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Photography: Gary Sexton
I first met Erik when I was covering a show of his at White Walls for FF and he seemed like a cool dude. Indeed he is cool, and was open to share his artistic practice, thoughts, and philosophies with me. It turns out he went to San Jose State and was involved with the animation department (which my brother is in). He was taught and influenced by Barron Story, and from fellow classmates who went on to have successful careers in the animation industry. Erik deviated away from illustration, choosing to focus on paintings and installations with reclaimed paint and wood as his medium. In our conversation we talked about working with companies, how not to get girls, tree hugging, Barron Story, and why school is cool. I hope you enjoy!
I haven't. They're new, they've only been open since this last fall. It's Robin Williams' first-born daughter I think, along with her husband. The Williams family, little known fact, owns 6 pieces of mine. Since the divorce of his wife he's slowed down buying art and his kids are kinda steppin' in. Hopefully I get to meet him out of this.
Yea! But more like Toys. I used to have Toys and then pause it and sketch everything. It's kinda cool how it has come full circle, someone that influences you, probably more than you know it, and then he likes your work.
When I was young, yea. Certain movies it's good compositions all the way through, just pause it anywhere.
After this show I hit the ground running as soon as I return, I'm doing this big commission for RedBull, on top of this piece (the house project installation) which will go live, that's going to the dump basically (Recology), there's a sculpture garden down there. They do private tours, it's the dump over by Bayshore. I was there almost everyday.
And there is one more, a grant through the SF Arts Commission. Which is cool, all this outdoor alternative exposure stuff right after a super traditional style show. Me being the SF street artist, sort of lowbrow comin' in, who knows how it's gunna be responded to. They were like go easy on the reclaimed wood material, and I'm like that's my whole thing, I don't know how to go easy. You tell that to me and it makes me want to do it even more.
Yea that was years ago. Most of those things are more financial decisions. Fortunately, I've had to do less of those. I mean, don't get me wrong, some of those are really cool and challenging. I didn't get paid for Urban, I just sorta knew the merchandising manager over there and he thought it would be cool to install my work. Then they started doing it as an ongoing thing, but I had my work in the store. But I've done products and other commercial collaborations where whatever company is doing this new product release or campaign and they see my art fitting in somehow. I always have to find out what they really want, you know? People always come to you and they promise the world and really all it means is dollars to them and I get my little check and they take off. I don't like working with companies like that anymore so I avoid it if I can.
Yea, sometimes they don't know. It presents a challenge translating your work to a different format. There has been some good things I've done, there's been some things that didn't work out so well. By the time it gets into their production hands they fuck it up. Then once it hits the stores your like I don't even wanna know that existed. From what I hear it happens all the time with artists. You can't sleep with people on the first date, you gotta really question their intent and how they have supported artists in the past. Because you get a lot of fast talking sales people that will promise you exposure and this and that, royalties in our non profiting company.
I've run the gamut man, it's like go ahead and do those things to pay the bills cause that's important too.
People can get really caught up and excited because they rather just make products for a living, but for me it's just a little side project. Every now and then you get an opportunity where a company really wants to stand behind you and those are cool. Where my name is behind it, I stand behind it, they stand behind it. Just like a gallery would, both sticking our necks out together. Maybe even come and have face to face time not all just email type shit.
Yea, how are you going to make me money, you know? You're popular, we're not, we are trying to appeal to a younger attention deficit audience and your work seems to appeal to them, so come on board. So that either happened less and less or I've gotten smarter. I think companies have gotten smarter too, how they need to be more intelligent about how they approach these things. Otherwise it's a waist of time for them, it's a disservice to everybody: to the community, to the product, to the company viewers. If you're going to do it, do it right. When It first started happening artists were like oh my God, collab this and that, but it's gotten out of hand. But I mean, who really cares it's just making more shit. I don't know I'm on this whole do what matters make it count otherwise don't do it at all. I don't know if that answered your question, I just went on a rant. But I've definitely done things I'm proud of too. I might of just bashed.
People understand though, I think even companies understand. Like this artist needs money, we're all here for the money. That's why I brought on this third person (his manager friend), because I talk art, like oh yea you want an orange I can make that happen. I bust some idea and say what do you think. Ok well, talk to my manager now because we can't start till we get paid. Don't talk to me, talk to her and until she says it's a go, I don't start.
(laughs) I know jeesh, phew... Lets smoke a cigarette after that.
Definitely a tree hugger, I grew up camping and road trips with the family. There is a part of me that longs for that. When I had a rental car service I would go up to Mt. Tam and illegally camp up there. They are so cool about it, I'm coming off the moutain at 8 in the morning all rugged looking like I just woke up, and they're like "oh, hey sir", and I thought I was getting busted. "We left that sign on your car, the gates close and we don't wanna make you feel like you're stuck or anything". I used to do that do that in Santa Cruz, pull off the side of the highway and sleep and you come back to a 100 dollar ticket on your car.
Bread, cheese, and peanut butter. I pack light, maybe some weed it's all you need. Mt. Tam at night- it's so scary, but it's so surreal in the morning.
Even though you're like 20 yards off the trail.
I do a lot of get away trips. I love snowboarding but it's a rich mans sport. I've been wanting to man up and get out in the water and surf but it's dangerous and cold. I have too many friends that say, C'mon lets do it! And I'm like ok, let's start doing pushups, cause like I'll probably just flop around.
Ahh, work all day. Best way to lose girlfriends too apparently. I finally got one that understands the life, for the most part. It's not the type of profession where you leave the office and you're not thinking about work. I'm thinking about work all the time, all I talk about, I come home and I'm excited about what I just did. I'm talking about what I'm gunna do, asking her what do you think red or blue? And sometimes I can understand, dude, can you shutup?! Ask me about my day or something. So yea, I'm really all about it and that pushes people away naturally. Girls at first will be like, oh yea this guy is passionate, then start dating and be like fuck this guy he's never around. It's like you knew that from the start! So I've had a long past of one month relationships. I've gotten to the point where it's Friday night and just go to the studio, be productive. As long as girls understand that art comes before them, which is really hard for a girl to accept, then it could work. Girls wanna be number one, they wanna feel loved and I understand that, us guys have our seasons.
No, cause they say rock stars, musicians, all those people they get tons of those groupy girls. I think that's mans biggest weakness, girls.
Yea! thats why dudes are always starting wars, it all comes down to women problems maybe.
I try to sit the fine line on everything, as far as chaos and control. Marjory influenced by seeing the connections in nature and how we should be more in touch with nature. People who are all out wack, it's like dude, go out in the woods and sit by yourself come back and you'll be ok.
Yea I think i'm learning how to use bucket paint and spray paint better with every body of work. You pretty much gotta stick true with what's on the can, cause it's already mixed. And usually these are miss tints, paint that didn't work out.
Recently I got back from Peru for a month, I did the whole nature and the nitty-gritty, deep off the main path. I was basically there for exploration, to dive into a culture I know nothing about. My girlfriend was already out there subletting the apartment and I became voluntarily displaced, started couch surfing at friends places. With the intension of learning how to let go everything and live in the moment, home is where ever you are. That box you pay rent for is just that. I think it was really good for the both of us and we grew closer as a partnership.
In Peru, no, it's so overwhelming. Walking around parts that are so dirt poor, just taking it all in. I don't even wanna pull out my camera, so...it was purely research in a way. It was either pay 700 for rent or 700 for a flight, so it worked out like that. There were some good times and bad times. Some days were like "if they could only see us now", and others days we would be on a bus and haven't eaten in 18 hours, stuck in traffic...like "if they could only see us now." That was part of the experience though, we didn't want an air conditioned bus, or a tour guide saying "ok now, single file." Everyone knows you don't wanna be a tourist, you wanna be a traveler.
I don't think I'll ever leave. I'd keep this studio as long as I can, as long as the landlords don't sell the building. I doubt I'll find something bigger for cheaper. This building isn't an art studio building, it's just a building. So it's low key. If I could afford a studio in New York I would still keep this place and couch surf when I come back to SF, and live out there. But I don't ever wanna let go of my SF roots.
I got a lot of support but there's just not a lot of art buying support. I felt like I found myself out here, and SJ I grew up and went to school and did a bunch of stupid shit and have a record out there. But I came up SF and moved into an apartment with a lawn chair and some paint brushes and had to make it work. A year and a half I went homeless cause of stupid decisions, but I didn't give up. Going through that gives you your roots in a certain area. So I'll claim SJ, Milpitas, but this is the town that made me in all reality.
Out there I call it the sleeping giant. I've got so many friends out there that are uber talented but there's just not enough opportunity. It's been like that for awhile, but it used to be thriving like 20 years ago. Everything out there seems so cookie cutter plain jane to me. Every motherfucker drives a BMW with a Blackberry on there hip, top 40 club night, drunk dudes getting in fights...it's so lame to me. I wanted to go somewhere that I was forced to blend with cultures that I may not have been exposed to. But SJ is where I was first introduced to graffiti and Hip-hop.
