John Pavolitz: Faith and Doubt

I found a marvelous blog article written by a pastor that addresses the fine line between faith and doubt and the interweaving of the two into the chaotic masterpiece of life that each of us lives.

This article also details, in very frank language, a very real problem in the Christian church today.  We pretend.  We act.  A lot more than we are called to.

God calls us to BE holy, NOT pretend to be holy.  Will we fail?  Absolutely.  That is where grace comes in, to forgive us of our failings and to empower us to change for the better.  How much can you fail before you are not considered a Christian?  Ten times?  One hundred?  Thousands?   How grievous of a sin can we commit repetitively and still be forgiven?  If the Bible is to be believed, an infinite number.  As Spurgeon has said:

Would not this be a great slur cast upon the grace of God? Suppose I could find out a sinner so vile that Jesus Christ could not reach him; why then the devils in hell would take him through their streets as a trophy; they would say, "This man was more than a match for God; his sin was too great for God's grace." What says the Apostle? "Where sin abounded"—that is you, poor sinner;—"where sin abounded"—what sins you plunged into last night, and on other black occasions,—"where sin abounded"—what? Condemnation? Hopeless despair? No, "Where sin abounded grace did much more abound." I think I see the conflict in the great arena of the universe. Man piles a mountain of sin, but God will match it, and he upheaves a loftier mountain of grace; man heaps up a still huger hill of sin, but the Lord overtops it with ten times more grace; and so the contest continues till at last the mighty God plucks up the mountains by the roots and buries man's sin beneath them as a fly might be buried beneath an Alp. Abundant sin is no barrier to the superabundant grace of God.

All of these threads interweave with one another to form the tapestry, not only for our own lives, but of the entire body of Christ throughout the ages.  Faith, doubt, righteousness, sanctification, all of these pieces form the core of each of our understanding, not only of our faith, but also of our understanding of the entire world.

So, the great question that stands before me now, in my own life, how much can I let someone hurt me and still forgive them?  Is my faith strong enough to give me infinite resilience, such that no depth of sin, hatred, carelessness, vileness or harm will hurt me permanently?  Can I trust God to repair the damage? To heal the wounds?  Can I trust him to heal the wounds that I inflict on others?

My mind says yes, but my heart does not always agree.  This is the greatest struggle in the life of a Christian.  We are resistant to a lot of the nonsense that this world throws at us and gifted with insight far beyond what our mortal eyes can see, but the struggle between faith and doubt, righteousness and self-righteousness, is ours alone and can only be decided on the battlefield of this life, in the choices that we make on a daily basis.

As it says in Joshua, "Choose you this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."  If only my heart would agree more readily, and my faith be strong enough to avoid sin...

Original link to article: http://johnpavlovitz.com/2014/09/02/the-great-unraveling-faith-doubt-and-the-thread-we-all-hang-by/

Dr. W. Ben Hunt: When E.F. Hutton Talks

This article by Dr. Ben Hunt at Salient Partners details exactly why I despise ObamaCare and Quantitative Easing.  It is a subversion of not only our freedom of thought, but also a subversion of the scientific tradition that has advanced humanity this far.

He makes a couple of key points:

"Why has the Narrative of Science been co-opted in this way? Because it works. Because Science is the dominant religion, i.e. belief system in transcendent forces, in the West today."

If you blindly believe that science works regardless of the outcome, you are even more of a mindless, religious drone than any of the people from the so-called Dark Ages.

"So why does this bug me so much? What’s the big deal about wrapping a political argument in the mantle of Economics in the same way that it used to be wrapped in the mantle of Catholicism? Isn’t this what powerful political and commercial interests have done since the dawn of time, drawing on some outside source of social authority to support their cause?

Part of the answer is that as a limited government, small-l liberal I’m on the losing side of this particular political argument. I believe that it’s crucial to allow everyone to be as stupid as they want to be in their personal economic decisions because a) economic vitality and growth in the aggregate requires plenty of individual mistakes and losers along the way (sorry, but it does), and b) the alternative – allowing or requiring government to make these decisions on our behalf – inevitably creates a terribly fragile system where a single poor decision can lead to permanent ruin."

You cannot expect to subvert science for political aims without destroying the credibility of science and dragging what was once a useful pursuit through the political filth, and in doing so creating the potential to utterly destroy civilization through one poor choice of those in power.

"The other part of the answer is that using Science for political ends subverts its usefulness (as does using Religion for political ends … just ask Martin Luther). We lose something very important when we associate a particular social scientific hypothesis with a winning policy outcome or a losing policy outcome, and that’s the recognition that social science – particularly economic science – is never True or False, but only more or less useful depending on whatever it is in life that you value … your utility function."

As much as I preach and believe in absolute truth, I also recognize humanity's inherent inability to see that absolute truth in full.  Ultimately, we can only go on what we see and know, and knowing what we prefer is a recognition that cannot be foisted upon us by any backwards politician.

