Originally posted on CityStink
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Augusta, GA
By Al Gray

The author, Al M. Gray, was President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a provider of Cost Avoidance and Cost Recovery for America’s leading companies, businesses and governments desiring Superior Returns. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

The morning in late May had turned sultry early on the Florida fresh water sea. Panfishermen from across the Southeast descend on Lake George hoping to catch giant bluegills and shellcrackers on enormous beds during the magical few days in May that see the fish in a feeding frenzy. Alas, on this day your humble scribe was sitting in a boat on calm, listless waters surrounded by 60 other boats. Burgeoning heat had the cattle on the distant shore inching toward the water to join those who had braved alligators to go wading.

The fishermen were mostly bored as none were catching fish. Everyone was using standard rods and reels loaded with 10 pound test line. Switching to an ultralight rod, I decided to rework a shell ridge that had been fruitless for the last hour. The fish started biting. The catch began to pile up. The other 59 boats circled, getting closer, but nobody else was catching anything.  Eventually, about time the catch limit was reached, there were boats on top of the shell ridge, with one only 12 feet away, so casting was no longer possible!

On another boat far away in time and space, casting again in “fished-out” waters made for a similar bounty. The story is found in Luke 5:4-10.

⁴ When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon,

“Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

⁵ Simon answered and said,

“Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but ^[a]I will do as You say and let down the nets.” 

⁶ When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; ⁷so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ ^[b]feet, saying,

“Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 

⁹For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; ¹⁰and so also were ^[c]James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon,

“Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.”

This fishing trip happened at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. From that point on, Simon Peter witnessed a wondrous array of miracles, healings, parables, and teaching the way to salvation and eternal life. Mankind being as sinful as it is, none of these things mattered when tough times came near the end, when politicians, zealots, and even masses of people turned against Jesus. Ponder the words of Simon Peter: “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

Let’s ponder that statement a minute. Simon Peter was acknowledging that his ways were the sinful ways of the world. He would follow Jesus every step of the way through His ministry, yet he remained captive to his position in society to the very end. Today this phenomenon is known as cognitive dissonance which is defined as anxiety that results from simultaneously holding contradictory or otherwise incompatible attitudes, beliefs, or the like.

Human nature being as it is, the person with cognitive dissonance typically reverts or seeks that which is familiar, socially acceptable, and less uncomfortable at moments of stress. Today it is often seen in our responses to the current, ongoing financial and economic collapse – a total certainty – which is generally wishing it away, while refusing to take action to save ourselves. We want our cushy, old lives back. Indeed, in Greece there have been bank runs in recent weeks to the tune of $500 million, inexplicably delayed two whole years after the first bond defaults signaled to the people there that their deposits were not safe. Examples of calamitous delays in reacting to negative events appear throughout human history. The cognitive dissonance that gripped Peter was so powerful that he denied Jesus three times before people Peter perceived to be hostile to Jesus.

⁶⁹ Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came to him and said,

“You too were with Jesus the Galilean.”

⁷⁰ But he denied it before them all, saying,

“I do not know what you are talking about.”

⁷¹When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there,

“This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” ⁷²And again he denied it with an oath,

“I do not know the man.”

⁷³ A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter,

“Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk ^[a]gives you away.”

⁷⁴ Then he began to curse and swear,

“I do not know the man!”

And immediately a rooster crowed.

⁷⁵ And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said,

“Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

That is how powerful cognitive dissonance is. Peter had witnessed miracles by Jesus, yet the apparent inability of Jesus to save himself from arrest and persecution cast enough doubt that Peter’s weak human self readily defaulted to disavowing Jesus!

Only the resurrection and seeing the living Jesus broke the hold of evil human society and politics on Peter. The transformation came during another fishing trip.

After these things Jesus ^[a] manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way. ² Simon Peter, and Thomas called ^[b]Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.

³ Simon Peter said to them,

“I am going fishing.”

They said to him,

“We will also come with you.”

They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.

⁴ But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵ So Jesus said to them,

“Children, you do not have ^[c]any fish, do you?”

