PARKS BROWN

Christmas is a season of preparing for and celebrating change. The liturgical season of Advent culminates on Christmas Eve and the birth of Jesus is celebrated on Christmas Day. Advent is a time where Christ followers prepare their hearts and minds to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Advent is a season of waiting for change, anticipating and then celebrating the change Christ brought into the world. Although we celebrate the birth of Jesus today, we enter a new season of Advent tomorrow.

We all know, see and hear how things have changed in America and the world in less than 3 years. We all know there are greater changes in store for 2023 but do we know what those changes will be? The founder and Executive Director of the World Economic Forum in Davos produced a video preparing us for what and when the changes he and his followers will try to implement. Are we prepared for this? Are we preparing for greater changes than these?

We knew bitter cold weather was heading our way here at Christmas. We knew the arctic blast would be something different than we had seen so we prepared the best we could. Despite the preparation pipes still froze, people still died and power companies couldn’t meet the demand. Knowing the change coming doesn’t always favor the prepared mind as Louis Pasteur once said, but it does favor the prepared heart.

Louis Pasteur changed the face of science and medicine in the 19th-century. Pasteur was a bacteriologist credited with discovering the principles of vaccination. Pasteur’s contributions to science, technology, and medicine are nearly without precedent as he pioneered the study of molecular asymmetry; discovered that microorganisms cause fermentation and disease; originated the process of pasteurization; saved the beer, wine, and silk industries in France; and developed vaccines against anthrax and rabies. Years of study and research led to his most famous saying, “Chance favors the prepared mind.”

Football coaches remind players to keep their heads on a swivel to be prepared and see change before it happens. Sports fans may have seen the video of Deion Sanders preparing his new football team at Colorado for the changes ahead. Deion told his followers, “I’m coming. And when I get here, there’s gonna be change. So get ready.” Prepare for the change that is coming.

Coaches, politicians at Davos and anyone can TRY to bring change but only ONE person has a perfect record at predicting and bringing the exact change they promised. One of His most famous quotes was when He said, “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe I am who I am.” Yes, what he was talking about came to fruition.

Change often happens when you least expect it so we need to live ready. Jesus said, “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” In other words, stay ready so you don’t have to get ready. Chance may favor the prepared mind so be prepared.

The writer of the 39th book of Psalms put it best. “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.” In other words, help me be prepared for the last change I’ll see.

The past few years have reminded everyone that life altering change can come suddenly and unexpectedly. As we look into 2023 and prepare for the next changes we KNOW are coming, lets return to the OG. Remember, He is batting 1000 for predicting and instituting change. He is so confident in his ability to predict and institute change, He put it in black and white for all to see…and never forget.

Let these words shape your season of Advent beginning tomorrow.
……..’Then I saw “a new heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Book it. Be prepared for this change. It will happen.

Christmas Day may be over in a few hours, but our season of Advent is not.

A hedge is a fence or boundary. When a hedge is in place it surrounds a thing, protects it and provides security. Hedges are used to shelter and mitigate risk. When hedges fail, the results are volatility, troubles and distress in spades. Everywhere you look these days, hedges are failing and being removed. In the old vernacular, woe to those who hedges fail.

I spent 30 years in the financial world before starting to farm and landscape 24-7. Therefore, I see hedges everywhere. Shrubs and trees that shelter a yard or field. Investments and strategies used to limit risk and protect capital. In 2008 failing hedges (derivatives) tied to mortgage backed securities were the origin for the severe damage caused to financial institutions. The rest is a tale of misery and gnashing of teeth felt around the world. In other words, enough woe to go around for everyone.

Today pundits will point to financial institutions being in a much better position and say the ‘great recession’ is in the rear view mirror. But, look closely and you’ll see the next phase of hedges failing is well underway.

We need to recognize the systemic failure of hedging, how widespread it is and where this failure originates. People want to believe as long as there isn’t a monetary and fiscal catastrophe, money and sound finances will hedge us against the woe we lived through a few years ago. Well, look at the hedges being removed today and buckle up.

