Today's Readings and Stuff -- Saturday, 23 March 2019

We are to be off shortly (well, after I do some more of the around-the-house chores, etc.) to the Great Event, a birthday bash for the Great-Nephew's 12th birthday party.  A big deal indeed.  Last night was a gathering for brother-in-law's 55th birthday.  So a weekend full of Command Performances.  It's important to Wife, one of the array of things that she missed terribly when we were living a thousand miles away.  So we are, to an extent, playing a bit of catch up.  And, to be fair, those kids, the nieces and nephews and greats seem to love us  (love her, I imagine) which is not a bad thing and it's very important to her.  She didn't grow up having these things, what with her less-than-virtuous mother, a drunk father who spent quite a few years in a POW camp and, when home, more than a few weekends in the drunk tank at the county jail, and when she turned about 14, working.  We tried to do what we could for our kids, but as we were often FAR away from here, the interaction with the extended family simply wasn't often possible.  So, as I said, she's catching up on some of this.
But in a way, I feel a failure in it.  Most of these family members are either unfamiliar with the Lord, or are actively or semi-actively hostile to the Faith.  Like my Wiccan sister-in-law.  Her son, the father of this great-nephew whose birthday we celebrate today, who has rarely seen his own real father, the one his mother divorced when he was quite young.  And his mother NEVER allowed him to experience the love of God.  Ever.  We see quite a lot of that, not just in that family, but all around us.
It doesn't help that many of the church organizations in the area have within them some of the same wicked behavior as those around their neighborhoods, and by that I mean in positions of leadership and responsibility.  I see, for example, that one fellow in our township, just arrested on a child pornography case, was up until around that time in a "ministry" with a local non-denominational "outreach" church, and another one before that.  I don' think the Lord was glorified in any of that, and it certainly makes faith proclamations look a bit weak. 

Still going over the reports of the arrests and injuries from last night's festivities.  The "usual".  Reminds me sometimes of the behaviors of the cities into which the New Testament church was   There are certainly some parallels.  Just not seeing much of the "after".


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Deuteronomy 9

1Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven,

2A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!

3Understand therefore this day, that the Lord thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the Lord hath said unto thee.

4Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee.

5Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

6Understand therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people.

7Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the Lord.

8Also in Horeb ye provoked the Lord to wrath, so that the Lordwas angry with you to have destroyed you.

9When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water:

10And the Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the Lord spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.

11And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the Lord gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant.

12And the Lord said unto me, Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.

13Furthermore the Lord spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

14Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.

15So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands.

16And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against the Lordyour God, and had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which the Lord had commanded you.

17And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes.

18And I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

19For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the Lord was wroth against you to destroy you. But the Lordhearkened unto me at that time also.

20And the Lord was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.

21And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.

22And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth–hattaavah, ye provoked the Lord to wrath.

23Likewise when the Lord sent you from Kadesh–barnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then ye rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God, and ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice.

24Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you.

25Thus I fell down before the Lord forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first; because the Lord had said he would destroy you.

26I prayed therefore unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, destroy not thy people and thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed through thy greatness, which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

27Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin:

28Lest the land whence thou broughtest us out say, Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and because he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.

29Yet they are thy people and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy mighty power and by thy stretched out arm.

Deuteronomy 10

1At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood.

2And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark.

3And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand.

4And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me.

5And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me.

6And the children of Israel took their journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Moserah: there Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest's office in his stead.

7From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of rivers of waters.

8At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.

9Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, according as the Lord thy God promised him.

10And I stayed in the mount, according to the first time, forty days and forty nights; and the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also, and the Lord would not destroy thee.

11And the Lord said unto me, Arise, take thy journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them.

12And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

13To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

14Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord'sthy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.

15Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.

16Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.

17For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:

18He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.

19Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

20Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.

21He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.

22Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 22 March 2019

The next few days, starting today, are tied up with "family" stuff.  Meaning Wife's side of the family: I have very little (or no) contact with my side.  So, we have a family lunch with brother-in-law, sister-in-law, niece and her family, nephew and perhaps some of his.  Just Across the Line in Pennsyltucky (for reasons that escape me).  Then, tomorrow on Saturday, a birthday thing for Wife's nephew's son, who is turning 12.  They've arranged to have it at an indoor public pool in the town next to us.  Should be fun.  We went in with Niece on a nice present for him, so we don't have much $$ tied up in this thing.  We'll see.