They answered Him,

“No.” ⁶

 And He said to them,

“ Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.”

So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish. ⁷Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter,

“It is the Lord.”

So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea. ⁸But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about ^[d]one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish…..

So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,

“Simon, son of John, do you ^[f] love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I ^[g]love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.”

 ¹⁶ He said to him again a second time,

“Simon, son of John, do you ^[h]love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I ^[i]love You.” He said to him, “ Shepherd My sheep.” ¹⁷ 

He said to him the third time,

“Simon, son of John, do you ^[j]love Me?”

Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time,

“Do you ^[k]love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I ^[l]love You.”

Jesus said to him,

“Tend My sheep.”

^{18 “}Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” ¹⁹Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him,

“Follow Me!”

Peter followed Jesus. He overcame his cognitive dissonance in the most complete way possible by embracing death to gain salvation through faith in a resurrected Jesus Christ.

That day in balmy Florida when this fisherman cast aside the ways of the entire fleet to embrace an unlikely technique that produced a bountiful catch wasn’t just like Peter in that one respect. It was also fishing on the right side of the boat.  If we go through life relying on the crowd and defaulting to our weak tendency for conformity, we will go home empty handed and hungry. It is only by breaking the bonds of sin, even embracing social disdain, ostracism and punishment to the point of death,  in embracing Jesus that we can ascend to eternal life.

These are transformative times, times in which those who are prepared for the worse must step forward to preserve the best.

There is only one side on which to be – the RIGHT side. We cannot afford to let denial keep us from it. Christ put it simply.

“Follow me!”

The Lamp vs. Lamp Post Conundrum

Originally posted on CityStink
May, 13 2012
Augusta, GA

By Al Gray

The author, Al M. Gray, was President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a provider of Cost Avoidance and Cost Recovery for America’s leading companies, businesses and governments desiring Superior Returns. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

Continue reading

Moving Barbarians and Titans

Originally posted on CityStink
May 6, 2012
Augusta, GA

By Al Gray

The author, Al M. Gray, was President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a provider of Cost Avoidance and Cost Recovery for America’s leading companies, businesses and governments desiring Superior Returns. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

Berkshire-Hathaway stands at the pinnacle of world finance, having weathered decades with stunning returns for its investors under the guidance of the legendary Warren Buffett and his sidekick Charlie Munger.  This week Munger set off a small firestorm by questioning the wisdom of a young superstar of investing, David Einhorn, in recommending gold as an investment. The curmudgeonly Munger said, “Gold is a great thing to sew into your garments if you’re a Jewish family in Vienna in 1939, but civilized people don’t buy gold.” Critics slammed these words as a backhanded put-down to the Jewish Einhorn, while others noted that the barbarous relic, as gold has been called to by Buffett, has greatly outperformed Munger and Buffett’s flagship Berkshire for the last decade. Their attitudes toward precious metals are unmoving.

The mention of Jews in exile, gold, and immovable titans brought to mind the Book of Ezra, Chapter 1, Verses 1 – 11.

1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:

² This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. ³ Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. ⁴ And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’”

⁵ Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved —prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. ⁶ All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.

⁷ Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god.^[a] 8 Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah…..

¹¹ In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Reversing Exoduses

Yes, this is a story of moving back from an exodus of the Jews then, and more recently in 1949. The people of Judah had swept into bondage by Nebuchadnezzar and had been transported to Babylon with their treasures, which included gold and silver from the temple in Jerusalem. The book of Ezra is the story of their return to their lands in the 6^thcentury B.C., much as they returned after the Holocaust, in Munger’s reference, and World War II.

Barbarous then and now

The second facet of this story is the transition from barbarity to benevolence (and back) of powerful worldly titans. The Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar had been uncivilized in his treatment of the Jews. He enslaved them, threw those who offended him into furnaces, and used precious metal wares from the temple in Jerusalem in his pagan temples. According to the Book of Daniel, he grew so evil that the Lord beset him with madness, sending Nebuchadnezzar into his own exile as a beast of the fields. He eventually acknowledged the Lord and was restored to his throne. Alas, his heirs returned to barbarity and evil.

