1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,240 This is our first presentation for the weekend. We do have three. The sermon tomorrow is going to be on this same topic 2 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:14,880 It also is going to fit very nicely into the sermon series that I have been doing because we are talking about social strife 3 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:22,840 this week so that the title for this three-part series is social strife how to live today without fear of tomorrow and 4 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:29,200 Specifically this evening's message is titled fracture and the ties that bind 5 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:34,900 So fracture and the ties that bind that's tonight's message 6 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:40,920 So because we're talking about fractures. I have a question how many of us have ever broken a bone or 7 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:43,640 more than one bone or 8 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:46,680 Multiples of bones or know someone okay 9 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:53,120 So in other words we can relate to the idea of a broken bone except for me. I can only relate to it because 10 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:57,160 My younger brother I remember when he broke his arm first day 11 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:01,400 He rode a bike and on his birthday and he tipped over and he broke his forearm 12 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:06,160 And then I have heard stories of my dad and other family members, but I have not 13 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:13,120 Thankfully broken anything yet and I say yet because a broken bone is fairly common 14 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:17,800 The average person has two broken bones in a lifetime 15 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:25,240 So if you have two you are perfectly average if you have one you're a little better if you have more than that 16 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:29,240 Well, then you're just helping the rest of us that have zero. That's all you're doing 17 00:01:30,960 --> 00:01:32,960 Causes for fractures though 18 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:39,760 One we know that a fracture usually occurs when force is exerted to the bone 19 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:44,960 When it is stronger than the bone itself so a stronger force than the bone itself 20 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:52,080 And I I tried to summarize the types of causes for fractures that I could find and I have four 21 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:59,040 I'm sure there are more but these are the four that I have for tonight one would be a sudden severe trauma 22 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:02,800 You can think of a vehicle crash 23 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:08,800 You can think of a bike accident or falling down some stairs a severe traumatic 24 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:13,200 Event that puts that that significant amount of force on your bones 25 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:20,800 You can think of on the other end of the spectrum something like a stress fracture if you are a runner 26 00:02:21,920 --> 00:02:23,520 Oh my goodness very nice 27 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:30,560 If you are a runner then a stress fracture might be something that you have to consider because if you aren't 28 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:37,360 Managing your training and your rest and you're overdoing it or the pavements too hard 29 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:41,920 Or whatever the case may be your bones may just go enough is enough 30 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:46,720 And you get a hairline fracture as a result due to just ongoing stress 31 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:53,600 Then of course osteoporosis a disease that that thins and weakens your bones 32 00:02:53,600 --> 00:03:00,320 Can lead to an increased risk or likelihood or an experience with fractures 33 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:04,560 So if you have osteoporosis if you're at risk of osteoporosis 34 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:11,680 If you're at risk of osteoporosis you want to keep that in mind because it breaks down the bones ability to resist stress 35 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:15,600 And then the one thing that we can't avoid is age 36 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:23,680 As you age your bones naturally get more brittle which means you're much more susceptible for broken bones 37 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,000 Just as you age 38 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:28,480 That's just the way things go 39 00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:31,600 So that's something else that I have to look forward to 40 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:36,320 And who knows maybe i'll make it all the way through without one but we will see 41 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:42,320 But when we're thinking of fractures and we're thinking of the bones and we're thinking of what to do with it 42 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,600 Well, we have some steps that should be fairly familiar 43 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:53,120 Well one you want to identify the problem or you want to see the injury and and kind of what's there and how extensive it is 44 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:57,440 What other systems in the body does it affect and interact with? 45 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:00,720 Then you want to investigate possible causes 46 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:08,560 Because if you have a broken leg or a broken finger and it was caused by a car accident 47 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:10,960 You also want to rule out osteoporosis 48 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:17,760 Maybe there's an underlying cause why your bone broke when perhaps someone else in a similar situation 49 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:19,600 Theirs did not 50 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:23,760 What underlying causes led to the injury? 51 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:29,760 When you have injuries, especially if they're severe and especially if they're traumatic 52 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:31,760 It can lead to fear 53 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:37,920 There is a fear that you can face when you have fractures and things that break it apart 54 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:42,560 I haven't experienced a broken bone, but I have been stung by wasps 55 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:48,800 That put a fear in me at my young age of seven or eight with my first sting 56 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:51,760 And it traumatized me well into my adulthood 57 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:58,480 I used to ask my wife to go clean out our shed or open up the shed because that's where the red wasps flew around 58 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:05,520 So when you get injured when you face some sort of a fracture in your life 59 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:09,920 You can also face a fear. Well, then you have to ask the question. Well, what next? 60 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:14,720 What do you do with your injuries? What do you do about the underlying causes? 61 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,920 And then what about the fear that's a result of those other two? 62 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:21,680 How do you actually face it and move forward? 