But My Words   

  Conclusion  

  His Words are Eternal  

I am the First and the Last, I am the living One.

I was dead and behold I am alive for ever and ever.

The beginning 

   In the beginning was the Word ... and the Word was God... 

First warning 

   Some 28 centuries ago, prophet Isaiah wrote of a day of vengeance, a cruel day, 

of fierce anger, when the stars, sun and moon would not show their light.

The Word appears 

   About 700 years after Isaiah, the Word in our likeness was conceived by the Spirit, born to a humble mother in a humble shelter in a humble town.

Second warning

   Jesus: Immediately after (the tribulation) the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. The sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming ... with power and great glory. 

Final warning 

   Several decades after Jesus warned the nations, his disciple John saw a vision with someone... whose name is the Word of God. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword (the word) with which to strike down the nations. He has this name written: 

KING of KINGS and LORD of LORDS. 

Heaven and earth will pass away,

but my words will never pass away.

[ How could his words pass away? God and his Words are one. ]

The ending (after the millennium)

   Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth 

had passed away.

________

Isaiah 13, 34;  Matthew 1, 24;  Luke 2;  John 1; Revelation 1, 19, 21

Nine Steps to Disarm NK   

   A New York Times feature says this is the most challenging case of nuclear disarmament in history. Estimates of North Korea's count of nuclear weapons range from 20 to 60. 

   About the size of Pennsylvania, the North has 141 nuke sites. One of them alone has 663 buildings, as seen from satellites. 

   Experts say disarmament will take a few years to a decade or more, long after President Trump leaves office. Will the next president follow up? 

   Necessary steps include:
* Dismantle and remove nuclear weapons
* Stop uranium enrichment
* Disable reactors
  * Close test sites
  * Stop fuel production
  * Inspect indefinitely
    * Destroy germ weapons
    * Destroy chemical weapons
    * Stop missile program

   Views has another idea, a positive approach that would appeal to the majority of the North's 23 million people:
* Subsidies for every farmer and rural family producing food
* McDonald's in every community
* Shopping mall in every community
  * Gambling casino in every community
  * National lottery and TV soap operas 
  * Job Corps, similar to 1930's New Deal
    * Disney World - Pyongyang 
    * IRAs for every adult, linked to stock market
    * Resorts on every beach, river, lake and ski slope

   Who would care about nukes in a paradise like that?

                                (not really)

      Jimmy

   But My Word   

   Week 5   

Responding to the Word   

Accept it  

   Those who accepted his message were baptized...(Acts 2:41).

   When you received the word of God ... you accepted it ... as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe (1 Thess. 2:13).

Hide it in the heart 

   I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you (Ps. 119:11).

Trust it    

   Then I will answer the one who taunts me, for I trust in your word (Ps. 119:42). 

Hope in it 

   May those who fear you rejoice ... for I have put my hope in your word (Ps. 119:81). 

   My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word (Ps. 119:81). 

Obey it

   Do good to your servant, and I will live; I will obey your word (Ps. 119:17). 

   Before ... I went astray, but now I obey your word (Ps. 119:67). 

   Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says

(James 1:22). 

Live it

   How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word

(Ps. 119:9). 

Proclaim it 

   Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went (Acts 8:4). 

Friday: Conclusion, Word of God appears 

    
The Real Jefferson       
Independence & Pacifism   

   Tomorrow we celebrate, while remembering Thomas Jefferson. If you think America is coming unhinged today, how about Jefferson's presidency?

   Jefferson was well educated, but a terrible speaker. He compensated by learning to write with eloquence. 

   For that reason, he was chosen to write the Declaration of Independence. He was a deist, carefully penning words acceptable both to Christians and his deist friends. 

   "Providence," for example, was a general word for natural forces in a world created by God but left to manage on its own. "That Infinite Power which rules the destiny of the universe" could be nature ... like "nature's God." 

   Worshipers were suspicious of his true beliefs.

   TJ referred to Jesus as the "most moral, pure, benevolent, sublime" person etc., but never as Savior, Redeemer, Lord or Son of God. He didn't want a state church, such as the Church of England, but he included Christians in his coalition.

   As president, 1801-1809, Jefferson authorized the Louisiana Purchase, though the agreement was not expressly allowed in the Constitution. Proponents - like many since - relied on "general welfare" and "necessary and proper" to justify their cause.