Last week Mr. Munger totally missed the point with his remarks. Hardly a “barbarous relic,” then gold turned out to be a lifesaver for those Jews in the 1930’s, a hard money deliverance from the hideous, very real barbarity of the Nazis. It bought them safe passage out of Hitler’s Europe and provident savings toward a new life in safety and freedom. Throughout Ezra, the importance of gold and silver to the people in times of evil shines through in repeated references and accounts.

What may turn out to be truly uncivilized are our modern monetary and financial systems under the control of the perhaps the most corrupt men the world has seen since Hitler and Stalin. Our life savings and fruits of our labor are mere digits in various computers under the authority of people who can eviscerate their value with mere keystrokes, men who have proven amoral, thieving, and remorseless in electronically converting our “assets” to their use by outright theft or by “money-printing.” The situation is so bad that this clip came out of Southpark Studios after the near banking collapse of 2008.

In this evil world what is “civilized?” “Responsible?” The Berkshire corporation of Buffett and Munger was beneficiary of bail-outs facilitated under the electronic monetary system, so are these titans of business really credible arbiters of what is “civilized” versus “barbarous?” Are titans like these foisting a modern society built on looting while calling it “civilized?” (Later in his interview, Munger repeatedly cited the increasing “sin” in our world and the danger it poses, so he is not absolutely oblivious to reality. )

Titans moved and unmoved

Our business and political titans of the day are mostly resolute in their worldview. Many are globalists bent on one world government. They are people who are seemingly immovable.

Pay heed to the words in Ezra. “The Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia.” Indeed, “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.” Isn’t it truly incredible that the Lord moved the heart of a ruler of a gentile empire to free the Judeans, restore their lands, replace their treasure, and rebuild His temple in Jerusalem?

Why was Cyrus so powerfully moved? The ancient Jewish historian Josephus wrote in Antiquities of the Jews – Chapter 11

“This was known to Cyrus by his reading the book which Isaiah left behind him of his prophecies; for this prophet said that God had spoken thus to him in a secret vision: ‘My will is, that Cyrus, whom I have appointed to be king over many and great nations, send back my people to their own land, and build my temple.’ This was foretold by Isaiah one hundred and forty years before the temple was demolished. Accordingly, when Cyrus read this, and admired the Divine power, an earnest desire and ambition seized upon him to fulfill what was so written…..”

Imagine the powers of reading your name in a 2 century old prophesy! The Old Testament is replete with other pagan kings being bent to the Lord’s will or being tools of the Lord. Here in Ezra, we read of one who read the works of the Jewish prophets and honored them with belief and action.

Pray today that the titans of our world are moved by the Lord to do the right thing and honor His commandments, from which our rule of law derives. Be prepared to consider that they may be not so inclined, remaining resolute in their pursuit of one world government, corrupt finances, and power. Then you can determine for yourselves whether that which is “uncivilized” and “barbaric” in their eyes might be a lifeline out of evil times. Pray that another Cyrus will emerge who will be moved by the Lord and his holy word to restore our temple, the Constitution of the United States.

Should they do these things, no one need be compelled to move themselves into exile, wear garments lined with hidden gold, or live in fear in our own land.

Jezebel Governance

Originally posted on CityStink
April 29, 2012
Augusta, GA
By Al Gray

The author, Al M. Gray, was President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a provider of Cost Avoidance and Cost Recovery for America’s leading companies, businesses and governments desiring Superior Returns. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

If one wants to read of government that went completely evil in the Bible, he only has to read in the books of Kings to find the pinnacle of corruption. Ahab bore the mantle of corruption but his queen, Jezebel, was its cruel face. Much was written about their wickedness, but the story of Naboth is one that is routinely and repeatedly spun by our own government run amok.

Let us turn to 1st Kings 21, verses 1-14 in the New American Standard Bible.

