It came upon the midnight clear
That glorious song of old
From angels bending near the Earth
To touch their harps of gold
Peace on the Earth, goodwill to men
From heaven’s all gracious king
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing

Still through the cloven skies
They come
With peaceful wings unfurl
And still
Their heavenly music floats
O’er all the weary world
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on hovering wing
And ever o’er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing

O ye
Beneath life’s crushing load
Whose forms are bending low
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow
Look now
For glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing
O rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing

For lo the days are hastening on
By prophets seen of old
When with the ever circling years
Shall come the time foretold
When the new heaven and earth
Shall own the prince of peace
Their King
And the whole world
Send back the song
Which now the angels sing

————————————————————

While shepherds kept their watching
Over silent flocks by night,
Behold throughout the heavens,
There shone a holy light:

Refrain:
Go, Tell It On The Mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, Tell It On The Mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

The shepherds feared and trembled
When lo! above the earth
Rang out the angel chorus
That hailed our Savior’s birth:

Refrain

Down in a lowly manger
Our humble Christ was born
And God send us salvation,
That blessed Christmas morn:

Refrain

When I am a seeker,
I seek both night and day;
I seek the Lord to help me,
And He shows me the way:

Refrain

He made me a watchman
Upon the city wall,
And if I am a Christian,
I am the least of all.

Refrain

————————————————————

We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star

Refrain:
O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy Perfect Light

Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again
King forever, ceasing never
Over us all to reign

Refrain

Frankincense to offer have I
Incense owns a Deity nigh
Prayer and praising, all men raising
Worship Him, God most high

Refrain

Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes of life of gathering gloom
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb

Refrain

Glorious now behold Him arise
King and God and Sacrifice
Alleluia, Alleluia
Earth to heav’n replies

Refrain

————————————————————

Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th’angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Refrain:
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail th’incarnate Deity,
Pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel.

Refrain

Hail the heav’nly Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.

Refrain

Come, Desire of nations, come,
Fix in us Thy humble home;
Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring Seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head.
Now display Thy saving power,
Ruined nature now restore;
Now in mystic union join
Thine to ours, and ours to Thine.

Refrain

Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the inner man:
O, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart.

Refrain

————————————————————

There’s the wonder of sunset at evening,
The wonder as sunrise I see;
But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul
Is the wonder that God loves me.

O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all!
Just to think that God loves me.
O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all!
Just to think that God loves me.

There’s the wonder of springtime and harvest,
The sky, the stars, the sun;
But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul
Is a wonder that’s only begun.

O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all!
Just to think that God loves me.
O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all!
Just to think that God loves me.

————————————————————

As I sat to write this, I clearly had “The Wonder of it All” on my mind.  But I also had the tragedy our nation faced when evil made it evident why Jesus needed to be born.  The lines of the first Christmas hymn I quoted are evidence that this display of evil is not new.

O ye Beneath life’s crushing load
Whose forms are bending low
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow
Look now
For glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing
O rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing

That life is a crushing load of toil and pain is as old as time.  But neither the song nor the story stop there!  There is hope.  That hope is that God loved me and you enough to send His son Jesus to be born of a virgin, live a sinless perfect life, and ultimately to die though undeserved, so that we no longer have to.

Born that man no more may die.
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.

Why do we need this “Second Birth”?  Our first birth was marred by a curse and sin.  And as a result we need to be reconciled to God.  That’s what God provided for when He sent Jesus, who saves from sin, and allows God to justly forgive us, because Jesus took the punishment that he didn’t deserve instead of us.  And did I ever deserve death!

With all of this evil, from mall shootings, and school shootings, and arson, we are asking questions.  When we experience the little pain it causes each of us, and when we think about the anguish the families and communities directly impacted felt, how can we not long for the day when this “heaven sent Prince of Peace” will reign?  Unfortunately, we are looking for him in all of the wrong places.  Our government will not save us.  More laws will not save us.  Keeping guns away from unstable people will not save us.  Shoot, we can’t even save ourselves.  We are outraged by these events because we know good and evil.  But we are powerless to do the good, at least if we are honest.  We each have the ability to do the things we know we should not do.  And as a society, we have explained away the fear of God.  So what is left?  Why, evil of course.  God says Christians are the only thing restraining evil in this world, and we are not doing a very good job.  God calls Christians to be salt and light, and we’re too afraid of what you may think of us, to speak out about what this world, and our country really need.