63 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:26,000 Well, because we're talking about strife in our society 64 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:33,040 This is of course our illustration the injury the broken bone the fracture the underlying causes 65 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:35,360 But we are going to talk about 66 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:37,440 strife in our 67 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:39,280 society 68 00:05:39,280 --> 00:05:40,560 one 69 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:42,560 And just so we know up front 70 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:45,200 This is not a comprehensive list 71 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:52,560 As I was preparing for tonight's presentation what I looked at are what at least I consider 72 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,160 Three of the biggest most divisive 73 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:02,000 Social strife if you will in our society presently 74 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:08,000 Some have been long standing some are a little bit more recent 75 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:15,040 But when I look at the social landscape these three categories to me stand out 76 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:17,680 Kind of above the rest if you will 77 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:22,160 So we can always have more but these are the three big ones 78 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:26,640 Our first one is racism and racial tension in our nation 79 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:34,320 In the history of the united states of america if we're talking about social strife if we're talking about an underlying cause 80 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:38,800 If we're talking about a history that society still talks about 81 00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:43,200 Still deals with to some extent and still wonders what next 82 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:45,360 This is part of it 83 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:47,840 It has to be part of the conversation 84 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:50,960 It really has been around 85 00:06:51,680 --> 00:07:00,080 And affected us for far too long we know the history in the united states from our country's inception until the civil war 86 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:05,200 Slavery largely based on race was the reality of the land 87 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:09,520 We have to acknowledge that that was the reality of the land 88 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:12,160 I'm not saying that was a good reality 89 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,200 Saying it was and and it was there 90 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:23,920 We also have to recognize that as the country was as our nation was founded and even up to the civil war 91 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:26,880 That was a very contentious subject 92 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:34,800 The original founders of our nation in their extra writings talked about how they were torn between 93 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:38,400 The presence of slavery and the ideals for the nation 94 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:44,000 Clearly it didn't perfectly get born out, but they expressed and recognized the tension 95 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:48,400 We also need to recognize that it wasn't only 96 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,920 Europeans who held africans as slaves 97 00:07:54,720 --> 00:08:01,600 One of the first slave owners that's documented and registered in our nation was a slave himself 98 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:04,960 Before he was freed and then he bought slaves 99 00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:09,200 So this was a black man who bought black men and women as slaves 100 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:16,880 Just saying that was the reality of the country and he saw it as this is the reality of the country 101 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:19,200 That's it 102 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:21,200 from the civil war 103 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:23,180 to the 104 00:08:23,180 --> 00:08:24,480 1960s 105 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:26,480 We had a bloody battle 106 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:28,240 that 107 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,520 Is fair to say was going against the 108 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:38,500 Union until the emancipation proclamation was taken seriously 109 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:43,120 And that's documented in our history books. There is a major turning point 110 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:51,280 Once the civil war was no longer being fought just to keep the nation together. It was being fought to free the slaves 111 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:57,520 Then the tides turned a fantastic book. I recommend as a nation in god's hands 112 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:03,920 A fantastic book I recommend as a nation in god's hands written by professor judd lake from southern 113 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:09,680 He outlines a lot of that history and and how really the union was losing 114 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:12,640 Until we took slavery 115 00:09:13,180 --> 00:09:16,020 Seriously, once that became the motivation 116 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:21,440 Then everything turned and it went in the other way the confederacy lost 117 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:26,500 At times when really they should have won but from the civil war until the 1960s 118 00:09:26,500 --> 00:09:28,500 And again, this is all roughly 119 00:09:29,700 --> 00:09:33,860 We recognized all men were created equal but that didn't mean equal rights 120 00:09:34,580 --> 00:09:36,740 I think that's a fair broad statement 121 00:09:37,700 --> 00:09:39,700 We had segregation 122 00:09:40,660 --> 00:09:48,660 Written into law people couldn't eat in the same places drink from the same water fountains ride on the same buses get the same education 123 00:09:49,460 --> 00:09:53,460 Not even the same location much less the same level of education 124 00:09:53,460 --> 00:09:58,340 Uh again, that was what happened in our nation and it was the law 125 00:09:59,220 --> 00:10:04,500 It was permitted. It was allowed in the south. It seems that it was especially pervasive 126 00:10:05,620 --> 00:10:07,460 When I talk about 127 00:10:07,460 --> 00:10:10,500 Some of these issues still carrying into the present day 128 00:10:11,220 --> 00:10:15,860 I was born in texas. Don't remember it raised in arkansas. Remember that 129 00:10:16,660 --> 00:10:20,980 Our cities around of that area they were segregated cities 130 00:10:20,980 --> 00:10:23,460 That's not because there was a law in place 131 00:10:23,940 --> 00:10:27,540 But that's because it was it was kind of ingrained in the culture 132 00:10:27,940 --> 00:10:34,740 There were neighborhoods and whole cities that were 99 white and if you drove south a little bit 133 00:10:35,220 --> 00:10:36,740 99 black 134 00:10:36,740 --> 00:10:38,740 And they just stuck to themselves 135 00:10:39,220 --> 00:10:43,140 And if you were of the other race going into one of those cities 136 00:10:43,620 --> 00:10:45,620 You were prejudiced against 137 00:10:45,620 --> 00:10:46,820 It just came with it 138 00:10:46,820 --> 00:10:51,140 It was part of the culture that I grew up in in arkansas 139 00:10:51,860 --> 00:10:53,300 and 140 00:10:53,300 --> 00:10:56,180 Sadly to say it was a very familiar culture to me 141 00:10:57,060 --> 00:11:00,420 Recently here nearby in in a neighboring area 142 00:11:01,220 --> 00:11:06,500 But that was the reality all men were created equal we said but that didn't mean equal rights 143 00:11:06,820 --> 00:11:09,940 Well, then you have the 1960s to present 144 00:11:10,580 --> 00:11:13,620 With the civil rights act and so on where I would say 145 00:11:13,620 --> 00:11:16,820 Apart from the civil war we have made some of the more 146 00:11:17,460 --> 00:11:23,540 More significant gains in terms of equality based on race from the 60s moving forward 147 00:11:24,820 --> 00:11:28,500 Just as an idea of what was going on in 1852 148 00:11:28,820 --> 00:11:34,580 Frederick douglas had a wonderful speech about the fourth of july he was invited to do this speech 149 00:11:35,060 --> 00:11:38,900 If you notice the date 1852 is pre civil war 150 00:11:38,900 --> 00:11:45,460 Pre civil war so as a freed slave in the north being invited to speak on independence day 151 00:11:45,780 --> 00:11:47,780 He had some strong words 152 00:11:48,100 --> 00:11:53,060 And I believe those strong words give us a fine sense of what it was like then quote 153 00:11:53,780 --> 00:11:56,900 What to the american slave is your fourth of july? 154 00:11:57,620 --> 00:12:01,860 I answer a day that reveals to him more than all other days in the year 155 00:12:02,340 --> 00:12:06,580 The gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim 156 00:12:06,580 --> 00:12:11,700 To him your celebration