Of course, this first Friday of Spring is to be accompanied by that vile condition :  SNOW.  Yucky stuff.  Hate it.

Two entries for song of the day.  Both part of my night time reveries.

Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee.   Part of that "looking past the circumstances of the moment" theme, which I need.  Pay attention to the text, please.  Perhaps it will remind you, as it did me, of the exhortation in the book of James, " ... count it all JOY when .... ".  And, after all, where we should seek true joy but in the Lord?  Not to be found, anywhere else, but available in Him despite the circumstances.  Yes, as the lyrics remind us, "joyful in the midst of strife".

But also one that is always in order, but particularly in this season as the Jewish remembrance of Purim ended at sundown last evening.  If you're not familiar with Purim, go read, carefully, the book of Esther.  It often, too often, is overlooked in the American church.  It's significant.  Not least because it reminds us that ALL of us have a "call", ALL of us have a part to play as the Lord directs, and He both can and will accomplish His will through even the most unlikely agents.  Like us.  So, "For Such A Time As This" it is.  Esther was faithful and obedient.  Are we?  Am I?  "To Do His will, WHATEVER it is"?  This is one of those that would make a good "life theme".  And if you can listen to it, without choking up, you're doing better than I.
By the way, there are several on-line videos on the book of Esther.
One is here


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I am sure, absolutely certain, that if these commands were to be voiced in books and sermons today, the shouts and screams of  "DISCRIMINATION!" would be deafening.  How dare someone proclaim that the Lord is the true God!  Think I'm extreme?  No.  I know, know personally, persons, including one I've known my whole life, who are very much into the "pulpit-sharing" thing that is a step along the road to "Chris-lam", which some seminaries, including one not far from here, are very much into. Yes, they seem to be teaching an amalgamation of Christianity with Islam.  Such "discrimination" is not only permitted, it is commanded.  "Make no covenant with them".  Nor make marriages with them.  Commands that were already being violated, continued to be, and very much are today.  Indeed, there is even a local politician, one wanting to run for the Presidency on the Green Party label, whose mother was Jewish and whose father a Moslem.  And yet, somehow, is not only a member of the school board (guess what policies he wants?), but is (or was, until about a week ago) employed as a rabbi with a local synagogue.

Deuteronomy 7

1When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

2And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

3Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

4For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

5But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

6For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lordthy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

7The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:

8But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lordbrought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

9Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

10And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

11Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.

12Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:

13And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.

14Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.

15And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.

16And thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.

17If thou shalt say in thine heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?

18Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;

19The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the Lord thy God brought thee out: so shall the Lord thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.

20Moreover the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.

21Thou shalt not be affrighted at them: for the Lord thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible.

22And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee.

23But the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed.

24And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them.

25The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the Lord thy God.

26Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.

Deuteronomy 8

1All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers.

2And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

3And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.

4Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.

5Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee.

6Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.

7For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;

8A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;

9A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.

10When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.

11Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:

12Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;

13And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;

14Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

15Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;

16Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

17And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.

18But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

19And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.

20As the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God.

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Psalm 59

To the chief Musician, Al–taschith, Michtam of David; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.

1Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me.

2Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men.

3For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Lord.

4They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold.

5Thou therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah.

6They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.

7Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth hear?

8But thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision.

9Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence.

10The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies.

11Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield.

12For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.

13Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah.

14And at evening let them return; and let them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.

15Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied.

16But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.

17Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy.

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This passage includes the account that we've labeled the Prodigal Son.  It's a favorite of many of us, particularly those of us who were that son.  I was.  But while it speaks of a great hope for us, for many of those who Jesus was directly addressing, this entire passage felt like a condemnation of them personally and a refutation of their culture and attitudes.  But don't get too haughty, I've seen many of those very attitudes in the modern Church.  Many of them.

Luke 15

1Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.

2And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

3And he spake this parable unto them, saying,

4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?

9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.

10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

11And he said, A certain man had two sons:

12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.

13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:

24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.

26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.

27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.

28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him.

29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:

30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.

32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.