I used to break dance big time and I'm still kinda part of the dance scene and I think that's where a lot of my circles and motion come to play in my work. Played drums for 8 years, I used to play drums at all the clubs down there. I sold them when I came up here cause there's no room. But it's just like riding a bike; I can jump on a drum set anytime. I feel like all that music and dance was my culture and influence, just the way I see and hear and work.
Fingerbangers, thats the group that's really getting out there from SJ. A ton of music producers and DJ's. A ton of talent out there, even David Choe was out there for a minute. Actually when he was in town, that kinda rocked SJ, you could just tell.
He had a personal relationship with Barren Story some how, maybe dropped in some classes or something.
I would but I don't know how to get in contact with him. I bumped into him a few years ago at a hardware store and had a really awkward conversation. But he's an interesting guy, you don't know whether to interrupt his world or not. But he remembered me.
A lot of the students have gone on to do more digital, commercial style stuff. Drawing on a Wacom, more grunt, less creative, and I keep up with a lot of them too. Some of them were able to break through that glass ceiling and they're on to some big important jobs. Sometimes I bump into them and they appreciate what I'm doing. I'm like I don't even know what I'm doing, if there's any security in this. I envy you guys cause you can afford to buy a house.
But yea, Barren, I think I was one of the students he was trying to foster in a different way. He knew that I wasn't trying to get a job. I'm here to learn and lets just leave it at that. They would definitely try to mold you into something so that you would get a job. Come in all raw, untalented, then just mold you, I couldn't do that. I was always out there doing extracurricular activities.
Barren was a trip. I have multiple sketchbooks with notes just from his class. He's the type of guy that just spills emotion and you just try to write it all down, then months later it makes sense. He was the most influential though, even with my layer making and how I approach art making in general, without getting super heavy. Process, like some days I come to the studio and don't feel like lifting a pencil so he would take us through art making games to trick your mind into creativity. My biggest trick is to clean. Some people come to the studio and are impressed with how organized it is, it's because I clean a lot. The act of cleaning, three hours go by and then you're working. I don't wait for inspiration, that's like such a young artists mentality. You have to show up and you have to work. Find your romanticism within that but in reality we all have a job. My friends go to their Disney jobs and I come to my studio. It's all the same.
Dela Longfish, Anthony Ermio, Tim Heights, all those guys, if you google them. I think story telling was a big part of illustration. Like don't just make a pretty picture, say something. How to you give life to something as ordinary as a pencil. Just seeing personalities and characters and telling a story. I know Della, he was plucked right out of college. He is mad talented, he can come up with some crazy concept about some old woman who collects driftwood from the ocean and builds things for a perished indigenous tribe and just draw it off the top of his head. No sketching, just go. That was the kinda stuff I was learning from too, cause these guys really think about what they are doing. I came from graffiti where it was just like throw shit up.
All that training, definitely. That foundation could apply to anything. I just don't think I'm an illustrator because I'm going abstract, imagination, concepts are driving the work and process. I just wanna make stuff, and never finish, it's just the process and materials. But definitely that foundation, I can still whip out a portrait but there is no interest. That is awesome to have as a skill to have in the back pocket but I'm not into that as a way to express myself. I don't see a lot of expression in general in photo real art. A lot of people are like that's cool it looks like a photo, why not take a photo then? Leave it a little unfinished, leave room for us to get involved don't just give me a polished portrait. To each his own but I'm really into the loose expressive type work. But even in a circle you draw it in a way to say frustration or peace, there's gesture and personallity in everything you do, if the intent is there. That's why I say that every mark has to have intent behind it. Rather that doing it just to do it, but understanding why it's important. Put your brain in that little moment and that's it. Put down a little mark then be like oh let me fix that? No. The more honest, the more genuine, the better. That's where I'm at, letting go and just keeping it loose. I used to talk so much shit about abstract work when I was in college and now I've become an abstract artist. It's funny how it all kinda works out. Coming from that abstract framework, you can come at abstract work with more soul and structure.
Two tacos and a Tacate. Then go to the park and eat it. I'm all about having fun and not spending money. http://www.erikotto.com/
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LEESBURG, Va., Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Police in Loudoun County, Va., are on the lookout for a police dog named Bronco who escaped while being groomed.
Bronco, an 80- to 85-pound dark sable German Shepherd employed by the Loudoun County sheriff's office, got loose Friday afternoon, The Washington Post reported.
The sheriff's office said Bronco "escaped from the groomers" in Leesburg in the area of King Street and Catoctin Circle. It was not immediately clear how the dog escaped.
The sheriff's office asked for the public's aid in locating the dog.
Anyone who spots Bronco is asked to call the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office at 703-777-1021.

subset: commoncrawl


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This morning, as I share with you a Biblical perspective on the War in the Gulf, I want to hasten to say that I'm not going to give you any rhetoric. We have perhaps enough and more of that than we care to have. I'm not here to give you any kind of poll or any kind of consensus, or the opinions of any experts. I'm not here to play upon your patriotic emotions.
I'm here basically to endeavor to have you understand war and this war from God's perspective. It is more of a lesson, more of a Bible study, in some ways, than a sermon. And it really comes as a result of a question that I have been asked throughout this week, how should a church respond to what is going on in the Gulf? How should a Christian respond?
A few days ago I received a phone call, and the man on the other end of the line said, "All across America, religious leaders are taking their stand with the antiwar protests. And we're calling you because we want to do an interview with you to play on our syndicated radio system, and we want you to tell us where you stand on this, because we believe you perhaps may take another view."
And he asked the question, "What is the church to do in response to this? What is a Christian's proper response? And are all religious leaders unilaterally committed to an antiwar position?" Well, if you're watching the news and listening at all, it does seem that all across America, religious leaders are marching and protesting and sitting in and crying out for peace, and demanding the end of American involvement in Iraq. It's a time when people are looking at the church and saying, "Can you help? How am I to understand this? How am I to cope with this?" And, as I said, I don't want to give you rhetoric and I don't want to play on your emotion. I want to give you an understanding out of the Scripture so that you can perceive this scenario from the viewpoint of the Lord as much as is possible.
I believe, first of all, that evangelical, Bible-believing Christians are not antiwar necessarily. I think everybody is antiwar in the sense of the tragedy and the pain and the suffering and the death that is involved. But I think Christians who understand the Word of God look at war, and even this war, differently, because they look at it from a Biblical viewpoint.
While war is tragic and painful in a myriad of ways, and while we have every reason to hate war, we must understand what God says about it, because there are times when war is not avoidable. Many people are praying for the war to end, and that's fine. But if we're praying that way, our prayers must be based upon understanding.
Now, there was in my mind earlier in the week some prompting to consider some of these issues and reflect upon the Word of God. By Wednesday, I spoke in the chapel at the Master's College, and I spoke to the students on a perspective from God's Word about the war. And following that message I began to think more deeply about it and realized that perhaps I should widen the things I said and bring more Biblical insight together and share it with you this Sunday and next Sunday, at least, for sure.
And as I was thinking through what I would want to talk about and how I'd want to divide it down in manageable bites so you could comprehend it, I came up with four questions that I think I need to answer for you and help you to see in the Scripture.
Question number one, why does war happen? Question number two, can war be just, or moral? Question number three, how are we to understand the present war in the Gulf? Question number four, is this a sign of the coming of Christ? Today and next Lord 's Day, I want to endeavor to answer those questions.
Let's begin with the first one, why does war happen? There is a certain amount of frustration in our culture about the fact that war even exists. There are certain people who just can't imagine that it's happening when we're so far along the evolutionary chain. We have come so far. We are so advanced. We are so educated.
Not only is everyone exposed to education via schools, but certainly everyone is exposed to education via media. We are so advanced, and there's so much talk of peace, and there's so much talk of love. And we have so much technology, sociology, psychology and theology, why are we still killing each other? Isn't man basically far enough up the evolutionary ladder that it is true of him that he is a noble being, that his deepest desires are for love and peace? Isn't he good at heart? If left to himself, won't he find that which is the best? Isn't he the noblest beast? Sociologists and philosophers and psychologists and theologians tell us he is. And thus there is a lot of confusion about how can this be happening in a modern world.
But all of that is a lie. Man is not a noble beast. The heart of man is wicked, rebellious, proud, selfish, deceitful, violent, destructive, murderous. Not every man acts on the outside like he is on the inside, because there are built into culture some restraints, by God's mercy. But man left to himself is a vile being, not at all the apex of an evolutionary chain, but the bottom, as it were, of a declining morality that started down in the Garden. And evil men, in fact, are getting worse and worse. It always interests me that even the peace lovers appear hostile and violent when they don't get what they want. And so we ask the question, why is there war? How are we to explain war in such an advanced society? After all, we're not running around in loincloths with spears in our hands. And somebody might say, "Well, there are as many reasons for war as there are wars." That's a rather generic statement, and perhaps not at all correct.
Why are there wars? Let me suggest to you there are three components, three components. Number one, evil aggression. Evil aggression. Not all men are as wicked as they could be. Not all men are as wicked on the outside as they are on the inside. Some are better at constraining their internal wickedness because of trained consciences, because of wanting peer approval, because of some kind of religious expectation, because of police and government control and a myriad of other things.
