The King and the Beasts   

   Children's version   

A bad lion has ruled the brute beasts of earth for many years.

The good King loves the beasts, but the lion deceived them.

Beasts would never be allowed to live in the castle.

So, the King had a plan.

His good Lamb came down to take their punishment, 

allowing the roaring lion to destroy his body.

On the third day, the Lamb rose to life in a new body

which can never be destroyed. 

Ever since, for those who believe in the Lamb, 

he transforms them into sheep, renews them,

and saves them from the bad lion who roars around.

And that is how beasts become sheep and live in the King's castle 

with the Lamb, who is really a good Lion, happily ever after.

~ ~ ~

If you prefer the adult version, see the words to

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

by Martin Luther

   Do not weep for me    

   The exhausted man is thrown down, backwards onto the cross. A soldier drives a heavy, square, wrought iron nail through a wrist into the wood, then repeats the action on the other side, allowing some movement in the arms. 

   They lift the cross into place and drop it into a hole. When the upright beam hits the bottom, flesh begins to tear. The left foot is pressed back against the right foot, and a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees flexed. 

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  (Psalm 22:1)    

   As the man slowly sags, excruciating, fiery pain shoots along the fingers, up the arms and into the brain. Nails in the wrists are putting pressure on median nerves. 

   He pushes himself upward to ease this torment. Again, he feels the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the bones of his feet.

   The arms fatigue, and cramps sweep through his muscles, knotting them in relentless, throbbing pain. He is unable to push himself upward to breathe. 

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.  

   He fights to raise himself to get one small breath. Carbon dioxide builds in the lungs and blood stream. 

   Hours of pain, cycles of twisting, joint-wrenching cramps and intermittent partial asphyxiation occur. His movements tear any remaining tissue in his lacerated back. 

It is finished.      

   A deep, crushing pain deep in the chest occurs as the pericardium (sac) fills with (watery) serum and begins to compress the heart, which struggles to pump sluggish blood. Finally, he can allow his body to die. 

   Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

Back to Earth   

   After three days with Father God, we bring you news on Mother Earth. 

   A political adviser to the United Arab Emirates reportedly distributed millions of dollars to an American fundraiser, to promote UAE's agenda in Congress. He wired $2.5 million through a company in Canada. 

   The fundraiser used the money to lobby U.S. lawmakers to target Qatar, a rival of the UAE. He sponsored a conference.

   There, a House committee chairman announced that he would introduce legislation labeling Qatar as a terrorist-supporting state. Two months after he introduced the bill, the fundraiser gave him the maximum-permitted $5,400 in campaign gifts. 

   The fundraiser also spread more than $600,000 among other U.S. lawmakers. 

   We don't know the truth about Qatar or the UAE, nor do we know what the fundraiser did with the rest of the $2.5 million. 

   This investigation was reported by WORLD magazine, online. We've also heard on TV, can't vouch for it, that American "advisers" to foreign governments - no matter how corrupt - receive enormous sums to lobby Congress. 

   It is said, former legislators from both parties play this game. (Can you and I compete with that?) 

   The above case involves mostly Republicans. What's the old saying...We have the best Congress money can buy? 

   TOMORROW: Details of crucifixion      MONDAY: Conclusion 
                                                                         His Presence series 

   Creatures on land and sea kill some 200 Americans each year. Who would not fear a roaring lion, for example? Even bees kill.  

   Spiritually, people not protected by God don't fear him or the lion. They don't know any better.

   Shouldn't God's children pursue his face, his presence, daily? And what if we don't? 
 

Our Pursuit of His Presence 

   Peter tells us to be alert, because our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5). If the roaring lion of Psalm 22 opened his mouth wide against me (Jesus, the Lamb), why wouldn't all of us be his prey? Daily! 

   Peter's fellow disciple, John, also wrote about Satan, the ruler of the world, who enslaves and keeps captive those without Christ (1 John 5). 

   In the revelation given to this same John, he saw a vision of an enormous red dragon, with multiple heads, horns and crowns, who leads the whole world astray
(Rev. 12). Brothers, John writes, can overcome the dragon (or lion) only by the blood of the Lamb and the testimony. 

   We may suffer for awhile, but God cares for our troubles (see Psalms and Matthew). 

   The roaring lion also appears in Ezekiel 22, as a conspiracy of princes. These include leaders masquerading as believers, who devour people and talk profanely. 

