name of my Lord,
And thus express the Love He paid so much
To bestow upon me.

Heavenly Father,
I come to You on behalf of all in this country
And the world who are suffering
In their bodies and their spirits.
Who are struggling mightily
To pursue that which they know to be true
And to proclaim Him who is.
Heavenly Father,
Please I beg, I plead with You Father
To put a hedge of protection around
All my brothers and sisters
In Christ
Who are enduring the worst pain,
Who are being persecuted without mercy
In lands I’ll never see.
Sear our hearts with love and compassion
And a desire that will not be quenched
To pray for them with our all,
And to give them aid
In all the ways we are so capable of.

Heavenly Father,
Please be with my brothers and sisters
In Christ, and all who are in so much pain in whatever
Form it manifests itself in
And who are struggling to find their way
Through the darkness that’s enveloped this land
And this world.
Help us as those who truly love Your Son
To light our candles and lead the way
To He who is the Bright and Morning Star.

In Jesus Name,
Amen.

From “Music For The Soul” by Alexander Maclaren

I came across this in my devotions tonight.  It gave me something to think about.  Perhaps it will give you something to ponder as well.

OUR LEADER IN THE WORLD’S WARFARE

In the world ye have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. – Joh_16:33

If the revelation made to Joshua and his host be for us as truly as for them a revelation of who is our true leader, surely all of us in our various degrees, and especially any of us who have any ”Quixotic crusade ” for the world’s good on our consciences and on our hands, may take the lessons and the encouragements that are here. Own your Leader. That is one plain duty. And recognise this fact, that by no other power than by His, and with no other weapons than those which He puts into our hands, in His Cross and meekness, can a world’s evils be overcome, and the victory be won for the right and the truth. I have no faith in crusades which are not under the Captain of our salvation. And I would that the earnest men, and there are many of them, – the laborious and the self-sacrificing men in many departments of philanthropy and benevolence and social reformation – who labour unaware of who is their Leader, and not dependent upon His help, nor trusting in His strength – would see beside them the Man with the drawn sword in His hand, the Christ with the sharp two-edged sword going out of His mouth, by whom, and by whom alone, the world’s evil can be overcome and slain.

Own your General; submit to His authority; pick the weapons that He can bless; trust absolutely in His help. We may have, we shall have, in all enterprises for God and man that are worth doing, need of patience, just as the army of Israel had to parade for six weary days round Jericho blowing their useless trumpets, whilst the impregnable walls stood firm, and the defenders flouted and jeered their aimless procession. But the seventh day will come, and at the trumpet blast down will go the loftiest ramparts of the cities that are walled up to heaven, with a rush and a crash, and through the dust and over the ruined rubbish Christ’s soldiers will march and take possession. So trust in your Leader, and be sure of the victory, and have patience and keep on at your work.

Do not make Joshua’s mistake. “Art Thou for us? ” – Nay! ” Thou art for ME?.” That is a very different thing. We have the right to be sure that God is on our side, when we have made sure that we are on God’s. So take care of self-will and self-regard, and human passions, and all the other parasitical insects that creep round philanthropic religious work, lest they spoil your service. There is a great deal that calls itself after Jehu’s fashion, ” My zeal for the Lord,” which is nothing better than zeal for my own notions and their preponderance. Therefore we must strip ourselves of all that, and not fancy that the cause is ours, and then graciously admit Christ to help us, but recognise that it is His, and lowly submit ourselves to His direction, and what we do, do, and when we fight, fight, in His name and for His sake.

A Thought on Suffering

I often share things I come across in my reading, and see on other people’s blogs that I find noteworthy and that touch me.  It’s one way in which I share my heart, and what I feel that the Lord is revealing to me.  Now for confession time.  Sometimes I share what others do because I have a hard time sharing me.  It’s hard to look at myself honestly, to see myself in the light of truth; so often because what I see looking back at me I don’t like.  After 49 years, you’d think I’d be more comfortable with who I am, but I still struggle with looking at that person in the mirror and liking what I see there.  It’s always been far easier for me to love other people  than it has been to love myself.  I can give to other people, but allowing other people to give to me is terribly hard.

