Is the Old Testament Relevant? Pharaoh's Bad Marriage. Update.

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Is the Old Testament Relevant?

“Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Is the Old Testament relevant as well as the New?

Is the Old Testament still relevant today?

Can it be proven that Jesus meant both the Old and New Testament Scriptures in Matthew 4:4? Many today believe we don’t have to follow God’s instructions as stated in the Old Testament. Some even believe that portion of the Bible was “done away” or that it was written and preserved only for Israel or the Jewish people of long ago. Therefore, they feel it has no significance for us today. Is the Old Testament relevant to our lives?

What do the Scriptures tell us?

Part of our foundation

Paul explains how the New Testament Church was “built on the foundation of the apostles [the New Testament] and prophets [the Old Testament], Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20). Christ was sent from God the Father as the messenger of the New Covenant — yet He preached that message entirely out of the Old Testament Scriptures.

Furthermore, what Scriptures did Christ use when He preached in the synagogue? In Luke 4:16-21 Christ read a prophecy from the book of Isaiah, and He explained to those present that part of that prophecy was being fulfilled as He was speaking to them.

For several years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the founding of the New Testament Church, the ministry only had and used the Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus Christ preached the gospel of the Kingdom of God, and He did it altogether out of the Old Testament.

Proof that Christ was the true Messiah

How was one to know that Christ was who He said He was—what proof did He give? A careful reading of John 5:36-39 shows Christ revealing several very important proofs that He was indeed the true Messiah.

• He said John was a witness, although there was greater proof.
• He then pointed out that the Father represented even greater proof.
• He also stated how the works He was doing were a witness or proof.
• He concluded by telling them the “Scriptures” themselves testified—gave evidence to the fact—that He was the Messiah.

Remember, the Old Testament Scriptures—the ones Christ was referring to—were the only Scriptures available at that time. The Old Testament is so important that one would not be able to prove Jesus of Nazareth to be the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, our Savior, without using the Old Testament.

Notice the “sign” Christ gave to those who asked of Him proof that He was the Messiah. “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, ‘Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.’ But He answered and said to them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth [grave or tomb]’” (Matthew 12:38-40).

Christ directed those asking for proof that He was indeed the true Messiah to examine the Old Testament writings of the prophet Jonah concerning the length of time He would be dead.

Christ’s admonition to believe the Old Testament Scriptures

Jesus also said to those calling Him into question concerning His messiahship, “Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” (John 5:45-47).

Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament—often referred to as the “Law” or the “Torah.” Christ is pointing out to these doubters that if they did not believe what Moses wrote, they would not believe what He was telling them. Said another way, Christ was telling them that what Moses wrote is just as much a part of Scripture as what He was saying.

Moreover, it is not only necessary to believe what Moses wrote in the first five books of the Bible, but we must also believe what all the prophets wrote, in addition to the Psalms and other writings—the entire Old Testament.

Luke records what Christ had to say about the authenticity of the Old Testament, “Then He said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:25-27).

Luke adds more, “Then He [Christ] said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me” (verse 44). Christ authoritatively states His approval of the entirety of Scripture, showing the Old Testament is relevant.

Paul’s support of the Old Testament

Paul reminded his young associate Timothy, “And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).

What were the Scriptures Timothy would have known from childhood? The Old Testament Scriptures were the only ones Timothy had.

Paul continues, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (verse 16). Notice Paul said, “All Scripture,” not just the New Testament.

Peter, Philip and Paul preached Christ from the Old Testament

Peter preached a powerful sermon on the Day of Pentecost—the beginning of the New Testament Church—that resulted in the conversion of 3,000 people. Moreover, Peter preached his sermon using only Old Testament Scriptures (Acts 2:14-41).

What about Philip’s example of preaching? Philip knew that Jesus was the Christ because of what he had read in the Old Testament Scriptures. Philip helped an Ethiopian understand what the Scriptures said about Christ out of the Old Testament (Acts 8:26-35).

But some will say, “You can’t do that; you can’t preach Christ out of the Old Testament!” You can’t? Peter did it, Philip did it, Paul did it and, as we have seen, Jesus Christ did it!

Speaking of Paul’s preaching, notice his use of the Old Testament, “So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening” (Acts 28:23).

Matthew and Isaiah add more

Matthew makes an interesting statement as he records King Herod’s demanding request of the chief priests and scribes concerning where Christ was to be born. Why would Herod make such a demand? Was it because he suspected this information was recorded in a prophecy of their Scriptures—the Old Testament? If so, he was right.

Notice their response to Herod’s question, “So they said to him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet.” The chief priests and scribes continued by quoting the prophet Micah, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting” (Matthew 2:5; Micah 5:2).

The prophet Isaiah tells us that the Messiah would be born of a virgin and His name would be called “Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). This prophecy was fulfilled according to Matthew 1:22-23.

So the Old Testament Scriptures add yet another detail about the birth of Christ.

Moreover, Isaiah recorded several more prophecies about Christ, all of which were fulfilled. Some of the prophecies in the book of Isaiah point to the time when the Messiah was to be born and grow up from a child. The prophet also explains how Jesus was to be despised and rejected, not hailed as a mighty King and Deliverer. Again, we find the Old Testament is relevant in filling in more details about the life of Jesus Christ (Isaiah 53:1-9).

Additional points of interest

• The New Testament quotes the Old Testament more than 1,000 times!
• The four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) refer to the Old Testament Scriptures on an average of three to four times per chapter.
• Of the 39 books in the Old Testament, Christ, in the book of Revelation makes references to 31 of them.
• In the 22 chapters of the book of Revelation, there are 228 references made to the Old Testament—that’s an average of 10 times per chapter.
• Actually, there are only four New Testament books that do not have a direct quote from the Old Testament: Philemon and 1, 2 and 3 John (An American Translation—The New Testament in the Language of Today by William F. Beck, 1964).

The New Testament is based on the Old Testament. How would one be able to understand the book of Revelation, for example, without Old Testament writers like Daniel and several of the other prophets?

Christ meant what He said

Therefore, when Christ countered Satan in Matthew 4:4 by saying man must live by “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” Jesus meant exactly what He said.  So is the Old Testament relevant? Yes, Christ meant “every word”—in both the Old and New Testaments—the entirety of the Bible, not just part of it.

For further study on the Old Testament, read the article “Old Testament.”  From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/holy-bible/old-testament/is-the-old-testament-relevant/

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Pharaoh's Bad Marriage

“Exodus 1:10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.

