Future Turns Into The Past

Believe or Don't (makes no nevermind over here) but this isn't a post bashing Democrats. I was struck by the juxta of these two pictures today.
When paying for a house or vehicle, you take the long view, knowing that it might be years before the 'transact' is a finished 'tion'.
 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has most of her life ahead of her. She lives the long view.
Bernie Sanders. Seventy eight years old.  As the old joke goes, he doesn't buy eggs a dozen at a time.
Love Bernie all you like, but the 'long view' won't feature Bernie Sanders.
And that is all right-the future belongs to the young, those who will be relevant 30 years from now.
I just checked- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was born in 1989; she will be 78, Bernie Sanders present age, in 2067.
The future belongs to the young.

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday- notes on the sermon 4-14-19… Luke 19:28-40

The people expected Messiah to come and reign as King, breaking the yoke of the Roman Empire.

How did the people know to expect Messiah on that particular day? Was it foretold?

Some believe so-this is from a blog, “Kevin’s Blog” but I have heard the same number elsewhere:

“So, from Daniel 9:25, we are told it will be 69×7 years until the Messiah comes as Prince.   For the Jews and Babylonians, the year was 360 days long.   So, this gives us 69x7x360=173,880 days.   The start of the prophecy is the command to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, which we are told about in Nehemiah 2:1-8.   This occurred in most likely 444 BC, in the month of Nisan.   The 1 of Nisan in 444 BC corresponds to March 5th, 444 BC. 173880 / 365.24219879 = 476.067662981 = 476 years, 25 days.  This would put with date for the end of Daniel’s prophecy when the Messiah would present himself as King as March 30, 33 AD.   Passover in 33 AD was on April 3rd.”

Humanly speaking, it is easy to set a number of days-just backtrack from the date and find a number that works for you.

But God is precise, and we needn’t argue about equations, as we take on Faith that Jesus is the Messiah and whatever He did was done perfectly, right on time.

The point was made that the owners (Lords of the donkey) in either Bethphage or Bethany were willing to give their donkey once they knew that “The Lord has need of it.” 

This willingness was worship and honor for/of the Lord who was Messiah.

Note that the devil had bedeviled the plans of God all through History, to no avail. Whether killing the male Hebrew slave babies in Egypt or wiping out a generation of male babies from the time of Christ’s birth, Satan had schemed and done his worst, but his worst was no match for God’s plan of Salvation.

That foal of a donkey was going to be there just where God wanted it to be. And those Lords of the donkey would and did honor Messiah just as God had planned.

Those people who honored Christ as He entered Jerusalem knew their Bible-seeing Him riding the foal of a donkey, they would have remembered Zechariah 9:9

 “⁹    Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!     Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!     Behold, your king is coming to you;     He is just and endowed with salvation,     Humble, and mounted on a donkey,     Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

They may even have realized that their very shouting of “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord;     Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” was, in fact,  on their lips as a fulfillment of prophesy. Luke 19:38

Instead of seeing Messiah take Herod’s Throne and defeat the Roman empire, they saw Jesus arrested and found guilty of blasphemy by the Sanhedrin: “⁶⁶When it was day, the Council of elders of the people assembled, both chief priests and scribes, and they led Him away to their council chamber, saying, 
⁶⁷“If You are the Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe; 
⁶⁸and if I ask a question, you will not answer. 
⁶⁹“But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” 
⁷⁰And they all said, “Are You the Son of God, then?” And He said to them, “Yes, I am.” 
⁷¹Then they said, “What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.” Luke 22:66-71

How bitter it must have been for the peoples who had so hoped in Jesus as the Christ, to see Him denounced by their leaders and punished by the very Roman legions they had expected Him to conquer.

Their abuse of Christ found in Luke 23:18-25 may have been from the heart, from their very being. He had raised their hopes and expectations to the point of joyous celebration, but now they felt betrayed, fooled by someone who, in their eyes, turned out to be just a man.  

They may have thought, “What Messiah allows Himself to be arrested, tortured and crucified?”

We have the answer in His Word, and His Spirit testifies to the truth that:

“6 He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant     To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel;     I will also make You a light of the nations     So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6

²⁰He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
²¹The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. Revelation 22:20-21

Bag It Yourself

 

  

I'm getting old.

This site, 'bag it duluth' was shared on my FB page by a friend. 

I'm as pro-earthy as the next; obvi recycle and do my part by NOT littering, keeping my human footprint to a minimum, being a good steward.

I read through the materials and as I said-I'm getting old. Something seemed off, something didn't strike the ear right, and I couldn't pick it out. The group 'bag it duluth' presented both problem and solution succinctly.

But the inner-libertarian in me whispered, "Why, if they don't like plastic bags, why haven't they spoken to the businesses which use them, asking them to stop?" 

I assume that they did speak to the businesses, but didn't like the answer they received.  So now they are appealing to the public, looking to force the businesses to obey through political force. 

THAT bothers me. The idea that, if you don't like a business, for whatever reason, that you can force that business to bend the knee to you through political clout.

My inner-libertarian shouted, "If I don't like plastic bags, I will NOT use plastic bags. But I would NEVER force my opinion on anyone else."

I drilled down through the 'bag it duluth' website and found that this isn't merely a corporate pollution issue...

it is actually a RACIAL ISSUE and how do you feel now, Mr. Racist?

