VERBAL BROAD BRUSH PAINTINGS BOOMERANG

William Andrew Dillard

As a noun, “Boomerang” is a curved piece of wood that returns to the thrower when thrown. As a verb, it denotes the return of most anything to the originator, often negatively. A verbal broad brush tends to verbally paint the character of one into a perceived camp that is not good. David and Solomon address these matters of life preserved as the Word of God. Let them be heard!
Many are the times that one will hear the character of someone verbally painted into the same room as outright heretics because of some viewpoint not shared by the evaluator. Such swipes of the broad brush often go far to diminish the usefulness of another. It is a evil thing that Satan capitalizes upon, and one that will bring the unbending judgment of God in the day when all shall give account to Him. Then let there be understanding of just how evil this sin is.
Solomon repeatedly said, “There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men.” Ecc. 6:1; 10:18. He said, “Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him.” Prov. 26:27.
The straightforward advice of David is, “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.” Psalm 34:14. In Psalm 50:19-20, he went on to say, “Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son.”
In New Testament terms, broad brush actions are called “diablos,” of the devil. That word is translated “Slander” in I Timothy 3:11.
It is so easy to speak ill of another, yet so impossible to take those words back. Words one thinks to be his own are never under his control once shared. They take on a life with various skewing in the mind of so many who hear them repeated. Verbal broad-brushing may be likened to a robbery. Later, one may apologize for it, but it never erases the initial action.
Does this mean that anything negative should never be said about someone? Certainly not! God’s people have an obligation to know them who labor among them. Often much trouble could have been avoided if the truth about someone would have been passed on appropriately. But the bottom line is that such information should be handled very carefully. Too much of the time judgments are made simply because views may be out of the range of another’s knowledge or out of a feeling that the person so painted deserves it (judging). The latter here is broad-brushing, not the former.
In the course of life one will find that the person most highly appreciated tends to think a little differently. So, in all things let the truth be spoken, and if one cannot or is not willing to stand by it, then those words are much better off unspoken.
Boomerangs may be indigenous to Australia, but the verbal broad brush is not, and it will most certainly boomerang.

President James Garfield shot July 2, 1881

 

James GarfieldAmerican Minute with Bill Federer

 

One bullet grazed his elbow, but a second lodged in the back of President James Garfield, who was shot JULY 2, 1881, as he waited in a Washington, D.C., train station.

 

The assassin was Charles Guiteau of a free-love polygamist-communist cult ‘Oneida Community.’

 

Garfield had only been in office four months.

 

Though not wounded seriously, unsterile medical practices trying to remove the bullet resulted in an infection.

 

Alexander Graham Bell devised a metal detector to locate the bullet, but the metal bed frame confused the instrument.

 

Two months before his 50th birthday, Garfield died on September 19, 1881.

 

The next day, Secretary of State James Blaine wrote James Russell Lowell, U.S. Minister in London:

 

“James A. Garfield, President of the United States, died…

 

For nearly eighty days he suffered great pain, and during the entire period exhibited extraordinary patience, fortitude, and Christian resignation. Fifty millions of people stand as mourners by his bier.”

 

Vice-President Chester Arthur assumed the Presidency and declared a National Day of Mourning, September 22, 1881:

 

“In His inscrutable wisdom it has pleased God to remove from us the illustrious head of the nation, James A. Garfield, late President of the United States…

 

It is fitting that the deep grief which fills all hearts should manifest itself with one accord toward the Throne of Infinite Grace…that we should bow before the Almighty…in our affliction.”

 

Garfield had been a Disciples of Christ preacher at Franklin Circle Christian Church in Cleveland, 1857-58.

 

Garfield was principal of Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (Hiram College), 1857-1860, during which time he defended creation in a debate against evolution.

 

Garfield became a lawyer in 1861, and a Major General during the Civil War.

 

Elected to Congress, Garfield despised fiat paper ‘Greenbacks’, supporting instead gold-silver backed currency.

 

Elected a U.S. Senator, Garfield gave a stirring speech at the 1880 Republican National Convention opposing the rule that all delegates from each State were required to vote for the candidate with the majority of delegates:

 

“There never can be a convention…that shall bind my vote against my will on any question whatever.”

 

Garfield won the crowd. In an unprecedented move, after 34 ballots, he was chosen as the Republican Presidential nominee over Ulysses S. Grant seeking a 3rd term.

 

Garfield stated in his Inaugural Address, March 4, 1881, just 200 days before his death:

 

“Let our people find a new meaning in the divine oracle which declares that ‘a little child shall lead them,’ for our own little children will soon control the destinies of the Republic…

 

Our children…will surely bless their fathers and their fathers’ God that the Union was preserved, that slavery was overthrown, and that both races were made equal before the law.”

 

President James Garfield appointed African-Americans to prominent positions:

 

Frederick Douglass, recorder of deeds in Washington;

Robert Elliot, special agent to the U.S. Treasury;

John M. Langston, Haitian minister; and

Blanche K. Bruce, register to the U.S. Treasury.