   The prophet also uses wolves who shed blood to describe those who speak the viewpoint of the world, the spirit of falsehood. 

   We can dare Satan to deceive us - which he undoubtedly will - or we can keep him under our feet by pursuing (present tense) the greater Power, The one who is in you... (1 John 4). 
 

Whoever would ... see good days ... must ... seek peace and pursue it.

The face (presence) of the Lord is against those who do evil. (1 Peter 3).

   Lion, dragon, wolf or honey bee - the Holy Spirit is our guardian.

   Religion, as Protestants have practiced it - separating ourselves into denominations - may leave our witness a bit unconvincing. Whose truth is real, or is there any truth? Some believers then turned to "personal relationship." Is that what pursuing his presence is about? 

                                 Our Pursuit of His Presence

   If religion means rules - dead orthodoxy - ask the Pharisees what Jesus thinks. 
If religion is a belief in and reverence for a supernatural power, we do have a religion ... in which this relationship exists. Early believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching (Acts 2:42), including the prophets, the foundation of the church, of which Jesus is the chief cornerstone (Eph. 2:20). 

   Relationship alone didn't suffice when Jesus taught difficult lessons, predicted impossible events, and finally submitted himself to death by crucifixion. 
 

If you love me you will keep...

Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them... 

Why do you call me "Lord, Lord" and not do ... ?

   For every believer, the relationship may look a little different. There will be different views on nonessential matters.

   Rather than pursue relationship outside of religion, we seek it within the family of believers and pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance. 

   Only the Holy Spirit renews a human mind (Rom. 12:2). Only the Holy Spirit turns information into transformation.

   Our offensive weapon is the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. We use it not against fellow believers, but against the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph. 6).

   If we disagree on lesser points, let's pursue peace, and may God be God.

With much input from WORLD magazine columnists

   Do we really want God's grace, presence, blessings and love?    
   

Come near to God and He will come near to you.

James 4:8

 Our Pursuit of His Presence 

   This is the week we celebrate: The curtain hiding the Most Holy Place, the veil hiding God's Presence, was torn open. The time had come for true worshipers to worship the Father in spirit and truth. 

   Jesus had already turned the page: You have heard that it was said ... but I tell you...

   Later, converted Paul wrote: All meat is clean. Every day is holy. Every (moral) act is acceptable. The Spirit interprets. The Son intercedes. 

   The world was no friendlier to believers than it had been to the Son himself. They sought refuge in organized, state-approved religion. Along with relative security came an unnecessary return to distinctions: special days, seasons, times, places, persons and sacraments. 

   In the "priesthood of believers," one man's deed may differ from another's. Paul wrote letters now considered Scripture, while supporting himself by making tents. 

   Winning a soul is far better than planting a garden, but both are good. Gifts differ, but all are accepted. Motives matter. 

   All this we do in a world ruled by Satan (the prince of this world; John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11). 

   With his presence, we are different than the world (Exodus 33). Without his presence...we have no song of hope and joy to sing.  

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,

who was, and is, and is to come.

Rev. 4:8

  

 If your Presence does not go with us, 

do not send us up from here. 

What else will distinguish me and your people 

from all the other people on the face of the earth?

Moses

Exodus 33:15-16

~ ~ ~

TOMORROW:

Come near to God and He will come near to you.

  James 4:8 

What to Write About   

   It's late Friday night and we don't have anything written for Saturday. 

   We could write about Xi Jinping getting the green light for a full-life term - and we don't mean insurance. Nah. We don't know how one man can be smart enough to govern more than a billion people while plotting to subjugate the rest of us. Did Nixon really do the world a favor? 

   A billion - that reminds us that bad guys stole $16.8 billion from nearly 17 million Americans last year through ID fraud. 

   And state and federal taxpayers spent $1.6 billion for abortion providers from 2013-2015.

   So, maybe we could write about the 30 percent increase in sales of bullet-proof backpacks following the school shooting in Parkland, Florida. We're not in Kansas - or my hometown - anymore. 

   Here's a topic we could cover. Congress just passed a half-year budget with $1.3 trillion in discretionary spending. We understand that to mean - over and above mandatory items such as Medicare and Social Security. 

   More money is going to Planned Parenthood. No money is withheld from sanctuary cities. More money is going to the VA, but NOT for vets who might wish to get help outside the system. What? Did you think conservatives are in the majority? 