Not everybody's as bad as he could be. But there are some people who are as bad as they can be. And some of the people who are as wretched as human beings can possibly be are in positions to enact unbelievably horrendous acts. Evil aggression. Whether you kill one person or whether you are a mass murderer of 30, or whether you massacre millions, that kind of hostility is generated from a wicked, wretched, evil heart that has gone to the extremes of evil and knows no compunctions.
War happens because of evil aggression in the heart of man unrestrained. And every one of us, because we are fallen and sinful, and particularly those who are without the redemption and transformation of Jesus Christ, have the capacity to effect crimes of heinous character, were it not for restraints of one kind or another.
A good insight into this evil aggression cause of war is found in James chapter 4. Let's look together at this chapter and the first two verses, because I think the principle that James gives here is directly applicable. In James chapter 4, in verse 1, James writes profoundly, "What is the source of," and the Greek words, "wars and battles among you?" What is the source of them? Where do they come from?
And then he answers the question most interestingly. "Is not the source your pleasures, your lusts, your desires?" That word there is the word hedonae, from which the word hedonism comes, which is a word that means self-gratification. The word actually means the yearnings of self-gratification, to fulfill your own hedonistic desire for personal gratification. That's where war comes from.
"Is not the source your hedonistic, self-gratifying passions that wage war in your members?" Now, notice this, please. Before the war ever gets on the outside, it starts where? On the inside. You say, "What is this war?" This is a war between self-gratification and conscience. That's right. Self-gratification and conscience. Conscience is battling self-gratification.
The desire for what is forbidden and what is known to be wrong and what is visceral and what is lustful and what is passionately wanted for the sake of self-pleasure, self-promotion, self-prestige, self-plunder, self-power or whatever else, that wages war against the conscience. And everyone has a conscience which functions to one degree or another.
And according to Romans chapter 2, every man knows something of the law of God written in his heart, right? There is a moral sense in human beings that even a Saddam Hussein or an Adolf Hitler possesses. What happens is, war breaks out on the inside, between the yearnings for self-gratification and moral conscience. And some people win the war in terms of conscience. Conscience is assisted by religion, and I'm not even talking about Christian people, by religion, by expectations, by habits that they've been trained with since they were children, by the fear of retaliation from governmental force. And so they're not as bad as they could be.
Other people, conscience becomes the victim of self-gratification. They become the criminals, the mass murderers, the demagogues, the dictators, the rulers who massacre whole populations of people, all the way up the ladder. So the desire for what is forbidden and wrong wages war against what is right. You could say morality battles gratification.
James says that's where war starts. And when the hedonistic's desire for self-gratification dominates, the war goes from the inside to the outside. Because now, in order to gratify himself, there have to be some victims. To get what he wants, he's got to rape somebody or plunder somebody or kill somebody or steal something or destroy something.
And so in verse 2 he says, "You lust and you don't have. So what do you do? Your self-gratification has won. You want it, but you don't have it. So you kill to get it." That's it. You're envious. You want what somebody else has. You can't get it. So you fight and you make war. That's the war of self-gratification, going from the inside to the outside.
You ask yourself why a man like Hussein does what he does. The answer is because self-gratification lusts have overpowered conscience. I don't know anything about the man's background to know whether his conscience was exercised at any point in his life to a noble point, but it seems to me that it was not. And you put a man in a position of ultimate authority where he answers to absolutely no one, and you will find conscience having a very difficult time winning its victories.
What happens is, lust leads to passion. Passion leads to war. Whether they want pleasure, power, prestige, wealth, it drives men to kill. It drives them to destructive behavior. It drives them to deadly aggression. And if they don't get it, they're unfulfilled, and they'll make war.
Hussein's invasion of Kuwait was such a war. Revenge, hatred, lust for money, lust for oil, lust for power, and, believe me, he is not through. He doesn't want just Kuwait. He wants the world. He's an evil aggressor, classic, absolutely classic.
There's a second component that creates war, second element, and that is what we'll call just protection, just protection. There are wars and elements within war caused by the desire to defend, protect, liberate and free the victim of the evil aggressor. Paul spoke about this. Look at Romans 13. No one can understand how to view war without understanding Romans 13. It is one of many New Testament Scriptures. We'll look more deeply at it next Lord's Day and at a number of other New Testament Scriptures. But for this morning I want to read it to you and make a few comments.
Romans 13:1 and following, "Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are established by God." Make this general note in your mind. Government is a God-given mercy. Did you hear that? Government is a God-given mercy. Government is given its primary task, to protect innocent people from evil aggressors. That is the primary role of government. Government has overstepped the bounds of its Biblical responsibility, its God-given responsibility in many, many ways, but this is it, initially and substantially. "Therefore," verse 2 says, "he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God, and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves." God puts government in place to control sinful man. Otherwise, sinful man will run amok. It is government and the institutions of government, law, police, the courts, jails, the right of capital punishment, all of that, that restrains man and gives conscience some help in winning the war.
That's God-given, or sinful men would run amok in the world, to the destruction of everyone. And so if you resist the authority, you're resisting the God who gave the authority for the preservation of society. And then in verse 3 he puts some leverage in the hand of authority, and some power, "For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil." In other words, the government exists to make people who do wrong afraid. And if government can't make them afraid, then they're going to continue to do wrong. Very simple.
If they do not live under the fear of just and swift punishment, then conscience cannot win against passion, the passion of the fallen heart. So he says in verse 3, "Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good. You'll have praise from the same." You don't have to live under fear if you just do what the law says, and God has given the law for the preservation of mankind.
And then in verse 4 he says, "Look, the authority is a minister of God to you for good." Whether on a local level, with the police, on a national/international level with the armies of nations, they are there to protect you from evil aggressors. "If you do what is evil, be afraid," look at this, "for it doesn't bear the sword for nothing." Why does it bear the sword, to do what? To use it.
Government is not symbolic. Government is not a pageant. Government has real power, and its power is in its sword. Now, what do you do with a sword? Rap people's knuckles? No. Spank them? No. You kill them. That's what you do with it. You take their life away.
What restrains ultimately the evil aggressor is the power of the sword, the deadly force that government can bring against ultimate acts of evil. That's God-ordained. In fact, he says, "not only does it not bear the sword for nothing, it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil." Never does government act in a more God-intended way than when it takes the life of an evil-doer to protect the innocent, to preserve life in a society.
I personally am convinced that based upon the Word of God America and the allies' response to Hussein is a noble war. It is a just war of protection, motivated by the noble cause to deliver an embattled people victimized by an evil aggressor. It is even an unselfish war. For they are not us. They are a people of a very different culture than we are.
You say, "Now, wait a minute? Aren't we really motivated by oil? Aren't we really motivated by prosperity? Aren't we really motivated by economics?" Certainly we are a grossly materialistic culture, and there might be some people along the path whose only compulsions in life are financial gain. But if the United States of America was a nation motivated by those things, we would simply destroy all the Middle East nations and claim all the oil for ourselves, plunder all the oil and control the world. Then we could drive the market down as far down as we wanted. We don't attack. We never have. We have never been the evil aggressor in a war. You see, down below the footings of this country, as far away from God as it has become, there are the notions of nobility in terms of what government is all about, showed up in our Bill of Rights and Constitution. We're there to ensure the freedom of Kuwait, which the prosperity of Kuwait depends upon, and which prosperity per capita is probably greater than our own. We are there to keep Kuwait a free-market participant, to operate on their own in the world market and reap their own wealth. We don't even need their oil. We're still moved by the morality of defending nations against vicious destroyers.
That's what government's supposed to do. Whether you're talking about local police or national force, we exist to protect people from evil aggressors.
By the way, down in verses 6 and 7, he says, "Pay your taxes." Why does he say that? Because it takes a lot of money to support this government enterprise.
There's a third component, and I'm going to say more about Romans 13 next time, a lot more. There's a third component that we have to put into war. This is more mysterious, less discernable, just as real. That is that war is divine judgment. War is divine judgment.
The reality is, my friends, that the wages of sin is what? Death. That is a divine principle. All war, I believe, all war, to some degree or another, expresses God's wrath on man's sin, directly or indirectly. What do I mean by that?
Some wars in history have been commanded by God. In other words, there were times in the Old Testament when God said to Israel, "Go to war. Go over here, wipe that people out." God also said, "Not only do I want you to go, I'm going to lead you. I'm going to lead you." And so there are wars in which God was the commander in chief, and God directly commanded those wars to be fought.
And then there are the other wars, which are indirectly used by God to enact His judgment on nations. To give you another perspective, one which you must have about God, because everybody today is talking about the fact that these religious leaders are saying, "God is love and God is kindness and God is peaceful and this should never be a reflection of God," and so forth and so on, let me give you another perspective, if I might.
In Exodus 15:3, God Himself is called a man of war, a man of war. In Numbers 21:14, there's the mention of a fascinating piece of literature which is not available to us now, but it is called, listen to this, the Book of the Wars of the Lord. Numbers 21:14, the Book of the Wars of the Lord. Apparently, the ancient people of God kept a book which consisted of victory songs written to be sung in celebration of the triumphs of the Lord in the conquest of Canaan. And whenever there would be another battle won, they would write another song and sing it to the glory of the God of war, who had won a victory.
