Thursday, January 19, 2006
I Was So Right, But in the Wrong Way
As I was preparing to come to Portugal I anticipated very gauche (left, pardon the French) ideas about politics, economics, and society in general. You see, the European way has been overt socialism for a very long time. Even during the times of the kingdoms, it was the rule of the king that allowed him to take ownership of anything he wanted. From this came our phrase "absolute power corrupts absolutely." For decades, nearly all industry in Europe has been government owned and run. I was expecting to find this idea at the forefront of public thinking.
Many American political scientists look at this as a fashionable trend. They see this as the way to go. Thus, we have our national healthcare movement among other efforts to nationalize industry. I was expecting too, since I am attending a prominent university, to get a bunch of socialist thinking as an add on to the language information.
Several times a week I hear somebody on campus complaining about the economy as they talk on their $300 phone. I guess the unemployment rate of Portugal to be between six and eight percent, but that is hard to gauge with all of the factors present (self-employment, the huge black market, the influx of female workers over the last 20 years, the start of youth in full time jobs, etc.).
My real guess is that these people are typical university feel good people, who fail to remember that economies are never good or bad. You may be surprised to read this, but it is true. Markets rise and fall, but economies are just people deciding what they value more. My teachers have lamented the "loss of jobs" and told of the strain on the economy that privatization has brought.
That is right. I was correct in anticipating a socialist mindset, but I was wrong about the trend. You see, the trend in Europe is privatization. The government is not getting out of industry (government always tries to take it over), but industry is leaving the government. Portugal has been a part of that. The government run banks, telephone companies, and you name the other industry have been overwhelmed when the market has been opened to private industry. In some cases, this has resulted in the loss of government jobs. However, the private groups, including the black market, have begun to boom.
This coming Sunday, Portugal will have a presidential election. The key issue has been the economy. Each candidate stating that his plan is to bring more jobs and that his opponent's plan is to get rid of them. I cannot tell you exactly who will do what because I do not have a full understanding of the Portuguese political world, but I do know this, that if the trend continues, government run industry will "wither on the vine," because the market always does the job better and cheaper.
Many American political scientists look at this as a fashionable trend. They see this as the way to go. Thus, we have our national healthcare movement among other efforts to nationalize industry. I was expecting too, since I am attending a prominent university, to get a bunch of socialist thinking as an add on to the language information.
Several times a week I hear somebody on campus complaining about the economy as they talk on their $300 phone. I guess the unemployment rate of Portugal to be between six and eight percent, but that is hard to gauge with all of the factors present (self-employment, the huge black market, the influx of female workers over the last 20 years, the start of youth in full time jobs, etc.).
My real guess is that these people are typical university feel good people, who fail to remember that economies are never good or bad. You may be surprised to read this, but it is true. Markets rise and fall, but economies are just people deciding what they value more. My teachers have lamented the "loss of jobs" and told of the strain on the economy that privatization has brought.
That is right. I was correct in anticipating a socialist mindset, but I was wrong about the trend. You see, the trend in Europe is privatization. The government is not getting out of industry (government always tries to take it over), but industry is leaving the government. Portugal has been a part of that. The government run banks, telephone companies, and you name the other industry have been overwhelmed when the market has been opened to private industry. In some cases, this has resulted in the loss of government jobs. However, the private groups, including the black market, have begun to boom.
This coming Sunday, Portugal will have a presidential election. The key issue has been the economy. Each candidate stating that his plan is to bring more jobs and that his opponent's plan is to get rid of them. I cannot tell you exactly who will do what because I do not have a full understanding of the Portuguese political world, but I do know this, that if the trend continues, government run industry will "wither on the vine," because the market always does the job better and cheaper.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
I Don't Know
One more thing needs to be considered before I enter the days of creation. It consists of the ideas surrounding the angelic realm: what happened and when. The title today sums up the truth. In Christian thought, a wide variety of ideas exist. Many of the most prominent teachers believe that God Created the angels, and Satan fell, all before verse two of Genesis. Most others believe that this happened before verse three. Some other theories exist, but not in the mainstream. Genesis says nothing about this. In fact, if we were to read chapters one and two of Genesis in isolation, we would know nothing of these thing whatsoever. These ideas come from a detailed study of several passages throughout the Bible.
What we do know is that Satan was created along with the other angels. We also know that Satan rebelled against God and was cast out of heaven. Most of the other chronology is educated guessing. I have my own theory that God created the angels somewhere between day two and early on day three, and that Satan fell on day eight. This too is just theory. I believe it to be well reasoned and accurate, but I fall short of teaching it because it seems to me to be beyond the intention of the passage and definately beyond the clearly revealed facts.
I guess that is my main point. I think that it is interesting to examine the issue, but God left this issue a little less well revealed intentionally. I have heard tragic sermons and expositions of this issue that drew deep principles about the nature of God and our relationship with Him. I call them tragic, because they have misappropriated their emphasis as they read God's Word. In other words, they missed the point. If God left it a little ambiguous, I believe He did it on purpose. We are not sinning by being curious, but we are sinning by extrapolating something beyond its intention.
The bottom line has two keys: "If the plain sense of Scripture makes sense, seek no other sense" (author unknown). When it does not make sense, we can look for answers by comparing Scripture with Scripture, but educated guesses need to be identified for what they are and we need to be willing to say "I don't know" (Arnie Johnson).
What we do know is that Satan was created along with the other angels. We also know that Satan rebelled against God and was cast out of heaven. Most of the other chronology is educated guessing. I have my own theory that God created the angels somewhere between day two and early on day three, and that Satan fell on day eight. This too is just theory. I believe it to be well reasoned and accurate, but I fall short of teaching it because it seems to me to be beyond the intention of the passage and definately beyond the clearly revealed facts.