   Our esteemed representatives had insufficient time to read 2300 pages of the Omnibus bill. But, they had time to leave town on a two-week vacation. 

   Leaders of BOTH parties worked it out. Sequestration days are over. Welcome back, Porky Pig! 

   Now, who's going to tell our grandchildren? Except for a few "hardliners," neither party is interested in sustaining their future. 

   On a happier note, 55,494 Boy Scouts achieved Eagle rank in 2017. Amazing! 

        Jimmy

MONDAY

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty...

Rev. 4:8

Everyday Miracle Man          

   Gravitation was his specialty. 
  
   The late Stephen Hawking amazed the science 
community in 1974 by discovering that radiation 
can and does escape black holes in space. But he never discovered God, so we didn't appreciate him in that respect.

   Another physicist, who co-authored two books with him, was moved to tears last week when Hawking died in Cambridge, England at 76. He was given three years to live when he was 21. ALS conquered everything but his genius mind.

   Leonard Mlodinow described his "life force" as "inexhaustible." He considered him an "everyday miracle," as he battled to keep thinking. 

   Mlodinow wrote for the New York Times that Hawking had to eat all his food mashed or chopped, and had to be spoon fed. He never let this embarrass him, even in the finest restaurants.

   For many hours the two physicists would talk and debate physics, and how to write about it. Hawking communicated through his computer, moving the cursor over a letter and pressing on a mouse with his thumb, or in later years, moving his cheek to activate a motion sensor in his glasses.

   When he was done, his computer voice would read what he typed. He composed his sentences at a rate of about six words a minute.*

   Mlodinow said when they argued a point of physics, Hawking always won. One time they argued for two hours over a single sentence, after which the genius responded with a joke.

   "Stephen was a strong force...and a gift to us," his friend wrote.
_________   

* At that rate, it would have taken him about 46 minutes just to type 300 words. 
An average person would need no more than 15 minutes. 

       Jimmy   



         



   

Completing the Circle       

      
   This blog is about The American Way 
               (for which Superman always fights).

   Fired FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe is a link in a chain involving politics in the Dept. of Justice.
That's a no-no. 

   We already knew that McCabe was colluding (conspiring?) with FBI colleagues to protect a (felonious?) presidential candidate while damaging her opponent. Tch tch.

   It's permissible for a justice official to hate a candidate; it is not truth, justice and the American way to use government power to mess with the will of the voters. (That's the job of political activists and news media.) 

   We also knew that while McCabe was colluding (conspiring?), his wife, Dr. Jill McCabe, received three-quarters of a million dollars to run for Virginia senate. She lost. We knew the money came from a fund associated with Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. (We don't yet know whose money it was.)  

   We knew that McAuliffe co-chaired Bill Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign, chaired Mrs. Clinton's 2008 campaign, and served on the board of the now-defunct Clinton Global Initiative.
   
   The final link popped into my head Saturday night. McCabe was in charge of (half-hearted) investigations into Hillary Clinton's email shenanigans and the "charitable" Clinton Foundation. 

   She had enormous reasons to influence McCabe, not directly, as did McAuliffe, himself then under FBI investigation (campaign donations). Red and Blue connect; circle closed. 

   As future charges come, denizens of the swamp will "out" themselves with public outbursts against President Trump ... John Brennan, Samantha Powers James Comey and McCabe himself, for starters. Stay tuned, and pray for the denizens. 

     Jimmy



   

   Think of all the circumstances in which a good foundation is necessary. 
Long ago, God chose a man to be the foundation of his future, covenant people. 
 

   Our Pursuit of His Presence   

   The foundational book of Genesis ends with Abraham's grandson Jacob and his 12 sons and their families settled in Egypt to survive a famine. Then, God seems to have removed his presence for the next 400 years.

   At that point, thousands of descendants, called Israelites, were more concerned about suffering under Egyptian slavery than about their forefathers. And where was God, anyway? They did not relate to him. 

   Out of nowhere, an old man named Moses, slow of speech, shows up. His reluctant mission is to convince a dictator to let the slaves go free, and to convince the slaves themselves to trade their lush habitat in the Nile delta for a long walk in the desert.   

