Morning Musing: Exodus 22:29-30

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“You must not hold back offerings from your harvest or your vats. Give me the firstborn of your sons. Do the same with your cattle and your flock. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but on the eighth day you are to give them to me.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There’s an awful scene from the beginning of the movie Braveheart where William Wallace has just gotten married and some English soldiers arrive in town and learn about the wedding. The soldiers demand their rights of jus primae noctis (“the right of the first night”) as extended to them by King Edward “Longshanks” the ruler of the land. This meant they were entitled to sleep with a woman on her wedding night before she and her new husband have the opportunity to come together. The actual history of the practice is a bit murky, but it was basically part of a ruler’s demand of the first and best of his people. Reading this next law, I’m reminded of that scene. God here demands the first and best from His people. How is this any different from what the English soldiers in Braveheart did? Let’s explore that together.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 22:28

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“You must not blaspheme God or curse a leader among your people.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We are in the midst of what will likely prove to be one of the most polarizing election seasons in recent memory. We are officially down to Joe Biden running against Donald Trump with an assortment of also-rans, none of whom have a chance, but whose actual impact on the outcome of events remains to be seen. The two main candidates are running for second terms which is the first time that has ever happened. Both major sides are convinced that if the other guy wins, that might actually represent the beginning of the end of the country as we know it. The acrimony that is waiting to be unleashed will be tremendous. We are going to wind up with a leader who by survey most of the nation doesn’t want because most of the nation doesn’t want either of them. This means that whoever wins is going to be cursed by a lot of people. This next law speaks to how we talk about people in authority of us. Let’s think through what we should do with this.

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A Vital Ministry

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Every authentic church is built on Christ and Christ alone. Nothing else will do. But that’s not the only thing that makes a church a real church. If we are founded on Jesus, then it would make sense that we would be committed to the kinds of things to which He was committed. Well, there was one thing He was committed to above just about everything else: Getting people into a right relationship with God. Churches who are authentic churches share this passionate commitment. In this second part of our series, Authentic Church, we are talking about this commitment, why it’s there, and what it might look like.

A Vital Ministry

The U.S. Presidency is an incredibly powerful position. For starters, the President is the commander and chief of the most powerful military force the world has ever seen, and it’s not close. Then there’s the power to veto or sign legislation. That means the President gives the final thumbs up or thumbs down on the laws that govern our nation. And because I know there are constitutional scholars somewhere whose ears are tingling, yes, Congress can override a Presidential veto, and the Supreme Court can declare a particular law unconstitutional, but historically speaking that hasn’t happened very often when a President has signed or refused to sign a particular bill, turning it into a law. A bill is just a bill until it is signed by the President. That’s a lot of power. 

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Digging in Deeper: 1 Peter 3:18

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“For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What is it that draws someone to the Gospel? A whole number of different things. Some are pretty good reasons. Others aren’t quite so good or reasonable, but thankfully the destination is ultimately more important than the path as long as you do indeed wind up in the right place. One of the most powerful draws to the Gospel historically has been the promise of God’s love as expressed through the substitutionarily sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus. This assurance that God values your life even more highly than His own is a pretty potent one indeed. As the apostle Peter put there, Jesus was willing to lay down His life in order to make it possible for you to get to God. The latest entry in what has become one of the most Gospel-soaked film franchises in recent memory offered up a picture of what this is like in one of the most powerful recruitment scenes I think I’ve ever seen. Let’s talk for just a few minutes today about the most recent adventure for super spy Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 22:25-27

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“If you lend silver to my people, to the poor person among you, you must not be like a creditor to him; you must not charge him interest. If you ever take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him before sunset. For it is his only covering; it is the clothing for his body. What will he sleep in? And if he cries out to me, I will listen because I am gracious.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

A huge portion of our economy is built on interest. Everybody changes interest for everything. The only reason a business might not charge interest is if they are running a special sale in hopes that enough extra people will buy something to make up for the interest they are losing from a small number buying. The practice of charging interest on loans has been around for a long time. For much of that, though, one group of people in particular considered it a bad thing. This verse has a whole lot to do with why. Let’s think through what we see here, what it means, and what we should do with it today.

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