And we all know how that worked out.
There are four ways to preserve a relationship that has begun to deteriorate:

1. Disable the other person. Through emotional abuse, you can make a person doubt themselves and their ability to survive on their own. Through physical abuse, you can confine or even cripple a person so that they are physically incapable of leaving. Perhaps the most common method today of disabling a person to keep them in a relationship is by keeping them financially dependent. Your credit card issuer and your neighbor with two upside down mortgages can tell you how effective this tactic can be.
2. Instill fear of the unknown. Convince the other person that there is a big bad wolf hiding behind every tree outside the door, that every person they encounter will take advantage of them, and they will be very reluctant to strike out alone. This method has worked very well for politicians throughout history.
3. Bond. Be friends. Spend time together in situations that develop emotional attachment. Study, explore, play, fight, and work together. Have an adventure.
4. Improve yourself. Make a relationship with you look more attractive than a relationship with someone else by becoming a better you. You have probably heard it said that you can’t change someone else. You can only change you. I haven’t read it yet, but Athol Kay’s Married Man Sex Life Primer appears to be based on this idea. It’s on my reading list.

Each of these methods works to a greater or lesser extent and there is a time and place in which each would be appropriate. A healthy relationship, however, will be almost exclusively characterized by methods three and four. Pharaoh tried to keep the Hebrews in Egypt by physically and financially hobbling them.

Although they wanted more than ever to leave Egypt, they had no ships, no weapons, no chariots, and no gold with which to obtain such things. They had no allies. They came to believe that they were too weak to face the Canaanites and that their God was too weak or too busy to rescue them. Pharaoh’s strategy might have worked if he had not dismissed Joseph’s God along with Joseph himself. God is the champion of the oppressed and does not allow his people to be abused, enslaved, and terrorized forever.” From: https://soilfromstone.blogspot.com/2012/01/pharaohs-bad-marriage.html?

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Update

We three had our Bible study for the Sabbath School on Thursday because I had surgery on my left eye on Friday.  The bus that had taken me there was not one of the usual busses, it was rattley, squeaky and he drove way over the speed limit with the radio blaring. The driver insisted that I should call him when I needed to be picked up and even gave me his own phone number.  He must have been someone that the bus company contracted because the bus didn’t have the bus company logos on it.

Wendy, my daughter, met me at the ophthalmologist so we went to lunch at Cracker Barrel, and she shopped a bit for craft stuff.  My eyes were dilated so I couldn’t navigate too well but I made it.  When she called for the bus to pick me up and told them that I didn’t want to go home on the same bus, they put us on hold for so long, twice, that Wendy drove me home.

Then about 5.00pm the internet, phone and cable went out, and my cell phone wasn’t working either.  A high, wide load had been illegally driven down the main drag of the little city of Navasota and pulled the overhead wires loose.  But, thank goodness, we did have electricity.  My cat was sitting staring at a blank TV!  So I went to bed to let my eyes rest and sort themselves out.  A couple of hours later I was able to see well enough to read a book until I fell asleep. Everything was fixed about 3.00am. 

I don’t know whether the surgery has fixed my ‘light blindness’ yet because it was cold and overcast when Sherry and I went to the church the next day.

Can Satan Deceive You? What's Behind Today's Gender Issues? Free Bible Study Course. Update.

Can Satan Deceive You?

“Just when I thought the streets of America might be settling down, another city burst into flames this week. Kenosha, Wisconsin has been experiencing riots and looting after the shooting of another black man by police. This summer of discontent seems to go on and on.  

Here is the thought that went through my mind:

“Just a few days before the shooting, did people plan to pour into the streets at first opportunity? Were they waiting for an excuse to riot? People who were going about life, were they preparing for this?”

I don’t think it went down that way—although I understand human nature, at times, is just a step away from anarchy.

The Bible says there is a prince of the power of the air, a spirit that works in the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2). This describes the work of Satan the devil, the powerful spirit that works to thwart the purpose of God. It is this spirit presence—that most do not understand— that is behind all the evil in this world. Satan and his demonic forces must be understood as part of the story of violence that we see in the streets. How else can we explain the sudden eruption of such anger and its sustained spread night after night?

The blind hatred that you see among rioters is more than ideology. It is more than reaction against injustice. It is a spirit that works among the nations to incite violence. It must be understood. 
My colleague Gary Petty did a Beyond Today program, Satan’s Four Great Deceptions. I encourage you to watch this entire program right till the end. And order the free study guide “Is There A Devil?” It is time to understand this missing spiritual dimension in world affairs. As Gary says, “You may believe that Satan exists. But if you believe that he can’t influence you, you’re already deceived.” 

We are heading toward a new normal. Understanding how the world really works is essential intelligence.

Until next time,  Beyond Today - Help for Today, Hope for Tomorrow”

From: Weekly Update -- Can Satan Deceive You?

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What's Behind Today's Gender Issues?

“A shocking story of a mother transitioning her boy into a girl brings us into God’s Word on this subject.

Transcript of YouTube: https://youtu.be/MJQOO3w3B4Q

[Darris McNeely] “I’ve been doing research for an upcoming “Beyond Today” television program on our spiritual identity in contrast to the gender identity issues that are roiling through society today. And I ran across an article that kind of illustrates what’s going on in the broader culture today. The headline out of “The Christian Post” says, “Mother intent on gender transitioning eight-year-old son into a girl wins a sole medical decision-making power.” This is out of “The Christian Post.”

It goes on to show that a mother who’s attempting to gender transition her eight-year-old son into a girl has been awarded decision-making power regarding her son’s health care and schooling. “In the ongoing case of eight-year-old, James Younger, Dallas judge Mary brown canceled a hearing scheduled for Tuesday and removed his father, Jeffrey Younger, from having any say in his son’s medical, psychological, and psychiatric care. Instead, the Judge gave all decision making power to Dr. Anne Georgulas, a pediatrician and non-biological mother of James and his twin brother, Jude,” according to the report. Younger, the father, has been ordered by the court to pay for trans-affirming counseling sessions.

Now, this has raised a great deal of attention, focus, and even outcry across the nation from groups that are focused on and watching this particular situation. But it speaks to what is happening in our broader culture today in the gender wars and especially the intent of a parent to take an under-aged child and make the decision to trans them, to change their gender based on the sole desire of the parents.

Georgulas says… And the article goes on, “Georgulas has forced James, the boy, to live as Luna, a new name, in a school surrounded by teachers and therapists who do not acknowledge that he has said multiple times to multiple people that he wants to be a boy, and hates being forced to be a girl. Georgulas, the mother is not the biological mother, as he and his twin brother were conceived through the use of a donor egg and IVF reproductive technology.

And so here we have a young eight-year-old boy, being transed, being changed into a girl at the whim of the mother. The courts are involved, and in this case, turning sole control over to a mother, another chapter, if you will. And the ongoing gender wars of the LGBTQ community and issues whether it’s politics, sexual identity, and otherwise, in our society today, having the net effect of actually hiding from us our true identity, as the Bible affirms it in God.

Now for those of us with a biblical worldview, an article and a situation like this is very important to understand and to watch as to what is taking place. And as we view what the Scripture tells us, regarding God’s view of male and female, human beings being created in the image of God, male and female, according to what Genesis tells us, what Christ Himself reaffirmed in Matthew 19, it is very clear from the Scripture as to what are the genders, what are the intended roles and purposes. And God is very clear in that teaching.

