“Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
As I said back when we started looking at this verse, we live in the midst of a culture that is increasingly more like Babylon than Jerusalem. Followers of Jesus are becoming, if not a numerical minority, at least a cultural minority. And we are not just a cultural minority either. We are increasingly a hated minority by the cultural elite. So then, what do we do when the cultural elite actively opposes and even attempts to legislate against us at every turn? We listen to what Jeremiah says here.
This past weekend I had the sad honor of presiding over the funeral service for my Grandma, Judy Johnson. She was a wonderful woman who lived a rich, long life. It was indeed a challenge to capture her life in a few words–a challenge made all the harder by how well I knew her. Fortunately, her faith was solid and she’s with Jesus so I have no worries or fear about that. What I did want to share with you, though, is what I said. Thank you for reading this. I pray it might offer you or someone you know the comfort that can only be found in the Gospel.
“While they were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple police, and the Sadducees confronted them, because they were annoyed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Why do you believe in Jesus? Maybe that’s a bit too forward for an opening question. Maybe you don’t believe in Jesus—no judgment here. But, what do you believe about Jesus? If you’ve ever even thought about Jesus before, what possessed you to do so? Why is His name something anyone is still talking about today?
“nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” – Acts 17:25 (ESV – Read the chapter)
Have you ever done someone else a favor? I suspect so. That’s not an uncommon thing to do. It’s a basic cultural courtesy in most human cultures. Someone needs something, we are able to do it for them without cost, and so we do. And, while we don’t often cash in on this right away, there’s usually an unspoken understanding that once this favor has been given, a favor is now deserved. In most cases, this whole system keeps society running smoothly. But, what about the times when it doesn’t work? Paul touches on one here.
In this third part of our series, Gravity: Overcoming the Weight of Our Stuff, we talk about another way to reduce its pull on us. Once we know who is the real owner of the stuff we normally call “ours,” what comes next? Simply put: We have to learn how to use it like He would. To find out how that is and what we should do about it, keep reading.
Zero G’s
We recently watched the Oscar-nominated film, The Martian, starring Matt Damon. It really was a great movie. It’s about a team of astronauts who have established a little outpost on Mars. During their research, however, a wild storm moves in and they have to abandon the post, at which point they decide to begin their year-long return to earth. In the chaos of trying to get on their escape vessel as the storm rages around them, however, Matt Damon’s character gets separated from the group. Presuming him dead, the group’s leader makes the agonizing decision to return without him. I’ll stop the synopsis there so as to not give anything away if you haven’t seen it, but needless to say, the film includes quite a few scenes of the astronauts doing life on their enormous ship. With the exception of a section of the ship in which they have somehow simulated gravity, all the movements about the ship take place in the weightlessness of space. In order to film most of the scenes the actors were put on wires or else pantomimed being weightless in outer space while balancing on one foot. Read the rest…
The Nexus 