Several times in the Old Testament, wars that God commanded are called Yahweh wars, God wars, Yahweh being the old Hebrew name for God. I Samuel 18:17, for example, I Samuel 25:28, God wars. Scripture even speaks about God warring. Psalm 68:21, "God will shatter the head of His enemies."
Isaiah 42:13 says, "The Lord will go forth like a warrior. He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout. Yes, he will raise a war cry. He will prevail against his enemies."
There were times when God told Israel to defend herself against attack, such as in Ezekiel 17, verses 18 and following, Numbers chapter 21, God says, "You defend yourself against attack." That's what government's for, to protect these people from an evil aggressor.
There were times when God said, "You fight against wickedness." Numbers 31:7, "You go against that nation and remove them, because they are a cancer, and while they may not be directly attacking you militarily, they are destroying you through the cancer of their ideology and idolatry."
And God told Joshua, when you go to the land of Canaan, Joshua chapter 1 and again in chapter 6, "Take that land by military force." You say, "Isn't Joshua and the people of God the evil aggressor?" No. Again, they are the just protectors. You say, "Why?" Because the life, behavior, conduct of the Canaanites was a cancer on human society. And God says they must be removed.
In David's Song of Praise in II Samuel 22:35, he says this, "The Lord trains my hands for battle so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze." That's repeated, by the way, in Psalm 18:34. Later, in Psalm 144, verse 1, David said, "Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle." And in Numbers 32:20, the people of Israel were told, "Arm yourselves before the Lord for war." A very significant chapter on war is Deuteronomy chapter 20, and, while I don't want to take time to read the whole chapter, I do want to mention the first few verses. Deuteronomy 20, it goes like this, verse 1, "When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you. "Now it shall come about that when you are approaching the battle the priest shall come near and speak to the people, and he shall say to them, 'Hear, oh, Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid or panic or tremble before them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you.'"
And so what am I saying? That during God's particular time of setting Israel in the land as His people and preserving the righteous seed, He sent them to war. There are times when God is a man of war. By the way, the rest of the chapter, chapter 20 of Deuteronomy, gives the rules for war, what to do with captives, what to do to the people, what to do with the spoils, what to do with the trees and shrubbery, who should and who should not serve. God laid out some very clear directions for war.
So under God's leadership, either by direct command to defend yourself or to go and cut out, as it were, the cancer of that society, there were times when God sent His people, Israel, to war, to protect themselves or their allies, or to cut out some destructive culture. And so they fought battles and they fought wars with God's help.
And if you look at the history of Israel, for example, take the time of the conquest of Canaan and the settling, there are many, many wars. During that period, they destroyed the wicked Canaanites, they had to fight continually battle after battle after battle against the Philistines. And then not only were those people who really lived in the territory and really possessed the land, such as the Canaanites or the Philistines, but there were nomadic tribes, nomadic tribes moving around all the time, threatening the life of Israel. And, of course, you know, behind all of this is the great orchestrator of the death of Israel, namely Satan, who seeks to destroy Israel at all times. And so they had to battle these nomadic tribes, like the Amalekites and the Midianites and the Ammonites and the Arameans, for self-preservation. And then when you get out of the settlement period, you move into the period of the monarchies, where they had the kings, the wars continue, with some of the same people, particularly the Philistines. And then you add wars with the Moabites. But, beyond that, the powerful, destructive forces of the Assyrians and the Babylonians that came and would've literally swallowed them up, in fact, were victorious, on occasion. And when you study their history between the Old and the New Testament, history not recorded in Scripture, the time of the Romans and the Greeks, you read, like Flavius Josephus' writing of that time, who talks about endless wars with Greeks and Romans, the last and worst of which occurred in the siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. by the Romans.
Now, it needs to be said, then, that through all of the history of Israel, for the sake of the preservation of that people, to be a witness nation to the world and through whom the Messiah would come, and to whom ultimately God would give a kingdom in the future, for the sake of the preservation of that nation, which Satan wanted to obliterate from the face of the earth in order to thwart the plan of God, wars had to be fought, wars of defense and wars of surgical purification, just wars, to protect themselves.
It also needs to be said, and I hasten to say this, that when Israel forgot God, and when they became wicked, they lost the wars. And there were many of those wars. In fact, you could say perhaps in all of those wars, judgment was a two-edged sword, because many of the Jewish people died as well. And God was continually reminding them of their own wickedness. And sometimes they were slaughtered greatly as God turned the wicked nation on them to be the executioner of His judgment to them.
So we could say God has used wicked, destructive nations to judge the less wicked, such as Assyria, who is called an axe in God's hand in Isaiah 10:5, such as the Chaldeans. You remember when Habakkuk was saying, "Lord, work in your people. Work in their hearts. Turn them around. Revive them." And God says, "I'm going to do something." And he says, "What are you going to do?" "I'm going to bring the Chaldeans to wipe them out." And Habakkuk, he says, "How can you do that? How can you use a worse people, the Chaldeans, pagan, wretched, bitter and hasty nation, how can you use them to judge your own people, who aren't as bad?" Sometimes God does that. Sometimes God does that.
Furthermore, sometimes the Jews were used to execute their own people in civil war. One of the most shocking accounts in Scripture is in the 32nd chapter of Exodus, in verse 25. After the terrible sin of the people in making the golden calf, Moses comes down. He saw the people were, verse 25, "out of control." Out of control. What does that mean? That means that selfish gratification had conquered conscience. And they were gratifying themselves. And Aaron had let them get out of control. What do you mean by that? Aaron was supposed to be government. Aaron was supposed to rule. Aaron was supposed to bear a sword, keep order. He didn't do it. "So Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, 'Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.' "And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him, and he said to them, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, "Every man of you put his sword on his thigh and go back forth from gate to gate in the camp and kill every man his brother and every man his friend and every man his neighbor."' So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about 3,000 men of the people fell that day." They killed their own people, their own relatives, their own family members. That was an act of God.
We can say, well, yes, God used Israel as a tool of judgment against evil, aggressive nations who polluted the human stream and culture and who defied His holiness. Yes, that's true. But sometimes God turned the tables and used those pagan nations as tools of judgment on Israel, and sometimes God turned Israel on itself in its own judgment.
I believe in all wars God is directly involved. It is mysterious to try to assess all the components of what He might be doing. But I'll tell you one thing. While on the one hand, we may think America is the just protector of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, et al, and we may think that America is the execution sword used by God against Iraq, and there's a sense in which that is true, that does not at all protect us from the judgment of God being turned on us for our sin as well.
And, if anything, this war should be a wakeup call to America. Because as we lose our own young we have to take stock of the reality of the fact that this nation has every right to feel the judgment of God, and, sad as it is to say, the young generation now over there in the armed forces fighting this battle is the most hedonistic, desolute generation this nation has ever known in its history. They are not a holy people. And whatever comes against America should awaken us to the reality, the only reason we haven't suffered the wholesale judgment of God through some war is because God is presently merciful. The ethics of war do not include blanket approval for all wars and all methods. Many wars and many methods are forbidden and receive harsh rebuke. For example, in Habakkuk, chapter 2, verses 6 to 19, there is a harsh rebuke of cruelty in war. It's a marvelous chapter. Amos, for example, in chapter 1, verses 3 to 13, and then right at the beginning chapter 2, Amos strongly protested and forbid a war of evil aggression and forbid ruthless, pitiless war. And Psalm 68:30 says, "He has scattered the people who delight in war." God has no pleasure in that.
But as you look at the war now, the Gulf War, you see these components, don't you? Evil aggression is there, Hussein. Just protection is there, the allies and the United States, in a noble effort to do what government is supposed to do, with the leverage that government has been given by God through the sword, through the instrument of death.
And I believe you see the component of divine judgment. You look at a God-rejecting, Christ-rejecting nation like Iraq that for centuries and centuries and centuries has not only rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ but done everything it could possibly do to stamp out the people of God, namely Israel. And it says in Genesis chapter 12 that whoever curses that people will be cursed, and you can easily see the judgment of God as a potential reality there.
Perhaps we need to be as wise as we should be and see also the judgment of God upon our own nation as some of our young and wonderful people give their lives, take stock of the fact that we stand on the edge of death in a very advanced culture and can't seem to do anything about it, and maybe wonder if in fact it isn't something due to the lifestyle we live.
By the way, we can thank God for the tremendous interest in the gospel. You're very much aware of the fact this is the first war ever fought by Americans in history where there have been no drugs, no alcohol, no prostitutes, no nothing to corrupt them, or to salve them, to give them escape. And so they're facing the stark reality of the barrenness of the place they are and also the inevitability of potential death.