is a sham your boasted liberty and unholy license 157 00:12:12,100 --> 00:12:14,660 Your national greatness swelling vanity 158 00:12:15,220 --> 00:12:18,020 Your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless 159 00:12:18,500 --> 00:12:22,340 Your denunciation of tyrants brass-fronted impudence 160 00:12:22,740 --> 00:12:24,900 Your shouts of liberty and equality 161 00:12:25,460 --> 00:12:26,900 Hollow mockery 162 00:12:26,900 --> 00:12:30,260 Your prayers and hymns your sermons and thanksgivings 163 00:12:30,260 --> 00:12:33,860 With all your religious parade and solemnity are 164 00:12:33,860 --> 00:12:40,900 To him mere bombast fraud deception impiety and hypocrisy 165 00:12:41,780 --> 00:12:42,980 Very true 166 00:12:42,980 --> 00:12:45,940 You can't have a place a nation 167 00:12:46,980 --> 00:12:53,540 With that level of racism and slavery that type of looking at your fellow human 168 00:12:53,540 --> 00:12:58,340 And still seek the blessing of a holy god who created all people in his image 169 00:12:58,340 --> 00:13:03,140 He goes on there is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody 170 00:13:03,140 --> 00:13:07,060 Than are the people of the united states at this very hour 171 00:13:07,860 --> 00:13:16,900 Later on in that same speech he doesn't only talk negatively but he holds to task the 172 00:13:18,340 --> 00:13:22,100 What was written in the independence in the declaration of independence 173 00:13:22,100 --> 00:13:25,860 What was written into our bill of rights that's what we're expecting 174 00:13:25,860 --> 00:13:33,700 To see that's how he progressed in his speech he holds to task and he sees what is but then 175 00:13:33,700 --> 00:13:41,940 He says we can do better and it's right there why are we ignoring it it was a good good 176 00:13:41,940 --> 00:13:46,820 Statement good perspective on what was there then and then of course we have the famous 177 00:13:46,820 --> 00:13:53,780 I have a dream speech by martin luther king jr in 1963 where he all the time was in the 178 00:13:53,780 --> 00:14:01,460 1963 where he also picking up similar language is speaking to where the united states should 179 00:14:01,460 --> 00:14:08,820 Have been by the 1960s quote five score years ago a great american in whose symbolic shadow 180 00:14:08,820 --> 00:14:15,380 We stand today signed the emancipation proclamation as momentous decree came as a great beacon light 181 00:14:15,380 --> 00:14:20,340 Of hope to millions of negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice 182 00:14:20,340 --> 00:14:29,220 It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity but 100 years later 183 00:14:29,220 --> 00:14:35,780 The negro still is not free 100 years later the life of the negro is still sadly crippled by the 184 00:14:35,780 --> 00:14:42,260 Manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination 100 years later the negro lives 185 00:14:42,260 --> 00:14:49,380 On a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity 100 years later 186 00:14:49,380 --> 00:14:57,380 The negro is still languished in the corners of american society and finds himself in exile in his own land 187 00:14:58,820 --> 00:15:08,820 Progress but not enough very true very true in the 1960s it was a moving speech the rest of it is 188 00:15:08,820 --> 00:15:17,780 Fantastic it was appropriate for that time because it spoke of a true condition a true history in our 189 00:15:17,780 --> 00:15:26,180 Nation certainly a cause for strife but then even more recently we have the summer of 2020 190 00:15:26,740 --> 00:15:33,860 Where if you can remember any of the news images of the cities burning and the people protesting and 191 00:15:33,860 --> 00:15:42,660 And the rocks being thrown etc etc it was again another demonstration of underlying strife and 192 00:15:42,660 --> 00:15:50,580 Tension that at least for that summer hit a point and that point erupted all across our nation 193 00:15:51,460 --> 00:16:00,100 And we got to observe it firsthand in other words our first strife that we talk about 194 00:16:01,380 --> 00:16:11,940 Has long history and recent history in our nation I don't see any reason to think that it's perfectly 195 00:16:11,940 --> 00:16:22,180 Healed and we are this evening recognizing that it still causes strife today people still get upset 196 00:16:22,180 --> 00:16:30,580 About it and there are still injustices based on race and racism it's real and we should acknowledge that 197 00:16:32,020 --> 00:16:41,380 Our next major topic for tonight is gender and sexuality this is one that seems to have 198 00:16:41,380 --> 00:16:50,500 Exploded in recent years our current administration and every leading politician you go back as recent 199 00:16:50,500 --> 00:16:59,860 As 2008 and 2012 and everybody understood that marriage was a man and a woman that men were men 200 00:16:59,860 --> 00:17:06,660 Women were women nothing else was true yes there were people who believed or felt other things yes 201 00:17:06,660 --> 00:17:13,300 There were people with other lifestyles and the ideal was we weren't cruel to them 202 00:17:15,140 --> 00:17:21,860 But we all recognized what gender and sexuality actually was amongst humanity 203 00:17:22,900 --> 00:17:29,300 What we see oh let me see that oh that went blank what we see today is something different 204 00:17:30,180 --> 00:17:35,780 What's causing the strife or coming out to the surface in terms of the gender sexuality 205 00:17:35,780 --> 00:17:43,780 Strife issues began in the earliest parts of the feminist movement because it was there that the 206 00:17:43,780 --> 00:17:52,340 Seeds that a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle or that in hear me all things men and 207 00:17:52,340 --> 00:17:58,660 Women are exactly equal all you got to do is look around and see that that's not true they have whole 208 00:17:58,660 --> 00:18:04,340 Books what is it men are from mars and women are from venus i mean that title alone it tells you 209 00:18:04,340 --> 00:18:12,660 We recognize the differences every data point tells us this but from those early seeds it's so 210 00:18:14,340 --> 00:18:18,100 It's so to the thought that would eventually lead to present-day 211 00:18:18,660 --> 00:18:25,940 Strife because from those seeds we then had the separation of gender and sex 212 00:18:26,660 --> 00:18:31,860 It used to be that they went hand in hand well now we have one is your genetics and the other 213 00:18:31,860 --> 00:18:37,380 Is how you present yourself to society and if you don't present yourself to society 214 00:18:38,100 --> 00:18:42,420 In a way that aligns with your biology well then you are something different and then you are 215 00:18:42,420 --> 00:18:50,180 Something different and then the list has expanded i lost count about the different genders that are 216 00:18:50,180 --> 00:18:54,100 Quote and i need to say quote recognized because some of them 217 00:18:54,100 --> 00:19:02,340 Some of them you have to be rather imaginative to look at genders that are associated with edible 218 00:19:02,340 --> 00:19:10,100 Foods like cake genders that are associated with spiritual beings like angels and demons 219 00:19:11,140 --> 00:19:19,060 Genders that line more up with animals in nature so if you feel that you are that and so on 220 00:19:19,060 --> 00:19:28,340 It has caused strife because there really are a small number of people that push this idea very hard 221 00:19:28,900 --> 00:19:34,100 And many others who still look around and go no i think we kind of are still men and women 222 00:19:34,900 --> 00:19:41,460 And we just allow people to feel across the spectrum that doesn't really change your being 223 00:19:41,460 --> 00:19:50,180 That doesn't really change your being to go further than that what has caused even more 224 00:19:50,180 --> 00:20:00,660 Significant strife is now it has gone from an idea to an idea that adults engaged in to an idea that 225 00:20:01,780 --> 00:20:06,980 We kind of could okay and be fine with if it was in the privacy of your own home 226 00:20:06,980 --> 00:20:15,460 To then it's out into the public and now everyone has to agree with it each time it's progressed along those steps those stages 227 00:20:16,100 --> 00:20:21,860 It's met with pushback and that inevitably leads to strife inevitably 228 00:20:22,900 --> 00:20:33,380 Right now the greatest areas of strife on this topic happen to be have to deal with how children are being brought into the conversation 229 00:20:33,380 --> 00:20:47,300 It does not take a lot of effort not at all to get online and find full education curricula designed for kindergarteners on up in these various options 230 00:20:48,100 --> 00:20:58,340 You do not have to struggle very hard to find doctors that are willing to do irreversible surgeries and treatments on young boys and girls 231 00:20:58,340 --> 00:21:06,900 By young I mean eight and nine year olds that's irreversible that causes strife 232 00:21:08,020 --> 00:21:16,900 Because at the same time parents are saying I think we have more of a right to raise our kids