 

Garfield appointed Civil War General Lew Wallace, author of the famous novel Ben-Hur, as U.S. Minister to Turkey.

 

Garfield described Otto von Bismark, who united German and served at its first Chancellor, 1871-1890:

 

“I am struck with the fact that Otto von Bismarck, the great statesman of Germany, probably the foremost man in Europe today, stated as an unquestioned principle, that the support, the defense, and propagation of the Christian Gospel is the central object of the German government.”

 

As a Congressman, James Garfield had stated at the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1876:

 

“Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress.

 

If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption.

 

If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature…

 

If the NEXT CENTENNIAL does not find us a great nation…it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.”

 

Bill FedererThe Moral Liberal contributing editor, William J. Federer, is the bestselling author of “Backfired: A Nation Born for Religious Tolerance no Longer Tolerates Religion,” and numerous other books. A frequent radio and television guest, his daily American Minute is broadcast nationally via radio, television, and Internet. Check out all of Bill’s books here.

 

David, the Shepherd King

 

Psalm 78:70-72

 

“So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands,” Psalm 78:72.

 

 

This morning I read where a highly recruited high school football player was denied an invitation to a prominent NCAA team. He was not denied because the recruiters decided he did not have enough talent, nor was he denied because he had committed a serious crime. He was denied because of how he had mishandled a certain social media network. The university that was recruiting him determined that he would not be a benefit to its team—despite his extreme talent—because of his absence of character and integrity.

 

King David showed the opposite of this story. He did not have extreme leadership talent that had been tested in the arena of politics. The only experience he had was shepherding sheep; yet, God selected him to be the leader of His people. What was so great about David that made God choose Him? It was his character and integrity, developed by humbly watching sheep.

 

I am not sure what you or others might think of your own abilities, but history shows that God would rather have an unlearned peasant with integrity in His service, than a skilled workman who lacks character. God chooses the foolish things of the world to do His work so that no one will boast in anyone but God. (Read 1 Corinthians 1:26-31.)

 

 

JUST A THOUGHT

 

Will you pursue after God’s heart today?

 

Mark Clements

 

 

Communion —His Body and Blood

 

1 Corinthians 10:16, 17

 

“For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread,” 1 Corinthians 10:17.

 

It is very sad, but my children look like me. I wish it were not the case, but they carry some resemblance of me, whether it is the way they walk, talk, behave, look or their propensity for acne outbreaks. My kids’ character traits and physical appearances are signs that they share the same DNA as their mother and me. They are our flesh and blood, so to speak.

 

Similarly, everyone who calls himself a child of God will carry the character traits of his Heavenly Father. When a child of God enters into a covenant relationship with the body of Christ, he is identifying himself with Jesus Himself. In the practice of communion, each church member partakes of the unleavened bread and fruit of the vine, symbolizing his fellowship in the sufferings of Christ, in which His body was broken and His blood poured out. This act identifies a person with Christ and solidifies his membership in His body, His church. One becomes His flesh and blood, so to speak. What is the purpose of communion?—to remember the sacrifice of Jesus, to participate in His sacrifice and to strengthen the bond among the members of the body of Christ.

 

 

JUST A THOUGHT – Do you resemble Christ?

 

Mark Clements

 

 

 

202 – July 21 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

Oh, that I had another life to go to Africa

 

Alfred Saker, as an old emaciated missionary stood before a united assembly of Baptists in Glasgow, Scotland in 1879 and said, “Oh, that I had another life to go out to Africa. The field is white, and the multitudes are in darkness still.” The Dark Continent’s best-known missionary, David Livingstone, wrote concerning him, “Take it all in all, specially having regard to its many sided character, the work of Alfred Saker at Cameroons and Victoria is, in my judgment, the most remarkable on the African Coast,” having served on the Western Africa coast for 37 years. He was born on July 21, 1814 in Kent, England. He was a thin, frail boy from a large family. Though he loved reading it was necessary for him to enter the work force with his father as a millwright and engineer which served him well in Africa years later. He was saved at 16 years old when he wandered into a gospel service in Sevenoaks. He was baptized in 1834 in his hometown. Upon his father’s death, he moved to Devonport and in 1839 married Miss Helen Jessup. They offered themselves to the Baptist Missionary Society for service in Africa. In a group of eight they landed in Feb. 1844. One by one the others were forced to leave but Alfred, frail though he was, seemed to have inexhaustible energy. Though he suffered from fever and other diseases he persisted in working with the tribes at the mouth of the Cameroon River. In 1849 a church was formed. The Spanish Govern. Insisted that the Baptists depart so he led his entire church to Amboises Bay where they began a new colony with homes and gardens, etc. He translated the Bible into Dualla in 1862. He passed into the Lord’s presence in March 1880. His life’s text was, “For thou art with me.”

 

Dr. Greg J. Dixon: adapted From: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins/Thompson, pp. 298-300.

 

 

 

It is Dangerous to be Right When the Government is Wrong!