¹ Now it came about after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. ² Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden because it is close beside my house, and I will give you a better vineyard than it in its place; if ^[a]you like, I will give you the price of ^[b]it in money.” ³ But Naboth said to Ahab, “The LORD forbid me that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” ⁴ So Ahab came into his house sullen and vexed because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and ate no ^[c]food.

⁵ But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “How is it that your spirit is so sullen that you are not eating^[d]food?” ⁶ So he said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you a vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’”⁷ Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now ^[e]reign over Israel? Arise, eat bread, and let your heart be joyful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

⁸ So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and sent letters to the elders and to the nobles who were living with Naboth in his city. ⁹ Now she wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people; ¹⁰ and seat two worthless men before him, and let them testify against him, saying, ‘You cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him ^[f]to death.”

¹¹ So the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them, just as it was written in the letters which she had sent them. ¹² They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the people. ¹³ Then the two worthless men came in and sat before him; and the worthless men testified against him, even against Naboth, before the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him ^[g]to death with stones. ¹⁴ Then they sent word to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”

This short story has so many elements of greed, covetousness, power, law, connivance, economics and politics applicable to our times, that one scarcely knows where to begin.

Property rights are central to every functioning society. They were powerful in Naboth’s day, too. Even though Ahab was king, the law commanded that the landowner could not be forced or ordered to surrender his property even to the King. Up until recently in America, a property owner was protected from the predations of the powerful and their government by the due process and equal protection clauses of the 5^th and 14^th Amendments in the United States Constitution. Other societies, systems, and cultures offer similar rights.

Ahab chaffed under restrictions on his power probably more than his unrequited desire for Naboth’s vineyard.  Governments at every level within the United States similarly chafe at our constitutional property rights. They too become vexed, for the power of the individual cuts into their power to rule. Jezebel fired up Ahab’s resentment by throwing up to him the words, “Do you now ^[e]reign over Israel?”, thereby fomenting a sense of legitimacy for what she planned.

Subterfuge and connivance using political allies to circumvent the law came next, as Jezebel was a masterful practitioner of those things.  This wicked queen used forged documents, powerful allies in local politics, perjury, and staged events to eliminate Naboth’s ownership rights to the vineyard by taking his life itself!

The modern American, Georgian, and Augustan experience is full of these very same deceptions, corruptions, artifices, schemes, and frauds to steal the peoples’  money and property. Examples are the General Motors bondholders, the MF Global depositors, and others looted under the guise of “emergency.” We are seeing the gutting of the 1^st, 4^th, 5^th,  and 14^th Amendments before our very eyes. Locally, we have three counties who have attempted to impose “Overlay Zoning Districts” that were in open defiance of equal protection, so as to change land uses based upon government whim (they call it “planning” instead) rather than consistent application of existing laws that were not restrictive enough in the government’s eyes.

We have Jezebel governance in spades.

Like Jezebel, our banks committed tens of thousands of acts of forgery involving mortgages and debt securities, with the forged documents being alternatively used to foreclose on home buyers or to defraud securities investors.  The government’s response was to rig events to avoid the truth by forcing the nation’s accounting profession to change its standards to permit fraud. Every citizen’s financial assets, even our money are in jeopardy.  Indeed, the predations of the mad money-printing Federal Reserve are one devious way to circumvent the determination of today’s Naboth’s that “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” This is government subterfuge – Jezebel government.

The economist and philosopher Frederick Bastiat sums up Jezebel governance in these ways:

The plans differ; the planners are all alike… 

Now, legal plunder can be committed in an infinite number of ways. Thus we have an infinite number of plans for organizing it: tariffs, protection, benefits, subsidies, encouragements, progressive taxation, public schools, guaranteed jobs, guaranteed profits, minimum wages, a right to relief, a right to the tools of labor, free credit, and so on, and so on. All these plans as a whole—with their common aim of legal plunder—constitute socialism.

But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.

