Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 06 February, 2015

early afternoon here, and the tmep is all the way up to 23 degrees, if you can imagine it.  Our former home in the Deep South is now registering 48.  Not hot, but not freezing.  

I had to run to bank this morning -- had a bill that needed to be paid by noon and had to put some money in the account to do it -- and found the car doors frozen shut.  Climbed in through back hatch, crawled over seats, and was able to bang the driver door enough to get it open.  Scraped a whole lot of snow and ice off the windows so I could see, made the trip, and came back.  Main roads in pretty good shape as far as snow and ice.

The roads themselves, meaning the roadway surface, not so much.  Craters and potholes, some quite large, everywhere.  Part of living around here.  And that's not completely a function just of the awful weather.  As some know, my background is as a mechanical engineer, with emphasis on manufacturing systems, with some design work in matters directed specifically to that.  So I haven't designed, say, pumps or engines or furnaces or such.  What I have done is design and optimize systems incorporating such and more into larger systems and means to employ them efficiently towards manufacturing other products. 
But my original dream was to be a Civil Engineer, to design and construct bridges, roads, buildings, water systems, and the like.  Not being from a wealthy family, I had to work while in school.  Not just to pay tuition and books and all of that, but to pay rent, buy a car and maintain it, buy food and clothes and pay the electric bill and all of that.  Took a while.  In the course of that, I found some employment with local operations that were involved in some aspects of the construction side of civil engineering projects in this region, and got a close-up view of How Things Are Done Here.  Having seen far more than I wished of the utter corruption, bribery, nepotism, incompetence, union thugs, Mafia thugs (literally), Democrat Party thugs (with considerable overlap with the two groups previous), and bad practices, I went down and changed my declared major.

Now, the reason I stuck that in there has to do with the roads and their condition.  Due in very large part to all the corruption, the money allocated for road construction and upkeep has some unusual if not well recorded expenses.  Like to pay off the Powers That Be to get the contract. Like to pay off the Inspectors so that the contractors et al can recoup their losses by skimping on the specs.  Like paying for the "featherbedding" of union workers.  Like a whole lot of similar things.  The methods and techniques and Best Practices for building and maintaining roads and bridges in this climate are fairly well known and documented.  And ignored.  The old joke, and it's not a joke, was that for example on a road surfacing project, the inspector would be a college student (I knew a few) there to ensure, for example, that the contract specification of 3" of asphaltic cement rolled and compacted to a thickness of 1-1/2", would be handed a hundred dollar bill at the start of the day's work, and be "asked" to get coffee for the crew, and no need to hurry back.  In other words, "take a hike and we'll see you tomorrow".  So a few minutes later, the asphalting machine would have the outlet opening cranked down to 2",  and off they'd go.  Joke was that the surfacing was so thin that the pavement at the start end of the overall job would be breaking up before the job was done at the far end.  And that was too often true.  Now factor in substandard road base, which among other things is part of the sub-surface drainage and support, and you have dips and stress fractures.  Which in turn provide a neat place for water to intrude.  Now add in the freeze-thaw cycle.  And you get awful roads with huge craters.  Now on top of all of that, add in the overweight trucks that ply the roads, leading to per-wheel loads greatly in excess of the roadway's capacity, and everything gets much worse, fast.
And this is accepted as "just the way it is here". 
And this is why culture counts and morals matter.  Bad character leads to a lot of things.

Dear Wife was supposed to accompany me on the trip to the bank.  Went outside to get in car and she started throwing up in the driveway.  So she's back in bed.  Has a big plastic bowl beside her in case the heaves come around again.  Such a life we have.

I drove by miles and miles of snow-covered woods and fields, no green or leaves or signs of life anywhere.  Under a gray and dismal sky, for which this area is justly noted.  It is easy to see why so many people, sometimes including me, get despondent and discouraged during this season.  They have no hope.  Occasional happiness, often alcohol induced, but joy is very rare.  And that includes in the churches.  Lots of "cultural Christians", though fewer every year.  But very few "on fire" ones.  Doesn't take many, but we seem to be below the critical level.  Is that why we were sent here?

