Can you hear me now?
“And Pharoah hardened his heart…”
It is so easy for us to look at the story of Moses and to wonder at how Pharoah could continue to fight against God’s obvious might and power. This morning I was reading Exodus 9 and was struck with the following passage:
Exodus 9:3-7
“Behold, the hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.” And the Lord set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” And the next day the Lord did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died. And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
So after he was told that God would kill all of his nation’s livestock but would not touch the livestock of the Hebrews, then all of Pharoah’s livestock died. He sent scouts to determine the situation with the Hebrews livestock. And the report back was that the Jew’s livestock was fine. And yet he hardened his heart and would not let the people go.
It seems that he was very hard-headed.
But I think we are that hard-headed many times as well. I know that I often hear what God says through his Word, but then I do my own thing anyway. I know that following what God has set out in His Word is the path of least resistance, so to speak, and yet I trudge off down the path that is strewn with logs, tar pits, and cliff faces dropping to certain death. I don’t think we’re so unlike Pharoah—we just don’t want to admit it.
Can you hear me now?
“And Pharoah hardened his heart…”
It is so easy for us to look at the story of Moses and to wonder at how Pharoah could continue to fight against God’s obvious might and power. This morning I was reading Exodus 9 and was struck with the following passage:
Exodus 9:3-7
“Behold, the hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.” And the Lord set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” And the next day the Lord did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died. And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
So after he was told that God would kill all of his nation’s livestock but would not touch the livestock of the Hebrews, then all of Pharoah’s livestock died. He sent scouts to determine the situation with the Hebrews livestock. And the report back was that the Jew’s livestock was fine. And yet he hardened his heart and would not let the people go.
It seems that he was very hard-headed.
But I think we are that hard-headed many times as well. I know that I often hear what God says through his Word, but then I do my own thing anyway. I know that following what God has set out in His Word is the path of least resistance, so to speak, and yet I trudge off down the path that is strewn with logs, tar pits, and cliff faces dropping to certain death. I don’t think we’re so unlike Pharoah—we just don’t want to admit it.
My son’s newest “movie”
My son thinks he’s a movie producer. This his most recent product, inspired by the Sci-Fi movie “Ultraviolet.” I think he may need a little training.
Photo of the week – February 24, 2008
This week’s photo is of a church in Keswick, Virginia. On one of my regular jaunts between Lynchburg and Washington, DC, I was driving past this church just as night was falling. The gorgeous architecture was made all the more beautiful by the spotlights and the dusk lighting in the sky. I had to stop to take a picture.
The slow shutter speed required to capture this photo would have made hand holding the camera impossible and I did not have any of my tripods in the car with me at the time. But, fortunately, my wife had her small calapsible video camera tripod in her purse. It’s not particularly steady for a single lens reflex camera with a large lens attached, but I managed to get quite a few good pictures taken before the priests in the rectory noticed I was there and lights began turning on to scare off the intruder.
Blog Header – February 24, 2008
This week’s photo is of a church in Keswick, Virginia. On one of my regular jaunts between Lynchburg and Washington, DC, I was driving past this church just as night was falling. The gorgeous architecture was made all the more beautiful by the spotlights and the dusk lighting in the sky. I had to stop to take a picture.
The slow shutter speed required to capture this photo would have made hand holding the camera impossible and I did not have any of my tripods in the car with me at the time. But, fortunately, my wife had her small calapsible video camera tripod in her purse. It’s not particularly steady for a single lens reflex camera with a large lens attached, but I managed to get quite a few good pictures taken before the priests in the rectory noticed I was there and lights began turning on to scare off the intruder.
Another reason to love Lynchburg
Last Saturday my son and I went to the local elementary school’s playground. It’s an amazing large all wooden playground with lots of fun stuff in it. Many of the kids from the various surrounding neighborhoods gather there to have fun and to look for other kids to play with. Quite often there are pick up games of baseball, football, or basketball. There are also benches for us old folks to sit on and read or watch our kids have fun.