   God made his presence known again, and off they went. Unschooled as they were, the Israelites had to learn distinctions. - Tozer 

   There would be a tabernacle, and a Holy of Holies where the Presence would be. There were holy days, vessels, garments, washings, sacrifices, an ark and offerings. And severe punishments.

   God was teaching first and foremost - He is holy. But, grateful, obedient children they weren't. 

   They were "stiff necked." God wanted to withdraw. Moses famously pleaded, 

If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?  

   The Lord relented, My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. Exodus 33.

   Nevertheless, most all those born in Egypt died in the desert.

   Many years later, with sin again overcoming the people, The Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. 2 Kings 17:18.

   A new Foundation and a new covenant would be required. 😇

   

   My introduction to practicing involved piano lessons from a teacher mother knew. When I didn't respond well, she sent me to another woman. After two years I wasn't any closer to Carnegie Hall, so Mom gave up. 

😏

   I think if the teacher had been a sports hero, I might have been inspired at least to master the scales. Later on came trumpet practice, band practice and baseball practice, all with modest results. 
 

   Our Pursuit of His Presence   

   A colt without practice at bearing riders, obediently bore our Lord along a path into Jerusalem. It is said, if Christ dwells in us, we also bear the Lord of glory.

   We practice faith as doctors practice medicine. A pastor might practice a sermon in front of a mirror. But, mostly, practice and living it are one and the same. 

   Starting with the basics, we grow, and - to borrow his words - seek his face,  a personal relationship. Old habits are stubborn. And the devil is persistent.

   Our response is not to send a plague of locusts or part the sea or heal the blind or slay Goliath. We don't have to go to Jerusalem, like Muslims are expected to visit Mecca.

   Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship

the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

Yet a time is coming and has now come when true worshipers

will worship the Father in spirit and truth,

for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.

John 4:21, 23-24

   I asked our pastor what Paul meant by praying in the spirit. Set aside other thoughts and surroundings and focus entirely on God, he answered. 

Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, 

   do it all for the glory of God.   

  1 Cor. 10:31  

   Our Pursuit of His Presence   

   Many or most of us separate our lives into the sacred and secular. There is a time for fellowship, prayer, Bible, worship, deeds and "church work." 

   Then there is a time for eating, sleeping, occupation, home duties, hobbies, recreation, community service and personal needs. 

   Do we struggle to achieve a better balance? Is "balance" even the right objective?

   I always do what pleases Him. John 8:29. So said our teacher and example.

   Jesus did not see drinking from a well, walking grain fields on the Sabbath, sleeping, turning water into wine, debating Pharisees or eating with tax collectors as separate from teaching and healing. Just different.

   Thanks to scientific research and technology, we're still learning more about how awesome is a (healthy) human body. We're encouraged to fast and pray, but eating is not sinful.

   Our misuse and abuse of what God made...that's not sacred.  

   The church of the Middle Ages identified a number of "sacraments" to be observed. Martin Luther thought of every (moral/lawful) act as part of a whole-life sacrament. However we see this, we worship for God's glory.

   We can praise him while doing our makeup, shaving, waiting for the bus, walking the dog, cutting grass, shoveling snow and doing laundry. We can honor him at home, work, school, at a game, in the hospital or dentist office.  😀

Whatever you do, wrote Paul, do it all for the glory of God. 

    Fullness Means Fullness    

Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

1 Peter 1:13

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.

For the law was given through Moses;

grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 1:16-17

For the grace of God that brings salvation

has appeared to all men.

Titus 2:11

Can grace and truth be measured?

We came across this little note in a magazine:

If you aren't representing

grace and truth 100%,

you aren't representing Christ

Food for thought

For Those Who Were There      
Memories Won't Die      

As told in Smithsonian magazine

   Capt. Medina was found innocent, leaving Lt. Calley - the goat. 

   One former private remembers Medina's speech this way: "We're going to get even with them. We're going in there, we're killing everything that's alive. We're throwing bodies down the wells, we're burning the villages, and we're wiping them off the map." (One man's version.) 

   Overwhelmingly, Americans sided with Calley. Even "doves" said he had taken the fall for generals and politicians who dragged America into the conflict. 

   The White House received more than 300,000 messages, and Calley himself was getting 10,000 supportive letters and packages a day. 

   Paul Meadlo said, "When I'm sleeping I can see the faces ... and the terror and all those people's eyes. And I wake up and I'm just shaking and I just can't hardly cope with it." 

