O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old— what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.
He decreed statutes for Jacob
and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.
Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.
They would not be like their forefathers—a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.
The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned back on the day of battle; they did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by his law.
They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them.
He did miracles in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
He divided the sea and led them through; he made the water stand firm like a wall. He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night.
He split the rocks in the desert and gave them water as abundant as the seas; he brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers.
But they continued to sin against him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High.
How is the story to be told from generation to generation?
Why is the story to be told?
What happens if the story is not told?
Why do people rebel against God?
How do you tell the story of God?
Sunday, February 01, 2009
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Wow, the big melt down is still happening - even overnight.
The "big daddy" storm that some computer models showed threatening us is now going to be a non-event for us.
Another 2 hour delay.
Did you watch the Super Bowl?
I found it "OK" for the first 3 quarters or so. Then it got really interesting. I didn't really care who won, but I guess I was almost hoping the Cardinals, the underdogs, would pull it off.
It was a very exciting finish.
I thought most of the commercials were not that great. There were a few exceptions. The cost of a 30 second commercial was 3 million dollars. I think I read where Anheuser Busch spent about 30 million dollars advertising beer. Wow.
Reading through the Bible this year...
Up to Leviticus. Lots of blood and guts. It's going to be a gory week.
You know last week I finished up Peggy Noonan's book on Ronald Reagon? You can go back to last week's post and see my comments (if you want).
I didn't comment on SDI or Reagan's "Star Wars" missile defense plan. Did you know that that plan is still being worked on?
I read this disturbing article and it made me think about all that stuff. Here's an excerpt:
33 minutes—about the time it takes to get a pizza delivered—is all it takes for a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile to travel halfway around the world and obliterate an American city. In less time, if detonated high above the homeland, its Electromagnetic Pulse would incapacitate everything from ATM and hospital machines to traffic lights and computers for thousands of miles. Life would never be the same.
This is not science-fiction. Recently, the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Proliferation, and Terrorism said, “Terrorists are determined to attack us again—with weapons of mass destruction if they can.” The Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack reported in 2004 that an attack from a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile would have “catastrophic consequences,” citing effects like those above felt in Hawaii after a test 1400 kilometers away in 1962.
No school again today. Sigh.
Are you paying attention to the "stimulus" package that our government is working on?
Have you heard some of the stuff that's in it? What a waste of money, and it's our money their wasting.
For a fairly fair (I think) look at the bill you can read:
Stimulus: How Porky Is It?
[You know you can hold your "Control" key down and click on the links I provide and this will open a new window with the article in it. That way you don't have to leave here and come back. Just trying to help out.]
This article is an interesting contrast to the mindset of the "stimulus" package:
100 Thing Challenge
Here's a description:
The 100 Thing Challenge is a personal project, a way for me to fight consumerism. What's behind it? My belief that material possessions can be good when they serve a greater purpose than possession alone. We should make better use of our things than just owning them. My hope is that by living a year with 100 personal things, I'll be able to show that an average American guy does not need tons of stuff to live the good life. And also I hope to shed some light on the nature of consumerism in our culture. Thanks for following along!
Could you live with 100 things? He groups some things, like socks and underwear, but he itemizes shirts and pants, electronic equipment, etc. He lists everything in the article.
I find it very thought-provoking, but I'm not quite motivated to do it.
Say it with me: Another 2 hour delay.
These kids are going to have massive gaps in their education! ha ha. Actually when I was a senior in high school we missed at least a month of school; this was during the blizzard of 77, not be confused with the more famous blizzard of 78. Anyway, if there are things in life that I do not know, then I always trace it back to January of 77. The things I lack in knowledge were scheduled during that time, and we missed them.
Another excuse I use for bad behavior is my neck surgery, which was a few years ago. (I don't even remember when now.) They removed a ruptured disc and put a cadaver bone in between the vertebrae. The way I see it I have part of another person living near my brain. So when I do something stupid or bad, I think it is fair to blame this person. Don't you think that's fair?
Now I know most of you will think this is stupid: I went on a 7 mile run last night (actually early evening).
I run twice a week with a group from Bedford. There were 7 of us last night. You know what? It was kinda cold and windy.
The biggest problem last night was the footing, but it's not what you're thinking. It wasn't really that slick. The problem was loose snow; it created a surface like loose sand on a beach. It's hard to run on that.
I ran last Saturday morning when it was 0 degrees. We ran 9 miles, and it wasn't as bad as last night. The sun was out, and it was not windy.
I must confess I am looking foward to some warmer weather for running.