But the thing that I love so much when we visit this playground is not the great equipment—it is the fact that in Lynchburg the kids are polite to the adults and play well together. Even kids of significantly different ages play well together. It’s wonderful to watch and brings a warmth to my heart that is hard to explain.
Last Saturday we met two teenage girls and a young girl who had just turned three. The four of them played together and had great fun together for about two hours. Just before we all left to head back to our homes, the three-year-old got a splinter in her hand. You can see one of the teenage girls and my son looking at the young girl’s hand and comforting her. She was very brave.
The pictures in this post are all from this past Saturday there at the playground. There are many levels at which my family fell in love with Lynchburg. This is just one layer of what makes Lynchburg wonderful.
You just have to visit. But use a U-Haul—you’re not going to want to go back to wherever you were from to begin with.
The Charter of Carolina (1663) was granted by King Charles II to Sir William Berkeley and seven other lord proprieters. It stated:
Being excited with a laudable and pious zeal for the propogation of the Christian faith … [they] have humbly sought leave of us … to transport and make an emple colony … unto a certain country … in the parts of America not yet cultivated or planted, and only inhabited by some barbarous people, who have no knowledge of Almight God.
The Fundamental Constitutions of the Carolinas (1663) was draw up at the request of Sir William Berkeley and the other proprietors of the colony. It stated:
No man shall be permitted to be a freeman of Carolina, or to have any estate of habitation within it that doth not ackowledge God, and that God is publicly and solumnly to be worshiped.
Could it happen today?
The Charter of Carolina (1663) was granted by King Charles II to Sir William Berkeley and seven other lord proprieters. It stated:
Being excited with a laudable and pious zeal for the propogation of the Christian faith … [they] have humbly sought leave of us … to transport and make an emple colony … unto a certain country … in the parts of America not yet cultivated or planted, and only inhabited by some barbarous people, who have no knowledge of Almight God.
The Fundamental Constitutions of the Carolinas (1663) was draw up at the request of Sir William Berkeley and the other proprietors of the colony. It stated:
No man shall be permitted to be a freeman of Carolina, or to have any estate of habitation within it that doth not ackowledge God, and that God is publicly and solumnly to be worshiped.
Why be divisive?
I often stir up trouble with blog posts, comments I make in conversations, and just general discussion of theology and ecclesiology with my friends. Our post-modern cultural mindset contributes to this problem by making us think we are being personally attacked when someone expresses a disagreement with our thinking on a particular topic. This cultural phenomenon comes dangerously close to the censorship of totalitarian regimes, except that this is cultural and social censorship rather than political and governmental censorship.
I try to comment on things that are happening around me—observations I have made regarding Evangelicalism, Christianity, and my own social networks. I comment on these things because commenting on things that are not currently on the cultural radar doesn’t make a lot of sense and wouldn’t promote a lot of interest in the coversation.
I think this social censorship quite likely happens to all of us who comment on current events from a political or theological or philosophical bent. During the Enlightenment, these types of comments were conversation starters—they began the dialog. Opposing opinions were voiced and folks considered the pros and cons of each argument and everyone’s thought process was challenged and improved.
The new censorship is evidence that we would rather not discuss the pros and cons of an argument but would rather simply believe what we believe and not be challenged to do any actual thinking about it. It is a shame, but it is nothing new—it did not begin with Postmodern thought. In fact, the Great Reformer Martin Luther dealt with these same attempt at censorship and he responded with:
“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ.
“Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that one point.”
– Martin Luther
Why be divisive?
I often stir up trouble with blog posts, comments I make in conversations, and just general discussion of theology and ecclesiology with my friends. Our post-modern cultural mindset contributes to this trouble by making us think we are being personally attacked when someone expresses a disagreement with our thinking on a particular topic. This cultural phenomenon comes dangerously close to the censorship of totalitarian regimes, except that this is cultural and social censorship rather than political and governmental censorship.