Thinking about this and looking at it, it reminded me of the Scripture in Romans 1:24, where Paul describes his first-century world, but it has an application for our 21st-century world with this issue. As Paul describes, “A time where God gave also them up to uncleanness in the lust of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves.” Paul describes here activities going on then that speak to today, unclean, unnatural activities that human beings wanted to have, God allowed it to dishonor their bodies among themselves.

The Bible shows us there is a creative order to humanity, to humankind, according to God’s will and purpose. Male and female created He them for a divine spiritual purpose. And when that is changed, when that is denied, as Paul is showing, it was taking place in the first century, we are dealing with a time and a culture that is turning its back ever-increasingly upon God. He goes on in verse 25 to say, “They exchange the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped, and served the creature, rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever, Amen.”

What it means is they serve the creation. They worship the creation. And really at the heart of what we’re seeing, even in the gender identity, the gender wars that are roiling across the culture of America in the Western world is a denial of the created natural order that God placed there and a worship of the creation over what God has intended. For those of us with a biblical worldview, it’s important to have this understanding from what God says, as we face these issues, seek to understand them, and certainly uphold biblical truth.” From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-daily/whats-behind-todays-gender-issues

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Update.

Another week has scampered by, I just don’t know where it went.  The older you are, the faster they go !!

Apart from a doctor visit in the next town not much went on here.  The bus came, took me there and picked me up. The doctor now wants to do a barium x-ray on me. 

After a lot of research, I am pretty sure that my suspicions are right, my little old cat Evie has diabetes. This is why the previous owner told me not to feed her “no-grain’ food, or she will throw it up.  That is because it has more calories in it than grain food, and she can’t tolerate a lot of calories.  They also said they hoped she wouldn’t disturb me in the night.  Well, she gently touches my face about 2.00 am and now I know it is because she feels bad because of her blood sugar and needs to eat. Also her pee was so sticky that it wouldn’t clump the litter, but on her new lo-cal diet fed four times a day, that I have put her on, that seems to be a bit better.

If they had researched more they would have found out what was wrong with her and how to take care of her. And all this was caused by her being fed just dry food most of her life.  She had been handed down through several homes because of this behavior but now she is where she is going to stay.  I won’t throw her away like they did.  You are what you eat, and our pets are completely dependent on us for their correct nutrition. 

Evie sees the vet for tests next week, so I hope that I don’t have to give her insulin shots, but I am hoping that with her new diet of Wellness Core canned food, and real meat, that she will gradually get better.  It is expensive, but you have to pay for quality just like for people. Pay for the right good food now, or pay the doctors and hospitals later.

Speaking of hospitals, my daughter is now home from the rehab after her accident, and will have therapists coming in to help her exercise and get better.

Sherry and I studied this week’s lesson in the church’s Bible study book on Friday morning as usual, but I went to the church on my own because her granddaughter came to pick her up on Saturday.

Grudges Hurt You. He Who Regards a Rebuke. Choose Friends Carefully. Update.

Grudges Hurt You

Life is unfair and full of trouble, as we all know.    

Jez Timms/Unsplash

We cannot always resolve the cause of anger or a grudge, but we can “put it on the shelf” by leaving it with God.

Sooner or later someone will do or say something that upsets you to the point that you cannot forget the incident. That is how a grudge develops. Nursing a grudge does not make it better, and the longer we carry it, the more of a problem it becomes. Grudges simply do not belong in one who strives to have a good attitude toward life and eternity. Paul wrote that a bishop is not to be an angry person, but a person of self-control (Titus 1:7-8). Paul also wrote that anger will come, but when it does, we are to be careful not to allow it to bring sin (Ephesians 4:26).

Paul went on to say to “put off” things like anger and therefore a grudge (Colossians 3:8). We cannot always resolve the cause of anger or a grudge, but we can “put it on the shelf” by leaving it with God. We can meditate on the grudge and learn how much we hurt ourselves by feeding it. We can take steps to resolve that which we perceive as a hurt done to us and we can simply avoid the person that brings these strong feelings up in us. Most important is the need to face and handle the grudge—don’t let it grow. Take action.” From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/blogs/this-is-the-way/grudges-hurt-you

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He Who Regards a Rebuke.

“Proverbs 13:18

Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, but he who regards a rebuke will be honored.

No one likes to be corrected. It hurts to find we’ve been wrong, and it stings worse if we feel we’ve been judged unfairly, harshly or hypocritically. None of the people who correct us are perfect, of course; but God tells us it is dangerous to ignore or even disdain all correction that comes to us. If we never accept correction, we will not recognize the steps we could take to avoid troubles, such as poverty and shame.

Wise King Solomon contrasts this attitude with the person who is humble enough to listen to rebuke and to note where it is valid. It takes humility to accept correction and change. But the end result of this humble choice is receiving honor. The positive changes will pay off, even if the correction was not given in the nicest way. Learn more in our article “Handling Criticism.”

The most important correction we can receive is from God. Learn more about how to discover and use God’s correction in the article “How to Study the Bible.””    From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/he-who-regards-a-rebuke/?

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Choose Friends Carefully

“Proverbs 12:26

The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray.

People who accept God’s standards of right and wrong are in the minority in today’s world. Satan and the prevailing trends of his society try to pull Christians away from God’s standards. And one of the strongest influences in our lives is our close friends.

Good friends who support God’s way of life can be a tremendous positive influence in our lives. But friends whose actions and attitudes openly or subtly oppose God’s truth can tear us down and lead us astray.

The apostle Paul also wrote about our choice of friends in 1 Corinthians 15:33: “Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits.’”

See more about friendship in our section “Friendship: Keys for Finding and Keeping Good Friend.”

See more on communication and dealing with peer pressure in our article “Saying No.”” From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/proverb-of-the-week-choose-friends-carefully/?

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Update.

The spayed, declawed, senior cat Evie, that has been staying with me turned out to be a little gem. So I am adopting her.  I know she went through a lot of pain getting the first joint of her front paws removed, yes, that is how they declaw a cat.  But it is so great to know that neither my thin skin, nor the furniture, will be scratched.  She strokes my face and arms as if she knows she can’t hurt me, and she is telling me that she loves me.  Still no news on where she had her vaccinations, so I might have to get them all over again.  I just ordered a pretty faux pearl necklace/collar for her new tag. The collar she is wearing is stiff and uncomfortable but is does have a tag with the last person’s phone number, so it stays on her until her appointment on the 2nd. Sept, when I will also get her micro-chipped.

It was supposed to be a surprise for my 85th birthday last Monday.  My SPCA friends were going to bring back my boy cat, Casper who has been with them for months.  They finally found out what was wrong with him, a rare intestinal parasite Tritrichomonas so he was treated for that.