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The Old Testament reading is chapters 39 and 40 of the Exodus.  More on the construction and furnishing of the Tabernacle and the system of worship to be carried out by the Lord's people in their journey and, indeed, until the Temple.  And even then, in that far-distant time, the pattern was set.  By the Lord, This was not a time for "do your own thing", this was a time to pay close attention to what the Lord said.
Note something here, something we rarely notice.  There are commands here about washing their clothes and themselves.  Remember where they were?  In the desert!!  No laundromats around, no boxes of Tide or whatever, no hot showers.  Not much water either, which is normal in deserts.  The water to be used for this was precious and guarded.  And this use would probably make it unsuitable for drinking or any other normal use.  Think the Lord didn't know that?  Yet it was commanded, and I have to regard the use of it here as an act of worship.  But then, Who provided that water in the first place?  I think He's good for it.

Exodus 39 

1	And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as the LORD commanded Moses.
2	And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.
3	And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work.
4	They made shoulderpieces for it, to couple it together: by the two edges was it coupled together.
5	And the curious girdle of his ephod, that was upon it, was of the same, according to the work thereof; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; as the LORD commanded Moses.
6	And they wrought onyx stones inclosed in ouches of gold, graven, as signets are graven, with the names of the children of Israel.
7	And he put them on the shoulders of the ephod, that they should be stones for a memorial to the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses.
8	And he made the breastplate of cunning work, like the work of the ephod; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.
9	It was foursquare; they made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being doubled.
10	And they set in it four rows of stones: the first row was a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this was the first row.
11	And the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.
12	And the third row, a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.
13	And the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper: they were inclosed in ouches of gold in their inclosings.
14	And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, every one with his name, according to the twelve tribes.
15	And they made upon the breastplate chains at the ends, of wreathed work of pure gold.
16	And they made two ouches of gold, and two gold rings; and put the two rings in the two ends of the breastplate.
17	And they put the two wreathed chains of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate.
18	And the two ends of the two wreathed chains they fastened in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulderpieces of the ephod, before it.
19	And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, upon the border of it, which was on the side of the ephod inward.
20	And they made two other golden rings, and put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart of it, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod.
21	And they did bind the breastplate by his rings unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the ephod; as the LORD commanded Moses.
22	And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue.
23	And there was an hole in the midst of the robe, as the hole of an habergeon, with a band round about the hole, that it should not rend.
24	And they made upon the hems of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen.
25	And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the hem of the robe, round about between the pomegranates;
26	A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round about the hem of the robe to minister in; as the LORD commanded Moses.
27	And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons,
28	And a mitre of fine linen, and goodly bonnets of fine linen, and linen breeches of fine twined linen,
29	And a girdle of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, of needlework; as the LORD commanded Moses.
30	And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like to the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
31	And they tied unto it a lace of blue, to fasten it on high upon the mitre; as the LORD commanded Moses.
32	Thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation finished: and the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they.
33	And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the tent, and all his furniture, his taches, his boards, his bars, and his pillars, and his sockets,
34	And the covering of rams' skins dyed red, and the covering of badgers' skins, and the vail of the covering,
35	The ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the mercy seat,
36	The table, and all the vessels thereof, and the showbread,
37	The pure candlestick, with the lamps thereof, even with the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for light,
38	And the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the tabernacle door,
39	The brazen altar, and his grate of brass, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot,
40	The hangings of the court, his pillars, and his sockets, and the hanging for the court gate, his cords, and his pins, and all the vessels of the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of the congregation,
41	The cloths of service to do service in the holy place, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and his sons' garments, to minister in the priest's office.
42	According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work.
43	And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the LORD had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.

