Today's Devotional Thought

Passage: Jeremiah 38
Notes: When your situation seems hopeless and weak people fail to protect you and evil people try to destroy you, count on God to be faithful and provide you with salvation even from unexpected sources. Note that even after miraculous salvation from certain death, you may still find yourself in a prison cell.

Today's Devotional Thought

Passage: Jeremiah 37
Notes: Faithfulness does not guarantee exemption from evil done to you. It is okay to ask for lessening of torture. God can even use an evil ruler to save His people. Even the evil ruler may grasp His need for prayer, and a message from God. -> don't give up on prayer for authority, even evil rulers sometimes serve God's purposes.

Reading through the Psalms

I've been desiring to read in the psalms with some regularity, but I keep skipping days, and forgetting where I was (most days, I do it during a break at work using my phone). So, here's my new system for "remembering" what to read:

1. Take the day of the month.
2. Add to it according to the month you're in times 30, with January being 0, February being 1, March being 2, April being 3, May being four, June being 0 again, July being 1, etc.
3. November and December I may read Proverbs instead, or start over with 0 and 1 again.

This way, I can figure out what to read today, and don't have to remember, write down, etc.

So today, I was reading Psalm 81.

Establishing the Boundaries of a Passage

A quick look at Logos'  Tools|Passage Analysis, Compare Pericopes shows us where a number of translators saw the boundaries of a passage. Note how this screen shot demonstrates that we should not too readily assume that 1 Peter 2:9-12 are a unit.

Compare this with how the results for 1 Peter 4 point to a boundary between verses 11 and 12.

Why Fast?

One of the benefits of fasting is to teach us the discipline and build the habits to be content with and do with less, leaving us with more to give to others.

Why I Am Not Giving Up Facebook for Lent

As a minister, I'm in the people/relationships business. It may not be all I do, but it is a major part. Facebook is one of four major communications platforms for me (face-to-face, phone, and e-mail being the others). If I'm going to be salt and light, shutting off communication is not going to be my first step.

Greetings! ... The Lord is with you.

Mary asked the angel, "But how can this happen? I am a virgin."
The angel replied, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What's more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."
Luke 1:34-37 NLT

Am I too young and inexperienced? Have I waited too long, and everyone else is far ahead of me? Nothing is impossible with God!

"He is not guilty of any crime."

Jesus' barbarious whipping and torture is sandwiched between two professions from Pilate, "He is not guilty of any crime" (John 18:38 NLT) and "I find him not guilty" (John 19:6 NLT). Earlier, Peter was trying to go down fighting as he attacks the high priest's slave (John 18:10). But when Christ calls us to suffer with him, it is not with swords (or guns) and earthly power, but according to his example: love, forgiveness, and enduring unrighteousness. As we put our allegiance in the king of the universe, we will naturally conflict with the powers of this world, and ultimately Satan. Their verdict will not always be truthful, "he is not guilty of any crime." Regardless of their assessment, we have reason to expect suffering. Yet, we know him through "fellowship in His suffering, being conformed to His death" (Philippians 3:10 NASB).

Do Not Judge, Lest You be Judged

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned."
Luke 6:37 NASB

Therefore, any judging is wrong and to be deplored. Right?

Then why might Jesus say,

"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."
John 7:18 NASB

Why does Paul tell the church in Corinth

"For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present."
1 Corinthians 5:3 NASB

If I am going to be a witness to others with the goal of them becoming part of the family of God, I will have to come to a conclusion whether I believe they are already Christians or not. Otherwise, I'd have to treat Billy Graham and Michael Newdow the same. Equally, if a church is going to practice the biblical mandate of Church discipline, it will be impossible to treat any action we didn't commit ourselves as morally neutral or beneficial.

We should heed what Jesus taught us in Luke 6, in particular what he says about mercy. Yet, building a nugget theology of "any judgment of what things are like at any time is to be deplored" will not make us more, but less obedient to Scripture. It'll merely make us pander to the Zeitgeist.

MAPS 3 Projects Completion Dates

Most of the MAPS 3 projects will be completed over multiple phases, meaning they should be useful to the public long before the final completion date (e.g., some senior centers will be done earlier).

• Sidewalks: Mid-2014.
  
• State Fair Park improvements: Late 2015.
  
• Trails: Late 2017.
  
• Convention center: Late 2018.
  
• Urban park: Early 2021.
  
• Modern streetcar and transit hub: Early 2021.
  
• Oklahoma River improvements: Early 2021.
  
• Senior wellness centers: Early 2021.

Source: NewsOK

KISS

No institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or supermen to manage it. It must be organized in such a way as to be able to get along under a leadership composed of average human beings.

Peter Drucker

Discipleship in Community

If we learn from one another, and God speaks to us through other believers, what if the service involved tables and food, and we'd have a short sermon, half an hour of food and conversation at the tables, and then a wrap-up of some sort, maybe even with people reporting back from the tables? It might even make prayer easier.