Of course, I had to make a big decision because I am allowed only one cat here.  I really love and missed Casper, but I always wanted a senior, declawed, female cat, and here, now I have one.  My SPCA friends will find young Casper a young family and ‘furrever’ home easily, because he is so gentle and sweet.  He had so many meds poked down him while he was there and never lost his sweet disposition, everyone there loved him.

The Animal Shelter here said that they had room for two more of the apartment’s stray cats, so I took the really skinny white one.  I couldn’t set the trap because I was going to the doctor the next day, but he was tame so I just put him in a carrier. I had tried my best with him, put Revolution on him for fleas and mites, de-wormed him and tried to fatten him up, but it was obvious that he had one of the deadly cat diseases.   The next day I took another cat but they refused to take anymore cats from here for now.  The white one had tested positive for FIV.  All their cats were ready for an adoption event so they couldn’t have any of our contaminated cats there until after that.  But with 7 stray cats outta here, already it seems so much more peaceful.  I also found out that we cannot have a permanent “mouser”, the city does not allow “an animal at large”.

The doctor’s visit was a dry run, they had not told me about going ‘fasting’, so I have to go again this week.  The Brazos Transit little bus took me and brought me home, I am so glad that I don’t have to make that long drive.  Seems like nearly everything you have to do, you can’t do it in Navasota, you have to go at least 20 miles to another town.

My youngest son turned 51 this week, and it doesn’t seem that long ago that I had him in that hospital in Dallas.  My daughter is recovering slowly from her accident in rehab, but because of the covid thing I can’t go see her.

Covid or not, Sherry and I still have our Bible study together every Friday morning ready for the Sabbath School the next day, just as we have done for the year since I moved here.  This Sabbath we went to the church and enjoyed the study in person.  It was on Zoom for those at home, and there were only 7 of us at the church yesterday.

75 Years After Hiroshima. Repentance: What Does Repent Mean? Update.

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75 Years After Hiroshima, Real Peril, Real Hope

Seventy-five years ago, the United States waged the world’s first nuclear war. Since then, eight nations have detonated 2,056 nuclear weapons, a shocking number. As one analyst warns, nations seem “willfully blind to the peril.” Will humanity survive?   

RomoloTavani/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Jesus foretold a time of great upheaval that only the use of nuclear weapons could bring about—a time shortly before He returns!

As the world marks the 75th anniversary of the ending of World War II with the dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and then Nagasaki, what have we learned?

Consider this disturbing account concerning a nuclear test explosion nine years after Hiroshima. On the open Pacific Ocean, it resembled a mystical apparition arising opposite the morning sun. Roused from sleep, the Japanese crew of the Daigo Fukuryu Maru tuna boat crowded on deck to witness a bizarre fireball expanding over the western horizon. A short time later, as the radiant cloud billowed higher into the morning sky, a puzzling fine chalky material began raining all over the ship and the crewmen. The baffling precipitation lasted three hours, sticking to human skin and piling up on deck.

The fine dust, known later as shi no hai (“ashes of death”), was highly radioactive coral debris, which had been pulverized and blasted into the atmosphere by the then-secret 15-megaton Castle Bravo test (America’s largest thermonuclear weapon at the time).

Covered with the deadly ash, the entire crew fell ill with radiation sickness. Seven months later, the ship’s chief radio operator, Aikichi Kuboyama, died of complications from the radiation, becoming the first victim of a next-generation hydrogen bomb. Nine years after Hiroshima, a Japanese citizen was again the victim of atomic weapons.

Since the first test explosion in July 1945, an astonishing 2,056 nuclear devices have been detonated by nine nations. What has this produced?

The Castle Bravo nuclear detonation described above caused the worst radiological disaster in U.S. history—worse even than the former Soviet Union’s Chernobyl accident—raining radio-active debris nearby and in lower levels over much of the world.

In 1961, Soviet military nuclear scientists exploded the largest device in history—the incomprehensible 50-megaton “Tsar Bomba”—chilling even the hardiest of people at the height of the Cold War. Test after nuclear test has blasted massive earthen cavities and heaved multiple tons of radioactive debris into the atmosphere.

Today some 15,000 nuclear weapons exist, with about 9,400 in military arsenals (the remainder are retired or technologically obsolete, awaiting dismantling). Russia holds the most at 4,300, with the United States not far behind at about 4,000.

And what about other nations with operational nuclear weaponry? Besides Russia and America, publicly known nuclear weapons are held (or capable of being produced) by the United Kingdom, China, France, Israel, Pakistan, India, North Korea and possibly Iran.

All this raises the specter of the unthinkable happening—a worldwide nuclear holocaust. Experts estimate that between 100 million and 270 million people would horrifically die within the first hours of a full-scale mutual thermonuclear exchange between Russia and the United States—to be followed by the complete extinction of humanity within a few years.

This leads us to consider: How in the world did we get here? And, more importantly, where do we go from here? Do we face the future with despair or with hope?

Technology arms race—75 years ago

Here’s a short history.

The sailors who caught a glimpse of the enigmatic metal box being welded to the deck of the U.S.S. Indianapolis on July 16, 1945—the same day an atomic bomb was first successfully tested 1,100 miles away in New Mexico—had no idea what its mysterious contents held. As they sailed out of San Francisco Bay, few knew that onboard was a high-tech weapon that would instantly incinerate some 70,000 people in Hiroshima 20 days later.

The weapon was the result of an unprecedented technological, industrial and manufacturing leap. Six years earlier, a letter written by Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard and signed by Albert Einstein changed the course of human history. In early 1939, German scientists had formally confirmed the discovery of nuclear fission. By literally “splitting the atom” in a sub-atomic chain reaction, enormous energy could be released.

Alarmed, several European and American physicists and other scientists were deeply concerned. After a delay caused by the German invasion of Poland, the now-famous Einstein letter finally made its way into the hands of President Franklin Roosevelt on Oct. 11, 1939.

Roosevelt understood the gravity of the situation immediately. The Nazis could not be the first to develop an atomic weapon.

The president promptly set in motion what became known as the “Manhattan Project,” eventually employing more than 120,000 people, to build the first operational nuclear weapon.

Nearly six years later, the New Mexico test with a dense sphere of 13.6 pounds of plutonium-239 heralded in the nuclear age. On July 16, 1945, the “Gadget,” as the test device was called, produced a destructive 22-kiloton blast that shattered windows more than 100 miles away in America’s sparsely populated Southwest.

20th-century nuclear war

The first use of an atomic weapon in warfare commenced a few weeks later on August 6. A modified B-29 Superfortress bomber dropped the first such bomb (named “Little Boy”) on Hiroshima, a Japanese city of some 340,000 people with industrial and military significance.

At 8:15 a.m., 141 lbs. of uranium-235 explosively slammed together, blazed supercritical and detonated at 1,900 feet above the city. Around 30 percent of the populace, 70,000 people, were instantly killed by the blast and radioactive fire. About 70 percent of the city’s buildings were annihilated, even though only a fraction of the uranium (1.7 percent) actually reached critical mass. Thousands more later died painfully of radiation poisoning, burns and related injuries.