Don Boys, Ph.D.
Few statements by Bible hater Voltaire are worth repeating but this one is worthwhile: “It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong!” People have lost their jobs, been fined, and placed in prison because they dared to tell the truth about their government. There is a big difference in your country and the ruling party. However, principled people have no choice but to tell the truth and accept the consequences.
 
It is the responsibility of all thinking, honest people to stand against those who want to do them harm or imprison them! Or simply to steal some of their freedom “for their own sake” of course. I am not blaming Obama and his czars for seeking to rule since that is what wicked men have always tried to do to lazy, listless, and languid people. I am blaming those who so quickly submitted to his rule with very little or no protest. There are still Christians who defend voting for Obama!
 
I resist, I reject, and I refuse to keep quiet. I will not whimper my objections lying in a fetal position in a semi-dark bedroom but will scream them, almost incoherently, from a mountain top or more precisely from my computer, radio and television, church pulpit, magazines, and street corner if necessary. Obviously, I’m a little appalled, agitated, and angry.
 
George Orwell said, “In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act.” George was right!
America has been stolen from us by the public school system, the media, Hollywood lowlifes, academia, and Liberal politicians. Because lies have been told so often, for so long, and in such enormity, our enemy is perceived as correct and exemplary while common, calm, and cautious people are thought to be corrupt and extremists!
 
It is shocking that so many people think it is wrong to speak out against their government when that is exactly what all patriots should be doing. It is not disloyal to criticize your president. An informed, indignant, and impatient patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. Theodore Roosevelt said, “That we are to stand by the president, right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.” That’s one Roosevelt who was right.
 
My government is wrong and I am right about welfare. How can any thinking person defend, let alone promote, taking money from the rich and giving it to the poor? However, Obama, socialistic Democrats, and RINOs make that argument without shame or apology. Obama seems to think he is the Sheriff of Nottingham one day and Robin Hood the next day. Of course, the Sheriff was a tyrant and Robin was a thief. Obama is more like the winsome “Thief of Bagdad,” who somehow conjured, cheated, and cajoled enough people to elect him President of the United States. Maybe we will all wake up, rub our eyes, stretch, then realize that it has all been a bad dream or, more appropriately, a bone-chilling nightmare!
 
How can principled people permit government to continue taking care of them into eternity? Don’t they have any self-respect, ambition, or character? It is difficult to justify even a temporary handout but a perpetual handout that is thought to be deserved is shocking, shameless, and stupid. It is time to stop taking from the producers and giving to the parasites. To continue is illegal, insane, and insipid. If government continues to take from Peter to give to Paul, it can always expect Paul to be its supporter. My name is “Peter” and I want Obama’s hand out of my back pocket.
 
We have lived so long with the butchering of innocent babies that even Christians are insensitive to the slaughter. Yet “normal” people defend that sinful act as if it is noble, if not nice. The sin/crime is compounded by forcing taxpayers to fund the killings! Obama even voted against a bill to protect the life of aborted babies that somehow managed to live. Moreover, his wife lobbied for a partial birth abortion bill! Pharaoh of Egypt waited until after the babies were born to butcher them!
 
We are told that perversion is now legal, even respectable. You can call perversion (sodomy) by any name you want but it is still abnormal, aberrant, and abominable. You can put lipstick, rouge, and eye shadow on a dirty hog, but it is still a dirty hog–and sane, honest people can see what it is. By declaring that it is a dirty, fat, gross hog, does not mean we hate the hog. No, we simply see before us a dirty, fat, gross hog and calling it something else changes nothing. It only makes the “hogs are beautiful” crowd look silly, blind, or dishonest. Maybe all three!
 
Now we are told that homosexuals not only have a right to sleep together but we must respect and appreciate their “many contributions” to society (such as AIDS?). Of course, they demand the “right” to get married, (don’t expect a wedding gift from me) adopt children, join our churches (without repentance), teach our children and be accepted as normal people. No, not as long as Christian people exist, but then that could change also with the lack of commitment of modern Christians.
 
If Obama has the power to make you believe in absurdities such as welfare, abortion, and sodomy, he has the power to justify and force you to believe and agree to anything. However, Christians don’t permit government to decide what is right; that is God’s decision as expressed in the scriptures.
 
We must never confuse principled disagreement with government policies, people, and programs with pernicious disloyalty to your country. The first should be promoted and the second prosecuted. Whatever the result, I will decide, not anyone else, what is right for me and if the government is wrong, I will tell them they are–whatever the result.
 
(Dr. Don Boys is a former member of the Indiana House of Representatives, author of 14 books, frequent guest on television and radio talk shows, and wrote columns for USA Today for 8 years. Three years ago, the second edition of ISLAM: America’s Trojan Horse! was published, and his new eBook, The God Haters isavailable for $9.99 from http://www.thegodhaters.com. These columns go to newspapers, magazines, television, and radio stations. His other web sites are http://www.cstnews.com and http://www.Muslimfact.com. Contact Don for an interview or talk show.)
 
Copyright 2012, Don Boys, Ph.D.