We may be an instrument of God temporarily. We may be on the other end of it if we don't change. Israel served as God's tool for deadly judgment, but other nations also served as God's tool for deadly judgment on Israel. I can't help but think about 70 A.D. when the Romans came into Jerusalem and killed 1.1 million Jews. And you follow that all the way down to Adolf Hitler. Even after the destruction in 70 A.D. they destroyed 985 towns in Palestine, massacring people. The Jews, even though they were chosen by God to be the nation through whom revelation would come, and the Messiah, are not preserved from the judgment of God even though they are His covenant people, and they are people even to this day under present judgment, awaiting the time when they'll look on Him whom they've pierced, embrace Him as the Messiah, come to faith and receive the kingdom God has prepared and promised to them.
All of this complex of factors pulls together in perfect precision, not for you and not for me, but for God. And, because I want to tell you this, God is sovereign over every bit of it. God is in absolute control of all of these things, and is working out and effecting His holy purpose perfectly.
In Isaiah 46, a good reminder of two verses that you ought to know by memory, if you don't. Verse 9, "I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is no one like me." Listen to verse 10, Isaiah 46, "declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, 'My purpose will be established and I will accomplish all my good pleasure.'" What is that saying? God says, "Remember me? There's nobody else up here but me, and I'm in charge of everything." In Acts 17:26, it says that He determines the boundaries of nations. A graphic illustration of God's sovereign control comes pointedly, poignantly, powerfully to our minds in Daniel, chapter 4. Look at it with me.
Daniel, chapter 4. Daniel is among his people, Israel, who are captive in Babylon under the reign of a man by the name of Nebuchadnezzar. Hussein says he wants to be Nebuchadnezzar. Why does he say that? Nebuchadnezzar ruled the world. As king of Babylon, he was king of the ancient world. He was the head of gold in Daniel's image, the most powerful of all world empires in human history.
And he was king, it says in chapter 4, verse 1, "to all the peoples, nations and men of every language that live in all the earth." That is some kingdom. He was king over all of it. And he, of course, was a passionate hedonist, led by self-gratification, lust. And he was also dominated by almost inexplicable pride.
One day he had a dream. He called Daniel to interpret the dream. Daniel 4:24, "'This is the interpretation, oh, king, this is the decree of the Most High, that is, of God, which is come upon my lord the king.'" Here's your dream, and here's what God means to say. "'You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you'll be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven.
"'And seven periods of time,'" seven years, "'will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.'" Did you get that statement? God controls it all.
"'And in that it was commanded to leave the stump with the roots of the tree, your kingdom will be assured to you after you recognize that it is heaven that rules.'" Boy, isn't that good? Nothing is out of hand. Nothing is out of line. Nothing has gotten away from God.
"'Therefore, oh, king, may my advice be pleasing to you. Break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.'" There is a hint that Nebuchadnezzar was a wretched, evil, wicked aggressor.
You know what verse 28 says? Obviously, he didn't repent, so it all happened to him. "Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace at Babylon. And he reflected," and listen to this soliloquy, "'Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built, as a royal residence, by the might of my power, and for the glory of my majesty?'" Not exactly a humble soul, is he?
"While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying," you want a conversation? You've got one. "'King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the most high is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.'
"Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws." God's in control of everything.
Nebuchadnezzar ruled in the Mesopotamian Valley, where Saddam Hussein is. Same basic piece of earth. Same basic goal in mind. God told Nebuchadnezzar He was in charge. God may be telling Hussein the same thing.
He became a raving maniac, crawling around on the ground, eating grass like an animal, unkempt for seven years. Verse 34 says, "'At the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever.'" Boy, what a transformation.
"'His dominion is an everlasting dominion. His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth, and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, "What hast thou done?"'" God is absolutely in control.
"'At that time, my reason returned to me, and my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out, so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me.'" God didn't have to do that. "'Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the king of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.'" Wouldn't it be wonderful if Hussein got saved? Then we could give him back Iraq. It's all in God's hands. It's all absolutely in God's hands. Why is there war? There is war because man is sinful, lustful. He is desirous of selfish gratification. He becomes an evil aggressor. There is war because some governments are noble enough to understand what they are to do. The United States is one, and so are our allies, to stand against that kind of evil aggression and provide just protection for innocent people. And, in it all, the inexorable judgment of God is at work mysteriously, as God is doing His perfect purpose.
That leads us to the second question, which I will only introduce this morning, and that second question you already know the answer to, but it needs elucidation. Second question, can war be moral? Can war be just? We've already said, "Yes," but we need to say more than that, because somebody's going to say, "Well, that's all Old Testament. What about New Testament?" That's the typical argument. We'll get to the New Testament.
But let me say first of all just to think about it. Can war be moral? Now, let me have you use your mind with me for a moment. The pacifists and what used to call the peaceniks deny all war. They say there's no just war, no war, never have war. We saw all of that during Vietnam. We all agree that war is tragic, reflects the worst of man's wretchedness, but not all warring actions in themselves are evil.
War is tragic. It's not always evil. And it's often necessary as government does what God instituted government to do. Not all war can be avoided. To let violence, murder, slaughter of innocents go on unchecked is not noble. It is not right. It doesn't eliminate evil. It perpetuates, tolerates and honors the evil.
We understand, don't we, the atrocities reported by the Amnesty International report on Hussein? We understand that he has gouged out thousands of people's eyes, that he has cut off their tongues halfway up, that he's ripped the fingernails out of their hands and feet, that he's burned them with every conceivable thing, hot iron, fire of all sorts.
We understand that he has murdered and massacred to the point now where it's questionable in the vacuum when he goes that there would be anyone capable of stepping into leadership, at least anyone known to anybody, because they've all been assassinated.
We understand the massacre of the Kuwaiti people, the atrocities against the children and the women. We understand all of that. It is much too simplistic to stand by and say, "Stop fighting. Stop fighting." Government exists to bear the sword against the evil aggressor for the sake of the preservation of those who are his victims.
We have to recognize that in a fallen world it is simplistic if not stupid to say, "Let violence, murder, slaughter of the innocents go on unchecked." We must recognize that in this fallen world any refusal to exercise force to deter evil would mean to let evil rule. And then the whole world would be in chaos, with the collapse of society.
Look at it this way. If having military force and using it against deadly wickedness is immoral, then it's immoral in principle, right? If it's immoral to do that, it's immoral in principle. Well, if it's immoral in principle for us to try to protect people from deadly wickedness, then it would be equally immoral in principle to do that at any level.
So it would be equally immoral to have police or the National Guard or the Coast Guard or the sheriffs or the Highway Patrol or the FBI or private security. If it is immoral to restrain evil, then open all the jails and let everybody out. Eliminate the death penalty. That's absolutely unthinkable, absolutely unthinkable.
What would happen? What would happen if that were the principle we adopted? We'd all be terrorized to the point of death. You see, if in principle it is moral to use force at all, then it is moral to use force, period, in the right situation. If a rapist is attacking a young girl, attempting to rape that girl with a gun to her head, and he kills her after the rape, goes along the rest of the day, finds another young girl. There's a bulletin out on him. The police are looking for him. They find him in the process of rape with a gun in his hand. And in the milieu that occurs in that moment they take his life. Is that immoral?
Is it immoral to protect that girl from the plundering, raping, murderous intent of this individual? Would we stay back and say, "Stop the war. Stop. Don't invade that...don't step in." It's ludicrous. Is it immoral if you find a man murdering his 15th victim, the only way that you can deal with the man is in some kind of combat, and you have to take his life, is that immoral? It seems to me that a lot of the people who are crying that war is immoral would be the first ones who would grab the nearest weapon to fight off somebody who tried to come and murder them or somebody they love.
See, we have self-defensive instincts. God has designed that the best way possible in a fallen world, He wants us to be blessed and to live a happy life. An ideal or just war is conceivable in principle, just as it is conceivable to assume that somebody could take the life of someone trying to murder somebody else, plunder them, destroy them.
But an ideal or just war would be limited, and I want to share this with you, because I think it's very important to note this, and these are things that I did not put together as a result of this current war. These are longtime standards that I've understood, that you can see fit perfectly what's happening now.
A just war would be limited to halting the evil aggressor and defending the oppressed and freeing them. That's the just war. It's limited to that. What do I mean by that? Let me give you five principles of a just war.
Number one, a just cause. A just war would be marked by a just cause. What do I mean by a just cause? I mean it's defensive. It's protective. It's the noble effort of government to wield the sword in the way that government is designed to wield the sword, and that is for the protection of the innocent victim against the evil aggressor. It would have to have a just cause.
Secondly, a just war would have to have a just intention, a just intention. What do I mean by that? Peace, safety and freedom, not revenge, plunder and conquest. Peace, safety and freedom, not revenge, plunder and conquest.
Thirdly, a just war is a last resort war. That is to say, it is only engaged in at the end of all possible negotiations, when every option has been utterly exhausted.
Fourthly, a just war has limited objectives. A just war has limited objectives. Not total destruction of everybody, not the devastation of everybody, limited objectives in the sense specific targets, specific goals, peace, deliverance, withdrawal.