Exodus 40 

1	And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2	On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.
3	And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the vail.
4	And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof.
5	And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the hanging of the door to the tabernacle.
6	And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.
7	And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shalt put water therein.
8	And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the hanging at the court gate.
9	And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the vessels thereof: and it shall be holy.
10	And thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt offering, and all his vessels, and sanctify the altar: and it shall be an altar most holy.
11	And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot, and sanctify it.
12	And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water.
13	And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and sanctify him; that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.
14	And thou shalt bring his sons, and clothe them with coats:
15	And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office: for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.
16	Thus did Moses: according to all that the LORD commanded him, so did he.
17	And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up.
18	And Moses reared up the tabernacle, and fastened his sockets, and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up his pillars.
19	And he spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent above upon it; as the LORD commanded Moses.
20	And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark:
21	And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the vail of the covering, and covered the ark of the testimony; as the LORD commanded Moses.
22	And he put the table in the tent of the congregation, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the vail.
23	And he set the bread in order upon it before the LORD; as the LORD had commanded Moses.
24	And he put the candlestick in the tent of the congregation, over against the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward.
25	And he lighted the lamps before the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.
26	And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the vail:
27	And he burnt sweet incense thereon; as the LORD commanded Moses.
28	And he set up the hanging at the door of the tabernacle.
29	And he put the altar of burnt offering by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation, and offered upon it the burnt offering and the meat offering; as the LORD commanded Moses.
30	And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there, to wash withal.
31	And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat:
32	When they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as the LORD commanded Moses.
33	And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work.
34	Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
35	And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
36	And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys:
37	But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up.
38	For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

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The New Testament reading is verses 1-22 of the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.  Jesus is talking about some things that are of interest to all of us, the prophetic future. 

Matthew 24:1-22

1	And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
2	And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
3	And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4	And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5	For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6	And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7	For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8	All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9	Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10	And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11	And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12	And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13	But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14	And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
15	When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16	Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17	Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18	Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19	And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20	But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21	For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22	And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

Today's Reading 18 February 2008

A good Monday morning to you. Yesterday was a rough day. We live on the outskirts of Montgomery, Alabama. In the afternoon, a line of heavy storms , extending from the New Orleans area through southern Mississippi, most all of Alabama, parts of the Florida panhandle, western Georgia and up into Tennessee, came through. There were numerous tornadoes generated, as well as many instances of high speed straight-line winds. Several areas sustained very heavy damage from the high winds and hail. The last word that I heard was of no fatalities, but numerous injuries and many homes were destroyed. The city of Prattville, immediately north of Montgomery, took a direct hit and damage there is extensive.
This is another example of the storms of life. We have them. We have always had them. We will continue to have them. I see that temporary shelters and emergency medical stations have been set up in local churches, I am particularly aware of those near to us in the Prattville area, just north of Montgomery. It seems particularly appropriate that in times of trouble, people naturally look to the churches. And why not?
By the way, this might be a good time to sent donations to those groups who will be involved in helping those who have suffered injury and loss. I am partial to religious groups such as those who operated under the Southern Baptist Convention, but there are certainly other and very worthy groups. And pray for those who have, in some cases, lost their homes and possessions. This is not just a matter of losses that might be covered by insurance. Sometimes what is loss is also the only remaining picture of a loved one, or one's wedding pictures, and other items who have a sentimental value far outweighing any mere monetary value. So we should not be too quick to say, ''Oh, it's just some damage, they can rebuild. Sometimes there's much more to the story than that.''
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On a personal note, I have a 2nd job interview scheduled for 9:00 today at a plant that was in the direct path of the storm. I'll have to call in the morning to confirm, I don't know if the building is still standing. It is a good potential position, and I think I could do a good job for them.
On the other hand .... I really, REALLY liked what I heard and saw in my Oklahoma trip this last week. I would like it if they were to make an offer. In our current, dire, straits, probably I'll have to go with the first or best offer. I really do not know what the Lord has in mind for us. As I've said, in the last 10 days or so, I've interviewed with three very good firms: a maker of medical equipment, a maker of automotive components, and a maker of commercial restaurant equipment. Good people, good product lines, good business plans. I'm not sure that ANY of them are what the Lord intends, and I'm not sure that any of them will extend an offer. I need His guidance on this, as on everything else in life.
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This morning's Old Testament reading is chapter 26 and 27 from Leviticus. This concludes the book of Leviticus, the third of the five books of the Law. I learn something every time I go through this .