the way that we would like them to 233 00:21:17,380 --> 00:21:24,420 And others are saying no an example of this just today I read California is is entertaining a bill 234 00:21:24,420 --> 00:21:32,740 That would classify not affirming a child's gender identity by one or both parents as child abuse 235 00:21:33,700 --> 00:21:42,580 Which means that in that state that gives the state permission to remove the child from the home forcefully under child abuse laws 236 00:21:43,460 --> 00:21:49,700 If you just would rather raise your daughter as a girl and your son as a boy 237 00:21:49,700 --> 00:22:08,900 That causes strife it causes strife when a Christian Korean women only spa is now being ordered by a court to admit fully male clients who say that they're women 238 00:22:08,900 --> 00:22:22,820 So now we're getting into not only the strife caused with the genders and the sexes but knowing that this is also a Christian clinic that starts to also push into a religious strife 239 00:22:22,820 --> 00:22:28,740 And we're just recognizing these strives are there and you can find them 240 00:22:28,740 --> 00:22:38,980 Our third category I promise I won't I won't stay on this but we have to acknowledge it is the political strife in our country 241 00:22:38,980 --> 00:22:55,540 I'm I'm only as old as I am and I can only remember as much as I can remember but what I do know what I have in my memory is today a lot more vitriol compared to 15 years ago 242 00:22:55,540 --> 00:23:10,500 It it just seems it just seems that every conversation is only hate and it's only fighting and it's only there were in there were multiple articles written during the 2020 season 243 00:23:10,500 --> 00:23:20,500 Which wore me out but during the 2020 season of families completely separating and disowning one another purely on who did you vote for 244 00:23:20,500 --> 00:23:35,540 That's strife that's fracture you now have some companies that will fire or cancel contracts with other companies based on political affiliation 245 00:23:35,540 --> 00:23:45,220 We again we're not talking very long about this but it's easy to see that there's very little in common in our political sphere today 246 00:23:45,220 --> 00:24:00,500 Those that talk in political circles boy there's not a lot in common and it seems that as we go along it's becoming increasingly polarized to farther and farther extremes 247 00:24:00,500 --> 00:24:12,260 Each party or each position is taking a further edge and then digging their heels in even deeper and there's not a lot of conversation on what could happen in the middle 248 00:24:12,260 --> 00:24:17,300 And then you're never going to make anybody happy everyone's going to be mad at you 249 00:24:17,300 --> 00:24:30,020 There are also attacks on what used to be even in my short lifetime basic tenants of political understanding so these are being threatened 250 00:24:30,020 --> 00:24:40,660 Meaning that today neither one of the two major political parties in recent years seem to recognize the results of our elections 251 00:24:40,660 --> 00:24:47,220 You can find records of both parties calling the results of elections illegitimate 252 00:24:47,220 --> 00:24:57,540 If we as a society can't even come to that basic agreement is it fair to say that that causes strife and tension 253 00:24:57,540 --> 00:25:17,060 I think that's fair to say because no matter who wins we lose right it's it's very easy it's very recognizable to see that our political landscape is full of strife 254 00:25:17,060 --> 00:25:31,140 We want to move on to possible causes because much like the broken bone we have to ask what caused it if you just walked into an ER and you said I broke my finger and they said well how did you break your finger and you're like I don't know 255 00:25:31,140 --> 00:25:39,860 They have to do more tests than otherwise if you walked in and said I broke my finger how did you break your finger well I slammed it in my car door 256 00:25:39,860 --> 00:25:49,780 They can go right well let's look for severe blunt trauma or something like that I'm not a medical professional I can assume that they might immediately rule out other options 257 00:25:49,780 --> 00:25:58,740 So let's look at some possible causes for some of the strife that we see today this should have gone in a different order 258 00:25:58,740 --> 00:26:01,380 We're going to start at the top and you'll forget that the other one is there 259 00:26:01,380 --> 00:26:22,020 Systemic injustice it is often promulgated and you will read articles and hear speeches and you can read very lengthy books that detail how ingrained in our system as a nation there are injustices at the core 260 00:26:22,020 --> 00:26:33,860 Those injustices need to be rooted out need to be adjusted or redefined or reassessed and then the strife will calm down 261 00:26:33,860 --> 00:26:47,620 But so long as we have systemic injustices systemic racism systemic sexism systemic fill in the blank as long as those remain then the strife will continue 262 00:26:47,620 --> 00:27:01,380 Because what's built into the system causes the strife that's one proposal another proposal is that there are and there have been attacks on traditional understandings and beliefs 263 00:27:01,380 --> 00:27:18,180 The attack on marriage I consider the redefinition of marriage to be an attack on a traditional belief and understanding throughout ancient human records and history it's only ever been marriage between a man and a woman 264 00:27:18,180 --> 00:27:29,860 And most societies around the globe continue in that it's really only in the most westernized cultures that you have differing definitions 265 00:27:29,860 --> 00:27:51,780 I would say that attacks on traditional understandings and beliefs have to go with parental rights with their children as I read from at least one article and there are more it used to be that the parents had a high recognized high level of authority in the upbringing of their children 266 00:27:51,780 --> 00:28:06,500 That seems to be diminishing on purpose more and more and more we have accounts of doctors and courts and the state intervening in areas that used to be perfectly reasonable 267 00:28:06,500 --> 00:28:19,700 And they would say no you don't have any input in this one clear example of that would be last year the year before and the year before really since 2020 268 00:28:19,700 --> 00:28:38,900 Some of the conversations that have happened at school board meetings have really caught the attention of the news as parents have learned about some of the curricula that's going on in the school they've at minimum had questions and mostly have said I don't want you teaching this to my children 269 00:28:38,900 --> 00:28:55,860 And if so then not at this age wait till they're older that's how most of the objections have gone but we also have some of the heads of our leading educational institutions saying parents don't have that right anymore 270 00:28:55,860 --> 00:29:10,020 That they need to relegate it entirely over to the teachers and the educators they're the professionals with the degrees and so parents need to give up that opinion 271 00:29:10,020 --> 00:29:32,260 That is certainly an attack on a traditional understanding and a belief because it used to be all kids were homeschool all kids were taught by their parents and all kids were going to be raised with the type of morals and upbringing that the parents wanted to pass on to the next generation 272 00:29:32,260 --> 00:29:55,460 This would also be something that would be along in the racial tension area a difference from the same I have a dream speech later on Dr. King says we know this I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin 273 00:29:55,460 --> 00:30:15,380 But by the content of their character that's a great quote and that's a great ideal that's something that we should get behind you don't look at the super excuse me you don't look at the superficial but you look at their character that should be the defining distinction 274 00:30:15,380 --> 00:30:38,900 Today though we have this quote Ibram X. Kendi who is a in many circles he is well respected he is listened to and he does influence in his book how to be an anti-racist he has this the defining question is whether the discrimination is creating equity or inequity 275 00:30:38,900 --> 00:30:55,140 If discrimination is creating equity then it is anti-racist and since he wants you to be that he's saying that's a good thing he goes on if discrimination is creating inequity then it is racist 276 00:30:55,140 --> 00:31:14,740 To summarize he's saying that discrimination is good so long as it produces the results that we want in a nutshell that's what he means because he's desiring something particular and if discrimination will bring that about that's desired 277 00:31:14,740 --> 00:31:30,980 That's very different than the speeches of the 1960s which led to the Civil Rights Act that's very different than those that were in favor of emancipating the slaves back in the 1800s it's very different 278 00:31:30,980 --> 00:31:48,500 It used to be let's