                              Environmental and Climate Justice

• Of the many factors contributing to the environmental inequities is the proximity of many low-income and communities of color to industrial facilities producing and disposing plastics resulting in respiratory diseases such as asthma, cardiovascular disease, neurological damage, developmental and reproductive disorders, numerous cancers, diabetes, and other health conditions.
• Communities of color have higher exposure rates to air pollution than their white, non-Hispanic counterparts.
• Landfills, hazardous waste sites, and other industrial facilities are most often located in communities of color. 
• Climate change disproportionately affects low-income communities and communities of color.                                              End of page from their site.
• 
  
•  I thought climate change affected everyone, but if that were so, then everyone would be a victim rather than 'low income communities' and 'communities of color'. 
• You MUST have A specific victim to champion! 
• Of course, the assumption made is that these victims, poor dears, must have a white (!) knight in shining noble armor defend them because obvi, being communities of color, they are helpless to defend themselves. 
• That thought is more offensive to my humanity than plastic bags. 
• Every grocery store I visit has a bin for recycling plastic bags, which I assume is good. No Store or business has attempted to guilt me into following their political agenda. I'm bagging 'bag it duluth'.

Show Your Open-Mindedness, Pals!

Much has been made of being tolerant, of respecting the opinions of others.
Sounds GREAT to me!
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He made it possible for fallen sinners to be redeemed, restored to a right relationship with God.
Thank you for your tolerance so far!
I believe that the Bible is not only the very Word of God, but that, as God's Word, it is the arbiter of morality and truth. Meaning that what God declares to be good is GOOD, and what He calls sin is SIN.
Isn't open-mindedness wonderful?
For example, when God states in Leviticus 18:22~
"You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination."
That is right, moral and true.
You may disagree with God, but what He says is what He means.
There may be a whole plenitude of peoples who disagree with God.
Doesn't matter one iota. God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
My opinion, which you, as a tolerant open-minded individual have graciously chosen to respect, is that the people who need God the most are those furthest away from Him.  Farthest? you know what I mean.
Ah~the picture above. Taken early morning on a lake, you can see only morning mist. But a few minutes later, a beautiful scene.
Right now you may not be able to see God clearly, but He is. Those of us who have been brought into His family through Jesus Christ know that God's way is the only right Way. His Word the only right Word. Living for Him the only right Life.
Those who have read all the way down to here, thank you for tolerating me.

 

Grace Opportunity

I'm not one for Celebrity lifestuff, but both of these stories hit today and
I see this as a great Grace Opportunity.
Both actresses acknowledged their guilt.
Huffman was trying to game the system on behalf of her family.
Mack was indoctrinated into a cult and did terrible things, but
I would argue that someone who has been brainwashed by a sociopathic
cult leader isn't in her right mind.
I think that both actresses should pay a penalty of some kind, but this is an
opportunity for Grace.
Let Huffman pay a fine, and Mack should receive counseling to restore her emotional/mental health.
That would be Grace. That would be Mercy.  That would be right.

ATTENTION MUSLIMS!!!

Hi there! Good News!
As Representative Ilhan Omar seems to be the 'face' of present day Islam in this country, I chose her image above to represent all Muslims.
As I said, Good News!
Jesus Christ makes it possible for sinners to be forgiven by God!
Many feel that there is no hope for them, that their sin is too great~
but there is HOPE in Jesus Christ!
You may have been taught differently, but I can tell you, as one whom God saved 30 years ago~~Salvation is real, Jesus Christ is real, and YOU can be saved from your sins, just as I was back in 1979.  I have been at Peace with God since that day.
How can you know the truth?
Ask the God of the Christians and Jews to prove Himself to you.
Seek Him. Ask Him.
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

Lessons from John 6

04-07-2019 Notes on sermon

Scripture: John chapter 6

Feeding of the five thousand.

⁴Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. 
⁵Therefore, when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward Him, He asked Philip, “Where will we buy bread so these people can eat?” 
⁶ He asked this to test him, for He Himself knew what He was going to do. John 6:4-6

Commentators have noted that the Passover being near would have accounted for many more travelers heading towards Jerusalem. Some of these crowds may have heard that Jesus was nearby, which might explain in part the large crowd of 5000 men plus women and children being in the area.

Jesus often tested His disciples, and they often failed to understand what He was teaching them.

Mark records more details and another test in this same event:

³⁵And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 
³⁶Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 
³⁷But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.”

And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” 
³⁸And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” Mark 6:35-38

Jesus said, “You give them something to eat.” These same apostles had been among the 72 sent out, healing the sick as recorded in Luke chapter 10. They had come back rejoicing: “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”  His answer: “²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

So Jesus could have expected that His disciples who had already seen God working through them to heal the sick and make demons subject to their demands would have recognized this opportunity for a miraculous solution. But faced with a natural predicament, how to feed five thousand men plus women and children their answer was “Feed all of these people? Impossible!”

Sometimes lessons repeated are an opportunity to get the right answer. Later on Jesus fed four thousand, recorded in Matthew 15 and Mark 8.

After that miracle Jesus was arguing with the Pharisees who demanded to see a sign.

An interesting exchange/admonishment from Christ is recorded in Mark:

¹⁴Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 
¹⁵And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
¹⁶And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. 
¹⁷And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 
¹⁸Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 
¹⁹When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 
²⁰“And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 
²¹And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” Mark 8:14-21

Yes, they were lacking in faith. They were trusting in what they could see, taste, feel. Christ was teaching them to trust Him, not circumstance.

We suffer from the same lack of faith when we are confronted with issues, problems in this life which seem insurmountable. So perhaps we shouldn’t be too hard on the disciples. We have 2000 years of hindsight, and have known their stories all of our lives.