The police are historically a hedge to protect against crime…that hedge is being de-funded and torn down. The U.S. Military has been a hedge to protect our freedoms and way of life domestically and abroad…that hedge is being removed as well. The border was a hedge to ensure against any and all threats like terrorists and drugs.

Many investors believe Bitcoin is a hedge against government overspending and printing of fiat currencies. Governments don’t accept competition without a fight so that rout is only in the 4th inning. Bonds are considered a hedge to balance a portfolio. Rising interest rates and the failure of confidence in governments across the globe is tearing apart that hedge. Pension funds in Europe will bear this burden at first but American retirement funds will follow. The fruit many expect from hedging is failing to ripen and materialize.

“In Unity We Trust” will replace the phrase “In God We Trust” on the CBDC’s (Central Bank Digital Currency) which will start in Europe. Sound finances and monetary policies of a ‘United Nations’ are not the hedge we need. A little history and knowledge of the Bible reveals that everything we SEE is a reflection of what we don’t see happening in the spiritual realm. The God of Creation is the only hedge protecting our world. When you take Him out of the schools, from the court buildings and out of the conversation in the heart and mind of men and women, woe goes parabolic.

Hedges have been falling my entire life. The family is the bedrock for civilization and the means for passing along Truth and Faith. Parents have the primary responsibility to give their children God’s Truth. When we substitute passing along Biblical truth for a better socioeconomic standing and a college education, the hedge of a Godly family has failed the next generation. When we tell each other and teach our kids evolution trumps creation….abortion is choice not murder…genital mutilation is a means of correcting gender confusion…woe to the press, politicians, church and family.

This isn’t MY opinion, this is what God says. Read the 5th chapter of Isaiah and see if any of this sounds like America in 2022.

…’ Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land.’ Can you say urban life?

…’ Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine.’ Can you say a culture of entertainment and a work force where the service industry creates more jobs than manufacturing?

…’ Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness.’ I’ll let you come up with a list for this. It spreads across race, sex and political persuasions. None are exempt.

The God of Creation is NOT a safe God. When HIS people, who call themselves by HIS name don’t act or speak out against what has become politically correct or woke ideology, He removes the hedge of protection. The resulting distress, volatility and trouble is what we are currently experiencing.

God created our world as a garden (remember Eden) and a vineyard that is meant to produce fruit for Him. His people are supposed to work that garden and bear the fruit. That fruit is ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.’ When God’s people don’t bear that fruit, you could say Christians are a large part of the problem. Sound extreme? Listen up.

‘What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed: I will break down it’s wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briars and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.’ Isaiah 5:4-6.

The hedges we see failing in American society and our financial markets is a result of spiritual hedges being removed. Christians must take the lead and produce the fruit that comes from the Holy Spirit…or else the hedges will continue to fail.

If we don’t speak God’s truth, if we don’t love regardless of political affiliation, if we don’t turn back to God, woe is a gentle word to describe what lies ahead.

What we see is derived from what we believe. If I see a clear sky in the morning but believe it will rain in the afternoon, I see an opportunity to get outside and enjoy the day before the weather changes. If I believe a political candidate or party can calm the chaos and distractions in the world, then I see the solution in a person or activism. If I believe the God who created the heavens and the earth is sovereign over His creation, then I see Him allowing the chaos and distractions to humble the nations. His purpose in humbling the world is to bring His people back to Him.

If I believe in the Judaeo-Christian Creator I need to learn and study His ways by reading the Bible. I know He doesn’t change in persona and He works in similar ways today as He has in the past. Therefore, I see Him at work each day whether I recognize what He is doing or not. If my truth and God change with the weather and culture, I am lost, angry and confused about current events. But, if I strive to learn more about God each day, I see the clash between His Kingdom and the earthly cultural kingdoms. I see God humbling His creation today the way He has since the beginning.

The act of humbling is older than the planet. Before our Earth existed and human beings were created, God made angelic beings. The greatest of these beings was Lucifer, the Shining One. Lucifer was so full of himself that God humbled him by casting him out of heaven and sent him hurtling to a swampy punishment we know as Earth. God is the author of humbling and humility. The devil was the first to be humbled on this planet but definitely not the last.