Salt in a wound hurts, but brings about healing.  Shedding light on evil exposes it for what it is, and also serves to disinfect.  What Christians starting with me need to do is repent.  I have not been nearly the witness, nor as forceful and loving as I should have been.  I’m the worst sinner there is trying to pass myself off as a humble flawed follower of Jesus.  But don’t let that stop you from having the only relationship that matters.  A saving relationship with the One who died to set you free, and restore your relationship with the God who made you.

If you accept this gift, you will have accepted the biggest gift of all.  If that doesn’t inspire “The Wonder of it All”, then nothing will.  This Christmas, my prayer is that God will use the tragedy our country faced to bring you, and many others to the Savior who is Christ the Lord.

You didn’t think I was done with my story did you?  Good!  Because I have a lesson we all need to learn from this experience.  You would never be the person who takes more than somebody is willing to share, but if you aren’t then both of your neighbors are.  How can I make that statement?  Well, look at it this way, at least one out of every two people in this country are receiving more generosity from their government than they are paying for.  In fact a significant number of your neighbors (because you’d never do it) are not paying any income tax at all.  They’re like the kid thrilled with getting candy for free, who looks at the full basket of candy I have, and instead of taking one, takes as many as they can grab with their hand.  Maybe you’re tempted to say what’s wrong with that?  What happens if during the course of the evening I run out because the first ten kids take handfuls?  What do I do when the next 20 kids come to my house?  Are they going to be “mad” at the first 10 kids?  Maybe, but my guess is they’re going to be “mad” at me because I didn’t buy enough candy.  What if I can’t afford more candy?  What then?  Will they know that?

This pretty much defines the life of a small business owner, or any business owner for that matter.  People want businesses to give away their product without making a profit, because profit is “bad”.  Or having a profit is seen as being greedy.  News flash, if business owners are not able to make a profit, there’s no incentive for them to be in business.  They won’t be able to afford any candy to give away to the kids for Halloween.  Citizens are more than willing to push the taxes on those “wealthy business owners” and their businesses, asking them to “pay their fair share.”  If only it was their fair share, but in reality business owners and successful people are being asked to pay more than their fair share.

I’m pushing back, and asking everyone to pay their fair share, including the poor.  If you think your fair share is too much, elect people to represent you who promise to reduce the size and scope of all layers of government.  If they are not able to get the job done, don’t elect them again.  You see, term limits are a bad idea.  They force us to get rid of people who are getting the job done, in the name of stopping those who are not getting the job done.  The thing is, there are already term limits.  We just have to have the resolve to enforce them.  Every office has a length of term, otherwise we wouldn’t keep on having elections.

For once, ignore your party affiliation, and think about what electing the individual means.  If they’ve held office for any length of time, have they helped the country?  Or have they helped their own political career?  Have they been self-serving, or have they truly taken on the tough challenges and solved them?  I’d say there are 16 trillion reasons to say they have not tackled the toughest challenge!  It is time to elect people who are serious about resolving our debt problem.  The way you can tell they are serious, is if they are willing to curb government’s voracious appetite for spending more than tax revenues support.  In order for me to not run out of candy, I need each child to take just one piece.  In order for our government to not run out of money, we need to make sure our government isn’t doing more than it needs to do.  We need to make sure we aren’t trying to take advantage of our government, because when we do we are really stealing from our neighbors, or from the kids who come later.  That’s the real greed.  The businessman’s profit allows him to keep meeting the needs of society.  The businesswoman’s profit allows her to build up reserves for a rainy day.  And if our government operated this way, and instead of a 16 trillion dollar debt, we had a 16 trillion dollar surplus, then President Obama can talk about making any investment he wants to make to get our economy going again.  But honestly, he wouldn’t have to because we wouldn’t be in this problem in the first place.  And there wouldn’t be a person in their right mind who would want a two term limit on somebody who was able to turn a 16 trillion debt into a 16 trillion dollar surplus.  Unfortunately, President Obama took a 10 trillion dollar debt and turned it into a 16 trillion dollar debt.  That’s the wrong direction.

Well, Trick or Treating has come to an end here, so I’ll wrap this up.  Let me know what you think!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He shall direct your paths.  — Proverbs 3:5-6

It is not a stretch to say that there are as many reasons, as there are readers.  That is to say, your reason, or reasons may not be mine.  And you likely will think of some I haven’t.