get rid of discrimination wholesale and let's start looking at everybody as equal created in the eyes of their maker but now we have a different type of language 279 00:31:48,500 --> 00:32:02,020 Men and women we've talked a little bit about how the traditional understanding of men and women has been redefined has come under scrutiny has really made it into the headlines 280 00:32:02,020 --> 00:32:12,660 I never thought in my day that legislators would have to debate over making a law on what defines what we can simply observe with our own eyes 281 00:32:12,660 --> 00:32:24,020 That would never have occurred to me but they're finding themselves needing to do that and being met with a great deal of resistance 282 00:32:24,020 --> 00:32:36,020 The same thing with gender identities and how far that has gone and then now you are not just simply what you are born as your sex is assigned to you at birth 283 00:32:36,020 --> 00:32:47,860 They look at the little baby in the birthing room and the doctor doesn't observe and state the doctor now gives you one or the other options 284 00:32:47,860 --> 00:32:55,620 And later on you can choose for yourself if that's correct or not it's an assignment 285 00:32:55,620 --> 00:33:08,180 I would say though that one of the more insidious causes of some of our stripe that we've seen is the normalizing of sexualizing children and pedophilia 286 00:33:08,180 --> 00:33:22,660 And by normalizing I'm not speaking in hyperbole they are trying to make an attraction to minors a recognized and socially acceptable form of attraction 287 00:33:22,660 --> 00:33:36,660 To the point where in California they did pass a law that downgraded the offense for pederasty which is the sexual abuse of a minor 288 00:33:36,660 --> 00:33:51,700 They passed a law that allowed that this is all over the place right now there are many many many court decisions being debated over what is appropriate for 289 00:33:51,700 --> 00:34:02,020 Quote unquote family friendly types of activities because some of these family friendly activities are extremely mature 290 00:34:02,020 --> 00:34:13,860 Extremely the kind of things that you probably wouldn't even see on most R rated movies at the theater but they are being advertised for children 291 00:34:13,860 --> 00:34:27,780 The term groomer has taken up a new kind of usage and it's taken a secondary meaning not that we're always grooming children for the purpose of abuse 292 00:34:27,780 --> 00:34:41,940 But we're grooming them into an ideology that sets them up for a desired lifestyle and that desired lifestyle would be right now what is causing the strife in our society 293 00:34:41,940 --> 00:35:01,140 If you're wondering what the results are in terms of our youth generation what historically has been in terms of anyone who fit into the LGBTQ plus community 294 00:35:01,140 --> 00:35:14,500 Historically it was right around one to three percent depends on where you're looking and who you're asking roughly one to three percent that held true into the silent generation 295 00:35:14,500 --> 00:35:23,220 And then into the boomers it was a little bit more somewhere around five percent and then you get into gen x and it gets a little bit more than that 296 00:35:23,220 --> 00:35:39,700 We're creeping up around eight or nine percent then you go into millennials and it jumps into the teens and now gen z it is right around 20 to 25 percent of a single generation 297 00:35:39,700 --> 00:35:53,860 Fits into this that's causing strife it causes problems in homes in schools from one state to another from one community to another 298 00:35:53,860 --> 00:36:04,340 It's causing fractures and it doesn't seem to be leading to a healthy community I think it's fair to recognize that 299 00:36:04,340 --> 00:36:21,860 I would like to ask the question if it has ever felt fabricated to you if some of the strife in our society has ever felt like it's being pushed so hard on you that it can't be organic or grassroots 300 00:36:21,860 --> 00:36:36,500 That it's really being put together on purpose well I'd like to offer a couple of suggestions I'm not saying this is extensive and I'm not saying we're all going to agree on it 301 00:36:36,500 --> 00:36:44,180 But I am going to say maybe this this should be looked at with with some questioning eyes 302 00:36:44,180 --> 00:37:02,420 One would be the covid response the reason why I have it in this category is because there has never been a time in history where every nation around the world together made the same agreement on what to do with their citizens about a disease 303 00:37:02,420 --> 00:37:13,700 The only conclusion that I can come away from is that there was at a minimum cross talk and everybody's saying let's get on the same pages as one another 304 00:37:13,700 --> 00:37:30,980 We have some data to suggest that was true that they were communicating with one another that they were pushing forth a common kind of narrative a common kind of approach to what to do how to do it how to respond etc 305 00:37:30,980 --> 00:37:46,900 And I'm just suggesting that maybe this is one example of a fabricated or a manufactured form of tension because the response caused tension it did 306 00:37:46,900 --> 00:37:54,980 If we also look at summer of 2020 I mentioned it a little bit earlier 307 00:37:54,980 --> 00:38:10,580 We've had racial tension in our nation for a long time we've talked about that never before has it gone coast to coast resulting in more than 2.2 billion dollars worth of damage 308 00:38:10,580 --> 00:38:28,340 And many of those people responsible for it being purposefully let out of jail to go back and do it again the record show very few have actually faced long punishments for breaking the many laws that they broke and they and many of them did 309 00:38:28,340 --> 00:38:44,500 There were some that were perfectly fine they were perfectly peaceful but then there were also some that earned the now infamous chiron title fiery but mostly peaceful for buildings are just burning down in the background 310 00:38:44,500 --> 00:39:01,460 I would suggest that for that period of nine months there was a coordinated communication effort to rile it up bigger and inflame the flames a little bit higher you can go back and you can see some of it 311 00:39:01,460 --> 00:39:22,820 We now know through the exposure of the background communications at twitter known as the twitter files we do know now that from government agencies to social media heads to legacy media individuals you name it they did coordinate with each other to 312 00:39:22,820 --> 00:39:44,260 Get rid of speech silence voices ban people that didn't agree with everything that was the popular discussion we know all of that now we know through the dumping of this information that financial institutions were on board with will close out their bank accounts for them so they can't get their money 313 00:39:44,260 --> 00:40:05,060 We know that it was coordinated and they were rather jovial at times about who they would silence you have to you have to walk away with at least some suspicion that the strife caused by that was fabricated was egged on and encouraged 314 00:40:05,060 --> 00:40:22,660 And then we have the world economic forum not everybody knows about it but you should this is a rather small collection of some global elites and we're talking the highest and highest of the elites founded and led by a man by the name of claus schvab 315 00:40:22,660 --> 00:40:37,380 That get together on an annual basis they've been doing this for some time and amongst themselves they discuss what are we going to do with our countries where are we going to move the world at large 316 00:40:37,380 --> 00:40:57,380 Because these are representatives of nations and international companies and activist groups and so on we have this one quote from just this past year claus schvab says quote we couldn't meet at a more challenging time we are confronted with so many crises simultaneously 317 00:40:57,380 --> 00:41:17,060 What does it need or what what do we need to master the future i think to have a platform where all stakeholders of global society are engaged governments business civil society young generation and i could go on i think is the first step 318 00:41:17,060 --> 00:41:34,660 So a group of elites do get together on an annual basis they say that right now with all the crises with all the strife that we see going on simultaneously is the opportunity to change how we want the world to look 319 00:41:34,660 --> 00:41:44,500 That would be a fabricated and coordinated effort at adjusting things and they see the strife and the crises as an opportunity 320 00:41:44,500 --> 00:42:03,940 He has also openly talked about controlling online speech through governments through strict governmental intervention it's being put in place in countries right now not only like china but also australia new zealand places in europe and so on they are actively doing this 321 00:42:03,940 --> 00:42:15,860 If you don't agree then you get kicked off or someone shows up at your door and you might