Alice's Restaurant

Alice's Restaurant is one of the only Thanksgiving songs that I know of, and it has little to do with Thanksgiving. It is entertaining and funny if not a little subversive and long.



I found it in two parts and without video, audio only



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGpijVPIwPY



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJx3WIMiatg

Jonah Chapter 2

I taught a Sunday School lesson on the second chapter of Jonah yesterday and two things stood out to me from the chapter: Jonah acknowledged God's sovereignty and Jonah prayed Psalms to God. Jonah acknowledged that God had put him in this situation in verse -"you hurled me into the deep". Even though the sailors had thrown him overboard, Jonah seemed to understand that God had used the sailors perform his will. I do not see that Jonah was blaming God for his predicament as Adam did in Genesis 3:12. When God confronted Adam for eating the forbidden fruit Adam said that the woman God gave him gave him the fruit. Both men directly disobeyed God's command for them but Adam made excuses and blamed others while Jonah seemed to accept God's control and ask for deliverance.
The second thing that stood out to me was Jonah's use of the Psalms in his prayer. Almost every verse of his prayer is from the Psalms. When God's children are in very difficult circumstances the best thing to do is to cry out using God's word. Many Psalms were written by men in desperate circumstances and their words should speak well for many situations. I do not know what would go through my mind if I were thrown into the sea and swallowed by a fish, I hope that some part of God's word would come to mind. I know that if someone has no familiarity with God's word they will have a difficult time recalling some portion of scripture that would speak to their situation.
It is important to remember that God is sovereign and no one cannot get so far off track that they are outside of his control and protection. I also think that everyone needs to read and study God's word, so that when they are faced with a difficult situation they have something to speak to their situation.

Jonah Chapter 1 and Judgment

I recently taught a Sunday School lesson on the first chapter in Jonah and we discussed many aspects of that chapter. The idea of God's judgment against a nation or city prompted the most discussion. There was no disputing the fact that God has the right to judge a city or group of people because of their sin. The main point of discussion was about the present day and the United States. The question was "how long before God will judge the United States for the sins that are committed and seemingly celebrated by our culture?" I do not know the answer to this question. It is possible that God has already begun to punish the United States. The obsession with possessions and greedy nature of many Americans has led to a collapse in the housing market and apparently a very serious economic crisis. The change in morals has led to the destruction of the family in many places in America. Of course defaulting on your mortgage and losing your house is nothing compared the punishment that God has in store for people who ignored him and focused on themselves and possessions their entire lives. Overall the first chapter of Jonah shows us that God will judge sin of groups of people and of individuals. It also shows us that God is merciful and provides a way out of his wrath. In Nineveh's case it was the prophet Jonah offering a chance to repent. In the case of the United States we have grace provided through Jesus Christ. Grace is the only thing that will fix the problems that the United States of America faces.