Here are mine, I hope they resonate with yours.

God has blessed or cursed me depending on how you look at it, I suppose.  I have a logical analytical, albeit imperfect mind.  I can give intellectual ascent to the reality that I should not lean on my own understanding because my mind is flawed.  Yet, the twelve inches or so between my brain and my heart seem at times to be more like twelve miles.  Add to that my sinful heart, and even if I successfully make the twelve inch trip, I have to deal with a heart that wants to be “like god”, where I’m in control of everything.  As if that were possible, right?!!

That brings us to the second proverb.  When I honestly search my life, I sadly realize that all of my ways do not acknowledge Him.  Yet, I expect Him to direct my path anyway.  Then, the things that I might come close to acknowledging Him, I want to take credit for them myself.

It might seem hopeless then.  And that is why I’m thankful for a lesson from David, of whom it was said that he was a man after God’s own heart.  I’ve often thought that it would be better to resolve issues with people here, than to wait for God to sort things out at the final judgment.  And while I still believe that’s true, I need to balance that with what David realized about God.  David just finished numbering the nation of Israel, and God was not pleased.  David was given three options.  If my memory serves me correctly, two of them were to lose in battle at the hand of man.  And the one he chose, was God’s wrath.  I honestly was thinking that was a bad choice, given all of the things that they had seen God do up to that point.  David threw himself on God’s mercy.  God is a God of Mercy!

GOD in mercy sent His Son
To a world by sin undone;
Jesus Christ was crucified —
‘Twas for sinners Jesus died.

Oh! the glory of the grace,
Shining in the Saviour’s face,
Telling sinners from above,
“God is Light” and “God is Love.”

Sin and death no more shall reign,
Jesus died and lives again.
In the glory’s highest height
See Him God’s supreme delight.

All who in His name believe,
Everlasting life receive;
Lord of all is Jesus now;
Every knee to Him must bow.

Christ the Lord will come again;
He who suffered once will reign;
Every tongue at last shall own,
“Worthy is the Lamb” alone.

– Miss Hannah Kilham Burlingham (1842-1901)

So it is for all of us.  We ought to throw ourselves on God’s Mercy, and we can do that because of Jesus.  If you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus, then you truly have no hope.  God’s wrath is already on you because of your sin.  Jesus was, and is the only perfect sinless one.  Jesus’ death on the cross paid the price for God’s wrath that’s already on you.  Ask God to give you the faith to believe that Jesus paid the price, and become a follower of Jesus.  Then you too can have hope.

Now I suppose I’ve acknowledged Him.  At least a little.  Some questions are: “Do I trust Him?”  Do I trust Him with every challenge I face?  Do I trust He will direct my path?  Perhaps the better question is: “Why shouldn’t I?”  After all, I’m trusting Him for the life to come.  I’m trusting that Jesus paid the penalty I deserved.  I’m trusting that sacrifice is enough.  Trusting Him for everything else after that should come easy!

Now here’s the part where I call into question your business practices.  Your stakeholders should be too.  I have $150 a month that I’m not spending on TV, and your brand isn’t  getting that exposure.  That’s right, in case you missed it, I have more money to spend on your products, but your TV ads are being wasted on people who are spending their money to get TV programming… leaving them with less money to spend on what you are advertising.

Wake up to the new reality, or you may discover that you’ve spent lots of money advertising, and you have less to show for it because fewer are watching, and those who are, have less money to spend.

I will remain silent no longer.  I will not sit idly by and allow this pronouncement by the President of the United States to go unchecked.  I, like Paul claiming the rights of a Roman citizen, am claiming the rights of being a citizen of the United States of America.  I am speaking out to all who will listen.  President Obama does not speak for me, nor does he honor God, or the institution of marriage.

Here is why this is so significant.  God designed marriage when he created Eve for Adam.  And God used the model of marriage to define Christ’s relationship to the church.  By redefining marriage, what is really being attempted is to redefine God. God cannot be redefined by his created beings, although we sure try.

President Obama cites the “Golden Rule”, as part of his decision making process on this issue.  “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  The only problem is Jesus himself when the woman who was caught in adultery was brought to him, dealt graciously with her.

¹⁰ Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”¹¹ “No one, sir,” she said.“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”  – John 8:10-11

The “Golden Rule” cannot be used as a justification for breaking another law of God.  The woman wasn’t condemned, but she was told to “leave” her “life of sin.”  So it is that I don’t condemn a person who practices homosexuality, but for their own sake, they should leave their life of sin.  The same can be said for each one of us, if we are honest.