face actual criminal penalties for saying the same those kinds of things 322 00:42:15,860 --> 00:42:32,100 This is one example and this is this is so you're not taking my word for it there for a while if you chose to not get the covid vaccine you were treated as the worst of society 323 00:42:32,100 --> 00:42:50,180 I think that's the only way that i can interpret this if hopefully this will work and this is this is a sampling we won't play the whole video but this was just the language that was being used about those who chose to not get a particular form of medicine 324 00:42:50,180 --> 00:43:04,820 These uh these civilized people they'll eat each other you are the unvaccinated you are the problem it is the unvaccinated who are the problem period end of story 325 00:43:04,820 --> 00:43:13,620 The only people that you can blame the only people you can blame this isn't shaming this is the truth maybe they should be shamed or the unvaccinated 326 00:43:13,620 --> 00:43:18,180 It's time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks not the regular folks 327 00:43:18,180 --> 00:43:25,940 Anyone you came into contact with will blame you as will the rest of us who have done the right thing by getting vaccinated 328 00:43:25,940 --> 00:43:29,220 Because frankly we know that we can't trust the unvaccinated 329 00:43:29,220 --> 00:43:35,460 I think it's time to get our moral house in order Anderson it's the unvaccinated who are the threat 330 00:43:35,460 --> 00:43:44,580 All these vaccinated folks are going to start wearing masks to protect the unvaccinated folks it's called a Christian value 331 00:43:44,580 --> 00:43:50,660 You're basically punishing the vaccinated uh for the the sins of the unvaccinated 332 00:43:50,660 --> 00:43:58,340 People are not behaving honorably the unvaccinated are basically saying well it's open season for me I can do whatever I want as well 333 00:43:58,340 --> 00:44:06,100 The unvaccinated are basically beating their breasts running around the country saying ha ha we don't care we're living 334 00:44:06,100 --> 00:44:13,780 It goes on for another almost two and a half minutes from there um 335 00:44:13,780 --> 00:44:30,100 We know now uh things that we didn't know then at a minimum I'd like to recognize that the language being used causes and caused strife intention 336 00:44:30,100 --> 00:44:39,620 If you have a population of people that are publicly with with viewerships of millions and millions and millions being told 337 00:44:39,620 --> 00:44:49,460 You're the problem you're immoral you're unchristian you're this you're that does that not lead to strife intention 338 00:44:49,460 --> 00:44:56,740 It would be appropriate and it seems that is a reasonable response for those in that group to go now hold on a minute 339 00:44:56,740 --> 00:45:02,820 I don't happen to think that I'm an evil person because I make this one medical decision 340 00:45:02,820 --> 00:45:15,540 There were articles being written that suggested that the unvaccinated needed to be forcefully locked up in their homes not to be allowed out for any reason 341 00:45:15,540 --> 00:45:28,180 There were people there were articles there were news anchors that talked about how if an unvaccinated person went to a hospital and they were sick 342 00:45:28,180 --> 00:45:38,500 The doctors should just go I'm so sorry we won't help you and they were championing that idea desiring it to be policy 343 00:45:38,500 --> 00:45:50,100 If we're talking about what can cause strife ostracizing entire groups of people is going to cause strife intention 344 00:45:50,100 --> 00:45:55,460 When you lump everybody together this is one more example and then we're going to move on 345 00:45:55,460 --> 00:46:03,860 This is an example when we talk about the popular narrative 346 00:46:03,860 --> 00:46:12,260 When we talk about how the reporters might be all in unison in their messaging 347 00:46:12,260 --> 00:46:18,980 You don't have to just take it for the tin foil hat wearers words 348 00:46:18,980 --> 00:46:25,780 This is one example of what we're talking about 349 00:46:49,940 --> 00:46:54,980 The sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media 350 00:46:54,980 --> 00:47:00,340 Some media outlets publish these same fake stories without checking facts first 351 00:47:00,340 --> 00:47:09,780 The sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media 352 00:47:09,780 --> 00:47:29,020 It goes on for almost another minute. 353 00:47:29,020 --> 00:47:34,980 That's one example, and if you paid attention to the symbols that were in the background, 354 00:47:34,980 --> 00:47:45,020 you would have seen NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox, ostensibly different companies, all saying 355 00:47:45,020 --> 00:47:49,180 the same words. 356 00:47:49,180 --> 00:47:51,180 That's one example. 357 00:47:51,180 --> 00:48:03,140 In other words, it is a good practice to not always take everything exactly as it's being 358 00:48:03,140 --> 00:48:10,340 said to you, especially if the results have led to increased strife and tension. 359 00:48:10,340 --> 00:48:15,720 I want to share possible causes 2.0, something a little different. 360 00:48:15,720 --> 00:48:22,120 This is from a Wall Street Journal and NORC poll published March 28 of this year. 361 00:48:22,120 --> 00:48:29,560 These are changes in our nation compared to a Journal and NBC poll from 1998, so changes 362 00:48:29,560 --> 00:48:34,540 in our nation over the past 25 years. 363 00:48:34,540 --> 00:48:36,580 Patriotism is very important. 364 00:48:36,580 --> 00:48:45,420 The respondents, it dropped from 70% to 38% in 25 years. 365 00:48:45,420 --> 00:48:53,240 Those who agreed that religion is very important dropped from 62% to 39%. 366 00:48:53,240 --> 00:49:00,380 But having children is very important, dropped from 59% to 30%. 367 00:49:00,380 --> 00:49:08,020 That community involvement is very important, dropped from 47% to 27%. 368 00:49:08,020 --> 00:49:16,220 But that money is very important, rose from 31% to 43%. 369 00:49:16,220 --> 00:49:22,680 I would propose to you that what this is telling us is that as a nation, what we used to hold 370 00:49:22,680 --> 00:49:28,180 in common and saw as very important is no longer the case. 371 00:49:28,180 --> 00:49:32,740 And you can say that this is the result of the strife or you can say that this change 372 00:49:32,740 --> 00:49:35,960 causes the strife. 373 00:49:35,960 --> 00:49:41,500 I happen to wonder really which one it is. 374 00:49:41,500 --> 00:49:43,300 Which came first in this case? 375 00:49:43,300 --> 00:49:45,700 Which came before the cart? 376 00:49:45,700 --> 00:49:53,180 But we are pointing out that as Americans, what we hold as important, what we hold in 377 00:49:53,180 --> 00:50:00,820 common with one another is becoming less and less and less. 378 00:50:00,820 --> 00:50:08,540 And when you hold less in common, what is there to help defend when tension comes up? 379 00:50:08,540 --> 00:50:15,420 When tension comes up, and we have this in my own family, this will be relatable. 380 00:50:15,420 --> 00:50:18,180 You get tension inside a family. 381 00:50:18,180 --> 00:50:21,220 You have disagreements with those that you love. 382 00:50:21,220 --> 00:50:23,700 Inside of the church, people disagree. 383 00:50:23,700 --> 00:50:24,980 We argue. 384 00:50:24,980 --> 00:50:26,500 We sometimes pout. 385 00:50:26,500 --> 00:50:27,840 We sometimes fight. 386 00:50:27,840 --> 00:50:29,660 We do all of those other things. 387 00:50:29,660 --> 00:50:37,420 But when you have an agreed upon set of common values, that will hold you together even when 388 00:50:37,420 --> 00:50:39,900 you have disagreements. 389 00:50:39,900 --> 00:50:44,860 Inside of our marriage, inside of my family, we're committed to each other until death 390 00:50:44,860 --> 00:50:46,980 do us part. 391 00:50:46,980 --> 00:50:54,980 That's our commonly held value that nothing is going to separate us until one of us croaks. 392 00:50:54,980 --> 00:51:01,020 That means when we disagree, when we argue with each other, we're not going to leave 393 00:51:01,020 --> 00:51:02,860 each other. 394 00:51:02,860 --> 00:51:06,100 That value is more important. 395 00:51:06,100 --> 00:51:11,040 Inside of the church, when you have disagreement and you have tension and you have arguing 396 00:51:11,040 --> 00:51:17,580 and fighting, but held in common is the fact that we are all disciples of Christ. 397 00:51:17,580 --> 00:51:21,900 In common, we are all looking to the same eternal salvation. 398 00:51:21,900 --> 00:51:29,020 In common, we recognize that we are all sinners and forgiven by the same God because we were 399 00:51:29,020 --> 00:51:34,180 all in the same mess and we all have the same reason for saying hallelujah. 400 00:51:34,180 --> 00:51:42,340 When we remember those common things, then when we disagree, we pray that it doesn't 401 00:51:42,340 --> 00:51:49,900 actually fracture us because those other values are more important. 402 00:51:49,900 --> 00:51:53,340 One final interesting response. 