Matthew 28:23
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices - mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law - justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
Last week, I open up my Blogger home page to an unexpected announcement from parent, Google. Rules and regulations have invaded the blogosphere!!! And I'd best comply.
Now, I do understand the inherent merit of this move; precautions must be taken to secure the privacy of email addresses, and assure subscribers that their information will not be compromised in any way, shape or form. But Racer and I have a question: Would you have even subscribed to Meditations of My Heart if you had the least inkling that your personal information would be jeopardized?
We think not!
However, just to make everything crystal clear per Google's instructions, we assure you of the following:
- We will follow the guidelines of the GDPR (General Data Processing Regulation) as set forth by the EU. This means that if you are a European subscriber to this blog, I will inform you if I ever collect any info from you, which I never intend to do.
- Email addresses are for the sole purpose of receiving this blog to which you are subscribed, no matter what side of the pond you live on.
- We promote nothing on this site except for The Glade Series and Adventures in The Glade; we are advertisement free.
- We will never, ever sell your email addresses, or share with others without your explicit permission.
Okay, Google, how did I do?
Somehow, I feel like this offering is my mint, dill and cumin, not my justice, mercy and faithfulness. Because if you follow Jesus as I do, rules and regulations aren't necessary.
As St. Paul tells us in Galatians 5:22-24: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such thing there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Against such things there is no law . . .
But Jesus also tells us to practice the latter, without neglecting the former; the latter should spring forth from the former when one is devoted to the Lord.
Because once we become Christians, rules and regulations don't have to be spelled out.
They are lived out.
Amen!
Martha, I like and agree with the Christian message in this post. If we had love for each other, as God commanded, there would be no need for other rules.
ReplyDeleteAs for the European Union, ever since Britain has been a member, we have been inundated with rules and regulations on every aspects of life. Examples like, milk should be sold in litres and not pints, (so now supermarkets sell milk containers with the inscription "6 pints - 3.408 litres"), ice cream should not be called ice cream because in the UK it does not contain cream, bananas should be a certain shape and curvature. There have been many other regulations I have had to comply with regarding employment, health and safety, and a variety of other aspects of commerce and industry which make the UK less competitive than other EU countries who do not necessarily abide by the rules they create.
No wonder the UK voted to leave the EU two years ago. And we're still negotiating our exit terms.
Sorry to rant.
God bless.
Don't apologize for the rant, Victor, as this has shed some much needed light on unnecessary regulations imposed on people who truly have no need or desire for them. Just the few examples you've given here are absolutely nuts! I'm glad for Brexit, and I hope you all in the UK keep fighting for it!
DeleteLove and blessings!
The problem with Europe is that it started as a trading group. Nothing wrong with that. It then developed into a political institution wanting the whole of the membership, (26 nations) to act as one - one currency (UK did not join the Euro), one foreign policy, one military organisation etc ... Leaders in Europe are not elected but nominated by the various states - this means the ordinary man in UK, France etc ... did not get to vote and choose the EU presidents or the commissioners. They are all nominated by the EU member nations/governments. The commissioners make the laws which then each member state has to promulgate into local laws and rules. The UK, (always playing cricket by the rules) promulgates these laws in Britain; other nations don't always do so. This means our UK businesses become less competitive compared to other nations because of increased costs.
DeleteOne example: Here in the UK every business has to test every portable electrical equipment every year for safety, (computers, monitors, printers, laptops, electric staplers, paper shredders etc ... the list is endless). Every year a qualified electrician tets all these equipments and sticks a label saying he did so. This costs money. Now you and I don't get an electrician every year to test our toaster, radio, TV etc ... but Business in the UK does so and is fined if the Health & Safety people discover any omissions. Other European countries, having accepted the rules in principle are tardy in promulgating it into local laws and hence their businesses do not abide by the rules and their costs are less than ours making them more competitive.
OK ... now I'll calm down and have a Guinness - in a pint not a litre glass.
God bless.
Thanks, Victor, for going into such detail here; it really helps us here in the US understand what's going on over there. And there are always those who don't play by the rules, yet seem to get away with it. I think the U.K. absolutely needs to completely separate from this bureaucratic nightmare. Regulations will eventually choke your economy. Whether one likes President Trump or not, he has removed many regulations on businesses here, plus given huge tax breaks, and our economy is finally taking off after being stagnant or worse for eight years.
