Morning Musing: 1 Corinthians 4:3-4

“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.  In fact, I do not even judge myself.  For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted.  It is the Lord who judges me.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

“You can’t judge me!” may be one of the premier slogans of modern, western culture.  A hundred years ago, what the people around you thought mattered a great deal.  In many cultures around the world today this is still the case.  An individual’s identity comes primarily from their social structure.  In modern American culture, we are taught to place a high value on choosing a path that explicitly rejects and even makes a mockery of the social order in which we live.  The bravest souls are the ones who take what’s expected of them and throw it in the trash to be “true to themselves” just like everybody else…
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Morning Musing: Revelation 22:12 Part 1

“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

There are two ideas in Jesus’ words here that are absolutely essential to understand if we are going to do life well during our time on earth.  The first reminds us that how we live now matters.  The second reminds us of our desperate need for grace.  We’ll tackle one this morning, and one on Monday morning. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Genesis 19:26

“But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

This has always seemed like such an odd punishment to me.  What would this have been like?  Was it instant?  Did she gradually start to transform from the feet up or the head down?  Is there any kind of a natural explanation for this or was it entirely miraculous?  Was Lot aware of it at first?  Or, did he go on for some distance before realizing he couldn’t hear her trying to keep up any longer?  If only they had smart phones back then!  We could have gotten the whole thing on video.  Imagine how many hits that would have received as a YouTube post… Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Revelation 9:20-21

“The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

This is the real key of this chapter and, really, one of the main themes of the entire record.  There appear to be two goals of the various acts of cataclysmic judgments described in Revelation.  One goal is the punishment of sin.  God has been patient long enough and now it is time for judgment.  It is time to let people see and experience the full weight of their sin.  Just like with the nation of Israel in the days leading up to and during the conquest of Jerusalem and the exile, the time for the whole world has come up and sin is finally being judged on a large scale. Read the rest…