It’s a hard thing to admit.  Can I tell you it’s hard for me to imagine that anyone could love me, even God, and I have a hard time dealing with it.  Allowing myself to receive love has been a life-long process.  I tend to try to hide in plain sight.  One thing I’ve learned over the years is if you try to hide by hiding someone always finds you, but if you just stand in the middle of the room and smile more often than not people do seldom more than show a polite interest in you then leave you alone.  From that I’ve learned something else.  You can never really tell who’s suffering.  You can tell when someone is in physical pain, but you can’t always see suffering.

Having experienced both, I can say that the physical pain is often easier to bear, and easier to deal with in some ways.  You can take drugs legal and otherwise to lessen pain-the physical kind anyway-but suffering isn’t always that easy to alleviate.  It might help to just go ahead and define “suffering” for the sake of this writing as in the emotional sense because that’s what I’m talking about.  Emotional pain.  In this regard, I know I’m just one of many, and in a lot of ways I don’t feel that my, quote “suffering” in any way compares to that of some other people I’ve seen and known.  Not that we’re comparing because in truth “suffering”  is “suffering” no matter who does it, or what the cause of it may be.  I’ve known people who make a game of it.  Who try to manipulate it, and use it for their own gain, but nobody has a monopoly on it, and those who think they do often don’t even really know the first thing about it.  If you’ve ever heard the term, “suffering in silence” you know it didn’t come about from talking about it.

It’s a fact that no one of us ever escapes this life unscathed.  We all have our scars.  The worst ones are the ones nobody sees, and often they hurt the worst.  Often the people who carry such scars are the ones we don’t see.  It’s not the drunk, the drug addict, the welfare recipient, that are the ones truly carrying the invisible scars-though they may be-but rather it’s the middle or high school student found hanging or over-dosed that nobody saw coming, the young wife and mother found lying in her bed with a bottle of pills beside her, or the senior husband in the smoke-filled car.  Too often it’s the ones we didn’t see coming that suffered the most.

It says something about our world and the people that live in it that we’re so quick to judge them.  You and I have both heard the varied explanations and terms used in referring to those who have chosen to end their suffering themselves, and maybe even used those explanations and terms ourselves.  How callous and ignorant are we to think that they’re condemned for all eternity because of a bad decision.  It’s that kind of thinking and response on the part of people that gave rise to “suffering in silence” in the first place.

Some of us have had the misfortune of having some really bad, ugly, awful things happen to us in our lives, and we’ve suffered because of them, but there’s a truth that most of us don’t realize, and spend the better part of our lives trying to ignore, and it’s the fact that this is a world of suffering.  None of us escape it, are immune from it, and the harsh reality is that we’ve all taken our turn at the wheel at both ends of the car.

I’ve said all the above to say this, that there is an answer to suffering, but it lies in understanding what suffering is and it’s role in the world we live in.  We spend our lives listening to a world that says that there is no sense, no rhyme or reason, to why there’s suffering.  That there can be no God or a God not worth loving and serving who allows suffering.  Nothing is more untrue and false than this, and is the ultimate deception of the devil.  Who of us, myself, included, would be who I am, and who I am, becoming without having suffered? To feel unloved, to experience pain, to doubt oneself, to question one’s role and relationship to the world and the people in one’s life, are these not all experiences that set us in search of truth, of love?  And if we take our search seriously, if we look for it with all our hearts, is there any doubt to it’s destination.  We don’t travel the path of life (and suffer along the way) to come to a what….but rather to who….  You can take it from here….

From the writings of James Ryle

Outside the Camp

“Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.” (Hebrews 13:13)

This world is a campy place, and people gravitate to the camp that suits them. This is true in may ways — political, religious, economic, recreational, vocational, educational, or ideological. We find our niche and get our name, and learn the secret handshake. We also learn why we are superior to those in other camps.

But Jesus is outside the camp. He is a man with no labels. And the moment you link up with one group or another, and take unto yourself the labels and causes and agendas and issues of this or that group, then it is you cease following Jesus and begin following men. That will lead to pride, division, strife, and trouble.

Men love to build empires and fight enemies. But Jesus has called us to something better and higher. He has called us unto Himself.
We are in this world, but not of this world. Here we have no continuing city; for we seek a city whose builder and maker is God.

Therefore, we are pilgrims passing through the many camps we come in contact with; exchanging greetings in the marketplace, dining in the restaurants, sunning on the beach, or playing in the fields — but only for a while. For this is not our home; this is not our camp.
Jesus calls us onward, upward, and outward.