The next day President Harry Truman confirmed both America’s new nuclear capacity and the bombing. In a radio broadcast, the president said: “The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima … We knew that our enemies were on the search for it. We know now how close they were to finding it. And we knew the disaster which would come to this nation, and to all peace-loving nations, to all civilization, if they had found it first … We won the race of discovery against the Germans.”

“The danger of total destruction”

Yet, even then, the American president recognized the deadly threat such weapons posed to all of human civilization. He warned: “The atomic bomb is too dangerous to be loose in a lawless world. That is why Great Britain, Canada and the United States, who have the secret of its production, do not intend to reveal that secret until means have been found to control the bomb so as to protect ourselves and the rest of the world from the danger of total destruction” (emphasis added throughout).

Two days later, loaded with the plutonium-fueled “Fat Man” bomb, a second B-29 flew over the Japanese city of Nagasaki. The 11 lbs. of plutonium went supercritical at 1,650 feet. At least 35,000 Japanese civilians died instantly in blazing radioactive horror.

Japan formally surrendered a few days later. In his broadcast of capitulation, Emperor Hirohito recognized the new nuclear threat’s potential of the “total extinction of human civilization.”

The Soviet Union then quickly accelerated its nuclear research program, aided in part by Soviet spies who had infiltrated U.S. top secret research facilities. Four years later, the world reeled in shock on Aug. 29, 1949, at the first successful Soviet nuclear test. Three years after that, the United Kingdom, as a joint participant in the American Manhattan Project, independently detonated its first nuclear weapon in a remote area of Australia.

The deadly nuclear arms race was on.

Importantly, ominous words from the Bible now powerfully came to life. Jesus Christ had foretold a “time of calamity” so destructive that, if not stopped, “not a single person will survive” (Matthew 24:21-22, New Living Translation). The potential expressed in these ancient words had now become reality!

What now?

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, many were gripped by anxiety over the threat of nuclear devastation. Millions of school children practiced survival drills. Public “Fallout Shelters” were stocked and openly marked. Families built bomb shelters. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev almost daily threatened potential atomic war. The United States and Soviet Union faced down each other in a war of words and of nuclear deployment. Missile sites with operational nuclear weapons were established in Turkey by America, then in Cuba by the Russians. Nerves were frayed. Live nuclear exchanges were barely avoided.

Today, the perceived threat of nuclear war has faded. Even the fabled Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has been shifted in some of its focus to the threat of climate change.

Even though many express grave concern about the potential threats of nuclear terrorism and atomic saber-rattling by small nations like North Korea, others seem more worried by pandemics like the coronavirus or economic recovery. As Foreign Affairs magazine recently declared, people seem “willfully blind to the peril” of nuclear-fueled extinction.

But the threat certainly remains. The international Union of Concerned Scientists issued a new call for peace for the 75th anniversary of Hiroshima. It formally reads in part: “Nuclear weapons are the ‘weapons of the devil.’ They could wipe out the human race and all other creatures. They could destroy the environment and turn the globe into a dead planet.”

The short-term threat is real

Nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus was teaching His disciples from the Mount of Olives overlooking the Kidron Valley and the magnificent Jerusalem temple. As He presented His longest recorded prophecy (Matthew 24), He had much to say about our present age.

He outlined a critical sequence of events that would lead to global disruption and cataclysmic upheaval, as noted earlier. But it certainly wasn’t all bad news. This coming traumatic time, rendered in some English translations as “the great tribulation,” would be resolved by the spectacular establishment of the long-awaited Kingdom of God.

Indeed, this Kingdom, the ultimate hope of all humanity, will be ushered in with the open triumphal return of Jesus—then as King of Kings and Lord of Lords—to the very mountaintop from which He was then speaking.

The events Jesus described, as well as many other dramatic statements throughout the Bible, tell of tumultuous and massive upheaval, even the death of billions of people. Only the use of nuclear weapons matches the horrific scope of what is often described.

Why is this important? These times are ahead of us. If trends continue and nations and people continue to move away from the revealed truth of God, life will grow very difficult—even to the point of literal human extinction. But you and whole communities, even whole nations, can seek to turn their lives around, focused on what God has revealed. (See “Can a Nation Turn Back to God?” on page 26.)

Difficult times lie ahead. But there is real hope—hope beyond a nuclear doomsday. May God speed His coming Kingdom!”  From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-magazine/75-years-after-hiroshima-real-peril-real-hope

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Repentance: What Does Repent Mean?

“A major message of the Bible is a call to repent and change. This isn’t popular, but it’s vitally necessary. What is repentance? Why does God require it?

According to the apostle Paul, God “now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30 ).

Repentance is not a popular subject in most of the religious community. Seldom is a modern-day religious audience exhorted to repent.

Yet Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, vigorously preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” and told his audience to “bear fruits worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:2, 8). Soon after John’s martyrdom, Jesus Christ continued the same theme by preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).

Within weeks following Jesus’ crucifixion, the New Testament Church was founded. Peter’s inspired words to an audience of thousands of devout Jews were, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

What does repentance mean? Is it required for salvation? How important is this subject to you? Read more about what the Bible says about repentance in the related articles.”  More at: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/change/repentance/

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Update.

We are still like the Lone Ranger, or bank robbers, with our masks on when out in public.  The lady who lived in the apartment across from me was taken to hospice.  It is such a shame when folks take chemotherapy (chemicals) for cancer when there are better ways with more quality of life. It’s all abut the money.

My health insurance nurse came for her annual visit and declared me fit as a fiddle, and wished all her patients my age (85 this month) were as healthy. 

On Tuesday the apartment manager designated me Official Cat Wrangler and I have their trap.  All the tenants are now faced with eviction if we feed these stray cats. Some of the adult cats were born here and they are not about to leave home.  I have permission to feed them so that they can be trapped, and I caught a silver grey cat that first night.   But Navasota Animal Control wouldn’t take it, they said to take it to a vet and have it PTS at my expense, or dump it in the country.

Neither option sounded right to me, so I found that one a home as a barn cat.  I also have my own trap here, but I don’t dare set the traps because what to do with the cats?  The next few days were taken up with the usual chores and writing to every local rescue and shelter that I could think of.   Finally, I think I have found places for all the cats, so I will start trapping again next week.

The real skinny white one won’t need to be trapped as he will come to me, and I managed to get some Revolution (for fleas, ticks, ear mites, mange mites, heartworm, etc), on him.  I hope that it will make him more comfortable.  I think he must have been someone's pet at one time, such a shame.

On Friday my church neighbor, Cherry, and I studied this week’s Bible study as usual, even though we will not be going to the church for the Bible study on the Sabbath.  I have also been studying with the TV program “Through The Bible” each weekday morning for the last 10 years.  Never can have too much studying, and my main interests are the Bible and nutrition.  “You are what you eat, and what it ate” and  “Let Food be Your Medicine.”

