#snow #snowno

It is almost unbelievable that it is snowing again. Hopefully, prayerfully, please God let it be so -ly this is the last storm of the winter season. Here is my attempt to stay positive with some Scriptural thoughts about snow.

• Snow can remind me that the power of God is beyond my comprehension

Job 37:5-6 – God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend. For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’ likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.

• Snow can remind me that the forgiveness of God can cleanse the worst of my sin stained heart and life

Isaiah 1:18 – “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

Psalm 51:6-7 – Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

• Snow can remind me that God’s Word, His promises, commands, exhortations, warnings and encouragements are sent to us for a reason and they will accomplish their purpose.

Isaiah 55:10–11 – “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

• Snow can remind me of the purity of God, and of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ

Daniel 7:9 – “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire.

Revelation 1:13–15 – And in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.

• Snow can remind me of the utter helpless of myself and the rest of mankind

Job 38:22–23 – “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?”

Blessings

Dave Watson

The last three days we have looked at the first five reasons to oppose the assisted suicide/death with dignity bill making its way the New Yor5k State Legislature. For those arguments see https://nycshepherd.com/2015/03/04/part-3-seven-major-reasons-all-new-yorkers-including-state-senator-diane-savino-should-lobby-against-the-assisted-suicidedeath-with-dignity-bill/

Today we look at the final two reasons :

• The bill misunderstands dying with dignity

Dying with dignity doesn’t means dying without pain and suffering. Sadly, pain and suffering are a part of the human condition. I had the sacred privilege of being in attendance as individuals leave this life for the next. They all experienced some level of physical pain and even more emotional pain because of who they were leaving behind.  Gratefully, we live in a world where much of the pain associated with physical death can be lessened through pain medicine. There is very little that can be done about the emotional pain. But dying with dignity is not the absence of pain. Death with dignity is the presence of acceptance of a Will greater than my own and then making the most of every moment one has with friends and family. Death with dignity means I walk out of this life recognizing that it is not me who calls the shots but Someone else.  Death with dignity means I let God make the call as to when I leave this earth. Death with dignity means I understand that there is a process that I must go through that has a greater purpose than I can understand and I will let it play out. We often complain of physicians playing God. The fact is this bill promotes both the physician who holds the pen for the script and the patient who has the bill in hand to gods. It promotes a pseudo sense of control over one’s own destiny. Let’s not perpetrate this illusion by a bad legislative act.

•   This bill misunderstands the source of human dignity.

Why does any person deserve dignity? Why do we value someone so much that we desire they be treated with dignity even in death? Their value doesn’t come from their place on the food chain. This is not a position the human species evolved to. Our sense of dignity for each other is from our Judean/Christian roots.  Our dignity or value comes from the belief that we are created in the womb in the image of God. This Judean/Christian foundation spills over to our Declaration of Independence which states “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  Our Founding Fathers knew that our dignity, my dignity, your dignity comes from God. God manufactured me. God alone has the right to choose my expiration date. I die with dignity when I accept that. When I see myself not as a sovereign but as someone who lives under the rule of Another I can be one who experiences value and dignity in life and in death.  The source of our value, the Almighty, the Creator, is completely ignored in this bill. This bill however can’t be ignored. It must be defeated.

https://m.soundcloud.com/kmcradio/20150304-pastor-dave-watson-of-calvary-chapel-in-staten-island-on-benjamin-netanyahus-speech

Please join me today at 3pm on 570 AM The Mission or on iheart radio app or at http://www.wmca.com. We will be discussing all things Israel with Dr. Mitch Glaser of Chosen People Ministries and taking your phone calls. Today’s question: Does the Bible require that the New Testament followers of Jesus Christ support the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. Is Israel still the apple of God’s eye.
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Discipline Without this essential quality, all other gifts remain as dwarfs: they cannot grow. So discipline appears first on our list. Before we can conquer the world, we must first conquer the self. A leader is a person who has learned to obey a discipline imposed from without, and has then taken on a more rigorous discipline from within. Those who rebel against authority and scorn self-discipline—who shirk the rigors and turn from the sacrifices—do not qualify to lead. Many who drop out of ministry are sufficiently gifted, but have large areas of life floating free from the Holy Spirit’s control. Lazy and disorganized people never rise to true leadership.

49“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! 50I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! 51Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. 53They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” 54He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’And so it happens. 55And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’and it happens. 56You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? 57“And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? 58As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. 59I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.” 