God’s Kingdom and culture gives people free will to think, speak and live as you want. America was founded on these principles and freedoms. In turn, the current cultural battle is at the root of a worldly culture seeking to tear down and destroy these freedoms by any means possible. The world’s culture demands acceptance and approval. Acceptance of new theories about the Founding Fathers of the nation. Approval of lifestyles and concepts that God calls deceptive and immoral.

In contrast to the freedoms God gives, if you don’t accept and embrace the worldly culture you will be humiliated and cancelled. God allows us to be humbled but not cancelled. On both sides of the political aisle, the current cultural clashes are being incorrectly marketed as a fight for democracy. WHAT and WHO you believe are critical to understanding what you are really seeing and why. The Bible reminds us, HE dictates and controls who and when His creation is humbled.

“The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and exalts.” 1 Samuel 2:6-7.

‘He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.’ Luke 1:52

Humility is not a low self-regard or sense of unworthiness. To the contrary, humility is more of a modest and accurate view of one’s self and importance. When modern culture shines a light on humility it is viewed as a nice quality to have in your portfolio, but not a particularly desirable characteristic or way of life. To the contrary, Christian culture teaches humility is a mainstay of everyday life essential to pleasing God. ‘Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others as better than yourselves.’ Philippians 2:3. Although I’ve NEVER met a Christ-follower who claims this as a life verse, it does express how God wants us to live.

Events in our lives humble us. A spouse cheats and betrays your covenant of fidelity. A child dies. A financial catastrophe takes your life savings. You lose a job or your health. It comes in many forms but the result of humbling is unmistakable to see in an individual. Humbling CAN be tougher to see on a big stage IF your belief system is distracted and not firmly anchored. The world wants to distract you from God’s Word and how He works…so it can claim power and glory over God.

If anything equals or takes the place of your belief in God, then you’ll never see clearly. Want a few examples where belief and knowledge in God plays into how you see everyday events? Here’s a few.

Weather. He has always used floods and droughts. The rainbow was God’s symbol reminding us He would never again humble the world with a flood. He’s still using weather today and it’s being called climate change. The rainbow has been hijacked and is being used as a reminder for something else.

Food shortages. Remember Joseph being humbled when he was sold into slavery by his brothers? God allowed and used this humbling to save nations and his family from starvation. Look at the grocery shelves the past few months. Look again after the elections in November.

Chaos, disunity and death. God called it free will to take a life, get along with and treat others respectfully. The world calls it choice. When Christians cite abortion as a woman’s choice, you’re seeing someone forsake their beliefs to be culturally accepted. Murder will humble all parties involved.

Humility is often seen as a result of suffering and heartache and not the avenue to greatness and power. The result of God’s humbling is powerful and can be very positive. Judeo-Christian churches could do a better job teaching a ministry of suffering and humbling. If you just teach God is love, but not sovereign in the womb, or wrathful when His commandments are broken, then RVW is a means to love people but not remind them God calls the choice to stop a heartbeat, murder. If the pulpit taught God’s attributes of humbling and suffering equal to His love, more people would hear and see God in the headlines…and in their lives.

Humbling and humility conquer racism and slavery. Jews, Christians and students of history are familiar with the story, but I’m not sure we correlate conquering racism and freeing slaves with being humbled. Never-the-less, after 400 plus years of captivity, more than 2 million slaves were freed by the most humble man to ever live. ‘(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)’ Numbers 12:3.

If the most humble man to have ever lived saved an entire race and society from slavery and taught about racism, CAN it still work? WILL it still work if we humble ourselves to each other as opposed to condemning each other? Only God can humble mans heart to cure racism.

If any of this blog registers with you, if humility and being humbled appear more attractive, let me encourage you to entertain adding humility to your prayer list each day. WHY? Because…

…’ “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” ‘ Matthew 23:12.