And, fifthly, a just war engages limited means. A just war engages limited means. That is, its force is limited to its objectives. Think about that. I think what you're experiencing in our country right now is an illustration of what government was designed to do very graphically. It's a noble effort. First of all, we have a just cause. We are the defenders of the freedom and the safety of an oppressed people. Secondly, we have a just intention. Our intention is peace, safety and freedom, not revenge, plunder and conquest. Thirdly, we have gone to war only as a last resort, having exhausted all attempts at negotiating.
Fourthly, we have limited objectives. We're not trying to destroy the whole place. You realize, of course, don't you, you realize that if the United States set out as an objective to destroy Iraq we could destroy Iraq in a matter of minutes? But we also have limited means, because our means are limited to our objectives. Our objective is not to destroy Iraq. We could do it with nuclear weaponry in a moment in time. But we are fighting a limited objective with limited means.
I have been fascinated to see how skilled we are at hitting exactly what we want to hit and little or anything else. That's a noble effort. That's a noble effort. Those are responsible approaches to the issue, reasonable ones. But the question is still posed, as reasonable as those are, is the use of military force in resisting, restraining and punishing violence really entrusted to human government in the Bible? You say, "Yeah, we know Israel in the Old Testament, but what about the New Testament?" That's for next time.
And, next time we're also going to talk about how are we to understand this war, particularly in the light of Old Testament promises and the problem between the Arabs and the Jews scripturally. And then we're going to answer the question, is this a sign of the return of Christ? That question has been circulating around our young people at the college. Some of them are very stressed, because they have not yet had the opportunity to engage in marital bliss, and they are somewhat hopeful that the Lord may delay His coming.
We will talk next time about such things. In the meantime, our pastoral staff is available for premarital counseling for any of you who want to hurry and enter into this blissful condition.
Let's bow together in prayer.
Father, it seems such a far-fetched thing, that we could pray as a people for the salvation of Saddam Hussein, and by the transforming grace of Jesus Christ embrace him as a brother if he were genuinely redeemed. Father, we don't want to hate the man.
We just hate the sin, and we despise the satanic influences behind him. But we would ask in your sovereignty if you would see fit to do to him what you did to Nebuchadnezzar. Send him out in the desert until he knows who the true God is.
And may this whole war in some way betray the faith of all those people who are believing in a false God. May it be clear that that false God is not the true God. We pray, Father, for the salvation of many of the Iraqi people, that somehow the gospel would penetrate their Muslim darkness. Lord, we pray somehow that you will cause them to come to the knowledge of the truth. We know you must have your people there someplace. We pray for the continued ministry among our troops, and the salvation of many of them, many of whom will perhaps perish. Lord, we pray for the awakening of our own country. We know that after war, typically, through this century, there has been a renewal of interest in the gospel, because people came face to face with death.
We can only pray, Lord, that America might hear the wakeup call and recognize that it's walking on a path that's going to bring about its own judgment. This may be but a taste, as some of our precious young life is snuffed out.
Lord, we pray mostly that this might somehow extend the gospel, exalt the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, advance the kingdom, lift up your great name. And we would pray, Father, that the work could be done swiftly and quickly and done with, over with, so that it is not unnecessarily prolonged.
We just want you to be glorified in it all. Even as we see Israel implicated in this, we again are reminded to pray for the salvation of many in Israel. We know there are many evangelists there. I know of one who is on the street preaching. May there be many who hear his message of the Messiah, and, in the time of fear, come to the One who alone can deliver from all fear, even our Christ.
We thank you that you've given us in your Word insight to be able to understand the times and the seasons in which we live. We await further instruction as we look again to these things next Lord's Day, thankfully, in Christ's name. Amen.
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The most firearm-friendly libertarian and gun-control centered politician can agree at least on one fundamental point: the need to keep guns safe and out of the hands of unprepared kids. Unfortunately, it looks like we're not doing a very good job of that.
Top image: BG Knight, Shutterstock.
A paper being presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in Boston looked at the rate of firearm injuries to youths under 20, and found that it is happening much more often than most people believed.
Some 20,600 firearm injuries happen to 0-19 year olds every year, of which 4.5% are fatal. 63% percent of these injuries were intentional; 37% were not.
The number of non-fatal injuries is actually 30% higher than previous estimates, and African American males older than 11 were at a higher risk of coming to the emergency room due to a gun injury.
Despite what many would think about inner city violence, these injury rates were no more common in metropolitan areas than elsewhere. However, the highest percentage was in the South (47%), then the Midwest (34%), the West (14%) and finally the Northeast (5%).
With the rate of injuries so much higher than previously estimated, it might be a good idea for people to pay a bit more attention to gun safety.


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The primary end-use application for electrical tubing and sleeving products include industrial and electric motors, generators, transformers, wiring harnesses, lighting, small appliances, and other electrical apparatus for primary and supplementary insulation over connectors, terminals, etc.
The product scope of the Section includes flexible and semi-rigid electrical insulating tubular products, but not limited to: Fabric-based plastic and rubber, including heat-shrinkable and spiral wound products.
Click here for detailed product scope information.
Technical Activities
Standards play a vital part in the design, production, and distribution of products destined for both national and international commerce. Sound technical standards benefit the user, as well as the manufacturer, by improving safety, bringing about economies in product, eliminating misunderstandings between manufacturer and purchaser, and assisting the purchaser in selecting and obtaining the proper product for his particular need.
NEMA devotes much of its time, effort, and resources to voluntary standardization activities.
1. Standards in the purview of the Tubing and Sleeving section:
NEMA TF1 - Coated Electrical Sleeving
NEMA TF2 - Uncoated Treated Fiberglass Sleeving
2. This section devotes most of its technical activity on two UL standards:
UL 224 - Extruded Insulating Tubing
UL 1441 - Coated Electrical Sleeving
These standards are harmonized with their Canadian counterparts respectively:
C22.2 No. 198.1-99
C22.2 No. 198.3
The section members play a very active role in the CANENA efforts that resulted in a high degree of harmonization between the two sets of standards. NEMA holds the CANENA technical harmonization committee secretariat. The Chairman is also a NEMA member. The committee just finalized a comprehensive round of revisions to the first edition of the harmonized documents. During the last part of 2005 and the beginning of 2005 UL and CSA are balloting the changes proposed by CANENA.
3. Members of the section are involved in the IEC 60684 standardization activities regularly attending meetings of the IEC TC15 committee and related working group. One consequence is that the harmonized UL/CSA standards are also to a great extent in line with the IEC 60684 document.
Government Affairs
Through NEMA, the section develops industry positions on legislative and regulatory initiatives that may affect member products, markets, and customers. NEMA's work has resulted in contributions to public policy development and in promoting competitiveness, technological progress, and public safety. On the Government Affairs homepage members can search for and e-mail federal representatives to convey opinions regarding energy policy or other issues related to the electroindustry.
NEMA Government Affairs provides specific services to its members and information in the areas of Environment, Health & Safety; Energy; and International Trade & Commerce.
Market Economics
Through NEMA, member companies are able to develop and implement tailored, industry-specific market and statistical programs that benefit participating companies. Reports may include:
The association also conducts economic analyses on the impact of legislation and regulations on member products, and monitors and reports on key industry market indicators. All programs comply with NEMA statistical confidentiality policies. For more information, please see Business & Economy.
Membership in NEMA is open to any firm actively engaged in the manufacture in North America of a product within the NEMA scope and for sale in the open market. Membership of foreign firms is subject to product section policies and NEMA Board of Governors approval.
NEMA operates on a fee-for-service basis. Each product section establishes its projects and activities and approves an annual operating budget.


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Friday morning on CNBC, billionaire Tesla Motors and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shot down rumors that he's dating actress Cameron Diaz.
The New York Post reported Thursday that the two had "gotten close" after Diaz bought a Tesla Model S EV electric sports car. Sources told the Post that Musk has been traveling to LA frequently to visit Diaz.
Musk said on air that he's not dating the celebrity. He told CNBC, "I don't know where people got that from."
CNBC live-blogged the "Squawk on the Street" interview, if you're interested in checking out what else Musk said on the show.
Get the latest Tesla stock price here.


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A petition proposing interim zoning measures to cap big-box stores at 50,000-square-feet in Middlebury has one primary purpose: to maintain the intent of the current town plan and zoning statutes. Doing nothing leaves the town open to costly lawsuits by applicants who could easily fight the nebulous wording in the town's current  plan.
In Middlebury, the issue centers on the clear intent within the town plan to limit any large-scale development that would cause "undue adverse economic impact on the downtown." The town fathers' intent, clearly, was to put into place measures that would maintain the vibrancy and vitality of the downtown retail district, and promote the growth of locally-owned, independent businesses throughout the community. Â
In his column Wednesday, Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post, asked the question: Would Deep Throat be a hero in 2005? He suggested that most people would say yes. Deep Throat, after all, was the anonymous source who led journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to the information that exposed what became known as the Watergate scandal during the early part of President Richard Nixon's second term. That information, and the dogged pursuit of the story by the Post, also exposed the complicity of John Mitchell's Justice Department and led to Nixon's resignation in disgrace in 1974.