Then I got a phone call from my granddaughter saying that my daughter, Wendy, was in an accident and had been thrown off her golf cart. Because of this Covid thing, no one can go see her in the hospital.  She is basically OK, cuts, bruises and sore head, no concussion, but will have surgery on her mouth today.

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How Can I Connect With God? Therefore Do Not Worry. Godliness With Contentment. Update.

How Can I Connect With God?

“Successful, satisfying relationships involve two-way communication. Connecting with God is the same way. If you are willing to do your part, God will do His.

Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash

Connecting with God means communication that goes both ways, as in a conversation with another person.

Your Creator wants to connect with you. He wants to hear your honest questions. He wants to offer you understanding. He wants to hear your worries and provide comfort and hope.

But God can seem distant, remote and unconcerned with our daily troubles. What can we do to close the gap and connect to God?

Talk to God

Communication is essential. So, a great first step toward connecting with God is prayer. God appreciates the humility it takes to bend our knee and bow our head before Him. Humble prayer is an acknowledgment that answers are not deep within ourselves, answers only come from the Creator of life.

If you are not familiar with prayer, here are a few points to consider:

Approach God with respect, show honor for who and what He is. You can ask God even the hardest questions if you come before Him with the winning combination of humility and respect (Isaiah 66:2).

Expect answers (Hebrews 11:6). Follow up on matters you bring before God by reading your Bible.

Listen to God

A second important step toward connecting with God is to do what He says (James 1:25).

Connecting with God means communication that goes both ways, as in a conversation with another person. Prayer is you talking to God, reading your Bible is God talking back to you. However, If you only listen to what God says to you, but never act upon it, the conversation will die out. Communication and connection require active feedback!

Our Creator likes to begin by giving us simple things at first. He wants to see how we respond before moving on to more complex things. For example:

Responding positively toward God might begin with responding positively toward His commandments. The Ten Commandments are simple but life-changing. What makes the commandments complicated are the layers upon layers of human reasoning and manmade traditions we have built around them.

You might also find that reading God’s Word might show you attitudes and harmful ways of thinking that you need to change.

Try to be attuned to what the Bible is saying to you and respond!

Acknowledge your blessings

Your Creator also communicates with you through blessings and answered prayer. Some prayers seek big picture understanding, but many prayers seek God’s intervention and help with specific problems you are facing.

Try to be mindful of events in your life that are actually blessings and answers to your prayers. Notice the opportunities that come your way, troubles that unexpectedly resolve themselves or turn in your favor. These can be dismissed as coincidence or understood as answers to prayer (if you have indeed prayed).

If you have been blessed and helped in some way big or small, then go back to God and give Him thanks! Remember, in your ongoing conversation with God, prayers are you talking. So, just like you would offer thanks to other people in your life for the little things they do for you, offer your thanks to God. Thankfulness is a great way to build any relationship, including your relationship with God.

Successful, satisfying relationships involve two-way communication. Connecting with God is the same way. If you are willing to do your part, God will do His.”

Learn more about listening to God through reading your Bible with this free study aid: How to Understand the Bible.”                     From: https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/bible-questions-and-answers/how-can-i-connect-with-god?

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“Therefore Do Not Worry”

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“During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told His audience, “Do not worry.” That’s easier said than done. This Bible Study Starter will help you explore ways to worry less and trust God more.

Matthew 6:25-34

(New King James Version)

Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Questions:

1. Jesus said that worrying can’t add a cubit (a unit of measure) to our height. If worrying doesn’t accomplish anything, why do you think it’s such an easy habit to fall into?
2. What are three of your biggest worries right now?
3. What practical, reasonable steps can you take to reduce the likelihood of those worries becoming a reality?
4. Will any of those steps guarantee you protection from your worries?
5. Jesus said that the Father provides food for the birds of the air and clothes the grass of the field—and then explained that God cares much more about you. How can remembering that truth make it easier not to worry about uncertainties in your own life?
6. There’s a difference between “not worrying” and “not making an effort.” What steps can you take to maintain the balance between not panicking about problems and not doing your part?
7. To fully let go of our worries, we must believe three things about God: i.
   • That He is able to help us.
   • That He is willing to help us.
   • That if He chooses not to help us, it’s not because He is abandoning us, but because He can see the bigger picture and has something better in store for us.
     Which of those truths is hardest for you to believe? Why?
8. God promises that if we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, He will provide the rest of our needs. What can you do to make the Kingdom of God a higher priority in your day-to-day life? What habits can you introduce into your daily routine? How do you think these habits will impact your worries?” From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/learning-center/bible-study-starters/therefore-do-not-worry/?

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Godliness With Contentment

1 Timothy 6:6

Now godliness with contentment is great gain.

In 1 Timothy 6 Paul addresses our attitude and approach to money, possessions and wealth. In verse 5 he mentions some who saw religion as a way to gain wealth—a dangerous, greedy, selfish attitude that Paul warned Timothy to avoid.

Instead, Paul pointed to the truly important “gain”—becoming more like God and living contentedly with what we have. If we learn to be content with the necessities of life—food and clothing (verse 8)—we can avoid the sorrows and pain that can be caused by a burning desire to become rich.

For more about coveting wealth and the antidote of contentment, see our article on the “10th Commandment: You Shall Not Covet.””

From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/godliness-with-contentment/?

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Update

Around here, we still have to wear muzzles when we go into stores, offices, or anywhere there are people, but at least the coronavirus doesn’t seem to be spreading like it is in other places. 

My great grandson Stephen, the one who just graduated, was visiting his grandma, my daughter Wendy in College Station, so I donned my big sunglasses, pulled myself together, and got on the freeway on Tuesday.  I really need to find out why the glare of the open road bothers my eyes so.  The sun is so bright on these 95-100 degree days.  I was early, so I stopped at Kroger’s in College Station and bought items that cannot be bought in Navasota.  I had a cold bag with me.

The four of us, Wendy, her father-in-law, Tony, who lives with them,  Stephen and I had a nice visit and we played a dominos game called chicken foot.  Old Tony won, they think he has Alzheimer's, but he is still sharp.

After lunch, Wendy took Stephen, me and her two dogs to a park.  It was very sunny and I wasn’t wearing walking shoes, so that wasn’t so enjoyable for me, especially when I tripped over a root.  My hair blew into a mess and I looked a fright, see picture on FB. 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3693931657288992&set=pcb.3693931897288968&type=3&theater

But it was worth it just to see Stephen who I hadn’t seen for years.  He wants to be a Nuclear Engineer. To each his own.

Normal goings on during the week, trips to the local pantry, thrift shop and then to Tractor Supply, yes, we do have one of those nearby, to get some Wellness cat food.  It is cheaper there than at the pet shops. My cat, Casper, is supposed to be coming home soon.

On Friday, Cherry, my church neighbor and I studied the church’s Bible study for this week, then we went to Dollar General.   But because of new regulations about Sabbath gatherings, neither of us went to church today.