Leviticus 26

1 Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.
2 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.
3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
5 And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
6 And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.
7 And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
8 And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
9 For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.
10 And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.
11 And I set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.
12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.
13 I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.
14 But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;
15 And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
17 And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.
18 And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
19 And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:
20 And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.
21 And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.
22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.
23 And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;
24 Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.
25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
26 And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
27 And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;
28 Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.
29 And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.
30 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.
31 And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors.
32 And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.
33 And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.
34 Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.
35 As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.
36 And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.
37 And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.
38 And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.
39 And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.
40 If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;
41 And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:
42 Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.
43 The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.
44 And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God.
45 But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.
46 These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.

Leviticus 27

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the LORD by thy estimation.
3 And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
4 And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels.
5 And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.
6 And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver.
7 And if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.
8 But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him.
9 And if it be a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the LORD, all that any man giveth of such unto the LORD shall be holy.
10 He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy.
11 And if it be any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the LORD, then he shall present the beast before the priest:
12 And the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it, who art the priest, so shall it be.
13 But if he will at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth part thereof unto thy estimation.
14 And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the LORD, then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good or bad: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand.
15 And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his.
16 And if a man shall sanctify unto the LORD some part of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof: an homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.
17 If he sanctify his field from the year of jubilee, according to thy estimation it shall stand.
18 But if he sanctify his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the year of the jubilee, and it shall be abated from thy estimation.
19 And if he that sanctified the field will in any wise redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured to him.
20 And if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more.
21 But the field, when it goeth out in the jubilee, shall be holy unto the LORD, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest's.
22 And if a man sanctify unto the LORD a field which he hath bought, which is not of the fields of his possession;
23 Then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation, even unto the year of the jubilee: and he shall give thine estimation in that day, as a holy thing unto the LORD.
24 In the year of the jubilee the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land did belong.
25 And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel.
26 Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the LORD's firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox, or sheep: it is the LORD's.
27 And if it be of an unclean beast, then he shall redeem it according to thine estimation, and shall add a fifth part of it thereto: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation.
28 Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the LORD.
29 None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but shall surely be put to death.
30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's: it is holy unto the LORD.
31 And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.
32 And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.
33 He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.
34 These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.

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This evening's New Testament reading is chapter 2 of the Gospel of Mark. This contains one of those incidents that just about every preacher and teacher has used at least once as the basis for a sermon or a lesson - the sick man whose friends would not let ANYTHING prevent them from bringing their friend to Christ. We should take a page from that.

Mark 2

1 And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.
2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.
3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
6 But there was certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)
11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
13 And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.
14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.
15 And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him.
16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?
17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
18 And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?
19 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
20 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.
21 No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.
22 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.
23 And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.
24 And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?
25 And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?
26 How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?
27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Further bleg 26 April 2007

I ask that the family and I be in your prayers. It appears certain that my position with my current employer is ending. We have endured so much over the last years - plant closings, buyouts, mergers, downsizings, etc. Since 1992, we have moved across state lines four times and have endured terrible privations. And I'm considered to be a valued professional, respected and accomplished in the area of manufacturing engineering. Perhaps I would have done better to train as a machinist or plumber - such people are in high demand. Which is not always the case with those of us in the so-called ''STEM'' areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

While I believe in the sovereignty and presence of Almighty God in the world, and I know that He not only cares for us but knew long ago that this would be our lot, I confess to a hope that we might achieve a less tumultuous life - something we've never had. I'm getting tired of job hunting and relocations.

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UPDATE
Well, it is official. I have now rejoined the ranks of the unemployed. This is not what I hoped to be reporting at this stage in my life, but that's the reality of the matter.
Having said all of that, I am aware that God knew a million or so years ago that this would happen. And He sent me into this situation knowing that. He has always been faithful, despite having pretty poor stock to work with.
If you happen to be surfing around on the 'Net, you might want to check out a piece of music I'm listening to right now, created by Mike Speck of the Specks, called '' Till the Storm Passes By''. URL is http://www.mikespeckministries.com/MP3/Till%20The%20Storm%20Passes%20By.mp3
It expresses the moment pretty well. I was privileged a few years ago to be a member of a backup choral group for one of the Speck's performances in Tennessee. They have a powerful message.

