Sunday, January 26, 2014

Sun Jan 26th Todays News

Australia Day and people ask "What does it mean?"

 Channel 9's Australia Day cricket match in Adelaide began with journalist Mark Nicholas asking the English skipper if he was 'aware of the enormity of the day.' Some do not know it, feeling that 'enormity' is to do with size, but it in fact means 'monstrous wrong.' So the enormity of Julia Gillard as PM is not referring to her bottom or nose, but to the fact she should not have been PM and was unsuited temperamentally to the task, as have been any ALP PM in living memory. One might refer to the enormity of the debt the ALP left office in September '13. Or the enormity of drowning desperate people who are exploited by pirates and leaving refugees in limbo. Or the enormity of ABC reporting on Indonesian relations with Australia. I want a correction and retraction from Nicholas, and an apology. 

 ASRC (Asylum Seeker Resource Centre) posted on Facebook that they felt today was an invasion day. A little off putting for me, as I have ancestors on both sides of their invasion. With respect, half of present Australia did not exist fifty years ago. Building has gathered pace and Australia is set to double in another forty years, or less. My point is that Australia I love is not for me, but for those who follow. They may be migrants or born here. It isn't my will or place to deny those who come. And very shortly after I'm gone, this land will not be the land I know. But she will still be Australia and I love her. Those racists making noise about 'invasion' have no love for those they hurt with their faux dreams of a land that never was and never will be. They may graffiti a cottage of a great man, but that won't make their worthless assertions right. It is wrong to give such assertions the currency media give it. If the pathetic race hate laws are still valid, I would like to see ASRC prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and any public funds given retracted. 

 I have mixed emotions about the great lady Australia. I love her, and wish her to be prosperous. I want her peoples to be diverse, and united in bonds of fellowship. I have been hurt terribly by Australia and her justice system, having my citizenship denied by administrative error, and having been persecuted by a political lobby covering up a bungled pedophile investigation and the death of a school child. So that my career is over as a Mathematics teacher and yet I've done no wrong. But Australia has taught me about life. When I breathe my last, I will no longer be American as I was born in NYC, but my home will be in Australia. My adulthood and contributions will be for Australians. Some of my ancestors came to Australia from China, Ireland, Scotland, England, Holland, Russia, Poland, Hungary .. and .. and from places I know not. But they came here and they named her not as a possession for some empire, but for the place they live. They called her home. 
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Hatches
Happy birthday and many happy returns Alex Duong. Born on the same day, across the years, as
Matches
Despatches
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ALP must apologise for union war crimes

Piers Akerman – Saturday, January 25, 2014 (11:25pm)

AS a backdrop to today’s Australia Day celebrations, the Labor/Green Left is working itself into a lather over plans to review the flawed national education curriculum.

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'ALP must apologise for union war crimes'
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TAXES RESCUED

Tim Blair – Sunday, January 26, 2014 (3:25pm)

The drama may not be over for Antarctic tourist Chris Turney and his fellow fools.
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BLOOD BUBBLES

Tim Blair – Sunday, January 26, 2014 (3:10pm)

Anti-Jewish activists have moved their attention from chocolate to an Israeli-owned soda campany, as Kat Stoeffel reports: 
My first-ever holiday party was going great until someone in the living room wanted club soda for his vodka. It’s not that I wasn’t prepared. I was in the kitchen, overseeing eggnog, and I handed my co-host a bottle of seltzer made for the occasion with my SodaStream countertop carbonator. He’s the one who told me what happened next.
“Enjoy your Palestinian blood cocktails,” the left-wing reporter said to the vodka drinkers …
At a Thanksgiving with college friends, the appearance of SodaStream’s distinctive, reusable bottles was met with similar tut-tutting. “Blood bubbles,” someone called them. Defending herself, the hostess said the machine had been a gift. Now I say that too, even though I bought mine myself. 
Wimp. Meanwhile, SodaStream spokesbabe Scarlett Johansson isn’t backing down:

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MODERN INTOLERANCE

Tim Blair – Saturday, January 25, 2014 (11:58pm)

Multiculturalism and sexual freedom meet Islam. Note one defending lawyer’s claim that the resultant conflict occurred due to “a misguided sense of love.”
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GET YER YAHYA OUT

Tim Blair – Saturday, January 25, 2014 (11:36pm)

The ABC’s go-to guy for Indonesian political commentary. Watch the whole thing:

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Nation of tribes

Andrew Bolt January 26 2014 (12:37pm)