   He is still angry at the U.S. Government for sending him to Vietnam, but he no longer holds a grudge against Calley. "I think he believed that he was doing his duty..." 

   Tran Nam, the 6-year-old, now works as gardener at the museum dedicated to the memory of his family and the others. Among the names on a black marble plaque are 17 pregnant women and 210 children under age 13. 

   Former U.S. soldiers visit the museum, including Vietnam vet Billy Kelly, who takes or sends 504 roses there on March 16 every year. 

   Survivor Pham Cong, now museum director, is aware that the soldiers went free. Even Lt. Calley was released in less than four years.

   "For Vietnamese, when a person knows his sin, he must repent, pray and acknowledge it in front of the spirits," Cong told Smithsonian. "Then he will be forgiven."  

   "I hope he will come to Vietnam. These 504 spirits will forgive his sins, his ignorant mind that caused their death."

 Maybe the spirits of those in authority in 1968 

should handle that assignment. - JD 

   
 

Unlawful Orders?     
An Enemy Without Description     

Part 2 of 3

   Lt. Calley's jury found him guilty of murdering at least 22 civilians, and sentenced him to life in prison. Total toll: 504 deaths and 247 homes burned. 

   The lieutenant, who was rejected for service before the Army needed to ramp up, told the court: "My troops were getting massacred and mauled by an enemy I couldn't see. Nobody ... ever described them as anything other than Communism. They didn't give it a race ... a sex ... or an age. That was my enemy out there."

   He later told a local TV news anchor that Charlie Company had been sent to My Lai to "scorch the earth," and that he still felt he'd done what he'd been ordered to do, wrote Smithsonian.

   The men had spent months losing friends to booby traps, land mines and sniper fire ... without once engaging directly with an enemy combatant. 

   Five former participants agreed to be interviewed for Smithsonian's article. One of them, age 18 at the time, said, "Most of everything that was going on was insanity in my view. It was trying to survive. When you step on a mine there's nothing to take your anger out on. So when we thought we had a chance to meet them head-on, we were pumped." 

   Other soldiers concurred that they were carrying out the order as it was issued. What was the order?

   Capt. Ernest Medina did not respond to interview requests. Smithsonian wrote, "The captain reportedly told his soldiers that they were finally going to meet the Viet Cong 48th Local Force Battalion, their tormentors. Medina later claimed that he'd never told his men to kill innocent civilians." 

   Medina was charged and tried...

Tomorrow: What Americans thought; what Vietnamese want

    

Part 1 of 3    
Four Hours of Insanity     
 

Our summary of Smithsonian's feature (January-February)

   Today, this remains a land of rice paddies, where water buffalo and chickens roam the fields, and most roads are dirt.

   Here, on March 16, 50 years ago, 6-year-old Tran Nam was having breakfast with his extended family of 14. A U.S. soldier burst in, spraying bullets into the meal and three generations of relatives, all civilians.

   More soldiers entered. More gunshots. 

   Nam, now 56, survived by hiding under a bed, then hiding again in a ditch when soldiers set his house on fire.

   Six Army platoons swept into Son My and its sub-hamlet, My Lai. They used M-16s; they tossed grenades, and they committed atrocities (that might have embarrassed Custer and the Indians as well.)  - JD

   2nd Lt. William Calley and PFC Paul Meadlo corralled villagers along an irrigation ditch and mowed them down. Witnesses said Calley also shot a praying Buddhist monk and a woman whose hands were up. 

   At least one of the soldiers later committed suicide.

   The U.S. Army portrayed this as a victory over Viet Cong forces. And that was that.

   Until a few weeks later, when several participants shared their story with a friend, a helicopter gunner. He investigated on his own, and a year later, as a civilian, sent letters to several members of Congress and secretary-level people in the administration. He mentioned 2nd Lt. "Kally."  

   The IG of the Army began fact-finding, granting immunity to many of the soldiers, including Meadlo. 

   Another investigation discovered a military photographer, who stunned the investigator with horrifying images.

   In March 1971, a court-martial with a jury, including five officers who had served in Vietnam, reached their decision.

Tomorrow: Who ordered this?

   

    

   Burdens   

   Human inclinations include self love, pride, pleasure seeking, jealousy, arrogance, cruelty, corruption, lying, quarrels, resentfulness, envy, malice, greed, lust and much more. 