It is easy to understand why the law is used by the legislator to destroy in varying degrees among the rest of the people their personal independence by slavery, their liberty by oppression, and their property by plunder. This is done for the benefit of the person who makes the law, and in proportion to the power that he holds.

Away with the whims of governmental administrators, their socialized projects, their centralization, their tariffs, their government schools, their state religions, their free credit, their bank monopolies, their regulations, their restrictions, their equalization by taxation, and their pious moralizations! And now that the legislators and do-gooders have so futilely inflicted so many systems upon society, may they finally end where they should have begun: May they reject all systems, and try liberty; for liberty is an acknowledgment of faith in God and His works.

Liberty is an acknowledgment of faith in God and His works. Jezebel governance hates those things.

Lord, give us the courage of Naboth to say to our Jezebel governments, “The LORD forbid me that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”

Golden Ruler, Golden Rule & Golden Life

Originally posted on CityStink
April 22, 2012
Augusta, GA
By Al Gray

The author, Al M. Gray, was President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a provider of Cost Avoidance and Cost Recovery for America’s leading companies, businesses and governments desiring Superior Returns. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

Marcus Aurelius was Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 AD. He was the last of the “Five Good Emperors,” and is also considered one of the most important Stoic philosophers. This man was supremely well-educated by the best Greek and Roman tutors of his day. Marcus Aurelius’ Stoic tome Meditations is still revered as a literary monument to a philosophy of service and duty, describing how to find and preserve equanimity in the midst of conflict by following nature as a source of guidance and inspiration.

The Catholic Encyclopedia presents a mixed explanation of the life of this pagan ruler, yet includes this account:

During the war with the Quadi in 174 there took place the famous incident of the Thundering Legion which has been a cause of frequent controversy. The Roman army was surrounded by enemies with no chance of escape, when a storm burst. The rain poured down in refreshing showers on the Romans, while the enemy were scattered with lightning and hail. The parched and famishing Romans received the saving drops first on their faces and parched throats, and afterwards in their helmets and shields, to refresh their horses. Marcus obtained a glorious victory as a result of this extraordinary event, and his enemies were hopelessly overthrown.”

That such an event did really happen is attested by both pagan and Christian writers. The former attribute the occurrence either to magic or to the prayers of the emperor… The Christian writers attributed the fact to the prayers of the Christians who were in the army and soon there grew up a legend to the effect that in consequence of this miracle the emperor put a stop to the persecution of the Christians.”

The source provides a comprehensive Assessment of the Stoic Emperor, rendering a verdict of:

“Marcus Aurelius was one of the best men of heathen antiquity. (T)he judicious Montesquieu says that we cannot read the life of this emperor without a softening feeling of emotion. Niebuhr calls him the noblest character of his time, and M. Martha, the historian of the Roman moralists, says that in Marcus Aurelius ‘The philosophy of Heathendom grows less proud, draws nearer to a Christianity which it ignored or which it despised, and is ready to fling itself into the arms of the Unknown God.‘”

The Bible upholds a number of foreign rulers to have moral qualities, including some who worshiped the Lord at times. It does not preclude us from considering words of wisdom from other sources. In this sense Marcus authored many very fine, uplifting, inspiring, and wise quotes including this powerful key to success –

“Let it be your constant method to look into the design of people’s actions, and see what they would be at, as often as it is practicable; and to make this custom the more significant, practice it first upon yourself.”

Before expounding upon this concept, let’s consider our Bible Verse of the week as it appears Matthew 7, verse 12 of the King James Version.

¹² Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. 

These stunningly elegant words sum up the very essence of civil societies of all types, indeed of civilization itself. The concept is found in nearly all cultures for it sums up our fair expectations of how we want, expect, and demand others to treat us. Indeed, even in the most totalitarian of states there is reverence for this golden rule, for wholesale abandonment of it risks revolution. Some years ago this writer read of an elderly woman in China with a long term lease in the middle of exploding development, on account of whom a major office and retail complex was being delayed simply because the woman refused to move from her home. The story seemed odd, until one considers just how powerful the golden rule is.