403 00:51:53,340 --> 00:52:00,420 What do you think happened when people were asked if tolerance for others is very important? 404 00:52:00,420 --> 00:52:06,980 And just so you know, this isn't over the span of 25 years, but four for this result. 405 00:52:06,980 --> 00:52:10,300 What do you think the result was? 406 00:52:10,300 --> 00:52:13,580 How many think it went down? 407 00:52:13,580 --> 00:52:16,300 How many think it went up? 408 00:52:16,300 --> 00:52:20,340 We believe tolerance for others went up. 409 00:52:20,340 --> 00:52:22,640 It went down. 410 00:52:22,640 --> 00:52:28,700 Those who agreed that tolerance for others is very important dropped in four years from 411 00:52:28,700 --> 00:52:32,700 80% to 58%. 412 00:52:32,700 --> 00:52:38,940 When you have nearly half the nation saying it's not important to tolerate others and 413 00:52:38,940 --> 00:52:47,500 you have a multiplicity of tension and strife and underlying causes, do we expect unity 414 00:52:47,500 --> 00:52:50,860 and fellowship and community? 415 00:52:50,860 --> 00:52:54,100 We do not and we cannot. 416 00:52:54,100 --> 00:53:04,540 That right there, in my own opinion, is the most important answer aside from one others. 417 00:53:04,540 --> 00:53:06,420 We'll get to that in just a moment. 418 00:53:06,420 --> 00:53:10,620 The result from all of this is the fear it brings. 419 00:53:10,620 --> 00:53:15,100 The fear that all of this tension and strife has brought can be lumped into a couple of 420 00:53:15,100 --> 00:53:16,100 categories. 421 00:53:16,100 --> 00:53:18,640 One, we have a fear for our safety. 422 00:53:18,640 --> 00:53:21,820 When people are fighting with each other, you don't feel safe around each other. 423 00:53:21,820 --> 00:53:29,420 You never know if you're going to get mugged or tripped or hit or you name it. 424 00:53:29,420 --> 00:53:38,060 There are sadly graphic videos of that being played out in many of our major cities. 425 00:53:38,060 --> 00:53:40,500 Safety is a huge thing. 426 00:53:40,500 --> 00:53:47,660 Crime of every kind, but especially violent and drug-related crime, has skyrocketed since 427 00:53:47,660 --> 00:53:48,860 2020. 428 00:53:48,860 --> 00:53:52,880 We're not talking incremental, we're talking exponential. 429 00:53:52,880 --> 00:53:58,720 This has caused mass movements out of major cities and states to other locales with lower 430 00:53:58,720 --> 00:53:59,720 crime rates. 431 00:53:59,720 --> 00:54:04,860 In other words, people are saying, I want to move someplace where I feel safe. 432 00:54:04,860 --> 00:54:09,340 If you know anything about the hierarchy of needs, safety is right up there. 433 00:54:09,340 --> 00:54:13,100 If you aren't feeling safe, you're not going to care about anything else that comes after 434 00:54:13,100 --> 00:54:14,440 that. 435 00:54:14,440 --> 00:54:18,460 Our strife has also caused a fear for the financial future. 436 00:54:18,460 --> 00:54:26,140 I read a recent stat that only 1% of Americans actually feel safe in their financial future. 437 00:54:26,140 --> 00:54:32,180 And something like, let me see, I have this, 41% of Americans are already preparing for 438 00:54:32,180 --> 00:54:35,500 a severe financial turn down. 439 00:54:35,500 --> 00:54:40,580 And just so you know, if you think we aren't already in one, we are. 440 00:54:40,580 --> 00:54:47,540 We've met every metric for a minimum stagnation, at minimum. 441 00:54:47,540 --> 00:54:51,860 So there is serious fear of financial future. 442 00:54:51,860 --> 00:54:56,580 A lot of the strife has led to a future for our youth. 443 00:54:56,580 --> 00:55:02,780 I, for one, as a parent of two at home and one an adult and out, I do worry about the 444 00:55:02,780 --> 00:55:04,460 younger generation. 445 00:55:04,460 --> 00:55:09,380 When I hear about the divisive causes and then I see the crime and I see the hate and 446 00:55:09,380 --> 00:55:14,900 I see the finger pointing and so on, I know that it doesn't lead to good things in the 447 00:55:14,900 --> 00:55:16,660 young people's minds. 448 00:55:16,660 --> 00:55:20,220 I know that it's not looking good for them. 449 00:55:20,220 --> 00:55:25,700 And in fact, Americans confidence that life for their children's generation will be better 450 00:55:25,700 --> 00:55:28,100 than it has been for them. 451 00:55:28,100 --> 00:55:35,140 Another very recent poll, Americans that are confident that life for their kids is going 452 00:55:35,140 --> 00:55:42,980 to be better than them, those that felt confident in that, 21%. 453 00:55:42,980 --> 00:55:48,580 21% of American adults feel confident that their kids are going to have a better life 454 00:55:48,580 --> 00:55:49,860 than they did. 455 00:55:49,860 --> 00:55:53,020 It should be the other way around, my friends. 456 00:55:53,020 --> 00:55:58,340 Each generation should be providing something a little better for the next one. 457 00:55:58,340 --> 00:56:01,380 But then what about eternity? 458 00:56:01,380 --> 00:56:04,140 Have you ever had a fear for what the eternal holds? 459 00:56:04,140 --> 00:56:10,300 Do you think beyond this earth and what we have here, are you worried that what we're 460 00:56:10,300 --> 00:56:15,380 going through is all that there is or do you consider something beyond yourself and the 461 00:56:15,380 --> 00:56:16,380 mortal? 462 00:56:16,380 --> 00:56:19,620 Well, how to deal. 463 00:56:19,620 --> 00:56:20,620 That's our final thing. 464 00:56:20,620 --> 00:56:23,180 We don't want to just, I mean, I could just say goodnight and we all could just go, oh 465 00:56:23,180 --> 00:56:25,140 my goodness, that's awful. 466 00:56:25,140 --> 00:56:26,140 How to deal? 467 00:56:26,140 --> 00:56:27,140 We'll run through this quickly. 468 00:56:27,140 --> 00:56:34,020 Well, much like broken bones, you heal them, you can heal strife in similar ways. 469 00:56:34,020 --> 00:56:36,900 One, we set the bones. 470 00:56:36,900 --> 00:56:42,220 For social strife, what that means is that like fractured bones need to be returned to 471 00:56:42,220 --> 00:56:48,660 their original healthy position, much of what's causing the strife needs to be returned back 472 00:56:48,660 --> 00:56:52,100 to its original healthy position. 473 00:56:52,100 --> 00:56:57,360 The traditional family structure needs to be championed and supported. 474 00:56:57,360 --> 00:57:02,840 We don't need to consider fractured broken homes as the norm. 475 00:57:02,840 --> 00:57:07,940 We want to encourage unbroken homes as far as possible. 476 00:57:07,940 --> 00:57:16,700 We want the acceptance of natural and observable realities to again be the observable and acceptable 477 00:57:16,700 --> 00:57:23,100 reality, not just simply based on the feelings or the whims of the day. 478 00:57:23,100 --> 00:57:29,980 We also would like to see tolerance and love for others returned to their previous rates. 479 00:57:29,980 --> 00:57:37,940 Just four years ago, we had an 80% agreement that tolerance for others was very important. 480 00:57:37,940 --> 00:57:40,420 We need to get back to that 80%. 481 00:57:40,420 --> 00:57:45,920 That's the original position that we should set these bones back to. 482 00:57:45,920 --> 00:57:49,180 We also could have surgery when you're dealing with a fracture. 483 00:57:49,180 --> 00:57:55,380 I describe surgery as a controlled injury to heal the underlying problem. 484 00:57:55,380 --> 00:57:57,700 You're causing some harm, you're cutting. 485 00:57:57,700 --> 00:58:01,740 Oh man, I've seen videos of orthopedic surgeons going at it. 486 00:58:01,740 --> 00:58:03,860 They are not gentle. 487 00:58:03,860 --> 00:58:08,940 And people that have those procedures, I think they feel it afterwards. 488 00:58:08,940 --> 00:58:16,060 But surgery, sometimes it's necessary when typical methods are ineffective and injury 489 00:58:16,060 --> 00:58:20,220 or the injury is too great that you need something more invasive. 490 00:58:20,220 --> 00:58:25,980 You need something that might in the short term hurt a little, but it will help in the 491 00:58:25,980 --> 00:58:27,460 long term. 492 00:58:27,460 --> 00:58:34,780 In other words, the most toxic and divisive practices may need stronger confrontation. 493 00:58:34,780 --> 00:58:39,100 We need to stand up to the abuses that happen in our nation. 494 00:58:39,100 --> 00:58:45,500 And if someone is being mugged or threatened or belittled and ostracized, they need an 495 00:58:45,500 --> 00:58:47,000 advocate. 496 00:58:47,000 --> 00:58:49,280 They need a defender. 497 00:58:49,280 --> 00:58:50,880 Will it be easy? 498 00:58:50,880 --> 00:58:55,820 And can you step into the line of that fire and receive some bruises at minimum? 499 00:58:55,820 --> 00:59:02,260 Oh yeah, it's not going to get fixed unless some are willing to do the surgery part of 500 00:59:02,260 --> 00:59:03,780 it. 501 00:59:03,780 --> 00:59:09,900 Prejudice and racism needs to be rejected in all its forms. 502 00:59:09,900 --> 00:59:17,780 Not allowed in some and not in others, but universally prejudice needs to be rejected. 