Onward insures that we will experience progress in our lives; upward insures we will reach our potential; and outward insures we will be misunderstood…and rejected. For the moment you leave the camp and go out to Jesus, the others campers will hold you in reproach — just like they did to Him.

But while we may be reproached by the world, we are embraced by the Lord. Not such a bad trade off if you ask me!
See you outside the camp?

From “Days of Heaven on Earth” by A. B. Simpson

“Therefore, choose” (Deu_30:19)

Men are choosing every day the spiritual or earthly. And as we choose we are taking our place unconsciously with the friends of Christ, or the world. It is not merely what ye say, it is what we prefer.

When Solomon made his great choice at Gibeon, God said to him, “Because this was in thine heart to ask wisdom, therefore will I give it unto thee, and all else besides that thou didst not choose.” It was not merely that he said it because it was right to say, and would please God if he said it. But it was the thing his heart preferred, and God saw it in his heart and gave it to him with all besides that he had not chosen. What are we choosing, beloved? It is our choice that settles our destiny. It is not how we feel, but how we purpose. Have we chosen the good part? Have we said, “Whatever else I am or have, let me be God’s child, let me have His favor and blessing, let me please Him?” Or have we said, “I must have this thing, and then I will see about religion.” Alas, God has seen what was in thine heart, and perhaps He has already said, “They have their reward.”

From “Winslow, Morning Thoughts”

     Read this then tell me how you feel…..

” That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection.”  Philippians 3:10

Of the downward tendency of our hearts we are, alas! but too conscious. We need an antagonistic principle- something to counteract the overworking influence of an ungodly world. Where shall we meet with it? We answer, in the power of Christ’s resurrection, felt, realized, and experienced in the soul. This is the argument of Paul: “You are a risen people, risen in union with Christ. If this be so, then seek after heavenly mindedness, setting your affections on things above.” What a heaven-attracting power, then, has this glorious truth! What is Christ? He is alive. Where is Christ? He is in heaven, at the right hand of God, as my head- my representative- my forerunner- my treasure- my all. Then, let me rise! Shall not my affections soar to their best beloved? Shall not my heart be where its treasure is? Shall I set my mind upon things on the earth, when my Lord rose out of the earth, and ascended above the earth, and bids me rise and follow Him in faith, in spirit, and in love, until He calls me to come away to Him entirely, that I may be ever with Him and behold His glory? If I am indeed risen with Christ, then let me evidence it by my increasing spiritual-mindedness. Christ, who is my life, is in heaven- why should I needlessly be buried in the earth? Why allow- as I appear to do- that there is an object upon earth whose claims to my love are paramount, whose beauty to my eye is greater, whose attraction to my soul is stronger, than my risen, ascended, and glorified Lord? Is there upon earth one who loves me as Jesus loves me? Is there one who has done for me what Jesus has done? Is there one who is doing for me now what Jesus is doing? Is there one who is to me such a friend, such a brother, such a counselor as Jesus? No, not one! Then, why should not my thoughts be more with Him? Why should not my heart cling closer to Him? Why this vagrancy of mind, this truancy of affection, this wandering of desire; why this forgetfulness, coldness, and cleaving to earth, when my Lord is risen, and I am professedly risen with Him? Oh, to feel more sensibly, more deeply; more constantly the power of His resurrection! Lord! I detect my heart settling down on creature things- objects of sense and sin. My business is a snare- my domestic blessings are a snare- my friendships are a snare- my position is a snare- the too fond opinion which others entertain of me is a snare- my grace, my gifts, my usefulness, through the corruption of my heart, are snares. Lord, place beneath my soul the mighty lever of Your resurrection, and lift me towards Yourself! Oh, let me feel the earth-severing, the heaven-attracting power of Your resurrection-life! Having been buried with You by baptism into death, sincerely would I now rise with You, like as You were raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father; that I might walk with You in newness of life, until I reach You in the realms of glory.

　

False And Deceptive Pleasures

     Greg Coleman’s “A Particular Baptist Blog” is a great blog.  He does a great job on it, and works very hard.  Every post I’ve ever read on it has been grounded in truth, and is always relevant.  This post False And Deceptive Pleasures is about as true and relevant as it gets.  If you get a chance drop by and give him a read.  He’s worth it.