Deep Throat was in the news, of course, because the source — one of American journalism's best kept secrets — revealed himself on Tuesday. He is W. Mark Felt, former deputy director of the FBI. According to a Washington Post editorial, Felt, who is 91, revealed his role in part "because of his family's belief that he deserves to be honored for his actions while he is alive.�
The moment after President Bush made his announcement that Judge John G. Roberts would be his first nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, the special interest groups swung into action. Conservative groups hailed the nomination in stellar terms. Special interest groups on the left chastised the nominee in equally dire language. The battle lines were being drawn.
But rather than jump into the melee, let's all relax, step back a pace, breathe. Perhaps the extra oxygen will help Americans think objectively and read a bit about the nominee on their own.
Part of the problem in today's extremely partisan environment is that Americans are saturated with instantaneous and biased views that seek to distort the facts and push an agenda. The aim is clear: Left-wing outfits want to raise anxiety among their supporters in the hopes of raising contributions to battle the conservatives. Right-wingers are praising the candidate in the blind faith that Bush has followed through on his word. Why? Because Bush's team knows they need to keep conservative voters satisfied, and allowing the perception that Roberts might be a moderate or even a moderate conservative would leave the base softer in a trying time for a president who's popularity ratings are low and falling lower.
"The (drug) problem is getting worse, not better. It's only a matter of time before we have our first adolescent fatality.�
The comment was made by Robert Thorn, executive director of the Counseling Service of Addison County. He should know. As head of a county agency on the front lines of drug abuse and the personal crises that inevitably follow, Thorn has been watching the developing drug scene in Addison County from his front-row seat. So have Jim Hulfish, director of adult out-patient services for CSAC, and Ken Schoen, an adolescent substance abuse clinician with CSAC. All three tell a similar story in the lead article of today's second installment in a two-part series on drug abuse published in this newspaper.
The national poverty rate rose to 12.7 percent of the population, according to statistics released earlier this week. The increase of 1.1 million Americans living in poverty, bringing the total to 37 million, marked the fourth straight annual increase (from 2001-2004). The Census Bureau also said household income remained flat, while another 800,000 Americans are now without health insurance.
Close to a third of those living in poverty are children.
The numbers have been rising steadily. The last decline in the nation's poverty rate was under President Bill Clinton in 2000. Since then, the number of Americans living in poverty has jumped from 31.1 million people to 37 million. The poverty threshold for a family of four for 2004 was set at $19,307 or less, and at $12,334 or less for a family of two.
A Senate bill that would cap the size of big-box stores at 50,000 square feet in every community in the state offers a compelling solution to the big-box store angst many towns face when a big box store files a permit to build. The bill goes a bit too far, however, in making the restrictions too onerous, and heavy-handed. With a few modifications, however, the existing bill can become a mechanism that gives communities the control that should have always been theirs, and, as a bonus, the initiative creates an exciting national marketing campaign for the state.
The bill, as currently drafted, includes these provisions:
Talk about the pot calling the kettle scorched. When Vice President Dick Cheney said that Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean was "over the top� in his recent remarks about Republicans, is it possible the vice-president had forgotten his unprecedented bout of swearing at Sen. Patrick Leahy on the Senate floor?
The state of Vermont is forcing a potential crisis on the state's 12 nonprofit home health providers that is puzzling and suspect. At issue is a demand by John Crowley, commissioner of Vermont's Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration (BISHCA), for home health providers to prove they are serving 100 percent of the state market by July 9. If they can't, Crowley says he will break the current state-imposed monopoly and allow a private firm to complete for the Medicare and Medicaid patients they serve.
The puzzling aspect of the forced crisis is the timing. Why Crowley has set such a tight deadline is unknown and makes little sense. Vermont's home health care providers have operated under the current system for numerous years and have an outstanding record of serving a high percentage of Vermonters at a low per-capita cost. According to state figures for 2002, Vermont's 12 home health centers served 108 Medicare patients per 1,000 residents, compared to 86 per 1,000 in New England and 61 per 1,000 nationally. The average cost per visit was $76 in 2002, compared to $102 nationally. And, because the home health centers operate on a break-even basis, they require no taxpayer subsidy.
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I would like to congratulate the founder and the others who are responsible for the publication of this amazing magazine. The new Swaminarayan Akshardham mandir along the banks of the Yamuna in Delhi "Pride of India", (Apr/May/Jun, 2006) is a mark showing that Hindu culture is still vibrant. In "Fire on the Mountain" (Jul/Aug/Sep, 2006), we see how energized our Hindu society is presently. All the views of the swamis and saints, men and women, who have recently become a part of this magazine also add to the great work you are doing. Congratulations on a job well done.
Taran Samaroo
Georgetown, Guyana
What Is Hinduism?
Congratulations on the Jan/Feb/Mar, 2007, issue of Hinduism Today. I had a look at the Digital Edition and think it is wonderful. The theme of "What Is Hinduism?" is excellent and needed now more than ever before. I look forward to reading the various sections in more detail. The images and design are also excellent, as ever.
Bhavit Mehta
London, UK
I want to personally thank Hinduism Today for its wonderful special issue on "What Is Hinduism?" that it just released. This issue should be in every Hindu temple and in the homes of all Hindus. It should be given to groups and libraries worldwide who wish to really understand Hindu Dharma. In its few pages, it presents what is probably the most concise, complete and clear presentation of Hinduism in all its many facets.
Pandit Vamadeva Shastri
Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
Hinduism Today magazine has once again done an excellent job by explaining Hinduism and its many facets in such a translucent and lucid manner. Being a Hindu, you assume you know everything only to find out how much you don't know about Hinduism and its profoundness until you come across such articles. Every article in this issue, including the principles of vastu for home design, is informative.
Sri Mallampalli
Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Free Magazines for Students
I have been part of the Hindu Students Council chapter at the University of Texas at Austin for over four years. From the annual camps to regional retreats to chapter meetings, I have always seen Hinduism Today magazines available free of charge. I really appreciate your support of what we are trying to collectively accomplish. In addition, I have seen many non-Hindus pick up copies of your magazine from our table in the student union area as a reference for Hindu materials and news. Thank you again for providing us with your amazing publication.
Aashish Kapadia
Austin, Texas, USA
Down with the Death Penalty
I am incarcerated, and I have converted to Hinduism while in prison. I want to comment on your death penalty article ( "Capital Punishment: Time to Abandon It?" Oct/Nov/Dec, 2006), but first let me explain that if I had never come to prison, I never would have studied religions or had the opportunity to find the path that I believe suits me best. I could not and would not choose a religion that believes all other religions are evil and rationalizes unjust treatment of others. I chose to worship Lord Siva and Lord Ganesha because I had this opportunity to educate myself. Please remember that the next time anyone thinks negatively toward prisoners and calls for harsher penalties.
More light needs to be shed on prison reform. The tendency in most states has been to be tough on crime--lock everyone up and throw away the keys. As a result, a population explosion has occurred in prisons in those states. Programs get cut to pay for the increasing population, and inmates are then left to rehabilitate themselves. As you can imagine, few do. When those same inmates get out, they go right back to the same places and circumstances as before they were locked up. Thus, recidivism rates are high.
Even though I cannot say that the death penalty affects me directly, I can comment on several of the people whom I have met who more than likely would have received a death sentence had there been such a law in the State of Wisconsin. Many have repented severely since being here and have taken pains to try to change themselves even though they are never getting out. I can honestly say that most of these very same men, whom I have eaten with, been in the same room with, even studied with, are good men who got caught up in bad situations. I believe most of them would never commit another crime if given a second chance. I'm not saying all, or even most, convicted murderers are like this, but those who have repented are. And I'm not advocating the release of convicted murderers, but I am advocating the humane and just treatment of these people. So, please think about reforming prisons to help inmates become better people and have the opportunity to come closer to God. An eye for an eye never brought peace, nor will it ever. Only love brings peace. Siva is the Self of all. Mistreat one person, you mistreat Siva, because Siva is in that person! Love that person, and Siva feels that love!
Michael Woodford
Boscobel, Wisconsin, USA
Thank you for publishing Swamini Mayatitananda's teaching ( "We Need to Stop, " Oct/Nov/Dec, 2006). It gets to the bottom line very quickly regarding how to begin to rid the world of its insane "quantum violence." Perhaps a copy of this profound message should be sent to all the leaders of the "civilized world!" For now, however, I will start with myself--living a life of dharma, serving others, one person at a time, from a place of divine awareness as Mother reminds us.
Dhira Michael Rocco
West Reading, Pennsylvania, USA
Promoting Hinduism
I applaud your efforts to promote Hinduism around the world. It seems to me that Islam and Christianity have brought much suffering to this world and continue to do so. A Hindu world would be a peaceful world. Most times conversions take place when a person shows up and says he wants to change his faith. That is all right, but I think we Hindus should not only spread our faith, but also make sure that converts understand what it means to be a Hindu. I have, therefore, created this list for the new convert.
The most important tenet is to respect all faiths, realizing that all paths lead to the same God. You may have abused other faiths while you were a Christian or Muslim, but, once you become a Hindu, put a cork in it. Have we not seen enough examples of Hindus who have converted to other faiths and can't stop abusing their former faith? Ever seen a Hindu convert do the same?
