McMoments and Memories: February 2022

Saturday, February 26, 2022

The Cult of Celebrity

Today's devotional was another good one!

In a survey of millennials, 50% of young adults said that a major life goal was to become famous. In the past people wanted to be famous for doing something. Now, celebrity has become an end in itself. It has attained god-like characteristics. Not only do people want to be famous, they idolize those who have achieved celebrity status. This widespread interest in famous individuals has been described as ‘the cult of celebrity’.

Fame to the ambitious is like salt water to the thirsty. The more you get, the more you want. Madonna, who at one stage was probably the most famous woman on the planet, said, ‘I won’t be happy until I am as famous as God.’

I've written before about my dear brother, Rod, my hero. He was never a celebrity but I was talking to someone on Sunday who still remembers him almost 28 years after his passing. His life was brief but significant. This reminded me of something I heard Dennis Prager say:

The vast majority of those who are famous are not significant and the vast majority of those who are significant are not famous.

The people who have had a significant impact on my life are not, and probably never will be, famous. I may not be famous, but I pray that my life will be significant.

Fame is fleeting. The list of celebrities who have committed suicide since the turn of the century is staggering. Three of the four gospels records words of Jesus about gaining the whole world:

Matthew 16:26 "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
Mark 8:36 "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
Luke 9:25 "For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?"

I like the way John Gill's Exposition of the Bible broke Matthew 16:26 down:

For what is a man profited,.... Such persons, though they are only seeking their own profit, will find themselves most sadly mistaken; for of what advantage will it be to such a man,

if he shall gain the whole world; all that is precious and valuable in it; all the power, pleasures, and riches of it; if with Alexander, he had the government of the whole world, and with Solomon, all the delights of it; and was possessed with the wealth of Croesus, and Crassus,

and lose his own soul? If that should be consigned to everlasting torment and misery, be banished from the divine presence, and continually feel the gnawings of the worm of conscience that never dies, and the fierceness of the fire of God's wrath, that shall never be quenched, he will have a miserable bargain of it.

Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Or, "for the redemption" of it. If he had the whole world to give, and would give it, it would not be a sufficient ransom for it; the redemption of an immortal soul requires a greater price than gold and silver, or any corruptible thing; nothing short of the blood and life of Christ, is a proper exchange, or ransom price for it.

Take this whole world, but give me Jesus!

Thursday, February 24, 2022

57 Cents

The devotional in my Bible reading this morning had a wonderful story:

Hattie May Wiatt, a six-year-old girl, lived near Grace Baptist Church in Philadelphia, PA. The Sunday school was very crowded. Russell H. Conwell, the minister, told her that one day they would have buildings big enough to allow everyone to attend. She said, ‘I hope you will. It is so crowded I am afraid to go there alone.’ He replied, ‘When we get the money we will construct one large enough to get all the children in.’

Two years later, in 1886, Hattie May died. After the funeral Hattie’s mother gave the minister a little bag they had found under their daughter’s pillow containing 57 cents in change that she had saved up. Alongside it was a note in her handwriting: ‘To help build bigger so that more children can go to Sunday school.’

The minister changed all the money into pennies and offered each one for sale. He received $250 – and 54 of the cents were given back. The $250 was itself changed into pennies and sold by the newly formed ‘Wiatt Mite Society’. In this way, her 57 cents *kept on multiplying*.

Twenty-six years later, in a talk entitled, ‘The history of the 57 cents’, the minister explained the results of her 57-cent donation: a church with a membership of over 5,600 people, a hospital where tens of thousands of people had been treated, 80,000 young people going through university, 2,000 people going out to preach the gospel – all this happened ‘because Hattie May Wiatt invested her 57 cents’.

Today's reading included Mark chapter 8, the story of Jesus multiplying loaves and fishes to feed 4,000. Jesus didn't make the food appear out of nothing - He took what the disciples gave Him, then He multiplied it.

Exodus chapters 35 and 36 were also part of today's reading. This is about building the tabernacle. Chapter 35 verse 5 says, "Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it..." The people responded in verse 21-29:

"And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord's offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the Lord. And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers' skins, brought them. Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass brought the Lord's offering: and every man, with whom was found shittim wood for any work of the service, brought it. And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen. And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats' hair. And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate; And spice, and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses."

Every one, every man, every woman. It wasn't a billionaire or a few millionaires who donated from their abundance. Every one gave willingly of what they had. Chapter 36 tells us the result of this willingness:

"And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make. And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing. For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much."

God's kingdom has never been built from the abundance of one person. He uses everyone who is willing. God's math doesn't work like ours. Don't hold back because you don't think what you have is enough ~ 57 cents, seven loaves, a few fishes, whatever you give willingly will be what God will use.

Thursday, February 17, 2022

A Winter Getaway

Sometime in early December Les received a text message from his brother, Lance. Lance and his wife, Monica, were planning a cruise out of Los Angeles and wanted to see us while they were out here if possible. They also invited us to take the cruise with them.

With all the COVID restrictions going on we were a little unsure about cruising. We talked to our neighbors and they had cruised three times last year and said it was great. Our travel agent had taken four cruises last year. They all said they felt very safe. Cruise lines require all passengers and crew members to be fully vaccinated and a COVID test is required two days before sailing. Prices were great, so we decided to go for it!

Lance and Monica arrived in Los Angeles on Friday, February 4th. They had received ten inches of snow the previous day and were looking forward to the warmth and sunshine. We sailed from San Pedro on our 7 Day Mexican Riviera Cruise on the Majestic Princess on Saturday, February 5th. The ship holds approximately 3,500 passengers and only about 1,000 were on board. It felt like we had the ship to ourselves many times!

Sunday was a full day at sea. Les and I found a secluded place on the Lido deck, away from the pools and just enjoyed the mild weather. We were able to order food from the Medallion App and it was delivered to us on the deck. The only thing we had to pay for were our Diet Cokes!

The Majestic has what is called a Seawalk: "At 60 feet long, cantilevered 128 feet above the waves and extending 28 feet beyond the edge of the ship, it affords thrilling vistas of the ever-changing seascape." This was really cool to walk across!

Sunday was also Lance and Monica's 29th wedding anniversary. Our waiter and a couple of others sang "Happy Anniversary" to them and brought a piece of cake that we all enjoyed.

As I continued working on this post, I realized it was going to be way too long! I've decided to break it in to two posts. Today I'll only write about our time on board. My next post will be about our three excursion days.

We spotted whales and a pod of dolphins from our ship. We knew where the whales were by watching the smaller boats on the move. We got much closer to whales on our excursions.

Thursday and Friday were both full days at sea as we sailed north back to Los Angeles. The days kind of blur together as we enjoyed sitting on the deck and also sitting on our private balcony. We saw giant sea turtles in the water at one point!