The newly tribalised Australia. Men shoot man. Friends of victim react by attacking police:

A WILD mob fought with police after a man was shot dead in a suspected drive-by in Sydney’s south west this morning...
The area quickly descended into chaos as people arrived in speeding cars and nearly ran over police officers.
A man jumped out of a 4WD stopped in the middle of the road and shouted, “I want to see my brother, c’mon I’ll take you all on,” before him and four men attacked the officers…
A group of over 20 family and friends gathered down the street. Some taunted police while others did their best to calm them down.
I know no more than what I’ve linked to. Yet the reaction suggests an ethnic or religious element - a exaggerated sense of victimhood and entitlement from people who seem to feel little sense of obligation to the institutions of the territory which they they share with the rest of us. True, we could be just seeing a feral white underclass here, but let’s see…
I don’t see our cultural elite honestly confronting the often deliberate fraying of community. Few public policy issues are actually more important.
UPDATE
A video of some of the confrontation seems to support my suspicion:

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An absence of descriptors in the news reports of those involved is also suspicious.
UPDATE
Reader Notch:

From one who was on scene in an official capacity when the abovementioned altercation took place, your suspicions on the ethnicity of the victim and “family and friends” are 100% correct.
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US freezes. What say warmists now?

Andrew Bolt January 26 2014 (11:07am)

I doubt many people thought global warming would lead to this:

America is set for the coldest month of the century as weather forecasters predict yet another freezing blast of Arctic air - putting Super Bowl Sunday in jeopardy.
Still, a cold freeze in one continent is no more evidence for or against global warming than is a heat wave in Australia. If only our Climate Commission and warmist journalists acted accordingly.
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Abetz defends Bernardi: what counts is the argument, not the offence

Andrew Bolt January 26 2014 (10:23am)

Eric Abetz, leader of the Government in the Senate, defends Liberal MP Cory Bernardi from the modern shut-uppers - people who demand important debates be shut down simply because they cause “offence”:

I contrast the lack of attention so far paid to Australia’s Secret War - Hal Colebatch’s book, with the affected morale outrage over another recently released book, which I can confirm I have also read cover to cover, word for word, and which I would also commend to you. 
It was written by my colleague, Senator Cory Bernardi, and entitled The Conservative Revolution…
What was disappointing was the rank misrepresentation, from either sheer dishonesty or ignorance, by the gaggle of critics, of the inescapable conclusions of peer reviewed research cited in the book. 
Labor Leader, Bill Shorten, claimed to be"offended" by Senator Bernardi’s commentary about so-called ‘non-traditional families’.  ‘As a step-father I am offended,’ he said.  The media simply ran the ‘I’m offended’ line. 
You know the trip; “I claim victimhood.  I declare that I have taken offence.  So you cannot question me or assail me with undisputed, objective studies"… studies which actually tell us time and time again that the gold standard for the nurturing of children is a married man and woman with their biological children. 
Do some such family units fail? 
Of course they do. 
Do some single mums and dads do a fantastic job?  Of course they do. 
Do some blended families work exceptionally well?  Of course they do. 
But that does not disprove the undeniable evidence that the gold standard and best practice model is the traditional family!
The thesis of Senator Bernardi’s book is that, as a consequence, public policy should be supportive of the traditional family. 
Our would-be Labor Prime Minister claimed to have been offended by the articulation of these facts. 
Mr Shorten, thinking that he had a knockout blow, rhetorically asked on what basis Senator Bernardi was suggesting these children are more likely to be criminal? 
Well, let me answer Mr Shorten’s rhetorical question with a substantive answer, by reading to you what is in Senator Bernardi’s book, and I quote:

“we know the statistics – that children who grow up without a father are 5 times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime; 9 times more likely to drop out of schools and 20 times more likely to end up in prison.  They are more likely to have behavioural problems, or run away from home, or become teenage parents themselves. And the foundations of our community are weaker because of this.  Can I simply observe that for the sake of our society these things need to be said.”
Oh…. and for the record, can I confirm the quote that I just read was an extract from Senator Bernardi’s book - quoting President Barack Obama’s Father’s Day address of 2008. 
I wonder if the would-be Prime Minister Shorten would be as critical of and disrespectful to President Obama as he was towards Senator Bernardi?  I think not…
The fact that this ill-informed and embarrassing criticism came from Bill Shorten was bad enough.  Regrettably some came from within our own Party.