A Personal Bleg 25 April 2007

I was officially/unofficially advised yesterday that my relations with my current employer are about to cease, probably today. I will not go into the internal dynamics of the organization or detail in any other way what's really leading to all of this, but I can honestly say I've done my very best for the organization and wish it well. There are some good people there and some good products, but I have not been able to find a way to make the kind of improvements that they said they wanted while at the same time not making any changes, something they have an institutional resistance to. Attempts to do so have evidently stepped on some toes.

However, I will be job hunting starting now. After 20-some years in a variety of positions that essentially mean engineering activities in support of manufacturing, I am looking at alternatives. Any suggestions or recommendations are welcome and invited.

American Manufacturing Again

There is a good letter in the current version of the online edition of Modern Plastics magazine, in the section called ''As I see It''. You can find it online, titled 'Shortage? What Shortage?' . Go and read it, it's a story I've heard many times, in many places, from many people. I've been there myself. Individuals with excellent track records of accomplishment and value-add, part of the 'collateral damage' of the hollowing out of American manufacturing. Unable to get a job. In some cases, unable to get ANY job, at ANY level. Too qualified for some, or in some cases being experienced in the ''wrong'' CAD package, or something relatively trivial. For being unemployed - the folklore that it's easier to get a job when you already have one is true. Stupid, but true. Even, and this is true, for having a bad credit file. Being unemployed, particularly extended unemployment, is not conducive to a good financial picture. Keeping someone unemployed because of that is beyond asinine, it's something only an HR type or a beancounter could invent. But it happens daily, truly it does. And the type of attitude and business culture it reveals is part of the rot that is part of the real damage to the nation's industrial base - more than finances, quality, or regulatory environment, it's a terrible lack of leadership with a defensible moral philosophy. Part of the overtaking of industry by lawyers, accountants, and other leeches.

Anyway, I came across the letter this afternoon as I was trying to make some calls and navigating through the labyrinth of some of these devil-inspired voice mail systems. I was making the calls trying to get a recommendation for a repair facility for a worn/damaged injection mold. Many of the people I once dealt with are out of business, and the craftsmen they employed are gone to the winds. Let me give you one observer's recollection.

Back in the 1990's, I worked for a now-bought-out major maker of consumer goods. Most of our products were made of rubber and plastics. At one time, so I was told, we operated American-made injection presses, processing American-made polymers through molds made at American tool shops, some near-by. Along the line, someone with a cut-price MBA decided that the molds, the more pedestrian ones, could be made more ''competitively'' off-shore. In Portugal, in fact. So there was less business for the US tool shops, and the trade, the craft, the respect and pay due a tool & die maker, suffered a bit. By the way, so did the profession of the tool engineer. Later, some one with a ''world-class quality'' chant on his lips, decided that we needed to try out some alternative presses, from Japan. Less work of course for the makers of injection presses and all their components, and of course for those who design them. Then it was decided that it was ''too expensive'' to operate these presses in the US, so some of the work was shifted to Mexico, and some to China. Then more and more to China. Then it was decided that it was silly to arrange a product in the US, make the tool in Portugal, and then ship it to China. So the tool build was also contracted into China. Of course, that meant Chinese tool & die makers, using Chinese machine tools to work on Chinese-made steel, made molds to go into Japanese (and then Chinese) injection presses to make consumer goods for American customers. Having work done by slave labor is cheap, but I thought we were better people than that.

Does this give a lower-priced toy at the big-box retailer? Probably. And this is not a bad thing, it may even be a good thing. Is that the only thing that matters?

Meanwhile, now I have trouble finding someone who can reliably repair the collapsing core of a low-volume injection mold. The shop in Ohio that repaired another mold for me two weeks ago is now deemed to be ''too expensive''. But while I could once find a dozen such within a few hours' drive most of those I once knew have been boarded up.