DeleteOh, and I'll have a pint of Guinness with you, my friend.
Love and blessings!
Just when I thought there was some sanity left in the world. Read this and smile, (or weep), Martha:
Deletehttps://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pregnant-cow-sentenced-death-eu-border-bulgaria-serbia-penka-a8380501.html
God bless.
Absolutely unbelievable, Victor! A cow??? Really??? I'm really beginning to believe that when liberal ideas prevail, common sense goes right out the window, what, old boy? Anyway, thanks for sharing, and yes, I hope they will have mercy on this hapless bovine.
DeleteLove and blessings!
"so now supermarkets sell milk containers with the inscription "6 pints - 3.408 litres"
DeleteIt's insanity.
I saw that news about the cow too. Absolute madness.
It is insanity, Sandi, I totally agree!
DeleteLove and blessings!
Martha, I kept blipping out every time I tried to see how I'm to comply with the new rules, and I do have ads on my blogs! Oh, I much prefer pencil and paper! But praise God, I totally understand what you and the Apostle Paul are saying. Thanks and blessings.
ReplyDeleteI know, Mary, my eyes crossed when I first read these crazy rules, and I'm not sure I understand all the implications at all. If memory serves me correctly, I don't think having ads on your blog breaks any rules, but that is my personal decision. Better do some double checking, though.
DeleteLove and blessings!
OH--so that's what I'ms supposed to do! Thanks for making it simple to understand!
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
Lulu, I don't know if you HAVE to publish these on your blog, but when I saw several other bloggers do so, I thought I should play it safe. It seems Google stated something about "doing this for you," but I never saw anything to indicate they had.
DeleteLove and blessings!
Martha, I hope we have complied with the new GDPR standards correctly. God's laws seem easier to understand :)
ReplyDeleteI sure hope we have, too, Beckie! Hope you don't mind, but I used what you wrote on your blog as a guideline for this. And yes, I fully agree that God's laws are MUCH easier to understand and to follow.
DeleteLove and blessings!
I haven't gotten that notice yet. Hmmmm. But I do trust you to comply and agree that if we all followed Christ, we wouldn't need any other rules. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteWow, Terri, I'm surprised you haven't gotten it yet; sure you will, though.
DeleteAnd yes, if we would faithfully follow Christ, no other law would matter in the long run, that's for sure and certain!
Love and blessings!
I don’t believe I received anything about this. I hope I’m in compliance. Thank you, Martha for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou more than likely are, Nells. I really did this to be proactive in case someone were to question my position.
DeleteLove and blessings!
Martha, Thank you for sharing this. I still need to do some sort of statement for my blog. However, I did a couple of checks, including sending a link to a friend in the UK. This is all so complex...and to think I could have gone to law school and would understand what I'm reading on those complex laws! Sigh!
ReplyDeleteLove and blessings!
Kim, don't think for a minute that I understand any of this either, I'm just trying to stay in "compliance," whatever that means. I don't know about you, but I am fed up with so many rules and regulations in our day and age. But I guess whether I like it or not, we're stuck with it.
DeleteLove and blessings!
Kim and Martha, I DID go to law school, and I have no idea about this. Ha!
DeleteLol, Galen, that's right, you did! Glad even attorneys can be in the "dark" about rules and regs - makes us ordinary folks feel a lot less dumb about the whole mess.
DeleteLove and blessings!
Galen, I feel so much better now! :)
ReplyDeleteThat goes for the both of us, Kim!
DeleteLove and blessings!
Wow... Those last two lines are powerful! How true!
ReplyDeleteWhat we take as proper manners and just living a decent life of character, the world struggles to grasp.
What a gift we have in that the Law is now written in our hearts... just as it was prophesied.
Amen, Floyd, that the Law is written in our hearts . . . hearts of flesh, and not of stone.
DeleteLove and blessings!
Laws, rules, and regulations = legalism. I abhor legalism. Live it out not spell it out. I like that.
ReplyDeleteYes, Bill, live it out! Jesus hated legalism, too. It takes all the joy and pleasure out of loving the Lord. And thanks for telling Tasha this is not a place to advertise.
DeleteLove and blessings!