   TJ also was a pacifist to the extreme, Barbary pirates the exception. England took advantage, seizing American sailors without a whimper from our president. 

   His attitude: "Let Britannia rule the waves and keep American ships home." There would be no foreign trade, even with (British) Canada. 

   Jefferson's Enforcement Act signed in 1809 damaged more personal liberties, livelihoods and property rights than anything our colonial rulers had done. His embargo brought the U.S. to the brink of disunity. Congress finally voted 81-40 to repeal the law. 

 Source: Marvin Olasky, WORLD magazine

   

   But My Word   

   Week 5   

What to Do With It?      

Hear the Word
   Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom... (Isaiah 1:10).

   Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah... This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says... (Jeremiah 7:2).

   Now the Bereans ... received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11).

Understand it
   But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop... (Matt. 13:23). 

Praise it
   In God, whose word I praise... in God I trust; I will not be afraid (Ps. 56:4).

   In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid (Ps. 56:10). 

Love it 
   I delight in your commands because I love them (Ps. 119:47). 

   I hate double-minded men, but I love your law (Ps. 119:113). 

Let it be joy  
   I delight in your decrees (Ps. 119:16).

Wednesday: continuation, our response to the word 

DEFINITIONS based on usage in the Bible:

   Law - General term for God's revealed will

   Command/decree - Authoritative guidance 

   Statute - God's testimony of his character and will

   Precept - Rule for righteous living 

   Ordinance - Law of social life, leading to justice and righteousness

     
Pursuing Happiness?        

Korean-American author Min Jin Lee has interesting views on the Bible

 and the pursuit of happiness. Here are some excerpts from her interview 

with Marvin Olasky in WORLD magazine:

God composes interesting stories 
   I always think about God being a writer because the Word is so important, and ... in this publishing world, I think of God as a writer and a publisher.

   If you are a Christian and believe in God, there's a lot of room for discussion. You can't seal yourself off from everything that you disagree with. 

Should novels leave us feeling happy, so the world make sense? 
   I don't believe in the pursuit of happiness. I always tell students, "I want to be good, to do the right thing. I want you to learn as much as you can. Happiness will come now and then, but the pursuit of it will make you miserable. So try to be decent."

How do students process that?
   They always go "ugh." But I tell them there are seasons in your life when you're not going to be happy. People get sick. People lose jobs. People get injured. They have every right to be grieving, and it may take a long time for them to heal. 

   There's a lot of evidence in the Bible where people aren't enjoying God at the moment. They're throwing things at Him. 

He doesn't zap Abraham some back talk and asking questions.
   I love the story of Job so much because Job gets to do this and Job is constantly saying things like, "Just curse me and let me die," and I think, "Sure. I would say that, too, if I was covered in boils, Sure." 

#

Aren't We Something?     

   We don't like to boast ... and we wouldn't include this in our blog profile boldface ... but our brain can hold more information than the Library of Congress. It works faster than a computer, with some 86 billion neuron cells at our disposal.

   You don't believe that??? 

   Well, it's true, and true for you as well. Fact is, none of us, including the Einsteins of the world, use most of what God gave us.

   For example. Thursday, I drank a glass of V8 for taking my morning pills to fight inattention disorder, etc. Later, I noticed the pills were still on the table.

   Same morning. Wanting to be helpful, I unloaded the washer, put the load in the dryer and pushed the start button. Mrs. Donut informed me the load hadn't washed yet. It did seem a little dry.

   Aren't you glad I edit my blogs relentlessly before yu sea thum? 

   Some people, such as Dr. Einstein, are born with the ability to access more of their brain power than most, but apparently we all have it to some degree. 

   Just curious. Didn't Adam and Eve have brain power? Information, which developed gradually over the millennia, is another matter. Think how much time came and went before we discovered flush toilets.  

   Hunter-gatherers, cave people and Roman slaves had mental capacity. Read about people in earliest Bible times. They weren't any less intelligent; they just hadn't acquired knowledge that we take for granted.

   The brain. Its origin ... intelligent neo-Darwinists refuse to discuss. 

   They know all about caterpillars, which are quite varied in all respects. You can't study them without a dictionary. 

   Next time you see an evolutionist at the mall, ask him how mutations formed various insects over many many years. Then, ask how further "mistakes" produced molts and metamorphosis so that larvae (caterpillars) become new moths or butterflies. 

      Jimmy, the absent minded blogger