Morning Musing: Exodus 7:8-13

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“The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh. It will become a serpent.’” So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent. But then Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers — the magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same thing by their occult practices. Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs. However, Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

How do you convince someone that God is real? How do you convince them that He is worth their lives and obedience? That’s a tough question to answer and one that depends on both the person and the circumstances. Sometimes, though, the only way to get through to someone is by putting on a bit of a show. How big a show again depends, but sometimes God puts on a pretty big one. When God sent Moses to confront Pharaoh, He knew it was going to take a really big show in order to convince him. Let’s look here at how that show begins and why God was always the ringmaster.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 7:6-7

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“So Moses and Aaron did this; they did just as the Lord commanded them. Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the things I learned when I was growing up is that when there’s work to be done, you keep at it until the job is finished. It drives me crazy when someone starts but doesn’t finish a project. Now, yes, this can be taken too far, and we need to have the wisdom to recognize when we need to pause for a break, but in most cases it is pretty sound advice. As much as this idea applies to individual tasks we take on, though, it also applies to our lives as a whole. Let’s talk about Moses and Aaron’s lives and this interesting little note we get as they get started on the biggest task of their lives.

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Playing a Part

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Last week on our journey through the story of the church, we saw what some of the fruits of our Gospel boldness can be. They weren’t particularly sweet. Persecution never is in the moment. Yet the church kept at it. They did their part while relying on God to do His. When both parts were working like they should, something pretty incredible happened. Let’s take a look at what this was in the next part of our story. Thanks for reading and sharing.

Playing a Part

In 1996 a young man named Bob was drafted out of the University of Tennessee by the Texas Rangers as the 18th pick in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft. Like any person in his position he entered the Majors with boatloads of optimism. He was offered a nice signing bonus and seemed set to make a quick trip through the farm system to his eventual big league debut. He was even invited to join the U. S. Olympic team competing in Atlanta that summer. Early on in the process, however, a doctor for the team noticed in a team photo that his arm was sticking out funny. This led to some testing and it was discovered that he was missing a piece of ligament in his throwing arm. Doctors were amazed that he was even able to turn a doorknob without excruciating pain. The reaction was swift. His signing bonus was cut to 10% of the original offer and for most of the next 10 years he languished in the minors. 

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The Fruit of Boldness

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For the last three weeks we have been talking about the initial explosion of the early church and the boldness with which they pursued the advance of Jesus’ mission. We’ve talked about just how seriously they were taking the church in those early days. Along the way, though, a question has started to bubble up without much of an answer just yet: what happened to them? So they did all this bold Gospel work. What happened? How did things go for them? In this next part of our series, The Story of Us, we’re going to get an answer to that question. It may not be what you expect. Read on to find out how things went.

P.S. My family is taking some downtime this next week, so this will be the only post for this week. Enjoy, and see you in a week.

The Fruit of Boldness

A few years ago, I picked up a copy of David McCullough’s book, 1776. It’s a gripping story of the events of that incredibly consequential year in the history of our nation. The story, however, is not what you might expect going into it. When we think about the year 1776, our thoughts are mostly shaped by the momentous event that happened on July 4th and which we are in the midst of celebrating, with the main events coming on Tuesday. That, of course, was the day we officially declared independence from the British crown, establishing ourselves as a sovereign nation. 

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Morning Musing: 2 Timothy 3:1

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“But know this: Hard times will come in the last days.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

The latest Marvel offering, Secret Invasion, is already in its second week and absolutely fantastic so far. My mind is racing with all the Gospel possibilities of the story. I had thought about writing down some early series reflections today, but I’m going wait a few more weeks until the series ends to offer up my thoughts on it. Instead for today, I recently had a conversation with a good friend who was expressing some spiritual and moral concern with the state of our culture. As he looks around at the world, he sees a nation awash in sin and getting worse. You may see that too. Here are some of the thoughts I shared with him. Perhaps they’ll be helpful for you as well.

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