I try to comment on things that are happening around me—observations I have made regarding Evangelicalism, Christianity, and my own social networks. I comment on these things because commenting on things that are not currently on the cultural radar doesn’t make a lot of sense and wouldn’t promote a lot of interest in the coversation.
I think this social censorship quite likely happens to all of us who comment on current events from a political or theological or philosophical bent. During the Enlightenment, these types of comments were conversation starters—they began the dialog. Opposing opinions were voiced and folks considered the pros and cons of each argument and everyone’s thought process was challenged and improved.
The new censorship is evidence that we would rather not discuss the pros and cons of an argument but would rather simply believe what we believe and not be challenged to do any actual thinking about it. It is a shame, but it is nothing new—it did not begin with Postmodern thought. In fact, the Great Reformer Martin Luther dealt with these same attempts at censorship and he responded with:
“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ.
“Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that one point.”
– Martin Luther
Slow posting week
I apologize for the lack of posts here for the past week. I’ve been working on a huge project for my firm and it has taken up almost all of my available time during the day. This will continue until the end of the month. I’ll try to post as often as I can, but will likely miss a day here or there. Thanks for your patience.
Rising above the crowd
Luke 6:32-36
“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
I find it so easy to pat myself on the back. Like the Pharisee who thanked God that he was not like the tax collectors and sinners, I look at evil people and notice with pride that I am not doing some of their evil acts.
But this is not what I am called to. This passage from Luke reveals that many of the things I think are good deeds are in fact normal courses of action for human beings—loving my friends, loaning money to those I know will pay it back, doing something special for someone who regularly does nice things to me—none of these things rises above the run-of-the-mill actions common to humanity. We are called to love those who hate us, to do good to those who “despitefully use us,” and to loan to people with bad credit. These are the things that will make us as Christians stand out from the crowd.
Rising above the crowd
Luke 6:32-36
“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
I find it so easy to pat myself on the back. Like the Pharisee who thanked God that he was not like the tax collectors and sinners, I look at evil people and notice with pride that I am not doing some of their evil acts.
But this is not what I am called to. This passage from Luke reveals that many of the things I think are good deeds are in fact normal courses of action for human beings—loving my friends, loaning money to those I know will pay it back, doing something special for someone who regularly does nice things to me—none of these things rises above the run-of-the-mill actions common to humanity. We are called to love those who hate us, to do good to those who “despitefully use us,” and to loan to people with bad credit. These are the things that will make us as Christians stand out from the crowd.
Unbridled affections
I have lived through many years of borderline poverty and a desire to rise above the level of living paycheck to paycheck under huge piles of credit. I have lived with abundance, decent pay, lots of comforts and luxury. They both have their pitfalls. I won’t try to be super-spiritual and say that I’d just as soon live in poverty for some altruistic reason. I do prefer to have the ability to pay my bills and to take my family on a vacation every now and then to scraping by and answering creditor phone calls at home and at the office.
The following quote from Thomas a Kempis addresses our desires—what Jonathan Edwards called “affections.” May God grant me the ability to live at peace in the way the Apostle Paul did when he said in Philippians 4:11: “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.”
When a man desires a thing too much, he at once becomes ill at ease. A proud and avaricious man never rests, whereas he who is poor and humble of heart lives in a world of peace. An unmortified man is quickly tempted and overcome in small, trifling evils; his spirit is weak, in a measure carnal and inclined to sensual things; he can hardly abstain from earthly desires. Hence it makes him sad to forego them; he is quick to anger if reproved. Yet if he satisfies his desires, remorse of conscience overwhelms him because he followed his passions and they did not lead to the peace he sought.
True peace of heart, then, is found in resisting passions, not in satisfying them. There is no peace in the carnal man, in the man given to vain attractions, but there is peace in the fervent and spiritual man.
By His grace - For His glory 