One criticism was that we could supposedly dismiss Senator Bernardi’s thesis and all its evidentiary basis because it was a minority view…
I would invite the Young Liberal Movement and young people more generally not to consider whether Senator Bernardi’s is a minority view or majority view, but whether it is right or wrong
Abetz also called for the union movement to apologise for its sorry history of sabotage in World War 2. His full speech to the Young Liberal Movement of Australia Federal Convention Gala Dinner follows:

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'Abetz defends Bernardi: what counts is the argument, not the offence'
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Hard label

Andrew Bolt January 26 2014 (10:17am)

More labeling from the Sydney Morning Herald:

Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, parliamentary secretary for social services and from the Liberals’ hard-right faction, told Fairfax Media that speaking English is not only a personal responsibility, it is ‘’an obligation to our country’’.
Hard? As in heartless? Mean? Pitiless?
Could the Sydney Morning Herald identify - for balance - a “hard-Left” group in federal parliament? Or does it believe the only mean people are on the Right? 
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Man honored after yelling at 13-year-old girl

Andrew Bolt January 26 2014 (9:11am)


Adam Goodes is Australian of the Year:
But his advocacy might never be as influential as his magnificent demonstration of character and compassion in May 2013. The day after Goodes raised his arm to identify a 13-year-old girl in the MCG crowd who had shouted ‘’ape’’ at him, he stood, shaken and shattered, before a media throng.
How utterly absurd:
On Friday, a 13-year-old Collingwood fan at the football with her Nan shouts “ape” at bearded Sydney player Adam Goodes.
She said later she did not mean the word in a racist way and tried to apologise when she was told he was upset. Yet this girl, as old as my year 7 son, was pointed out by Goodes to security staff, who marched her out of the stadium.

She was grilled [and then detained] by police for two hours, initially without her grandmother present, and threatened with charges. Her face was shown on national TV and she was publicly branded a racist.
On Saturday Goodes absurdly declared “racism had a face - and it was a 13-year-old girl”.
The US has its Ku Klux Klansmen, Serbia its Ratko Mladic, Australia a teary 13-year-old.
Only by reducing two individuals to racial caricatures - a repentant 13-year-old girl into a white racist and 34-year-old champion footballer into a black victim - could you see in that public shaming a “ magnificent demonstration of character and compassion” worthy of an Australian of the Year. (I do note, however, Goodes was honored for more than this incident alone.)
I completely agree that racism is an evil that must be fought. What concerns me, though, is that the public is instead being coached into acceptance of a New Racism which reduces us to our “racial” identities. Next step: the constitutional recognition of indigenous Australians, to divide Australians on the basis of the “race” of their ancestors.
UPDATE
Reader GreyZeke explains the decision:
The National Australia Day Council consists of ten members; one is a sportsman and four are connected to the racism industry:- 
Ms Shelley Reys AO 
Managing Director
Arrilla - Indigenous Consultants & Services
Professor Samina Yasmeen

Director
Centre for Muslim States and Societies
Dr Tim Soutphommasane

Race Discrimination Commissioner
Jason Glanville

Chief Executive Officer
National Centre of Indigenous Excellence
Another Australian institution hijacked.The remaining members are largely administrative or former recipients.
To what extent do our institutions now reflect the values of the people who fund them? 
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Meet the ABC’s favorite Indonesian commentator

Andrew Bolt January 26 2014 (9:06am)

Via Michael Smith, this introduction to the ABC’s go-to Indonesian for comment on Australia (and the last third is the most instructive): 
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Arts boss Sophie Cunningham dreams of a grant for nice Ben. And lo and behold

Andrew Bolt January 26 2014 (8:46am)

First let’s introduce the two main characters in this latest story of arts grants and group-think.
Sophie Cunningham, chairman of the Australia Council’s literature panel, attends parties of fellow Leftists such as Jonathan Green (now an ABC presenter) where guests are known to have bashed a pinata of John Howard.
Benjamin Law is another Leftist with a liking for rhetorical violence against conservatives. Of me he wrote: “Some of us are huge and muscled, built like brick sh*thouses and could demolish Andrew Bolt’s face if we wanted to, and that is definitely fine by me too.” Of Tony Abbott he tweeted:
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Now to the action, as outlined in Quadrant by Roger Franklin.
Last March Cunningham - to repeat, the chairman of the Literature Panel - had a dream:

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Hmm. A month later Benjamin’s sister - who describes Cunningham as ”my mentor” - gets an Australia Council award:

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And now the man himself gets that grant of which Cunningham once dreamed:

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Grants to brother and sister Law. And, as noted yesterday, grants to mother and daughter Croggon, the elder of whom is another Twitter correspondent with Cunningham, sharing her disdain for scrutiny of the ABC:
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And, of course, like Cunningham and Law, Croggon is a Leftist who tends to despise Liberal politicians such as Tony Abbott.
Now, clearly Cunningham doesn’t have the only vote on the literature panel. Just as clearly, she has decided views on literature and her work on the Australia Council is driven by those considerations, not by friendships or politics.
Yet we all have unexamined prejudices and assumptions, and are influenced more than we’d like to believe or credit by our culture and our peers. Moreover, the group-think in the arts, and especially those parts of it that are grants supported, seems to me undeniable.  It all seems very cosy. Almost tribal, with conservatives left to feel excluded - even defunded.
Ask Keith Windschuttle, editor of Quadrant, who in December 2012 protested with some heat:
Last month, the Literature Board of the Australia Council ... reduced our funding from the $40,000 we received in 2012, to just $20,000 for 2013. This is a big chunk out of our modest operating budget. All our Australia Council grant goes to the writers of Quadrant’s literary content, that is, our book reviews, poetry, short fiction, and essays on literature, film, theatre and the arts…
As I wrote in a letter to all subscribers last month, the Literature Board has made a blatantly political decision. Throughout the eleven years of the Howard government, its appointees never reduced the funding of overtly left-wing literary magazines like Meanjin, Overland, Griffith Review and Australian Book Review. Under the Rudd and Gillard Labor governments, those journals continued to receive much more money than Quadrant – more than $60,000 a year – even though they carried only a fraction of our literary content and had much smaller circulations.
Meanjin, for instance, is published only four times a year, compared to Quadrant’s ten issues, and carries less literary content in each of those editions than we do… Yet the Australia Council rewards Meanjin with a privileged position as one of its “key organisations”, which guarantees funding for three-year periods, while Quadrant is made to stand in line like a naughty boy and re-apply for funds each year.
So when the Gillard government this year appointed former Meanjin editor and left-wing feminist, Sophie Cunningham, as chair of the Literature Board, we knew what to expect. Still, we did not anticipate such a ruthless and heavy discounting of our good name. Under Cunningham’s editorship, Meanjin published at least one derogatory article about Quadrant and several articles and blogs about me in particular. With such a track record, she was obviously an interested party and should have stepped aside from any decision about our funding.
Given all this, I do not expect Cunningham and the Australia Council to protest as Overland, another of the Leftist-magazines they fund, black-balls for purely political reasons poets who seek publication in Quadrant.
Arts funding needs reform. It is meant to promote excellence and open minds. I fear it is instead promoting a political tribe and stifling debate.
Here is an urgent job for Arts Minister George Brandis.
(A polite request to anyone I’ve named here who is in furious disagreement. Please do not sue, abuse and otherwise try to stifle debate as is so often the modern way.  Let us settle this with argument. Post your responses here and I will publish them.)
UPDATE
Reader GIGO protests:
When you say “let us settle this with argument” you probably don’t realise how self-serving and self-glorifying such a statement sounds. Of course you would say that, wouldn’t you? You prefer rational argument because it serves you, because you reason you would win it. You seem to want to come across as a caring person, and yet you’re so openly hostile towards those who support bias when it is theirs, even though in your heart of hearts you surely must know that for many of those unfortunates you rail against, acting in the manner that they do is probably the only way they can sustain a living above the poverty line. Live and let die is not such a bad New Year resolution, and it isn’t as if it matters or anyone really cares just because they’re paying for it.
Protest noted. Reproof accepted.
UPDATE
The only response so far from Cunningham to the matters raised over the past couple of days is to interpret the identification of one grant recipient, the 24-year-old daughter of another, as just a personal and gratuitous attack on a child:
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Al Gore’s untruths grow more extreme

Andrew Bolt January 26 2014 (8:32am)

Global warming - propaganda

Al Gore lies:
“We’re getting closer to a political tipping point,” Gore said. “These extreme weather events, which are now 100 times more common than 50 years ago, are really capturing people’s attention.”
Gore is flat-out wrong, as last year’s report by even the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change makes clear:

Overall, the most robust global changes in climate extremes are seen in measures of daily temperature, including to some extent, heat waves. Precipitation extremes also appear to be increasing, but there is large spatial variability…
There is limited evidence of changes in extremes associated with other climate variables since the mid-20th century…
Current datasets indicate no significant observed trends in global tropical cyclone frequency over the past century … No robust trends in annual numbers of tropical storms, hurricanes and major hurricanes counts have been identified over the past 100 years in the North Atlantic basin…
In summary, there continues to be a lack of evidence and thus low confidence regarding the sign of trend in the magnitude and/or frequency of floods on a global scale…
n summary, there is low confidence in observed trends in small-scale severe weather phenomena such as hail and thunderstorms…
In summary, the current assessment concludes that there is not enough evidence at present to suggest more than low confidence in a global-scale observed trend in drought or dryness (lack of rainfall) since the middle of the 20th century…
In summary, confidence in large scale changes in the intensity of extreme extratropical cyclones since 1900 is low...
The only thing that’s increased 100-fold since 1950 is extreme scaremongering by the likes of Gore, who is so reckless with the truth that journalists who treat him as an oracle have betrayed their craft. There is no excuse for Gore being so wrong, and no excuse for journalists not picking him up on it. 
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Happiness is a choice, not a result. Choose wisely!
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Wally Watchers! Where are Wenda, Wally and his binoculars?
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Koutoubia Mosque, Marrakech. .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koutoubia_Mosque
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Photo: And then I just shrug and laugh ~Shamrock
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Zaya Toma
Enjoying the Australia Day fireworks show at the Fairfield Showground. Happy Australia Day my friends and congratulations to all those in my local community that have recieved Australia Day honours.
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Liberal Logo



Today, at community breakfasts and BBQs, flag raisings and citizenship ceremonies, in backyards and on beaches, millions of our citizens will celebrate one of the greatest gifts imaginable – to be an Australian.

While Australia Day formally marks the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet, today we celebrate something richer and deeper.  We celebrate the nation and people we have become.

We are the grateful inheritors of two strands of history: a British heritage and an Aboriginal one.  We honour both today.

Along with the millions of settlers from around the world who have made their home in Australia since 1788, we have become one people sharing the one land.  We are fulfilling the aspiration put forward in the opening of the Australian Constitution: ‘that the people….have agreed to unite in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth’.

Twenty three million of us have found unity in our diversity, respect in our differences and have built a modern nation on the idea that anyone can get ahead provided they are prepared to “have a go”.

Today, almost 18,000 men and women will take the Citizenship Pledge and “join our team”.  It is a fitting day to celebrate our new citizens as it was on 26 January 1788 when Australia’s first modern migrants arrived.

We have always been an immigrant country.  Since 1949, more than 4.5 million people from across the globe have chosen to make Australia their home.

I am proud to say that one of those families was my own.

On 7 September 1960, my father, mother, oldest sister and I left Tilbury for Australia.

My parents had a deep sense that there was no better place to raise a family.

In a co-incidence that reminds me how much I will always owe our country, fifty three years to the day after embarking on that journey with my parents, I was elected Prime Minister of Australia.

Australia has been a place for people to realise their dreams - if not all of them, at least many of them. Australia didn't disappoint my parents when they left Britain and it hasn't disappointed my wife Margie since she travelled ‘across the ditch’ from New Zealand. My hope is that our country will always live up to the faith that its people place in it.

Today we celebrate the history that has made us who we are; the country that we love and the values and institutions that underpin it.

It is a great day to be Australian - Happy Australia Day!
 
Regards,

Tony Abbott
Prime Minister
Authorised by Brian Loughnane, Cnr Blackall and Macquarie Streets, Barton  ACT 2604.
 
Copyright © Liberal Party of Australia.
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Ambrose Burnside
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Events[edit]

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Holidays and observances[edit]

