social media – As I was saying…

Mythology and Make-believe

June 3, 2017June 3, 2017 Dr. J.D. Wilkins1 Comment

I know for a fact that truth is stranger than fiction. All the tall tales about dragons and unicorns combined are not as strange as the continuing saga that is Hillary Clinton’s loss in the election. People’s imaginations, including Hillary’s, have run wild, dreaming up all the reasons why President Trump won, and the list grows every day. Two days ago Mark Steyn sat in for Rush Limbaugh and discussed how Hillary now blames the “Content Farmers” for her loss. I thought He was making this up. And in fact, he was being sarcastically funny, but the fact is she said it. She’s blamed the Russians, the FBI director, the DNC, former President Obama, Anti-American “forces”, low-information voters, high-information voters, stupid Republicans, Bernie sanders, incompetent pollsters, rural women, misogynists, suburban women, the New York Times, Fox news, and fake news. She blames social media, Facebook, Twitter, and yes, “content farms.” At a tech conference in Silicon Valley on Wednesday this week she said, “The other side was using content that was just flat-out-false, and delivering it in a very personalized way, both sort of above the radar screen and below.” Read the article, click here. In the end she basically said if only stupid people had voted for her, she would be in the Oval. Here’s the thing, I’m not stupid.

Do you know what a content farmer is? Here is the formal definition in Wikipedia:

In the context of the World Wide Web, a content farm (or content mill) is a company that employs large numbers of freelance writers to generate large amounts of textual content which is specifically designed to satisfy algorithms for maximal retrieval by automated search engines.

I didn’t make this up. There are real companies, with real people, who do nothing but sit at computers all day long, cranking out large volumes of articles a day, (4,000 a day is not uncommon). The content of these articles is low quality, written with the specific intent of being discovered by search engines, to improve their rankings and move them to the top in rankings. Hillary is suggesting that the DNC and Trump campaign used these companies to skew the election in some way. Now that’s what I call a vivid imagination.

It’s always easier to blame someone else, or something else, for our failures isn’t it. I find it fascinating that in all of this nonsense, and the huge list of people to blame for her loss, there is not one mention that it could even remotely be her fault. It is beyond reason or imagination in her mind that she should have lost, so it had to be someone else who caused it.

Is there a lesson here for the common man and woman in the world today? You betcha.

We all make mistakes, some bigger than others, some on a grand blunderous scale. When you do, or when I do, let’s simply own it. Let’s just admit, “my bad”, take our lumps and try not to repeat the blunder. Imagining all the reasons or people to blame for our blunders doesn’t make it true. This reasoning makes it mythology or make-believe.

Now for the truly frightening aspect of what happens when we don’t just ‘fess up. We will someday stand before a Creator-God who will be all too well-informed with all our blunders. He will have full knowledge of just how wrong we are, and when we try to make excuses, or blame someone or something else for our mess-ups, He will not have any of it. Imaginary phrases like “the devil made me do it,” will not work with Him either. Let’s at least be honest and admit what the Bible states all too clearly.

Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 10:9-10
If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Whatever you do, don’t be like Hillary Clinton, finding no fault in herself, and only blaming everyone else around her for her own failures. Own it. We are not perfect people and we fail miserably many times. Admit to yourself and to God, you aren’t everything God designed the perfect human to be. There was only one perfect human and we are not Him. But He came, Jesus came, so we could be in right relationship to the God of the universe and our Creator.

Paul was more than just a low-quality content farmer. His writings are more than just mythology and make-believe. The apostle Paul was called to preach and teach and write the very words of God to us today. Don’t be led astray by the mindless meanderings of those who think themselves God’s gift to the planet.

There is only one Gift – His name is Jesus.

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Un-Aware

February 11, 2017 Dr. J.D. WilkinsLeave a comment

via Aware

According to the Urban Dictionary, “Ignorance is Bliss” is a term used to falsely justify apathy on the given subject in the form of a catchy cliche. Example: Seat belts are to be worn while driving a motor vehicle in Texas. If an officer of the law stops you to ask why you aren’t wearing your seat belt, don’t answer “I didn’t know I had to.” Ignorance of the law, is not immunization from the law. And by the way, every passenger in the vehicle must also be buckled up… don’t be caught unaware.

Today, after examining FaceBook, it seems to me that we should expand the meaning to include any attitude used by the liberal media, iconic celebrities, Facebook post writer, or Twitter-bird who screams incorrect information, to falsely justify their hate. They are blissfully ignorant of just how wrong they are; they are unaware and don’t seem to care.

It’s an easy trap to fall into because most of us live in such small circles of influence, and this earth is a great big world. I would venture to say that less than 1% of FaceBook writers even know what Trump’s travel ban document really stated, because they haven’t read it. To have an opinion on a matter so grave as this would necessarily dictate, that a person do some research on the topic, don’t you think? Yet, the constant spin-doctored dribble from the “unaware” social media, is like a festering sore oozing green-grey slime, seeking out someone to infect with this particular version of social cancer. For example, a simple search on my browser this morning yielded the EXACT language used, showing the WHOLE executive order as submitted by the White House.

(https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/us/politics/refugee-muslim-executive-order-trump.html?_r=0)

Perhaps we should return to a Three-Wise-Monkey attitude. See wisely, hear wisely, and speak wisely. The Three-Wise-Monkeys came to us from Japan, where they have been widely known since the 17th century. While there are many possible meanings, the exact meaning lost in the passing years, there is something we should gain here. The monkey’s gestures suggest that we “see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil.” A wise “monkey” person is one who is prudent in what they look at, listen to, or what they say. The wise person considers the consequences (awareness of each having consequences), then makes sensible decisions with the awareness that if he or she does not know what to do, they ask another “monkey” person for advice.