Those who periodically sign up for big government programs that want to up the numbers of students going into the so-called STEM majors (Science, Technical, Engineering, Math) seem blissfully unaware that the history I just recounted is going on all over the country. Finance majors, beancounters, and lawyers seem to be doing just fine. The engineering types, and the honest craftsmen that work with us, see their livelihood and sometimes their designs, heading to China, Mexico, and the like.

This is good for the retailers. And it lets us have more ''stuff''. Is it good for the country? Does it send a good message to our children as they consider their own futures?

On to business

Now if one may change the subject a bit. This is part one of what I expect will be several. This is an issue that is important for reasons that will be addressed.

One of the things that I do for a living is in the area of manufacturing engineering. I've worn a lot of hats and carried a number of titles in the career.

Over the last 20-odd years in this line of endeavor, I've been through just about every sort of buzzword improvement program that has made its appearance in the New section of the business section of the bookstore of your choice. I've served on committees - usually concealed as ''Cross-Functional Task Teams'' or ''Quality Circles'' or even, Heaven help us, ''SPC Groups'' or any of a number of other terms with the word ''team'' to hide the fact that they are committees. I've received and distributed wagonloads of hats, shirts, coffee mugs, pens, notepads, and just about every other 'tchotchke' imaginable. In many of these ''great leaps forward'', the shirts and coffee mugs were the only lasting sign of the whole blasted thing. Oh, and the promotions and honors for the people who were clever enough to push the thing while avoiding the blame for the failure to produce. I still have memories of a certain now-vanished division of General Motors where the person pushing the management fad du jour arranged himself a promotion to 'Director of Excellence', and handed out wallet-sized 'Excellence' cards with slogans one was to memorize and chant like Mao's Red Guards. The division, as I said, no longer exists, and any improvements gained were largely illusory.

I've said all this to provide some background. I am sure that most of these efforts have been well-intentioned. I am sure, since I've been there, that many who get involved really do want to make things better, to gain the improvements, to remedy the issues that most thoughtful people can see, to do the right things.

So why are so many working so hard to such little result, if indeed that is the case? And what thing or things needs to happen to put the train back on the tracks?

First of all, I want to talk about some of the methods and tools that have been employed. Most of them have some good features. Almost all of them have some unintended consequences, some negative. And some of them work in some situations and not in others.

We need to recognize the Japanese influence. Starting in the late 1970's to early 1980's or so, and particularly in the of automotive area, the competition from the Japanese makers was overwhelming. Being adaptive if not particularly creative, some of the Bright Young Men in the automotive arena determined to copy what the Japanese were doing, or at least as much of it as they could fathom, and install it wholesale into the American factory. Things were to the point that if the Japanese did it, it was worthwhile, and if they didn't then it was counterproductive. I really did hear people, some highly placed, say almost exactly those words. Remember when everyone was expected to have a copy of ''A Book of Five Rings'' and to go about spouting the lessons that an author put into the mouth of a long-dead Japanese swordsman? This was supposed to provide insights into business processes, somehow.

This is not to trash the reputation of people like Shigeo Shingo, Genichi Taguchi and others like Deming. Some of it was very good and the approach has been immensely valuable.

But that does not mean that everything that they did or said, or that the practices of the Japanese manufacturers is immune to improvement or even to criticism. Who among us has not seen silliness like the adoption of unisex uniforms for all employees at all levels, and justified because ''the Japanese do it so we should too''?

The fact is that the Japanese approach works well in Japan, in Japanese culture, Japanese financial structures, etc., and doesn't necessarily translate well to American equivalents. Not to mention that some of their financial machinations would result in lengthy prison terms if attempted in the U.S. By the way, by most measures the Japanese economy has been in a deep recession for a decade or so. This is something to emulate?

In any event, the efforts have largely been in vain. Some of the organizations I once saw heavily involved in these exercises either are in bankruptcy (Delphi), no longer exist at all, have been bought out by the slash-and-burn predators, have moved their battered remnants to Mexico, or have simply outsourced everything to China. Net benefits have been very limited.

Now, much of what I have said already would get me banned from certain polite discussions, and saying what I have already said has not been helpful to the career. Yet most people in the business know these things, and will even admit to them privately. Not publicly - the pressure of groupthink is too strong.

It will get worse.