I guess that is my main point. I think that it is interesting to examine the issue, but God left this issue a little less well revealed intentionally. I have heard tragic sermons and expositions of this issue that drew deep principles about the nature of God and our relationship with Him. I call them tragic, because they have misappropriated their emphasis as they read God's Word. In other words, they missed the point. If God left it a little ambiguous, I believe He did it on purpose. We are not sinning by being curious, but we are sinning by extrapolating something beyond its intention.
The bottom line has two keys: "If the plain sense of Scripture makes sense, seek no other sense" (author unknown). When it does not make sense, we can look for answers by comparing Scripture with Scripture, but educated guesses need to be identified for what they are and we need to be willing to say "I don't know" (Arnie Johnson).
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
You Should See Their Faces
I have a bit of a reputation. When I am speaking, I tend to go overtime. I tend to have plenty to say officially. I also tend to say little socially. This is very true in Portugal, because I can only say little. However, I was pleased this past Sunday, when I was able to answer one of the questions in Sunday School in Portuguese. Some of the fellow students looked a little surprised. It was not a hard question, but I usually do not answer because my Portuguese is very limited.
The even bigger surprise happened afterward when I spoke to a couple of people, just giving the standard greeting and asking about the weather. The looks on their faces were amazing. I thought maybe I had just refuted their theory that my mouth had been sown shut or that I still did not even know one bit of the language.
Still later, I was able to talk after the service, and the pastor said that he had heard me singing in Portuguese. I was just reading the words, and only understanding about half of them, but it was true.
Maybe Americans have a reputation for ineptitude at learning languages. Maybe it has been my general quiet appearance. But their surprise reminded me that I have a problem celebrating little victories. My being here in Portugal is a big victory, but my day to day life can seem a little mundane. However, I am getting progress. And little evidences like these are very encouraging to me. Praise the Lord.
Please pray that I would continue to learn and better my Portuguese. Please pray for my class: I am definitely the only Bible believing Christian, and I don't think that there are even any other "types of Christians" in my class. They have given me an opportu
nity to have a part in their lives, and I want God to get the glory. Please pray for Portugal and the upcoming elections: abortion is a big issue here, as well as other social issues. I don't know enough of the politics to know whom to prefer, but I know that leaders of all countries need prayer and godly influence. Please pray for Mozambique, as the work there continues and several families are working hard to learn tribal languages so that they can present the gospel for the first time.Monday, January 16, 2006
Sorry
I just published a personal update, which I also e-mailed to my whole address list. However, my blog seems to not put it on the main page. This is a new problem, and I will have to fix it. I do not even know whether this message will successfully post or not.
You Should See Their Faces
I have a bit of a reputation. When I am speaking, I tend to go overtime. I tend to have plenty to say officially. I also tend to say little socially. This is very true in Portugal, because I can only say little. However, I was pleased this past Sunday, when I was able to answer one of the questions in Sunday School in Portuguese. Some of the fellow students looked a little surprised. It was not a hard question, but I usually do not answer because my Portuguese is very limited.
The even bigger surprise happened afterward when I spoke to a couple of people, just giving the standard greeting and asking about the weather. The looks on their faces were amazing. I thought maybe I had just refuted their theory that my mouth had been sown shut or that I still did not even know one bit of the language.
Still later, I was able to talk after the service, and the pastor said that he had heard me singing in Portuguese. I was just reading the words, and only understanding about half of them, but it was true.
Maybe Americans have a reputation for ineptitude at learning languages. Maybe it has been my general quiet appearance. But their surprise reminded me that I have a problem celebrating little victories. My being here in Portugal is a big victory, but my day to day life can seem a little mundane. However, I am getting progress. And little evidences like these are very encouraging to me. Praise the Lord.
Please pray that I would continue to learn and better my Portuguese. Please pray for my class: I am definitely the only Bible believing Christian, and I don't think that there are even any other "types of Christians" in my class. They have given me an opportunity to have a part in their lives, and I want God to get the glory. Please pray for Portugal and the upcoming elections: abortion is a big issue here, as well as other social issues. I don't know enough of the politics to know whom to prefer, but I know that leaders of all countries need prayer and godly influence. Please pray for Mozambique, as the work there continues and several families are working hard to learn tribal languages so that they can present the gospel for the first time.
The even bigger surprise happened afterward when I spoke to a couple of people, just giving the standard greeting and asking about the weather. The looks on their faces were amazing. I thought maybe I had just refuted their theory that my mouth had been sown shut or that I still did not even know one bit of the language.
Still later, I was able to talk after the service, and the pastor said that he had heard me singing in Portuguese. I was just reading the words, and only understanding about half of them, but it was true.
Maybe Americans have a reputation for ineptitude at learning languages. Maybe it has been my general quiet appearance. But their surprise reminded me that I have a problem celebrating little victories. My being here in Portugal is a big victory, but my day to day life can seem a little mundane. However, I am getting progress. And little evidences like these are very encouraging to me. Praise the Lord.
Please pray that I would continue to learn and better my Portuguese. Please pray for my class: I am definitely the only Bible believing Christian, and I don't think that there are even any other "types of Christians" in my class. They have given me an opportunity to have a part in their lives, and I want God to get the glory. Please pray for Portugal and the upcoming elections: abortion is a big issue here, as well as other social issues. I don't know enough of the politics to know whom to prefer, but I know that leaders of all countries need prayer and godly influence. Please pray for Mozambique, as the work there continues and several families are working hard to learn tribal languages so that they can present the gospel for the first time.