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“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” -Philippians 4:8
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
January 25: Morning
"I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us." - Isaiah 63:7
And canst thou not do this? Are there no mercies which thou hast experienced? What, though thou art gloomy now, canst thou forget that blessed hour when Jesus met thee, and said, "Come unto me"? Canst thou not remember that rapturous moment when he snapped thy fetters, dashed thy chains to the earth, and said, "I came to break thy bonds and set thee free"? Or if the love of thine espousals be forgotten, there must surely be some precious milestone along the road of life not quite grown over with moss, on which thou canst read a happy memorial of his mercy towards thee? What, didst thou never have a sickness like that which thou art suffering now, and did he not restore thee? Wert thou never poor before, and did he not supply thy wants? Wast thou never in straits before, and did he not deliver thee? Arise, go to the river of thine experience, and pull up a few bulrushes, and plait them into an ark, wherein thine infant--faith--may float safely on the stream. Forget not what thy God has done for thee; turn over the book of thy remembrance, and consider the days of old. Canst thou not remember the hill Mizar? Did the Lord never meet with thee at Hermon? Hast thou never climbed the Delectable Mountains? Hast thou never been helped in time of need? Nay, I know thou hast. Go back, then, a little way to the choice mercies of yesterday, and though all may be dark now, light up the lamps of the past, they shall glitter through the darkness, and thou shalt trust in the Lord till the day break and the shadows flee away. "Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses, for they have been ever of old."
Evening
"Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." - Romans 3:31
When the believer is adopted into the Lord's family, his relationship to old Adam and the law ceases at once; but then he is under a new rule, and a new covenant. Believer, you are God's child; it is your first duty to obey your heavenly Father. A servile spirit you have nothing to do with: you are not a slave, but a child; and now, inasmuch as you are a beloved child, you are bound to obey your Father's faintest wish, the least intimation of his will. Does he bid you fulfil a sacred ordinance? It is at your peril that you neglect it, for you will be disobeying your Father. Does he command you to seek the image of Jesus? Is it not your joy to do so? Does Jesus tell you, "Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect"? Then not because the law commands, but because your Saviour enjoins, you will labour to be perfect in holiness. Does he bid his saints love one another? Do it, not because the law says, "Love thy neighbour," but because Jesus says, "If ye love me, keep my commandments;" and this is the commandment that he has given unto you, "that ye love one another." Are you told to distribute to the poor? Do it, not because charity is a burden which you dare not shirk, but because Jesus teaches, "Give to him that asketh of thee." Does the Word say, "Love God with all your heart"? Look at the commandment and reply, "Ah! commandment, Christ hath fulfilled thee already--I have no need, therefore, to fulfil thee for my salvation, but I rejoice to yield obedience to thee because God is my Father now and he has a claim upon me, which I would not dispute." May the Holy Ghost make your heart obedient to the constraining power of Christ's love, that your prayer may be, "Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight." Grace is the mother and nurse of holiness, and not the apologist of sin.
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Amos 
[Ä€'mos] - burden-bearer or one with a burden.
1. This prophet of "judgment,"; which is the key word of the book he wrote, was a citizen of Tekoa, west of the Dead Sea (Amos 1:1; 7:8-16; 8:2).
The Man Who Was a Dresser of Sycamore Trees
Although he was one of the oldest of the prophets, we know little about Amos save what he himself tells us. He does not appear to have belonged to any rank or influence. The opposite is the case, seeing he styles himself a herdsman (Amos 7:14). He was no "professional prophet, speaking for a living." Amos did not belong to the order of the prophets, nor had he been educated in the school of the prophets. The prophetic office was thrust upon him (Amos 7:14, 15). When the call came he exchanged the life of a shepherd and cultivator of sycamore trees for that of a prophet.
The desert life of Amos exercised great formative influences upon him. With time to think and pray, he was qualified to form clear judgments. The art of the seer is not cultivated in crowds.
Contemporary with Hosea, Amos prophesied in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah and in the time of Jeroboam. Most of the prophets confined their message in the main to Israel, but to Amos, Israel was only one of the nations. He took in a whole range of various nationalities and indicted them for their sins and proclaimed the judgment of God alike upon nations and individuals.
Amos pronounced judgment upon the oppression of the poor, commercial dishonesty, selfish indulgence and idolatrous worship, and was the first prophet to predict the captivity of Israel, and to announce God's rejection of His chosen people. The great lessons of the Book of Amos are:
I. Sin is sin in all its blackness, against the bright background of God's grace.
II. Mere ritual is not pleasing to God. The very worship of Israel was sin (Amos 4:4, 5; Amos 5:21-24). Israel thought of God as a vain monarch, pleased with gifts and empty phrases. Amos had nothing but utter contempt for forms of religion that did not disturb one's conscience or change one's life.
III. The greatest perils, both of nations and men, lie not in poverty, but in prosperity.
IV. God's dealings with men are for their discipline, not their doom. Discipline, however, if unheeded, only hastens doom and determines destiny. Thus Amos is rightly called "the prophet of divine law."
2. An ancestor of Joseph, husband of Mary, our Lord's mother (Luke 3:25).
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Today's reading: Exodus 12-13, Matthew 16 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Exodus 12-13

The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread
1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats....

Today's New Testament reading: Matthew 16

The Demand for a Sign
1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
2 He replied, "When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,' 3 and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Jesus then left them and went away....


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