Steve Simms's Blog, page 311

Humanity is not just a manatee named Hugh

If someone kills a man to save a child, he is called a hero. However, nowadays, if he kills a gorilla to save a child, he’s harshly criticized. CBS News wrote: “The killing of a gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo in order to save a child who fell in its enclosure has sparked nationwide outrage.”

Human life has been so cheapened in contemporary Western society many would choose an animal’s life over a person’s life. Why? There are many reasons:

Our constant exposure to killing and gore in both media news and media entertainment;
Our continual brainwashing that a prenatal human life is nothing more than tissue and is disposable at the choice of her/his mother.
The justification and glorification of war that saturates our culture.
The brainwashing that declares evolution to be a fact and humans to be nothing more than a mere product of natural selection.
Racism, nationalism, and other isms that (even subtly) declare other human beings to be inferior to us.
Our culture’s almost complete ignoring (and or denying) of the living God and of the value He places on every, individual human life.
Our society’s focus on self-interest and insufficient focus on passionate, self-sacrificing love for others.

Because of this, we have lost sight of the fact that people are not just a manatee named Hugh. We are not just large mammals with personal names and ID cards. We humans are priceless — more precious and valuable than anything on earth. Why? Because:

We are not just physical beings, but also spiritual beings.
We each have a soul that will exist forever.
We are made in the likeness of the Creator of the Universe.
We are passionately loved by God even though every one of us has rebelled against Him.
God has demonstrated His love for every human by becoming a man in Jesus Christ and dying a cruel death on a cross in order to make a way for each of us to return to Him and enjoy Him forever.

Heroes left out of Memorial Day

Are there others who should be remembered on Memorial Day? Have we forgotten about some of the world’s greatest heroes?

On Memorial Day we remember those who fought with violence, death and destruction. Perhaps we should also remember those who fought with non-violent resistance, love, and prayer and overcame their enemies without firing a shot:

The American abolitionists, led by William Lloyd Garrison;
The Indian independence fighters, led by Mahatma Gandhi;
The Civil Rights activists who overcame Jim Crow race laws, led by Martin Luther King, Jr.


The restorers of democracy in the Philippines, led by Corazon Aquino;


Those who brought down Communism in Eastern Europe, led by Lech Walesa;


The early Christ-followers who overcame extreme persecution to conquer the Roman Empire, led by the living, risen Jesus.

Should cat owners have the right to chose to declaw?

(Some of the comments on this post have made me wonder: If cat fetuses were declawed in their mother’s womb, would that make the act less cruel and barbaric?)

Should declawing cats be illegal? A cat owner’s right to choose is under attack in the USA.

–I heard on NPR that some states are making it illegal to choose to have your very own cat declawed. Will the pro choice movement hit the streets in protest? Will Hillary and Bernie be consistent and “fight” for a cat owner’s rights?

–It’s cruel to declaw cats because it is somewhat like removing the last knuckles from a person’s hand. I’m not for cruelty, but I do like to keep things in perspective. A human life is infinitely more valuable than cat’s “knuckles.” I’d rather that cat owners in the USA choose to have a million cats declawed than one person chose to have a prenatal human killed.

If our nation can declare that a woman has a “right” to have her prenatal child killed; then why can’t we declare that a cat owner has a “right” to have her cat declawed? Let’s be consistent and stop both forms of cruelty!

         

Someone posted this comment in response to my putting this on Facebook: “You’re comparing apples to oranges. One thing has nothing to do with the other. Get some perspective.”

Here is my reply: Both examples deal with the issue: Does a person have a “right” to put his/her desires, wants, and/or “rights” above compassion, principle, and the well-being of another? Here’s the perspective: If a state can protect a cat from life-altering cruelty, then surely a state can and should protect a prenatal person from life-ending cruelty.

Are you light-hearted?

Christ-followers are

Called to be light-hearted,

Full of inner brightness,

Radiating love, hope, and joy,

Shinning like beacons in the night.

However, too often our hearts

Have absorbed the darkness

Of our distressed and discouraged world.

Rather than dancing lights,

We’ve become night stalkers,

Imitating the darkness around us.

What can restore love, hope, and joy?

We must find the courage

To roll up our shades

And let one another see

The brightness of Christ

That’s been hidden in us.

What can let us see God’s light


Not just in spiritual heights,


But lived out by regular people


Who gather to be real


And to release the inner light


By openly sharing


The tenderness of Christ


That’s been working


Within each one of us?


The lost biblical concept


Of 1 Corinthians 14:26:


Ekklesia.


(To learn more about the New Testament concept of ekklesia, check out my book: Beyond Church: An Invitation To Experience The Lost Word Of The Bible–Ekklesia.)

(Experience ekklesia every Sunday morning at 10:45 at The Salvation Army Berry Street, 225 Berry St., Nashville 37207.)

Self-fulfillment is a fantasy (a recipe for misery)

Self-fulfillment is a fantasy. Our self-desires are never fully fulfilled. Self always seeks something more. Even when self gets what it wants and the “rights” that it demands, it immediately cries out for more. Self is continually discontented and constantly craving. It cruelly compels us to conform to its compulsions and to dance to its endless, destructive desires. Therefore, a culture and belief-system based on the pursuit of personal happiness is a recipe for misery.

So what is the key to happiness? We have to go beyond self — to find a cause greater than self. Peace Pilgrim put it this way: “Forget yourself, and concentrate on being of service as much as you can in this world, and then, having lost your lower self in a cause greater than yourself, you will find your higher self; your real self.”

Jesus said: “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me.” Since compulsive self-desires can never be fulfilled, they need to be courageously resisted and continually denied. To lay down our self-desires and die to them is the key to joy.

If we daily and persistently follow and obey the living, resurrected Jesus Christ and no longer obey our personal cravings, compulsions, or desires; we begin to experience victory in life. Paul of Tarsus put it this way: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Paul also said:  “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Are you walking by the Spirit?

There’s nothing like walking in the flow of God’s Spirit — sensing the Holy Spirit moving within you and letting yourself go with His flow that releases peace, love, and joy streaming through your innermost being. Flowing in the Spirit is not just a one-time (or even an occasional) experience. It is a way of life. Christ calls us to daily live and walk in the Spirit’s flow. We don’t learn to flow with the Spirit by reading a book or by hearing a sermon. We lean to deny self and walk in the Spirit the same way we learn to walk physically — by doing it over and over until it becomes the norm for us.

It also helps to regularly meet with a group of Christ-followers that sets aside programs and agendas, and begins to just flow in the Spirit together. If you would like to experience a group like that visit The Salvation Army Berry Street in Nashville, where instead of a one-man sermon, everyday people share as they are prompted by the Spirit — Sundays @ 10:45 am., 225 Berry St., 37207.