Ray Dalio: How the Economic Machine Works

If you have not seen this video yet, I very highly recommend that you watch it, even if you do not consider yourself an economist.  This video, while slightly simplistic, will give you an extremely good idea of how the economy as a whole works and will make you are better person and a more intelligent voter.

The primary point that he simplified was the role of currency values in transactions, but you are free to dig more in depth as it pleases you.

How the Economic Machine Works:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHe0bXAIuk0
Or for Seeking Alpha people:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2546645-how-the-economic-machine-works

Mauldin: A Nation of Shopkeepers

John Mauldin has another piece relevant to the philosophical side of the discussion amongst Keynesianism and Austrianism (or neoliberalism, from Adam Smith's point of view).  The most important point that I picked out of this piece is the distinction between productive and unproductive labor.  In order for growth of a nation to occur, the labors of the people must be productive towards the end of increasing efficiency and productivity, such that objects which form the core of a higher standard of living can be produced at lessened cost.  If technology can be a catalyst for making this happen, then it is a positive thing regardless of the chaos that it sows in the short term.  Also by extension, any government policy which does not further this end by supporting and encouraging (or at the very least, not inhibiting) productive labors is a worthless political pursuit and should be abandoned immediately.   Programs like welfare, which breed torpor and stupidity into the very core of a population, should not be supported on a federal level.  Similarly, rules that provide special privilege for businesses and corporations also should be removed, as these breed complacency and stupidity on a corporate scale.  Capitalism only works when it is free to weed out failure in a society.  People, businesses, and nations must innovate or die.

Financial War

Bloomberg posted a curious article on economic and financial warfare as the new mode of preference for warfare today.  It's effects are limited to globally-minded and globally-integrated nations, but it can be very effective in certain circumstances.

 The original article is here: http://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/financial-war/

What's God got to Do with Religion?

I found an excellent article in "American Interest" written by Charles Mathewes.  It addresses the rough relationship between religion and modern liberal society.  Be prepared to use Google support for definitions though for words like "ebullient."

The real Middle Earth

I found a great article in the BBC about Tolkien's inspiration for Middle Earth, and it is in Switzerland.


http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20140523-in-alpine-villages-hobbits-lurk

ESAPI properties in Eclipse

Since I could not find any clear direction on where the place the all-important "ESAPI.properties" file, for the Enterprise Security Application Program Interface Java library, I am going to post an image here in the hopes of making it easier for folks.

It goes in the "src" folder (and NOT inside any package in the src folder)

ESAPI, security, Java, properties, location, directory, file, filepath, path: see below:

Environmentalists Rejoice

Here is a company that has an idea that if it takes off could revolutionize the green energy movement.  This company is green and economically feasible.

Their idea is to use manufactured panels integrated with solar cells to make new roads, highways, and city streets.  The price is still a bit more than concrete, I believe, but this company has incredible potential.  This would turn surface area of the Earth that is presently unused for energy production into usable energy production, among other benefits.

If you believe in practical green energy that does not stifle economic growth, this is the project for you.  This is a project that I would invest in if I was not already pouring time and money into my own startup.

Editors note: I miscommunicated some here.  The point is to spread the good idea, not to press you to invest yourself!  If you feel so inclined, invest, but do not feel obligated to do anything more than share this idea with more people.

http://www.fastcoexist.com/3029874/fund-this/these-solar-roads-could-power-the-entire-country
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/solar-roadways#home

Largely Unreported Snowden Interview

As a Libertarian, I feel that it is necessary to forward this information in a public forum, as it is imperative that all sides be heard in the matter of Edward Snowden and the NSA.

Not that I have changed my opinion of Mr. Snowden, for he did violate his integrity and word regardless of his intention, but I do believe that good will come of this, despite the immediate damage that his leaks did to the NSA's capabilities and reputation.

I have often asked myself over the past few months, "What would I do in Edward Snowden's shoes?"  And I know that I would not put my intellectual effort toward such an ignoble goal, and as such I would resign quietly without violating whatever agreements would bind me.  Sadly, that would not result in the profound change that Mr. Snowden sought, but my integrity is worth more to me than public good.

John Mauldin: When Income Inequality Isn't

Here is another incredibly impressive article by John Mauldin.  This man has more access to data than almost anyone I know of.

Afghan Elections

I found a news article on Fox News that contains some very encouraging news.  There is one Afghani woman in particular that this article quotes that I want to honor in particular.

"I'm not afraid of Taliban threats, we will die one day anyway. I want my vote to be a slap in the face of the Taliban," Laila Neyazi of Kabul told AFP.

This is the kind of attitude that contains the raw and potent power to change a nation.  Sadly, I don't know any Afghani people to encourage with this, but this woman is a forebearer of better times for Afghanistan.