“Do unto others,” goes to the very heart of how we relate to each other as people living in harmony and peace. The concept is redundant in the Constitution of the United States and our precious Bill of Rights, with the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of first the 5^th and, later, the 14^th Amendments having  stood resolute in protection of property rights since the Constitution was ratified.

Recently there been appreciable erosion, not just in our most priceless rights, but the underlying moral code of the golden rule. We stand near the abyss and will certainly topple over if we don’t recover the commandment found in Matthew 7:12.

The golden rule was expanded upon by the words of the golden ruler Marcus Aurelius referenced above. The technique is one of supreme, sublime power. The greatest attorneys practice the first half. “Let it be your constant method to look into the design of people’s actions, and see what they would be at.” In other words, you get an advantage by placing yourself in another’s position, determining his motivations, and predicting his actions. Wise people of all professions, faiths, and organizations use this strategy to excel. Empathy is a powerful tool used to approach the Second Commandment of, “Love thy neighbor as thy self.” It is also a way to lower resistance in an erstwhile adversary.

The second part of the Marcus Aurelius quote is the admonishment, “To make this custom the more significant, practice it first upon yourself.”  The first part is extremely difficult to master by most people and they simply refuse to make the effort. Their thoughts, desires and motivations are too powerful to temporarily shove aside to gain empathy for another, be it for advantage or be it out of Christian love. Adding the second requirement of introspection of one’s own thoughts, desires, and motivations is an unimaginable, unattainable, and nearly impossible practice to even folks skilled in applying the empathetic first instruction.

The power of the combined technique is stunning. When a person does both parts of this instruction set, it combines empathy with introspection. You not only see the world through the eyes of others, but you analyze your own situation through theirs. It makes your arguments compelling, even overwhelming, for you not only are predictive of their words and deeds, you are predicting how they will address your own! If there is faulty logic, bias, dislike, hatred, or some other negative force in your position, you can objectively identify it and eliminate it before making a crucial error or misjudgment.  If the other has the superior argument or position, one can adapt to it or adopt it before his position is established.

This is a path to peace. Wouldn’t it be great if world leaders would practice this? Most wars would be avoided.

If there is one technique that marries a holy commandment to friendships, continuous harmony, and even personal advantage it has to be this one. It is training in this life for eternity. It is of overwhelming power independent of faith.

Marcus Aurelius was a pagan, yet even a pagan emperor knew the magic of the golden rule. The words of Matthew 7:12 ring through the ages in law, as the verse stated, but this golden ruler recommended practicing a more stringent, demanding, and disciplined version of it as one pursues a golden life in every sense of those words.

Can you live the commandment of the golden rule?

Can you take it to a more demanding, higher level of empathy and tempered introspection?

The rewards on earth and in heaven are worth trying. You don’t have to be an emperor or prophet to gain your reward.

You just have to overcome yourself.

AG

Originally posted at CityStink.net

Easter Sermon: He Has Risen!

Originally posted on CityStink
Easter Sunday, April 8, 2012
By Al Gray

The author, Al M. Gray, was President of Cost Recovery Works, Inc., a provider of Cost Avoidance and Cost Recovery for America’s leading companies, businesses and governments desiring Superior Returns. Cost Recovery Works is no longer in business, as of December 31, 2020.

Folks, we are in a maelstrom of forces that threaten us all, and by “all” this writer means Mankind in the broadest sense, Americans in the national sense, and as individual souls in the common sense.  We find ourselves in a technologically complicated world with unimaginably hideous weaponry in the hands of men whose base emotions, fears, reasoning, and limitations are unchanged since the times of Genesis. We pretend otherwise, one supposes, in order to sleep.

Read the Bible. Quit feeding the evil beast who entices under the worship of false patriotism, the admiration of authority, and the comfort of a modern lifestyle. You must do this soon. These times hearken in frightening ways to the power of the state and religious zealotry openly displayed during the trial of Jesus. Of more recent vintage, even unbelievers note the parallels to the fall of the Roman Empire, the French Revolution, the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, and the rise of the Nazis. We tend to think of the people of those times as either being evil or victims of evil. Is it really that simple, or were people fooled by the worst of their weaknesses?