…’God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’ James 4:6

What I do know is this….God wants us to humble ourselves to Him, not the world. God humbles those He loves so He can use them for HIS purpose. Abraham became the father of many nations after God humbled him. Moses freed the slaves after 40 years of humbling and Joseph saved his people from starvation after he was humbled and sold by his brothers. God humbles those He wants to use greatly.

Proof of how God greatly uses those He humbles. If we want to see the OG role model for being humbled, look at Jesus.

‘And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death-even death on a cross!’ Phil. 2:8. We get forgiveness, mercy, grace and eternity through the humbling of Jesus. This is the role model we either embrace or distance ourselves from. We either embrace being humbled or try to avoid it.

Candidates don’t advertise their humility as a quality to attract votes and support, but we should at least consider their lack of humility when casting a vote. Society and worldly culture view humility as synonymous with weakness and something to be taken advantage of. The Bible emphasizes the resulting weakness of being humbled is a key to unleashing the power of God. ‘…but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses.’ 2 Cor. 12:5. The letters in red remind us God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ 2 Cor. 12:9.

The question is, WHO and WHAT do you believe we need in America and the world today? I think we need more of the God of Creation and the Bible…I know we are seeing more of Him. Rededicate your faith and belief in Him. Then, watch Him humble the nations and His people.

One morning this past June I was on the front porch gazing at the pre-dawn sky. Seven bright lights were visible across the southern horizon from east to west in almost perfect alignment. I used an app on my phone to identify all the planets we were taught in elementary school. The app identified the location of Pluto (yes, Pluto is a planet) but the remaining planets were visible to the naked eye. I remembered how Aristotle believed the planets AND the Sun orbited the Earth. For one moment in June, all the planets wandering the sky came together in perfect alignment.

The word ‘planet’ is derived from the Greek word meaning ‘wander’. Many ancient and medieval cultures pondered the stars and planets but none rivaled the Greek philosophers and Aristotle in particular. Aristotle was a philosopher, scientist and one of the greatest intellectual figures of Western history. Although his theory about the planets and their orbits was eventually dis-proven, his intellect covered the spectrum from biology and botany to friendship. His teachings about friendship rings more true today than ever.

Aristotle believed there were three types of friendship. The first was friendship of utility where mutual benefit and convenience defined the relationship. Think about work relationships. When the situation changes so does the friendship. No great loss and the friendship serves us well while it lasts.

The next friendship Aristotle identified is based on pleasure. In my life this has looked like a golf foursome, bowling league or weekly pickup basketball game. I can’t tell you where those guys are today but I remember them fondly. Friendships based on pleasure can be more superficial and short lived as your interests change. These tend to be friendships enjoyed by 20 and 30 somethings.

Lastly, Aristotle believed the highest form of friendship involved a common pursuit of excellence and virtue. In this friendship, the people and the qualities they bring to the table form the interest and basis of what can be a longer lasting relationship. These friendships are often forged by fire and shared growth. These are the friendships that survive the 20’s and 30’s and take form as people mature. These friendships involve bonds of trust, affection and admiration. These are the friendships I crave, search for and value the most.

Covid has reminded us that too many friendships are like the planets wandering around the Sun. Occasionally they line up and last, but they are rare. Although we can make the most of a friendship based in utility and pleasure, I believe we need to strive for more. I want more than utility and pleasure.

I want to be surrounded by friends who are striving to be their best…to be virtuous and aim for excellence…to be accountable and to be the best they can be. As these friends aim high, they make me a better person. The writer of Proverbs put it graphically, ‘As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.’ Proverbs 27:17…or not.

There are many ways to say it, but you are the company you keep….like attracts like. Therefore it always impressed me when Jesus called his followers ‘friends’ (‘I have called you my friends’ John 15:15) When the CREATOR calls me His friend, it allows me to look at another of my favorite Bible verses in a new light.

Hebrews 7:7 says…’And without a doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater.’ I want to be friends with people I can bless as well as those who have the capacity to bless me. I want symbiotic, complimentary yet challenging friendships. Friendships that strive to develop greater reservoirs of HEROIC virtue and excellence in each other. Virtues like courage, patience, humility, wisdom, forgiveness and unconditional love. Only then, can we sharpen each other and become the best God has created us to be.