   These are the source of burdens we suffer to some degree. We pretend, wanting to put our best foot forward, hiding from ourselves and God, fearing exposure.

   Solomon observed these problems. Jesus well knows them and the destruction they cause. He promises us rest and relief from the burden of pretense. 

   Our Pursuit of His Presence   

   Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Matt. 5:5; Ps. 37:11.

   The meek are not weak or inferior; they may be the very opposite. But they are not fooled about their nature. 

   Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, 

and I will give you rest  ... learn from me, for I am gentle 

and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls ... 

my burden is light. Matt. 11:28-30.  

   There is also the matter of eternal rest. How do we receive that? With childlike trust.

   I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the 

kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. Luke 18:17 

   King David was naughty. But in time he confessed. 

   Realizing what mattered most to him, he begged his heavenly Father:

Do not cast me from your presence, or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Ps. 51:11

   

   Pirates once sailed the Caribbean, looking for treasure.

   Regular soldiers of the king also sought treasure in the Western Hemisphere. They hauled some to Spain. Other riches spilled into the sea, as storms overtook their ships. 
   Too bad the Weather Channel wasn't available. 😨
 

   Our Pursuit of His Presence   

   We Christians have our Lord and King. He is our eternal treasure.

   Speaking mostly to agricultural people, familiar with yokes, Jesus invited them to share his "easy" yoke. But his good news spread everywhere ... land and sea, mountain and valley. It is not an American gospel, nor does the Spirit have headquarters in Rome, Jerusalem, Mecca or anywhere on earth.

   The Spirit helps us first to believe, then to follow the way of freedom. If only we could stay tuned to him. 

   One of the ways we can tune out, unawares, is seeking honor. The late A.W. Tozer said this tendency hinders our belief. 

   Jesus' example should suffice. He did not seek honor, but gave all glory to the Father (John 8:49). He claimed not to speak for himself, but taught only what the Father directed. 

How can you believe if you accept praise from one another,

yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?

John 5:44

   Tozer wrote that self-righteousness, not science, is the real reason people don't believe. People exalt themselves, failing to accept God as He is. 

   Our Lord and King is willing to relate - share a moment of his presence - with those who honor him only. He wants the whole man, as was the Son of Man.

   Before we moved to Florida and its surrounding sea, we took a Power Squadron course on safe boating. We aced the written test.     

   Once here on the water, on two occasions, even with a compass, we drifted off course. Happily, we didn't sink, and we didn't sink good money into owning our own boat. Knowing about navigation is not the same as navigating.  

   Our Pursuit of His Presence   

   Knowing about the Bible is not the victory of knowing about, and living it. 

   Jesus taught people to get their relationships right, first with the Father, and with each other. Because we easily drift off course, He sent the Holy Spirit to teach and guide us along "the way."  

   Our destination: God himself ... He who is "worthy," who says "I am. I change not," and "to thousands of joyful angels, to those whose names are written in heaven, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, (and) to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant..." Heb. 12; Rev. 4:11

   As we do what we have to do, and other things we choose to do, we "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..." while the parade of worldly vessels sails its own way.

   If there be storms, He is with us. Matt. 8. We will not sink. 😊

   If thoughts or actions sour our relationship, we throw them overboard. Acts. 27

 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth. 

Ps. 57:5 

   Purge Evil; Be Afraid   

  

  Was Old Testament punishment horrible or what?  

  Stoning was the penalty for capital crimes:  

false prophecy, idolatry, premeditated murder, malicious false testimony.

(Deuteronomy chapters 13, 17, 19, 21)

These evils destroy other people.

Onlookers were to "be afraid." 

If in fact there were more than a couple stonings, the Bible doesn't say.

God himself dealt with Eli, Samuel and David.

"We're not very good at purging evil from our midst," writes Janie B. Cheaney in WORLD magazine, probably "because we don't quite believe the charge."

Rebels..."undermine social order while destroying themselves."

As we see daily, our laws (like Israel's) work only for the law-abiding.

The "Law" still stands. Christ came to fulfill it, 

that is, taking the punishment He, God himself had proscribed. 

He endured something far worse than stoning.

The death penalty - eternal - remains, and God holds the "stone."

But He pleads with us over and over to accept the righteousness of his obedient Son.

Purge evil; be afraid

~ ~ ~

Tomorrow: Setting the right compass heading and sticking to it