Here is yet another problem with the “Golden Rule”.  If I apply it with the fear of God and my faith, then what I want is different.  Allow me to explain.  If I’m doing something in my life that God would call sin, and somebody sees that in my life, I would want them to come and confront me.  So it stands to reason then, applying the “Golden Rule” for me would mean drawing attention to the sin in a friend’s life, so that they can turn from it, since that is what I would hope a friend would do for me.

God calls adultery, and homosexual behavior sin, not me.  I can call both of these behaviors lawful, and acceptable, but that doesn’t change what God thinks.  Just like our nation can say it is lawful to abort the life of an unborn child.  It doesn’t change the fact that God calls it murder.

Let me be perfectly clear.  President Barak H. Obama, you are defying God, the righteous judge.  History is replete with the devastating results when leaders defy God.  The sad thing is, those leaders may think they are getting away with it.  But, they are not, and will have to give account to God for leading even a secular nation like ours astray.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Galations 6:7

Please join me in thinking what God must think each time he hears President Obama conclude a speech with “May God Bless the United States of America.”  Hypocrites.  I pray that President Obama repents, while he still can, or he may hear words he never thought he’d hear from the only one who can save his soul from hell.  “Depart from me, I never knew you.”

What kind of a friend would I be if I saw you were going to be hit by a truck, and I didn’t do anything to warn you?  I believe there is something far worse than a truck waiting for each of us.  There’s God’s judgment in a place called hell.  Oh, sure most of us think we’re pretty good compared to a murderer, but that’s not the standard God uses.  Here’s something to think about.  God says that if we know the good we ought to do, but don’t do it, we sin.  By that standard, even Tina knows I fall short!  It is that shortfall that has me condemned to hell.  The good news of Easter is that God has thankfully provided a way of escape for us.  That is what Easter is all about.  Jesus died a cruel and undeserved death on a Roman cross.  And, on “Easter” Sunday God raised Jesus from the dead.  That is the proof that God accepted Jesus’ payment of the penalty our sin required.  Now you and I can have a restored relationship with the person who created us.  It really doesn’t get better than that.  If my sharing this with you is the catalyst for you pursuing God, I would be delighted if you let me know.  Better yet, why don’t you share the true message of Easter with everyone you know?  You would do everything you could to keep them from getting hit by a truck, wouldn’t you?

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.

What do I mean by “Holistic Hegemony Has Hope”? Allow me to expand on the alliteration. Holistic means the “comprehension of the parts of something as intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole.” Hegemony, as I am using the word for my alliterative purposes refers to leadership, not dominance. “Has Hope” ought to be self explanatory.

In order for someone to fully understand me, you must understand that the parts of me are intimately interconnected. Lets start with the obvious. I’m a human male. I’m married. I’m a follower of Jesus Christ. I’m a sinner, therefore I have flaws. Some flaws are obvious only to me, others only to my wife, and still others only to Jesus himself. I am politically active. I am conservative, notice I didn’t say Republican! I desire to make a difference, yet the difference I want to make, will likely not be popular in our culture. Many of you think I should stop being holistic. In other words, I should separate religion or church, and state.

I’m submitting to you that a big part of the reason we are in the place we find ourselves locally on up to nationally, is in large part because we make a separation between church and state. We have forgotten that liberty is achieved only under a moral and just leadership. Our Founding Fathers intentionally created a difficult document with checks and balances to minimize the negative impact of our flawed human desires, mine and yours.

How is that good? Well, if it is done properly, it means you can elect me to a position of leadership, even though I am flawed! It means that other people can also be elected when they are flawed. And when it is working correctly, those who are elected can be counted on to hold other elected officials accountable within the governing framework of our constitution.

But, what happens when we elect individuals who are not governed by a moral code that transcends human law? Or, who seek to eliminate God, and/or Divine Providence? Simply saying that God doesn’t exist, or that evolution over billions of years produced human life does not make it so. Much of the premise of our science in this country is based on a lie. Who are we kidding? We teach evolution as fact, and in the next breath ask God to bless the United States of America. Do we think God is deaf, blind, dumb or non-existent?

So it is, that I am through pretending to go along with this bunk that church and state should be separate. I am standing up on the principle that we govern with the consent of the governed, and under the authority of God, the Creator and sustain-er of life.