In the last decade there has been constant erosion of our rights under the United States Constitution by both national political parties, Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court. New laws like the Patriot Act and the recent National Defense Authorization Act give the state vast powers to cancel our most precious rights on a whim, an arbitrary decision, or just plain mistaken identity. These powers extend to cancelling our very lives, yet the response we lovers of liberty get goes something like – “Well, if you are not doing anything wrong, what do you have to worry about?” from left and right. We have all heard this refrain. Let’s recall for a moment the very beginning of the Trial of Jesus.

Stunning words explode at us from John 18, verses 29 and 30, as recorded in the New American Standard Bible.

²⁹ Therefore Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this Man?” ³⁰ They answered and said to him, “If this Man were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him to you.””

Are you getting a little more awake now? It got worse, a lot worse at the hands of the Statist chief priests who trumped law with mob rule.

³¹ So Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.” The Jews said to him, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death,”…³⁵ Pilate answered, “… Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?”

The priests had already decided nothing short of the death penalty would be acceptable, so they changed their tune when the imperial justice system would not be stretched to invoke a death sentence. At five junctures, Pilate expressed doubt about Jesus’s guilt, straightforwardly stating, “I find no guilt in Him.” In John 19, the religious hierarchy changed its tune claiming:

“We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.”

It is written that Pilate finally succumbed to the political pressure of the religious zealots and priests. Politics trumped law.

¹² As a result of this, Pilate ^[d]made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king ^[e]opposes Caesar.”

These dastardly ‘leaders’ were not just content to kill the Truth found in Jesus’ teachings, they, like our current day religious and Statist bunch, wanted to SPIN it in their favor.

¹⁹ Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” ²⁰ Therefore, many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in ^[k]Hebrew, Latin and in Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; but that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’” ²² Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

See the parallels? There is nothing new under the sun, human nature has not changed through the eons, and corruption accrues to the brazen.  Indeed the historian of the Fall of Rome Tacitus wrote, “Crime, once exposed, has no refuge but in audacity.” He also wrote, “Custom adapts itself to expediency.”  It was audacious and expedient for the political and religious leaders to kill Jesus. Are ours any different? Are they any more right?

The Saving Grace 

Jesus lived a life of constant miracles. The biggest of them all was His Resurrection, which overcame the temporal, corrupt powers of men and the evil of Satan.  It was a triumph of truth over collective fraud, sin, ambition, and false power that seems to accrue to all institutions, too often including the church. Yes, faith in Jesus overcomes the sins of all who believe, but the most uplifting aspect of the Easter story is that salvation is an individual acceptance of the Truth – that truth being that acceptance of Jesus as one’s personal savior overcomes everything else that we face.

Let’s return to John 18, verse 37.

³⁷ Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

Who on that awe-filled and awful day was of the truth and heard His voice? Was it an institution, a mob, a bunch of disciples, or a legion of soldiers? Is and was the TRUTH individual or collective? Has the truth been better served since that day by the institutions of man or by different men, women, and children of faith through the generations? Those last hours on Golgotha are informative.

One of the criminals being executed saw not truth, but took a collective, demanding approach to salvation. He saw the three condemned men as a group with the same problem – death – and the same interests in escaping it, yet saw the situation from the viewpoint of the corrupt establishment. This part of the story comes from  Luke 23, verse 39.

³⁹ One of the criminals who were hanged there was ^[a]hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the ^[b]Christ? Save Yourself and us!”

Ah, here is perhaps the most beautiful part of the Easter story and certainly the most inspirational for sinners such as each of us, for there was one man on that brutal hill who was of the truth and he heard the voice of Jesus.