Christians and Muslims are one-and-done. They get only one life, whereas Hindus know they live many lives, giving us a chance to correct our errors and follow career or life paths that we may have missed in this life.
Hinduism is inclusive, not exclusive. According to Christians and Muslims, their heavens are exclusive; only their faithful may enter. In Lord Rama's heaven, every good person is welcome.
The Hindu concept of heaven and hell makes perfect sense. Your stay is temporary, depending on the good or bad that you have done in this life. The Christian and Muslim view of eternal heaven or hell presents some problems. How can an ordinary person leading a dull life be sent to eternal hell? Remember that this is forever!
Lastly, I smile when I think of Lord Rama. Hindus say, "Love God, " not "Fear God."
Jayanti Patel
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Food Fight
Being a strict vegetarian, i thoroughly enjoyed your article, "The Meat-Free Life " (Jan/Feb/Mar, 2007). However, I tend to disagree with the claim "By ingesting the grosser chemistries of animal foods, one introduces into the body and mind anger, jealousy, fear, anxiety, suspicion and the terrible fear of death, all of which is locked into the flesh of butchered creatures." First of all, how can a dead animal's flesh, devoid of soul and mind, harbor these emotions? Once a living being dies, its soul, accompanied by its mind, intellect and consciousness, departs to the other world; only its physical body, devoid of any life, emotions or consciousness, remains. Second, there are already enough compelling reasons to convince a reasonable person to become vegetarian; there is no need to use scare tactics which can create credibility issues and make counterproductive the effort to convert somebody to vegetarianism. Third, in the article of the same issue, "How to Win an Argument with a Meat-Eater, " the "food and consciousness " argument has not been advanced. If this were really a valid argument, I am sure you would have included it in this article, along with the other ten arguments that have been put forth.
Pradeep Srivastava
Detroit, Michigan, USA
There are two responses to the question you raise about how eating meat can introduce lower emotions into the consumer. There is incontrovertible evidence that animals experience fear and anxiety in the moments leading up to their slaughter. On a chemical level, these emotions cause the release of hormones such as adrenaline into the bloodstream, in turn engaging the natural, instinctive, physiological fight-or-flight response. These chemicals remain in the butchered flesh after death and are ingested by humans. On a metaphysical level, the aura of a person or animal contains vibrations related to the emotions currently and recently experienced. Just as these vibrations rub off on a person's clothes and remain even long after the clothes are removed, the vibrations associated with the emotions an animal experiences just prior to its demise are left behind in its flesh long afterward. The meat-eater absorbs these subtle vibrations with the flesh. Thus, his awareness tends to be drawn into the same lower emotions, especially fear, that sourced the chemical and vibratory responses in the first place. The same aggressive-defensive animal instincts that exist in man are fed by the subtle and physical chemistries within the dead flesh.
The photo of the dancer on the gatefold of the Jan/Feb/Mar, 2007, issue is attributable to B.K. Agarwal rather than Dinodia.
The comments are owned by the author. We aren't responsible for their content.


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Los Angeles: "To Be Published or Self-Publish? Options for Artist" at ARTBOOK @ Paper Chase, July 11th
ARTBOOK @ Paper Chase in Los Angeles
To Be Published or Self-Publish? Options for Artists
Lecture and Panel Discussion
July 11, 2011, 7:00 pm
Coauthors Mary Virginia Swanson and Darius Himes will give a 30-minute visual presentation for artists who wish to bring their art work to book form, discussing both traditional publishing and self-publishing avenues towards helping determine the pros/cons of each path. Following their lecture, MVS and DH will lead a discussion with industry professionals involved in making, distributing and selling of art books: Nicole Katz, cofounder Paper Chase Press; Mathew Swenson, Creative Director, Paper Chase Press; Jane Brown, Director, ARTBOOK | D.A.P. (Distributed Art Publishers); and Tosh Berman, Book Buyer, Book Soup. Time will be allotted for Q&A. Copies of Publish Your Photography Book will be available for purchase at the event.
Nicole Katz is the owner of Paper Chase Press and Eighth Veil. Founded by Nicole's family in 1976, Paper Chase combines its commercial press and bindery with Eighth Veil's program of exhibitions and publications on contemporary art.
Mathew Swenson is the creative director of Paper Chase Press and founder of Paper Chase Intelligence (PCI). PCI is a creative services bureau that offers its clients access to freelancers like writers, designers, and photographers without the typical bureaucracy of an agency. Through PCI he, provides guidance to grow his clients' brands through marketing and social networking initiatives.
Jane Brown is Vice President, National Accounts Director and Director of ARTBOOK @ Paper Chase. She's been a sales director at D.A.P. (now called ARTBOOK | D.A.P.) since 2002. Founded in 1990, ARTBOOK | D.A.P. has grown into a major international distributor of books, special editions and rare publication from an array of the world most respected publishers, museums and cultural institutions.
Tosh Berman is the publisher and editor for TamTam Books, as well as the book buyer for Book Soup, an independent bookstore in West Hollywood. Tosh is currently working on a book on the band 'Sparks' as well as a memoir "My Struggle" of his teenage/childhood years.
MVS and DH are offering private project consultations on July 10th and 11th; click here for details.


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The willingness to be vulnerable, to speak mistakes, and to talk for growth in the classroom creates a valuable dialogue between teachers and students. We learn that we are all human beings, imperfect and flawed – and that's okay.
A few years ago, Professor Sarah MacKenzie-Dawson, education, was notified about a death in her family just before a scheduled class. "I walked into the room and burst into tears," she recalls. "While it was frightening to be so vulnerable in front of a roomful of students, it became a very real learning experience for me."
This experience has since informed much of MacKenzie-Dawson's research and work with preservice teachers in the education department at Bucknell. "The willingness to be vulnerable, to speak mistakes, and to talk for growth in the classroom creates a valuable dialogue between teachers and students," she says. "We learn that we are all human beings, imperfect and flawed – and that's okay."
In her work, MacKenzie-Dawson combines an interest in the vulnerability of human experience and how that connects students and teachers, and an enthusiasm for the use of arts in education, used to express those connection and ideas. "Some researchers call it 'a/r/tography,' and others 'scholartistry,'"she says. "But whatever you call it, it's a fusion of the arts and scholarship that becomes very enriching. The arts are a wonderful avenue for the exploration of thoughts and the creation of conversations."
MacKenzie-Dawson has collaborated with other professors from theatre and dance, sociology and psychology to create these hybrids of humanities study and education. "These types of inquiries make great use of the richness of experience Bucknell students possess," she says. "They foster a conversation between the quantitative and the creative that embraces the teacher and the student as whole beings, complete with the quirks, strengths and weaknesses that make us all unique."
While her focus on the arts in education may spring from her undergraduate days as a theatre major, MacKenzie-Dawson says her work on wholeness and connectedness in learning informs her ideas about diversity and identity, both for teachers and for students. "Empathy," she says, "is not simply about being able to walk in someone else's shoes, but also learning to realize that we can never know the path that got someone to where they are helps us recognize that diversity can be more complicated than what we see on the surface. Really, we're all connected."
In her teaching, which includes courses like Education and the Human Spirit and Integrating the Arts in Learning, she encourages her students to take risks, in work and in life. "Many students avoid risk due to a fear of failure," she says. "But moving within that space can lead to innovation in the classroom, creating an environment where teachers are present and ready to learn from their students, as well as the students learning from their teachers. Asking what it means to be a teacher and a learner in experience leads us to exciting new connections."
Posted October 3, 2013


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After all these years, Genghis Khan has been rehabilitated–as an eco-warrior! My nominee for today's weirdest headline: Was Genghis Khan history's greenest conqueror?
Genghis Khan's Mongol invasion in the 13th and 14th centuries was so vast that it may have been the first instance in history of a single culture causing man-made climate change, according to new research out of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology.
Unlike modern day climate change, however, the Mongol invasion cooled the planet, effectively scrubbing around 700 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere. …
Over the course of the century and a half run of the Mongol Empire, about 22 percent of the world's total land area had been conquered and an estimated 40 million people were slaughtered by the horse-driven, bow-wielding hordes. Depopulation over such a large swathe of land meant that countless numbers of cultivated fields eventually returned to forests.
In other words, one effect of Genghis Khan's unrelenting invasion was widespread reforestation, and the re-growth of those forests meant that more carbon could be absorbed from the atmosphere.
The same study also analyzed the effects of the Black Death and other historical events. It turns out the Black Death was mis-named; it was green too, but not as green as the Mongol Horde.
Who needs the Onion when we have environmentalists?


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Updated 12:10 PMJul. 19
Information posted is an estimate.
Your personal experience may vary.
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Topics include normal newborn appearance and behavior, feeding your baby, safety and well-baby care.
For questions, call Billie Terrill (309) 948-7286
The class is located at Trinity Birth Place, 500 John Deere Road, Moline (west of Target). The Birth Place entrance is located in the back of the hospital. The parking lot is easily accessible from 52nd Avenue. The education room is located to the left of the lobby, outside of the Mother Baby department.