I found this great quote from ‘Carnage and Culture, Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power’ by historian Victor Davis Hanson that I thought was very insightful.

For oppressed peasants to be better off in the long run under Ottoman rule, taxes would have to be markedly lower than under the Europeans, since the latter created far more capital, some of which eventually enhanced the population at large. The great hatred of capitalism in the hearts of the oppressed, ancient and modern, I think, stems not merely from the ensuing vast inequality in wealth, and the often unfair and arbitrary nature of who profits and who suffers, but from the silent acknowledgment that under a free market economy the many victims of the greed of the few are still better off than those under the utopian socialism of the well-intended. It is a hard thing for the poor to acknowledge benefits from their rich moral inferiors who never so intended it.

Hanson, Victor Davis. Carnage and Culture, Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power New York, NY, Random House  pg 271-272

Praise the LORD!
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart,
In the company of the upright and in the assembly.

Psalm 111

I will give thanks. In order to lead others in praise, David sets himself as an example: first, with my whole heart, and then, publicly, in the company of the upright. Sincere adoration in secret is far better than an open, specious show of praise, yet the former will inevitably lead to public praise, otherwise God would be deprived of his due honor. It is not that any of us can ever attain perfection of heart in our praises; rather, even though our worship is defective, it will be acceptable to God if it is sincere. He speaks of the congregation because one of the main reasons for assemblies is to give worshipers the opportunity to voice their praise of God (Psalm 65:1).

John Calvin – Commentary on the Psalms (translated/abridged by David C. Searle, ) Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust.

(Original work published 1557)

April 30, 2009

Quartz Hill, California

From: Fox News

California Marching Band Girl Beats Back Muggers With Baton

That’s what California authorities are saying after a 17-year-old girl used her marching band baton to beat back two would-be muggers.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Michael Rust says the Quartz Hill girl was walking to school April 24 when two men approached her from behind, tried to grab her coat and demanded money.

Instead, one got a punch in the nose and the other a kick to the groin. Rust says the girl then beat both of them with her band baton before she ran away.

The men had not been caught. But Rust says there’s a clear message to take from the encounter:

“The moral to this story is don’t mess with the marching band girls, or you just might get what you deserve. Final score: marching band 2, thugs 0.”

It is no small attainment to be built up in the faithfulness of God. This forms a stable foundation of comfort for the believing soul. Mutability marks everything out of God. Look into the church, into the world, into our families, into ourselves; what innumberable changes do we see on every hand! A week, one short day, what alterations does it produce! Yet, in the midst of it all, how good it is to repose calmly on the unchangeableness, the faithfulness of God; to know that no alterations of time, no earthly changes, affect His faithfulness to His people; and more than this: no changes in them, no unfaithfulness of theirs, causes the slightest change in God. Once a Father, ever a Father; once a Friend, ever a Friend. His providences may change, His heart cannot. He is a God of unchangeable love. The promise He has given, He will fulfill; the covenant He has made, He will observe; the word that has gone out of His mouth, He will not alter. “He cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).

Peace then, tried believer! Are you passing now through the deep waters? Who kept you from sinking when wading through the last? Who brought you through the last fire? Who supported you under the last cross? Who delivered you out of the last temptation? Was it not God, thy covenant God, thy faithful, unchanging God? This God, then, is your God now, and your God forever and ever, and He will be your guide even unto death.

Octavius Winslow, Morning Thoughts, (Reformation Heritage Books, Grand Rapids, MI 2003) pg 68-69

The fruit of William Cowper’s affliction is a call to free ourselves from trite and chipper worship. If the Christian life has become the path of ease and fun in the modern West, then corporate worship is the place of increasing entertainment. The problem is not a battle between contemporary worship music and hymns; the problem is that there aren’t enough martyrs during the week. If no soldiers are perishing, what you want on Sunday is Bob Hope and some pretty girls, not the army chaplain and a surgeon.

Cowper was sick. But in his sickness he saw things that we so desperately need to see. He saw hell. And sometimes he saw heaven. He knew terror. And sometimes he knew ecstasy. When I stand to welcome the people to worship on Sunday morning, I know that there are William Cowpers in the congregation. There are spouses who can barely talk. There are sullen teenagers living double lives at home and school. There are widows who still feel the amputation of a fifty-year partner. There are single people who have not been hugged for twenty years. There are men in the prime of their lives with cancer.There are moms who have carried two tiny caskets. There are soldiers of the cross who have risked all for Jesus and bear the scars. There are tired and discouraged and lonely strugglers. Shall we come to them with a joke?

They can read the comics everyday. What they need from me is not more bouncy, frisky smiles and stories. What they need is a kind of joyful earnestness that makes the broken heart feel hopeful and helps the ones who are drunk with trifles sober up for greater joys.

John Piper, The Hidden Smile of God,

(Wheaton, IL : Crossway Books , 2003)