The friendships pointing me to virtue and excellence have one thing in common. These people TRY and WANT their lives to orbit the Son of God. The reality may be like that rare morning in June when everything lined up together, but that is the goal. Friends that wake up each day living for something and some ONE greater than themselves can sharpen and bless me. I want to live beside people who are chasing the highest ideals.

Friends can be like planets that wander across the horizon of our lives…or they can be opportunities to stand close together and pursue the highest ideals. Weathering tough times, having different opinions and working through conflicts can make us better friends when our lives orbit the Son. I value all the types of friendships I have, but I covet the ones that make me more virtuous and a better person.

This weekend, I have the chance to see some guys that fit my ideal of friendship. They all possess attributes and virtues I value. They all accept me at my best AND at my worst, because they know my heart. These friends don’t care who I’ll vote for in November. They DO care if I’m loving my wife better today than last week. These guys don’t keep a record of every screwy comment or thought I’ve shared with them, but they do remember when I confess my failures and shortcomings.

Friendships can wander across the horizons in your life. When they are based in excellence and virtue, they will align to bless everyone involved. Aristotle got that one right.

‘Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.’

The under 40 crowd may recognize a few of these words but it’s doubtful they know the context….or author, place or time it was written. In America today, Shakespeare would be mocked for writing such hateful non-inclusive speech. If Marc Antony spoke the same words today, he would be immediately cancelled. He didn’t address women, minority groups, illegal aliens and limited his audience to those who were his countrymen. Obviously, he was the most dangerous extremist…a white male. Probably voted for the orange man as well.

When I lend my ear to the topics discussed in 2022, all I hear is ridicule and derision. The Constitution and Founding Fathers are mocked. Historical figures like Lincoln, Jefferson and Washington are derided. Martin Luther King is mocked when his accomplishments are ignored and America is called more racist than it ever has been. Men are mocked for having toxic masculinity. Women are mocked when a Supreme Court nominee plays politics and won’t say what a woman is.

At the core of everything happening in the world in 2022 is…GOD is being mocked.

The writer of Psalms is pretty succinct identifying the low hanging fruit in mocking God.

‘It was you who opened up springs and streams: you dried up the ever flowing rivers.’ Ps. 74:15. God is in control of the earth and it’s climate. Men mock Him by pointing to themselves and others as being responsible for drought.

‘The day is yours, and yours also the night; you established the sun and the moon.’ Ps.74:16. We mock God by ignoring what we see in the heavens.

‘It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.’ Ps. 74:17. We mock God by ignoring the weather.

‘Remember how the enemy has mocked you, Lord, how foolish people have reviled your name.’ Ps. 74:18. We mock God when we act against people and places of worship that bear His name.

Pastors mock God when they preach against racism but call themselves pro-choice. Churches mock God when they let priests and pastors abuse their congregants and try to protect the denomination (Southern Baptist are the latest to be accused) instead of HIS creation. EVERY time a Christian, you and I, choose to support/give money to a company that spends our money to promote gender bending drug treatments to 6 year old children, give bonus dollars for an employee to get an abortion and flagrantly groom children to change how God made them, we mock the entire KINGDOM of God.

What else do our ears here today? We DON’T hear enough outrage and action from our leaders. Silence is not golden, it can be sin. ‘If ANYONE, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.’ James 4:17. ‘The one who does what is sinful is of the devil…The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work’ 1 John 3:8. Not speaking up while the work of the devil is encouraged and accepted, mocks the life and death of Jesus.

‘Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but expose them.’ Ephesians 5:11. Is that too direct for you? I’ll keep it short and close with this reminder. ‘Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.’ Galatians 6:7. What you and I sow today, WE will reap, not just future generations.

If you checked out on Marc Antony’s speech after the first line, listen for the hook that comes next. “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; the good is often interred with their bones.”

Our words and actions mock the Bible when our choices override His explicit Word. The extent we mock the Creator is epidemic. The evil we tolerate each day builds into acceptance tomorrow. God help our kids and grandchildren.