Yesterday we discussed the issues surrounding the intent of the bill. (For Part 1 click here – https://nycshepherd.com/2015/03/02/seven-major-reasons-all-new-yorkers-including-state-senator-diane-savino-should-lobby-against-assisted-suicidedeath-with-dignity-bill/) today we want to stress two more reasons the bill should be opposed.

• The effects of the bill will be damaging

I am confident the sponsors of this bill don’t want to trample on the rights of others. However, this bill will indeed do just that. Senator Savino states forcefully that a terminally ill patient has a “basic human right to die.”  By claiming this to be a right, the Senator and those in favor of this bill are elevating this to a human rights issue. If this is a “basic human right” then regardless of initial safeguards, every doctor will have to bow to it regardless of their feelings on the matter. In addition, every hospice organization will have to sign on to this viewpoint to get government funding for their services and to participate in certain hospitals and situations. When something is a “basic human right” any personal or religious objections are not allowed to stand (Compare to the current plight of bakers and florists who would prefer, based on their personal beliefs, not to lend their talents/services to gay weddings).

Furthermore, the concept of the right to die will be expanded. The wording of this bill, if it becomes law, will eventually be used to cover those who are emotionally tormented or who just want out. If they can show that they are mentally competent, as stated in the words of the bill, why shouldn’t they be allowed this option? Why should the words “six months” or “terminally ill” stop them if they have a right to die. The courts and lawyers will get involved and the bill will be expanded via judicial fiat. In light of this reason alone, this bill should be opposed.

• The main group behind this bill has another agenda

If you think my words above are hyper exaggerations from someone who doesn’t have anything else to do but cry wolf, please consider the following. This bill is modeled after the Oregon Law which has been in effect since 1998. This law was recently spotlighted in the difficult situation of Brittany Maynard who moved to Oregon so she could make use of the law. Her situation was highlighted by a group called Compassion and Choices who boast that for 30 years they have sought to allow people to experience death with dignity. Sounds pretty good doesn’t it?  Compassion and Choices is the product of the merger of two organizations, The End of Life Federation and The Hemlock Society. That’s right, the Hemlock Society, who from its inception until the merger in 2005 lobbied in their own words “for voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide to be made legal for terminally and hopelessly ill adults.”  This is the core of who they are.  By the way, voluntary euthanasia means taking your own life without the help of a physician and even with the help of someone else. My point is that these are the people who drafted the words of the Oregon Law and thus the New York bill. Their goal is to expand it. They have written it that way.  This is just a first step. They want a world where suicide, assisted suicide and euthanasia are commonplace.  The Law will be challenged in court as being too restrictive and expanded. They believe that everyone has a fundamental right to die. The acknowledgement of that right is their ultimate goal. Because of who is behind the crafting of this bill, the bill should be voted against.

Please contact your representative to register your opposition

Andrew J. Lanza, State Senator
24th District
3845 Richmond Avenue  Island, NY 10312
Phone: 718-984-5151
Fax: 718-984-5737
http://www.nyssenate24.com/24/default.aspx

Diane Savino, State Senator
23rd District
36 Richmond Terrace, Room 112
Staten Island, NY 10301
Phone: 718-727-9406
Fax: 718-727- 9426
http://www.nyssenate23.com/

Nicole Malliotakis, Assemblywoman
60th District
586B Midland Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10306
Phone: 718-667-5891
Fax: 718-667-5879
http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=060

Matthew Titone, Assemblyman
61st District
853 Forest Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10310
Phone: 718-442-9932
Fax 718-442-9942
http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=061

Joseph Borrelli, State Assemblyman
62nd District
101 Tyrellan Avenue Suite 200
Staten Island, NY 10309
Phone: 718-967-5194
Fax: 718- 967-5282
http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=062

Michael Cusick, Assemblyman
63rd District
1911 Richmond Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10314
Phone: 718-370-1384
Fax: 718-370-2543
http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=063

22And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?  26If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. 32“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. You Must Be Ready 35“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he  would not have left his house to be broken into. 40You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”41Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?”42And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43Blessed is that servant  whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

The leader must be clothed “with humility”(1 Peter 5:5). The verb refers to a slave’s tying on a white apron, which gives this verse an added note of meaning. Was Peter recalling the sad night when he refused to take the towel and wash his master’s feet? Would pride keep other leaders from joyful service? Pride ever lurks at the heels of power, but God will not encourage proud men in His service. Rather, He will oppose and obstruct them. But to the undershepherd who is humble and lowly in heart, God will add power and grace to the work.