Still reading through Leviticus; read chapters 11-15 this morning.
One of the things I can say is this:
I'm glad I do not have to do priestly duties with people at church! I just have no desire to look at your rashes.
Nothing personal.
Well, actually I guess it is.
Is it true? Is it really going to happen? Unbelievable!
I think the schools are actually going to start on time today!
Just about the time I was going to give another commentary of our culture's "softness," they decide to do this!
I was going to combine another school delay with the government's move to postpone the switch to digital TV.
They've been working on this switch for YEARS, and now they decide that the people just haven't had enough time.
So we reward the procrastinators and the lazy.
And how tragic it would be if someone missed a couple of hours of TV before they got to Wal-mart and bought a converter box! They might miss Oprah. Heaven forbid! How then would we know how to live?
Oh, never mind this little rant is all invalid now. We're going to school on time. ha ha ha
I went to Indy yesterday to see a guy in the VA Hospital. You ever been there? It's such a different environment than a regular hospital. I just feel sad when I walk in there.
You hear a lot of bad things about the VA and medical care, and from talking to the family of the man I went to see, it seems like it is probably true. I've been following this guy's problems for years, and he has been really mishandled in my opinion. I'll spare you the details but I have them.
I'm not sure what the answer is, but it would be nice to take better care of the people who have served our country.
It was weird being in Indy yesterday and not seeing Lester and/or Maddie. I just didn't have the time, and their schedules would not have allowed a meeting anyway.
We are going up to see them Sunday afternoon/evening to celebrate their birthdays. Lester was born 21 years ago on Sunday. He was born in New Zealand on the 8th, so really his birthday over here is the 7th. It's all too confusing, so we'll just stick with the 8th. He'll probably lobby for a 2 day celebration.
One of my friends, in commenting on our text for this week, says:
One thing I see in this text is that, while there is definitely precedent for talking about Bibllical heroes (Heb. 11), there is also a need to talk about Biblical failures, especially as our kids get older -- because they will find more parallels to their own experiences there. The tightrope we must walk is to not create an expectation of failure, but to acknowledge the reality of failure and to create an expectation of grace and mercy that empowers us for holiness.
Good point!
I was just thinking about our text through the lens of generational poverty. You know how poverty is passed from generation to another? For example in our food pantry, there will be three or four females come in together. It is great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, and daughter - four generations of people living in poverty.
There has been a lot written about this, and I am in the process of educating myself. Generational poverty is strikingly different from situational poverty, which is poverty brought about by a sitaution, like a job loss or a disabling injury etc. [Lot of this happening right now.]
One of my goals, along with others, is to break generational poverty among the people with whom we work. I'll talk more later about how we plan to do this, but it is involves responsibility and accountability based on loving education.
As I look at our text this week I see the idea of generational poverty from a standpoint of relationship with God. One generation after another fail to trust and follow God. Why? Because they don't know the story of the Exodus. No kidding! Read Psalm 78.
So I am thinking about us and all this. Do we pass down spiritual poverty from one generation to another? Some pass spiritual strength from one generation to another. What makes the difference?
THIS is thought provoking. It's an article about Amish folks living in Kentucky who helped their modern, power-dependent neighbors during the recent power outages.
Here's the beginning of the article:
MAYFIELD, Ky. – When the wind died down and the ice storm had passed, Joe Stutzman gathered his spare lanterns and stepped out of his Amish farmhouse to lend them to his modern-living neighbors.
"I feel sorry for my neighbors who were used to electricity and all of a sudden didn't have it," Stutzman said. "I know that must be hard for them."
Hundreds of thousands of people in Kentucky have been without electricity for their lights, furnaces, ovens and refrigerators since the killer storm hit more than a week ago, and some spots might not get power back for weeks.
But Kentucky's Amish have been living that way all their lives. And when the disaster struck, they generously lent a hand to their non-Amish neighbors and showed them how it's done.
When the tornado hit Mitchell a few years ago, I was at the meeting area for clean-up with the Master Gardner group and one of the first there was an Amish gentlemen, there to help. He and the others in his group wanted to pay back the community for an opportunity to work there. They are not tied to as many things as we are and they will drop everything they are doing that is important to life to help others. Bill used to deliver fuel to them in Montgomery and developed friendships with them and they are from what he could tell wonderful people with a great sense of humor and a healthy work ethic. They, like us have those who are hard workers and others who are not but for the most part they depend upon God for provisions and the hard work provides what they need with God's blessings. We could learn alot from them, myself included. Have a wonderful day. Sherron
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