When I started this blog sixty posts ago, the purpose was to explore changes in this world God has given to us. Just as important is how we adjust to those changes while living a life of thanksgiving to our Savior for his wonderful gift of salvation.

There are changes in technology which really impress me. LG has come out with a 65 inch “wallpaper” television that weighs all of 16 pounds and is only .15 inches thick. Fantastic!. Of course the price tag of $7,999.00 makes it a little heavy to bear.

This was said to be a fidget spinner somewhere between two to four thousand years old. The change came about when, after only two days,  a museum curator correctly identified it as the head of a war club. Fidget spinners are supposed to help deal with stress and aid in concentration. When used as originally intended, this thing would probably end some stress for one person anyway. Changes are many and sometimes short-term in our digital information world.

As we change into later summer for my part of the country, state and county fairs pop up all over the place. And a main reason for these fairs are, of course, the food. Four new additions to the menus this year are deep fried (of course) apple pie nachos, bacon ravioli, and jelly beans. These advances in culinary creativity are absolute proof that the human race continues to evolve towards perfection.

I also came upon a few changes in our supply of words. No, I did not get these from Words with Friends. Just four of the new words in 2017 from the Oxford English Dictionary are unlawerly (does not sound new to me), ginkgolide, doenjang, and chantoosie. I can think of all kinds of ways to use these words. Of course, since I have no idea what they mean, it could get kind of interesting.

I recently attended a workshop on community building. The goal was to either break down or prevent barriers that keep people in communities apart. I understood the concept and probably the most difficult part was to communicate with others in such a way that you only referred to yourself and not in reaction to what anyone else was saying.

One change though was a couple of people who saw themselves as being non-gender and referred to themselves as “non-binary” or agender. The only thing that came to mind was So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Genesis 1:27, 31. Some changes directly conflict with the Bible. 

Then I wonder about changes that are not quite in place yet–like self-driving cars. So, couldn’t the police stop you and give you a ticket for driving with your hands on the steering wheel?

I also thought about all the issues with having your medical insurance carrier trying to pay out a little as possible for services. So couldn’t there be drive-through therapy. You stop at the order window and describe your issue. You are told to drive to the next window, insert your insurance card and you are given a print out of the solution. Drive through therapy? Oh, that is right. We already have Dr. Phil.

As I wrote this, I spent some time on the website Worldometers. I watched the number of abortions this year climb from 24,899,040 to 24,899,100 in just sixty seconds. So couldn’t there be a way to save the lives of all those babies who simply wanted what we all have–life? “The world could never support all those “extra” people” some may say. We forget that God created people to live forever, until we messed things up with sin. Surely he planned for a lot of people to actually survive here on the earth.

Then there is all the focus on (fill in the blank with your choice) “lives matter.” So can’t we find a way to make that true and the world would be a better place? Simple answer from the world’s view, a life matters only when there is worth in that life as defined by the world. And the world’s measure of what constitutes worth changes. Just look at the changing beliefs about both ends of the life spectrum: the preborn and the elderly. What matters? What gives those lives worth?

If we want meaningful and lasting change the only real source comes from the heart. Not a heart that is moved by the plight of the unborn or elderly. Not a reaction that springs from the starving children we see on television. Not even from the guilt that people like me feel when I tell my wife we do not need to grocery shop because I cannot fit anymore food into our freezer or cupboards.

The hope lies in the heart that has been changed by For God so loved the world–God loves everyone no matter the nationality, male or female, color of their skin or the language they speak, their neighborhood or size of their bank account–that he gave his one and only Son,–that would be Jesus who suffered the punishment for all of everyone’s sins–that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life–there is nothing we need do in fact nothing we can do earn heaven. It is all done for us. That love now spurs us to say thank you in all we do.

Changes. I do not agree with all of them, although bacon filled deep-fried ravioli does sound rather inviting. Changes will continue for as long as I live here on earth. That means I need to change too. And that is ok, as long as I am responding to what Jesus did for me. Sounds pretty simple, but in practice, well come on back sometime and see how I am doing.

I will wait you.