Morning Musing: Galatians 4:4-5

“When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

The family is the basic building block of any stable, healthy society. Thriving societies have a culture of strong, committed families. If you want to explain the breakdown of a society – take a society like ours for instance – you don’t really need to look much further than the breakdown of the families that constitute it. Nearly every social pathology can be traced back to a family problem of some kind. Communities with large numbers of stable, intact families are objectively better than those without. The trouble is, too many culture-shaping aspects of our society don’t seem to understand that. It is notable then, when a major Hollywood release not only highlights, but celebrates the goodness and worthwhileness of family. The latest major Marvel film, which I have finally been able to watch, does just that. Let’s talk about why Fantastic Four lives up to its moniker.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 1:15-16

“The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives – the first, whose name was Shiphrah, and the second, whose name was Puah – ‘When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the fiercest debates in our culture today is on the issue of the morality and the ensuing legality of abortion. Opinions on it run the gamut from absolutely wrong in all cases to absolutely right and even a positive good to be vigorously defended, and everywhere in between. As followers of Jesus, our position on the matter must be founded on and rooted in the Scriptures. And while there is no blanket prohibition on it, there are plenty of passages that indicate God’s clear position on the matter. We find one here right at the beginning of the story of Exodus. Let’s talk about it.

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Morning Musing: Psalm 139:14

“I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Modern streaming services are not where one would naturally think to go in order to find content with messages that affirm and support the basic assumptions of the Christian worldview. Now, this doesn’t mean I’m abandoning my argument that the Gospel lies at the heart of all of the stories we tell. But most of the streaming content available these days, though perhaps Gospel-driven at some level, is usually much more conscious about advancing a narrative that is much more progressive in its worldview outlook. Given the passion with which the current cultural left embraces the pro-abortion position and opposes the pro-life position, you are even less likely to find something that celebrates the value of children and especially babies. Imagine my surprise, then, when I finally sat down to watch Netflix’s version of the celebrated stage show, Matilda, the Musical, and the opening song was about as profoundly pro-life in its tone as anything I’ve seen on a screen in a long time. This morning, let’s talk about Matilda, the Musical, and its wonderful reminder of just how much children matter.

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Digging in Deeper: 1 Peter 2:12

“Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There are some actions for which there is a broad moral consensus regarding their rightness or wrongness. Everyone knows these things are wrong. With but a few exceptions, they’ve always known it. The trouble is, we want what we want, and we don’t much like people getting in the way of what we want. The reason this idea is trouble (beyond all of the obvious ones) is that sometimes what we want and things everyone knows are wrong come into conflict with each other. We don’t mean for these conflicts to happen. But they do. When they happen, we have a choice to make. We can change what we want. But we want what we want, so that’s probably not the first choice we’re going to make. The other option is to redefine this thing we know is wrong in such a way that we somehow excuse our doing it in order to get what we want. This option is often preferable to us in the moment (because it lets us have what we want), but it makes a whole lot of other things a whole lot more complicated because living in a fantasy world requires constant effort to keep the walls up. Well, 49 years ago, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in Roe v Wade that effectively forced our entire nation down this second path and made things a whole lot more complicated. Then, last week, with the Dobbs decision, the same institution set us back on the right path. What do we do now?

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Morning Musing: Psalm 139:14

“I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well.” (Psalm 139:14 – Read the chapter)

Sometimes you find yourself in the midst of a moment you weren’t expecting to experience. Now, technically, every second of our lives is a moment, but that’s not what I mean. I’m talking about a true moment; one of those times when the world gets a glimpse at reality in a way no one can ignore. I found myself there Wednesday night while watching the season premier of season 14 of America’s Got Talent.

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