⁴⁰ But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving ^[c]what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come ^[d]in Your kingdom!” ⁴³ And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

That criminal admitted the truth about what he had done and the truth that Jesus was the greatest of all truths and the way to salvation. It was a personal, individual profession of simple faith. It lifted that man, judged by society and law as a criminal, to heaven that day. That was enough for him. That is enough for me… and you.

Salvation is not by the state, clergy, or any other failed or failing human institution. None of these collectivist entities can obtain it for you.

Reach for Jesus. Leave them to their worldly power, just as that thief rose to heaven that day and left those chief priests to their momentary temporal triumph.

Tomorrow morning the sun will rise on a very dangerous world of men not remarkably different than that morning more than two thousand years ago. What is different is this:

“He has risen.”

So might it be for each of us.

No government needed. That is the truth.

You don’t have to be a condemned thief to be desperate to get it, nor is any institution empowered to get it for you.

**Please Share This Sermon on Facebook**

By Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73747426

The Lost Sabbath – A Day of Wonder

Palm Sunday Sermon

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Augusta, GA

By Al Gray

When we look upon current, historical and biblical times, many are the events or sequences of happenings about which we exclaim “ What were they thinking?” We try, with varying degrees of effort, to put ourselves in the context of the participants in order to understand the forces that affected the outcome, usually to avoid them, and sometimes to emulate them. Rarely is there a total void, so that we have only our imaginations to rely on.

The Sabbath between the Crucifixion of  Jesus and the third day of the discovery of His resurrection was the Lost Sabbath in many ways. In more ways it was and, is a day of wonder.

Almost nothing is mentioned of the Lost Sabbath in the gospels. In Mark 28:1 it is written “After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.”  Mark 16:1 records “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.” Luke 23:56 provides a little more explanation. “Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.”

Imagine that. The most revered three days in history, with a virtually blank Sabbath in the middle. Why? That day was The Day of Wonder. It remains so to this day.

A famous Georgian was renowned for exclaiming “Get the picture now…” So let’s try to do the same. Nothing is written, so in trying to get the picture we are left to wonder about many things about that day.  Imagine the emotional tumult of the disciples and the multitudes that had followed, seen the miracles, pondered the parables, and gained faith in Him. The day before had seen Jesus seized, beaten, tried, abused, sentenced, mocked and executed in the most cruel way imaginable. At the moment of His physical death, there were great signs in the heavens and a great earthquake. The curtain at the great Temple was torn in half by the heavenly forces unleashed. Even greater forces were evident as written in Matthew 27, verses 52 and 53: “…the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.” The followers of Jesus spent that Sabbath day wondering about the enormity of the death they witnessed versus the miracles He presented in life along with the tumultuous signs of divinity just displayed. They were certainly in very earnest prayer over these things.

During that day, the doubts of the followers had to be at a peak. Many were wondering whether the death was real or whether the promise of everlasting life were real. As great as the doubt of Thomas was after His resurrection, how much greater were theirs’ on that day, moments in which the death was ascendant on the mind? We wonder at their wonder, because the Bible is silent on these matters.

One wonder is that Mary and Mary Magdalene brought spices with which to anoint the corpse, indicating that they were dubious about the prophesy of his resurrection. The enemies of Jesus certainly remembered that prophesy because in Mathew 27, verses 62 through 64 it is written:

⁶²Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, ⁶³Saying, “Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. ⁶⁴Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, ‘He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.‘”

Despite His words, the two Marys wondered whether they were true and their actions portrayed the ultimate doubt. They expected to find a dead body and accord it final honors. If the very people who witnessed all of the miracles of His life and death were so unconvinced and exhibited such weak faith, our own weaknesses 21 centuries since their Day of Wonder might be put into perspective.

Ponder no more about that day, the lost Sabbath, so fraught with consternation, doubts and fears.  The great wonder was their action after the resurrection, for they took such great confidence in that final greatest miracle of Jesus that they transformed the world.

That wonder will never cease as long as it is remembered this instruction –

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.“

The Sabbath about which naught is written, that Day of Wonder, was the last day of their doubt.

Wonderful. So might it be with us.