Awareness, or consciousness, is what distinguishes us as a human. That a monkey should have to teach us how to act is rather insulting at the least. Humanity has traveled down a long dark path away from what we were created to know deep inside our DNA. Right and wrong go all the way back to the beginning, with Adam and Eve choosing to use the “but we didn’t know” excuse with God. The problem is, both Adam and Eve, and God, knew this wasn’t true. They saw evil, they heard evil, and they spoke (said yes) to evil. They were not wise in these actions. They pretended to be unaware of the consequences of their actions, but in this they lied even to themselves.

Ok. Time to wrap it all up. First, every person’s actions have consequences. Being blissfully ignorant of this fact, will not impede the person’s accountability in the matter. Second, when we continue to only see the “evil” in other people, instead of the “good,” we unwisely tend to lash out in ways that are in themselves evil. Third, this in no way brings glory to the God who created us to know better. It’s time we employ the “one another” rule given to us in God’s Word.

Ephesians 4:32
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

1 Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

Ephesians 4:2
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,

John 13:34
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

Criticize?

February 9, 2017February 9, 2017 Dr. J.D. Wilkins2 Comments

via Criticize

It’s always easy to criticize. Think about it. When I use myself as the measuring standard, there will always be other people, in my opinion, who fall way short. The result of this basic human tendency is criticism. The issue then becomes, “who gets to set the standard by which all human action or attitude should be measured?” Spiritually-minded people are at least open to the idea that they, themselves, are not the center of the universe. However, I know a lot of “spiritually-minded” people who are also very critical of others, which causes me a great deal of consternation. I don’t really understand their judgmental attitudes, if they consider Jesus’ words as the standard for living.

Matthew 7:1
Do not judge so that you will not be judged.

The world at large, and our nation in particular, has become attuned to the conflict stemming from unsolicited criticism. The layers of vehemence originating in tweets, posts, emails, and the media, are so enormous it’s no wonder our folks are divided. I’m trying hard to tune it all out. But if you watch any television at all, if you’re on FaceBook, Twitter, or the plethora of social media streams out there, it is virtually impossible not to be caught up in the undertow of nonsense. We’ve created a monster, it’s name is: Criticism.

Everyone and their dog seems to think it’s ok just to shove those words right down our throats, using every foul-mouthed verb in the book, and condemn us if we don’t agree with their ideologies. Nobody is exempt. If the revered position of President of the United States, can be the target of unfounded criticism from the uninformed masses, who can be exempt? It’s not really much different than in Jerusalem of the 1st century.

The group responsible for the spiritual leadership in Israel were called priests. The head guy was called the high priest. The majority of this group held the position that Jesus Christ was a false teacher, a heretic, dangerous, and should be killed. While Donald Trump is certainly not Jesus Christ, today he faces this same attitude (and danger) from people who have bought into the lies of the media, and the Democratic Party. Without doubt, those so highly critical often believe their own twisted logic so much, that they will do virtually anything in their power, to get their own way. Criticism is just the beginning.

When the lust for power becomes so strong that it moves from influencing our thoughts, to motivating our actions, somebodies death is almost a certainty. The Bible speaks clearly on this matter.

James 1:15
Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

Those with the strongest voices of outrageous criticism today find no value in the Word of God. This is clear from their voices, actions, and goals. This reality makes the words of James even more tragic. Because in this sense, while they lust for power, these lust motives give birth to actions of sin (falling short of God’s standard), resulting in their own spiritual death because they have rejected God, His Son, and His Word.

Am I being too critical here? You can decide for yourself. That’s what this blog is all about. I seek to stimulate thinking, and urge you to seek God’s direction while sorting through the mess we have become in this country.

Don’t be a blowhole…

January 10, 2017January 10, 2017 Dr. J.D. WilkinsLeave a comment

What you see here is a spout of water coming up out of a sea cave. The shaft was formed as the lava cooled, creating a spout for the incoming waves to shoot up and out, commonly referred to as a “blowhole.” It is not unlike the hole atop a whale’s head through which the animal breathes air like a nostril. Again, the whale’s nostril is also called a “blowhole.”

There is also a slang use of the term “blowhole,” reserved for that annoying person who is constantly spouting from their mouths without filtering what they say. I may have been called this name in the past, when my own filtering system didn’t work so well. Learning to hear what you want to say in your own head, before it actually comes out of your mouth to someone else’s ears, is in fact a difficult thing to do. Really, almost impossible, for those who have never tried.

I get tired today of the constant barrage of social elites, celebrities, or news media personalities who determinedly decide they know better than the rest of us peasants regarding our current political status. Does acting in the entertainment business somehow equip, empower or enable a person to “know” more than I do about right and wrong, or good leadership and poor leadership? Does their social elite status give them the privilege of talking down to me, as though I’m an uneducated ignoramus? How do we get the message to the average American citizen to just stop listening to this nonsense? What voice will finally rise above the din of arrogant verbiage constantly being spouted from the Hollywood “blowholes?” I suggest you have the power to switch the channel, and you would be better for it.

That said, do I come off as a “blowhole” here? I sincerely hope not. But somebody’s got to say it. Shut up already.