Meaningful Family Experiences. Don't "Trouble Your House", Your Example Effects Those Around You. Update.

For “Scripture Sunday”:

How Can I Create Meaningful Family Experiences?

“One practical, useful tip for bringing those you love closer together.

   Tyler Nix/Unsplash

How do we create meaningful experiences for our loved ones? Quite simply, the key to creating meaningful experiences with someone is to spend time with them.

Work, school, soccer practice, appointments, shopping, birthday parties—there always seems to be something out there that can take up your time. And while it can be fun and exciting to stay busy, have you ever wondered, ‘What does it all mean?’

As a parent, a spouse or quite simply as a human being, we must take the time to be intentional with our actions, so we can create meaningful experiences.

Things today are not like they were when you were a kid. Some of that is good. Have family that lives across the country? With the miracle of the Internet, you can stay in touch with them and even speak “face-to-face” any time you like. But of course, there is a downside: With that same technology, many people find themselves isolated from those around them.

Warning: Hard Work Ahead

Perhaps your background is similar to mine. Before cellphones and the Internet, we used to pick up a land line, call a friend and make plans to go spend time together. Or perhaps you didn’t do the planning, but your parents or grandparents did. Every summer, my grandparents took my brother and sister and I to numerous state and county fairs. While that might seem like an outdated way to entertain yourself, the more important thing to consider is this: Each of those trips took time and planning on someone’s part.

Among other things, smartphones have allowed us to be spontaneous. Want to see a movie? Look it up on your phone in 10 seconds or less. Want to go to a store? Speak the name of it to your GPS and you’re on your way! Please understand: smartphones, GPS and technology as a whole are not bad. But the laziness it creates in our lives can be.

When my grandparents took us to the fair, it involved weeks of planning. Reading a paper, looking up what shows might be going on that us kids would like. Coordinating with my parents to make sure we didn’t have plans already. All of this took time. Creating meaningful experiences requires time and intention on our part.

Now What?

So, how do we create meaningful experiences for our loved ones? Quite simply, the key to creating meaningful experiences with someone is to spend time with them.

It won’t happen overnight. It will take some time to understand what kinds of things are meaningful to those you want to create this experience with. That video game your children play that you hate? Watch them play it. Ask questions about what the objective of the game is and why they enjoy it so much. You might discover that what your child really likes is mystery and intrigue. From there, you might plan out how to spend time sharing a similar, non-digital, experience with them, such as a “who done it” dinner theater, or an escape room. Maybe your spouse enjoys a TV show set in a particular time period. Perhaps for your next anniversary, you can plan a nice getaway to a period themed bed and breakfast they would enjoy.

God designed us to have meaningful relationships with one another.Specifically, He wants us to have meaningful relationships with our children. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 states: “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” God wants us to teach our children about Him and His ways, and He tells us we do it by spending time with them. We can do that when we are on a walk, at the breakfast table, when we go to bed at night—any opportunity we have to spend time with them.

You can have meaningful family experiences. It requires planning, intent and most importantly, time. If we do these things, you can create the life and experience for your family that God intended!”  From: https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/bible-questions-and-answers/how-can-i-create-meaningful-family-experiences

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Don't "Trouble Your House"

Have you thought about how your example effects those around you? 

Transcript of YouTube: https://youtu.be/OXXdfyXATuo

[Gary Petty] “When my two daughters were young, every time I would come home, I’d look forward to it, I’d come to the door, start to unlock it, and I can hear, “Daddy, Daddy.” They would be running across the floor. And they would run up and of course, I would be happy to see them. But sometimes it was like, “Oh, I had such a hard day and just give me some time.” And I would sort of put them off. And after a while, my wife said, “You know, I know what kind of evening we’re gonna have as a family based on your mood when you walk through that door.” And I said, “Well, what do you mean?” She said, “Well, if you come through that door happy, those two little girls are happy the whole rest of the evening. If you come through that door grumpy, they’re grumpy the rest of the evening. If you’re moody, they’re moody the rest of the evening. Whatever mood you come into this house with, they absorb and that’s the way our evening’s going to be.” So I started thinking about that, and I started noticing it, and I started trying to make sure that when I walked through that door, I had a positive attitude and played with them and interacted with them. And it made the evening totally different. We don’t realize sometimes the impact we can have on our own family.

You know, in the book of Proverbs, Solomon writes this, “He who troubles his own house, will inherit the wind.” We can trouble our own house, we can hurt the others, other people in our homes, and not even realize it. And of course, what happens when we trouble everybody else, whether it’s our children or our spouse, we end up inheriting nothing. We inherit the wind, as we drive everybody away from us. I want you to think about these questions I’m gonna ask here. Do you do this? Do I trouble my house by taking the frustrations of outside distractions on my spouse or children? How unfair is that? And yet it’s easy to do that. You know, if I came home after a bad day it was easy for me to somehow take that out on my children. And then they suffered because of it. What did I reap? Having a bad evening.

Don’t have unrealistic expectations of my spouse or children and doom the relationship to constant disappointment and resentment. Now sometimes we can have such high expectations of those around us, nobody can meet those expectations. We actually trouble our own house. We inherit the wind because we’re just not helping them to develop, we’re always putting them down. Do I often try to control the other members of my family to meet my expectations, or force my desires upon them, and end up creating anger and drive them away? This is something I’ve dealt with many times as a pastor, counseling, and families where the man or, you know, the dad or the mom are actually driving their children to anger by the way they treat them. Now, I understand as parents sometimes we have to do things that upset our children because we have to do them because they’re right. But the child has to understand our motivation, is because we’re looking to do what is right and because we have their welfare at heart. If they feel like we’re doing it, you know, being mean to them, putting them down just because it’s easier for us or for our own desires, they will become very angry.

And then do I trouble my own house through my selfishness and lack of understanding and caring? We just don’t understand. And we don’t care. Every one of our children especially need understanding that they can go to mom and dad and know that these people, even if they’re upset with them, even if they think they did something wrong, they will try to understand them and try to care for them. You know, it’d be a good thing for husbands and wives to sit down and answer these questions and then discuss it with each other. Each of you answer these questions concerning yourself and then see how your partner would answer those questions. Because we have to be careful we don’t fulfill what Solomon wrote. He who troubles his own house will inherit the wind.” From: https://www.ucg.org/beyond-today/beyond-today-daily/dont-trouble-your-house

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Update

Things are just plodding along the same here, except we did have Christmas.  As you know I don’t ‘do’ Christmas because the 25th. Dec. isn’t Our Lord’s birthday, it is some pagan gods’ birthdays.  But my grandson was going to be off work and at my daughter’s that day, so I drove there.  He is all ‘growed’ up and a young man now, and it was so wonderful to see him and also what is left of the older generation, that I hadn’t seen for years.  It was a very quiet and lovely family meal and get-together.  The pictures of my grandson are still in my phone.

The Bible studies on Sunday afternoon and Friday morning were interesting, as usual.