503 00:59:17,780 --> 00:59:24,020 We all need to be seen as children of God and we all need to be valued because of that. 504 00:59:24,020 --> 00:59:28,820 Regardless of the color of our skin, the background of our homes, or what nation we were born 505 00:59:28,820 --> 00:59:30,820 into. 506 00:59:30,820 --> 00:59:38,340 Harmful and debased behaviors should no longer find a place in public society. 507 00:59:38,340 --> 00:59:42,420 We should take a more serious stance on this. 508 00:59:42,420 --> 00:59:49,420 There are extremely perverse behaviors that occur in open public settings with people 509 00:59:49,420 --> 00:59:57,580 of all ages being encouraged to not only observe but participate in the perversity. 510 00:59:57,580 --> 01:00:03,300 Surround yourself with friends and family who share your positive values. 511 01:00:03,300 --> 01:00:07,940 Consider a close friend as an accountability partner. 512 01:00:07,940 --> 01:00:13,100 One that will hold you accountable if you fall into previous bad habits. 513 01:00:13,100 --> 01:00:19,740 If you're a source of some of the strife, pray that God lets you see that and try to 514 01:00:19,740 --> 01:00:21,500 mend that. 515 01:00:21,500 --> 01:00:23,420 But you don't have to do it alone. 516 01:00:23,420 --> 01:00:25,980 It's better with a support system. 517 01:00:25,980 --> 01:00:33,580 You also can consider joining institutions and attend events that foster unity, compassion, 518 01:00:33,580 --> 01:00:35,260 and hope. 519 01:00:35,260 --> 01:00:38,520 By their fruits you shall know them, the Bible says. 520 01:00:38,520 --> 01:00:45,380 If the fruits of an organization, if the fruits of an idea, if the fruits of an event lead 521 01:00:45,380 --> 01:00:54,940 to increased strife, lead to increased hate, lead to harmful and hateful language and ostracization, 522 01:00:54,940 --> 01:00:57,100 maybe reconsider. 523 01:00:57,100 --> 01:01:02,620 Join those that lead to the moral good than the alternative. 524 01:01:02,620 --> 01:01:04,980 Pain though is a part of the process. 525 01:01:04,980 --> 01:01:07,980 It's inevitable when you're dealing with injuries. 526 01:01:07,980 --> 01:01:09,660 Pain is a great communicator. 527 01:01:09,660 --> 01:01:14,420 It lets you know when something happens that shouldn't. 528 01:01:14,420 --> 01:01:19,980 Pain is also unavoidable when you're dealing with hurt and strife that runs deep and in 529 01:01:19,980 --> 01:01:24,460 a lot of what we've talked about even generationally, it's not only understandable that there'd 530 01:01:24,460 --> 01:01:27,340 be pain but it's expected. 531 01:01:27,340 --> 01:01:31,540 You don't always want to try to avoid the pain. 532 01:01:31,540 --> 01:01:34,460 Avoiding the pain often just lets things fester. 533 01:01:34,460 --> 01:01:40,220 If you are part of the cause, then sorrow for being a part of the cause and turn from 534 01:01:40,220 --> 01:01:42,060 it. 535 01:01:42,060 --> 01:01:43,740 Don't run away from the pain. 536 01:01:43,740 --> 01:01:48,320 Look at it and say, I don't want to keep causing it anymore. 537 01:01:48,320 --> 01:01:54,660 If you are on the receiving side of the pain, then forgive. 538 01:01:54,660 --> 01:01:58,380 Don't hold a grudge forever. 539 01:01:58,380 --> 01:02:04,780 Of course I didn't say forget and I didn't say you have to be around the abusers but 540 01:02:04,780 --> 01:02:11,860 God has asked us to forgive and to love even when it's appropriate to distance from the 541 01:02:11,860 --> 01:02:12,860 harmful. 542 01:02:12,860 --> 01:02:19,500 But you have to recognize the pain that's there before you can do anything about it. 543 01:02:19,500 --> 01:02:21,820 And finally, healing takes time. 544 01:02:21,820 --> 01:02:27,940 Yes, it would be nice if healing from injuries happened instantaneously or even overnight. 545 01:02:27,940 --> 01:02:33,340 However, the reality is that it takes more time than we would like. 546 01:02:33,340 --> 01:02:37,740 Most of these issues aren't going to happen by the end of this weekend or this month or 547 01:02:37,740 --> 01:02:38,740 this year. 548 01:02:38,740 --> 01:02:42,420 If we're going to fix this, there's a road ahead of us. 549 01:02:42,420 --> 01:02:49,600 And I'm even mentioning even if there's something in our own lives, often it takes a process. 550 01:02:49,600 --> 01:02:54,180 Often you are walking with others and you're walking with Jesus longer than you'd really 551 01:02:54,180 --> 01:02:55,180 like. 552 01:02:55,180 --> 01:02:58,020 But it takes time. 553 01:02:58,020 --> 01:03:00,420 Keep walking, in other words. 554 01:03:00,420 --> 01:03:01,820 Keep looking for the healing. 555 01:03:01,820 --> 01:03:06,900 It won't happen overnight and then finally don't pick at the wound. 556 01:03:06,900 --> 01:03:12,540 Once things are starting to heal, don't itch it again. 557 01:03:12,540 --> 01:03:17,820 There seems to be a lot of that as I observe our fine communities. 558 01:03:17,820 --> 01:03:22,540 Seems that as soon as things are starting to kind of calm down a little bit, people 559 01:03:22,540 --> 01:03:23,900 can't help themselves. 560 01:03:23,900 --> 01:03:25,660 They go, you know what? 561 01:03:25,660 --> 01:03:27,580 I need to pick at that. 562 01:03:27,580 --> 01:03:30,940 We're going to rub it raw again and see what happens. 563 01:03:30,940 --> 01:03:35,140 Maybe it'll be better this time when we rub at it. 564 01:03:35,140 --> 01:03:40,620 It never is better when you keep itching that wound again. 565 01:03:40,620 --> 01:03:42,320 So don't pick at it. 566 01:03:42,320 --> 01:03:49,380 Let the healing take place and then thank God that healing is happening. 567 01:03:49,380 --> 01:03:52,140 So you want to set the bones. 568 01:03:52,140 --> 01:03:54,620 You want to set our things back in order. 569 01:03:54,620 --> 01:03:55,700 Surgery may be needed. 570 01:03:55,700 --> 01:03:59,300 We want to have a brace, a support system in place. 571 01:03:59,300 --> 01:04:01,540 Pain this is inevitable. 572 01:04:01,540 --> 01:04:04,140 Sometimes we'll go through it to be better on the end. 573 01:04:04,140 --> 01:04:05,260 Healing takes time. 574 01:04:05,260 --> 01:04:06,380 We remember that. 575 01:04:06,380 --> 01:04:09,020 But here's what we're going to lead into for tomorrow. 576 01:04:09,020 --> 01:04:12,060 A quote by a man named Cardinal Manning. 577 01:04:12,060 --> 01:04:17,660 He's a cardinal in the Catholic Church but this is a great line and it seems to be biblical. 578 01:04:17,660 --> 01:04:22,980 All human conflict is ultimately theological. 579 01:04:22,980 --> 01:04:28,800 As we've gotten farther and farther away from recognizing a creator, as we've gotten farther 580 01:04:28,800 --> 01:04:37,140 away from using objective morals as our guide, we've just fallen farther into the pit of 581 01:04:37,140 --> 01:04:40,660 strife and sin and debauchery. 582 01:04:40,660 --> 01:04:47,120 And to only think that we can confront that without confronting the theological implications 583 01:04:47,120 --> 01:04:50,100 is only looking at it one dimensionally. 584 01:04:50,100 --> 01:04:56,620 Because ultimately we are all engaged in a theological conflict and it just happens to 585 01:04:56,620 --> 01:04:59,980 bear fruit with conflict with one another. 586 01:04:59,980 --> 01:05:05,180 So tomorrow we will continue our consideration of social strife, how to live today without 587 01:05:05,180 --> 01:05:06,180 fear of tomorrow. 588 01:05:06,180 --> 01:05:12,940 At 11 o'clock it's titled Common Crisis, Common Cure and because we ended with a theological 589 01:05:12,940 --> 01:05:18,720 idea, I'm a theologian, you can expect a more theological approach to this. 590 01:05:18,720 --> 01:05:26,220 Common Crisis, Common Cure and then tomorrow afternoon at 1.30, we're in this together 591 01:05:26,220 --> 01:05:30,500 is the part of it because if we're looking at strife and we want to get from strife to 592 01:05:30,500 --> 01:05:36,740 something then we want to get back to community, togetherness. 593 01:05:36,740 --> 01:05:41,020 So Saturday afternoon at 1.30 we'll look at we're in this together. 594 01:05:41,020 --> 01:05:46,340 I want to thank you all for being here tonight, for listening if you happen to be listening 595 01:05:46,340 --> 01:05:48,340 at another time. 596 01:05:48,340 --> 01:05:53,300 If you will indulge me in a word of prayer we will conclude. 597 01:05:53,300 --> 01:05:57,820 Heavenly Father we thank you so much for your love and we thank you that even with all of 598 01:05:57,820 --> 01:06:03,340 the strife around us you are stable and constant and consistent. 599 01:06:03,340 --> 01:06:08,340 I pray that you would let us be truthful with ourselves and with others as we consider some 600 01:06:08,340 --> 01:06:13,620 of the problems that we see and we experience but I also would pray that according to your 601 01:06:13,620 --> 01:06:17,860 will and your wisdom you would lead us into something much better than we can ourselves. 602 01:06:17,860 --> 01:06:22,620 Lord we pray all of these things may we be safe tonight, bring us back together tomorrow 603 01:06:22,620 --> 01:06:39,060 we ask in Christ's name, Amen.