You don’t have to agree with me, but I am no longer going to pretend that these things do not matter. They are in fact more important than human life itself. Think what you will of me. It doesn’t matter so much. Consider how much God desires to have a relationship with you. He sent his Son to be born into a despised family, in a despised town, to a despised people, to a despised cross, to a criminal’s death, when Jesus alone was without sin, holy, righteous, and without fault. God raised him from the dead, and the sacrifice of Jesus on that cross is a demonstration of God’s love for mankind. Believe that Jesus paid the debt you could never pay, and you will understand that it is not about separation of church and state! It is about getting rid of the guilt of your sin. That’s what it really takes to be free.

Until then, you may live in a land that calls itself the “land of the free”, yet be in complete bondage. A slave to sin, a slave to death, a slave to the government. The promise of these United States is not the obvious freedom, it is the ultimate freedom. To be free of the bondage of sin, not by force of government, as if government could even do that… rather by government making the environment conducive to the process of being truly free.

³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.³⁵ Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.³⁷ I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word.³⁸ I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.^[b]”

³⁹ “Abraham is our father,” they answered.

“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would^[c] do what Abraham did.⁴⁰ As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things.⁴¹ You are doing the works of your own father.”

“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me.⁴³ Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.⁴⁵ Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!⁴⁶ Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” – John 8:31-47

Holistic Hegemony Has Hope, then, is another way of saying we need to return to the principles of our founding as a nation.  We need to return to the notion that while all men are created equal, we are not guaranteed equality of outcomes.  We need to pick up the individual fight to retain the unalienable right to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”, from a government that has overstepped its constitutional bounds.

If you are like me, then that was a very worthwhile 20 minutes or so– and that’s not just because I’m an Apple fan.

It got me to thinking about my own personal “Why”, and my own personal dream.  In the days ahead, I intend to watch this video clip a few more times.

Did anyone else catch my other favorite company featured as a failure?  TiVo, is the standard I judge every DVR against, yet they were, and are not profitable.  I think I know why, but they never asked me!  Nor did they ask Simon Sinek.  It is really sad that such a great product hasn’t produced financial results for the company, when their product is every much as good as Apple products.  Apple’s stock trajectory was from about $20 at TiVo’s IPO to $349+ today.  TiVo’s trajectory was from just shy of (no doubt reverse split adjusted) $60 to less than $10 today.

As you can see, it is far more important that Why drives How then What.

You no doubt have heard the phrase, “familiarity breeds contempt”.  I have a corollary.  Familiarity breeds presumptive understanding.  Let me explain.

There is a concept called generational sin.  In simple terms, if your grandfather was a crook, and your father was a crook, chances are you are a crook as well.  This is spelled out in the Ten Commandments, “I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation” and that’s where many typically stop.  However, it goes on to say, “of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands (or to the thousandth generation) of those who love me and keep my commandments.”  (Italics and emphasis mine.)

The distinction I’ve often missed in my rush to the blessing is that the curse of generational “iniquity” or sin is limited.  Specifically, it is limited to those who hate God.  That means the chain can be broken by one generation who love God and keep his commandments.

I think the problem is that we hardly believe it, and continue living in bondage to sins in the past.  We allow them to take root, and run our lives as if this rule applied to us.  We give up hope of the victory already won, and think the battle is lost.  We allow little sins to slip by with excuses, until they become huge.  Then, we think we cannot overcome them because they are too deeply entrenched.

Do not be deceived!  While it is true that we reap what we sow, we have the power through the Holy Spirit to battle the enemy.  We have the power to realize the awfulness of sin.  And with the Spirit’s help, we can eliminate it.

Where do you start?  Might I suggest with the little ones?  Here’s an analogy.  In our backyard, we often have squirrels bury seeds, and then forget where they buried them.  Eventually those seeds become trees.  Trees we don’t want, usually!  We call them volunteers.  If I get those trees before they’re a foot tall, they come out without much effort at all.  On the other hand, if I give them a year or two to grow, I have to take a saw to them.  It is much more work.  If this analogy sounds realistic, that’s because I spent yesterday sawing down over 20 branches from these volunteers.  I hope they are sufficiently stunted so they don’t continue to grow.  But, like sin, they are stubborn things.  I’ll need to stay on top of them to keep them in control.  So it is with sin in our lives.  Give sin an inch, and it takes a mile.  So don’t give sin an inch.