This Sabbath, my neighbor Cherry and I were welcomed back to the local church, now that all their holiday programs were over.   For the potluck I made another of my Impossibly Easy Crustless Bisquick pies, but this time with peeled, cut-up apples.  There wasn’t a crumb left.  I was given a fruit basket with more apples, so I‘ll make another of those, maybe just for me!

The Sermon as “Shall We Love” based on Matt. 23:36-40.  ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” ³⁷ Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment.³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” 

Yes, and the pastor said you have to love yourself, too, and then we all sang the hymn “Love Lifted Me”.  The potluck and fellowship were great.

There was also a pineapple in the basket, so I will enjoy cutting that into the fancy shapes that I saw on the internet, and eating and sharing that in the next few days.

 

Thanksgiving, Purim and Hanukkah. When Was Jesus Born? Part 1, 2, 3. Update.

For “Scripture Sunday”:

Thanksgiving, Purim and Hanukkah

“Since so many holidays have pagan origins, some have wondered, is there anything wrong with national holidays like Thanksgiving, Purim and Hanukkah? 

Since so many religious holidays have pagan roots, some have wondered if all modern holidays are suspect. What about national holidays such as Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada, and the Jewish national holidays of Purim and Hanukkah?

Purim and Hanukkah mentioned in the Bible

Though Purim and Hanukkah are not commanded feasts of the Lord, they are mentioned in the Bible. The book of Esther describes the events that led to the establishment of the festival of Purim, as God saved the Jews from destruction by evil Haman. Hanukkah was also called the Feast of Dedication, mentioned in John 10:22-23. It celebrates the rededication of the temple after it had been defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes.

Days for giving thanks

Both of these holidays were established to give thanks to God, just as the American and Canadian Thanksgiving days are. Though some modern customs of these days may not be pleasing to God, they are not rooted in paganism and do not subvert any of the truths presented in the festivals of God.”    From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/life/plan-of-salvation/holy-days-vs-holidays/thanksgiving/

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When Was Jesus Born?

Luke 1:5

“There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

The Bible does not tell us exactly when Jesus Christ was born. The closest hint, found in this verse, seems to point to Christ’s birth in the fall of the year.

What’s the connection? Verse 36 shows that Jesus Christ was born about six months after John the Baptist was born. And John the Baptist would have been conceived nine months earlier (15 months before Christ’s birth), shortly after his father Zacharias had received a message from an angel while serving at the temple.

When did Zacharias serve at the temple? One source says he probably served one-week stints around mid-May and mid-November. (E.W. Bullinger uses the dates June 13-19.) King David had divided the priests into 24 courses, of which the division of Abijah was the eighth (1 Chronicles 24:10). These divisions each served a week at a time, so that each division served two weeks at the temple each year according to the sacred calendar, in addition to the festivals.

A number of commentators lean toward a May or June date for Zacharias’ meeting with Gabriel. Adding 15 months to that would put Jesus Christ’s birth in perhaps August or September. (If Zacharias met Gabriel around November or December, Christ’s birth would have been in perhaps February or March.)

Either way would not support a Dec. 25 birth date.”        From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/when-was-jesus-born-part-1/

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When Was Jesus Born? Part 2

Luke 2:1 

“And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

The vast Roman Empire was a structured and expensive government, and this census was “organized to facilitate the collection of taxes” (NKJV Study Bible). In an agrarian society, both tithes and taxes were collected shortly after the fall harvest when the farmer would have sold his crop. Collecting taxes in the winter or any other time is not very effective.

Also, since such a census required people like Joseph to travel back to their ancestral home, it is unlikely the census would have been conducted in the winter time when travel was difficult. This is but one more hint in the text that Jesus Christ’s birth did not occur on Dec. 25. Though the Bible does not give an exact date for His birth, it seems clear that it could not have been in the winter.”      From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/when-was-jesus-born-part-2/?

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When Was Jesus Born? Part 3

Luke 2:8

“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

One commentary states, “As these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks, it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the 25th of December, when no flocks were out in the fields. On this very ground the nativity in December should be given up” (Adam Clarke’s Commentary,note on Luke 2:8).

The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary agrees: “These humble pastoral folk are out in the field at night with their flock—a feature of the story which would argue against the birth (of Christ) occurring on Dec. 25 since the weather would not have permitted it” (1971, note on Luke 2:4-7).” From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/when-was-jesus-born-part-3/

For more about why Jesus Christ’s birth could not have been Dec. 25 and how it came to be celebrated that day, see our article “Christmas: Should Christians Celebrate It?”

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Update

Not much seems to have happened this week, but I have been busy every day.  The pastor didn’t show up for the Sunday afternoon Bible study, so we just sat there and talked. The pastor had told one person that he had a family emergency, but they hadn’t passed it on. 

Took a neighbor to Huntsville (TX) just so that I could go to a larger food store to get a few more veggies.  That seemed like a long dreary trip, and not much to look at.

Then on Wednesday drove to Bryan again to the Social Security office and to take Joe,  a neighbor, for their driving test.  Social Security said that they would write to me with their findings.  So we went back into College Station to my daughter’s house and she drew me a map of how to get to a certain used furniture store because I am looking for an armoire type thing, a closet with big drawers underneath.  We found the place, but they didn’t have what I needed, so we went to Walmart, and that store in College Station is B-I-G.  Joe found the tires he needs to get, and they were cheaper than some used ones he had been looking at.  I went in the other direction to the Pharmacy to try to find Cod Liver Oil softgels.  Everybody has Fish Oil Capsules, but not just Cod.  I will have to order them online again.  One really needs an electric chair to get around in that enormous store, I must have done my 10,000 steps that day!

Leaving Walmart, that’s when everything went haywire. We had plenty of time to get to the driving test, if we had only known how to get there!  Joe insisted that Business 6 and Highway 6 were the same thing, so we stopped, started and crawled through dozens of traffics lights in College Station and then Bryan.  I said that we needed to be on Highway 6, but Joe insisted they were the same thing.  By the time we found Highway 6, we went the wrong way and didn’t arrive at the DPS until way after his appointment.  Now he has to look at a video online to get another appointment.

This Sabbath, my neighbor Cherry and I decided to go to a different church, one in Willis. It was a long drive, but worth it. She enjoyed the change, especially the music.  This week they were playing Bible Jeopardy instead of the usual Bible study, and that is always interesting. The sermon was about Nehemiah and how he resisted the temptations offered him, and how we should, too. 

I had made Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes for the church potluck and was told several times that it was very tasty.  I admitted that as I didn’t have the required 2 cups of milk to make it that I had substituted one cup of vegetable broth, maybe that’s what made it a hit. 

We didn’t know how long we would be, so we took Cherry’s West Highland White, (Westie dog), “Travis” with us. He traveled in his big wire cage and when we got there we left the van windows open for him and took him walkies a couple of times.  Thankfully it was a nice, not to hot, not too cold day.