Matthew 11:15-19 ~ deeds

 Matthew 11:15-19

  He who has ears to hear, let him hear. ¹⁶ “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,

¹⁷ “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
    we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

¹⁸ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ ¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”



The teacher said, "Let's begin by reviewing some American History. Who said
'Give me Liberty , or give me Death'?"

She saw a sea of blank faces, except for Little Akio, a bright foreign
exchange student from Japan , who had his hand up: 'Patrick Henry, 1775' he
said.

'Very good!' Who said, 'Government of the People, by the People, for the
People, shall not perish from the Earth?'

Again, no response except from Little Akio: 'Abraham Lincoln , 1863'.
'Excellent!', said the teacher continuing, 'let's try one a bit more
difficult...'

Who said, 'Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for
your country?'

Once again, Akio's was the only hand in the air and he said:
'John F. Kennedy, 1961'.

The teacher snapped at the class, 'Class, you should be ashamed of
yourselves, Little Akio isn't from this country and he knows more about our
history than you do.'

She heard a loud whisper: '%$^$ the Japs,'.

'Who said that? I want to know right now!' she angrily demanded.

Little Akio put his hand up, 'General MacArthur, 1945.'

At that point, a student in the back said, 'I'm gonna puke.'

The teacher glares around and asks, 'All right!!! Now who said that!?'
Again, Little Akio says, 'George Bush to the Japanese Prime Minister, 1991.'

Now furious, another student yells, 'Oh yeah? &%* this!'

Little Akio jumps out of his chair waving his hand and shouts to the
teacher, 'Bill Clinton, to Monica Lewinsky, 1997!'

Now with almost mob hysteria someone said, 'You little %^&&.
If you say anything else, I'll kill you.'

Little Akio frantically yells at the top of his voice, 'Michael Jackson to
the children testifying against him, 2004.'

The teacher fainted. As the class gathered around the teacher on the floor,
someone said, 'Oh *%$%, We're *&$^%^*&!'

Little Akio said quietly, 'The American people, November 4, 2008 .'


Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul.
Douglas MacArthur

I am concerned for the security of our great Nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within.
Douglas MacArthur


Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.
John F. Kennedy

My grandmother Anita was very interested in classical literature and ideas. I think she'd be appalled today at television. We are a nation of fast food and simple ideas and tastes.  My own dad would be appalled at the crudeness passing for humor in our household. Even Mitt Romney has confessed to this humor.

Why? The fast pace we live in. It must hit us fast - or we are bored.

Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.
John F. Kennedy

John Kennedy lived some of what we experience today. The media feeds us, we believe it and our deeds become much more crass without deliberately engaging in moderation.  John Kennedy wanted to teach history at Harvard and chase girls. He'd have lived longer.

Where valuable ideals and convictions form-
Grandmother Anita Richardson Willard

A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it.
George W. Bush

And the First Bush President:

It's a very good question, very direct, and I'm not going to answer it.

George H.W. Bush

I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them.

George H.W. Bush

God wanted Israel to self-govern. Apparently the Bush family self-governs themselves. A worthy thing.

America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle. We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the nation and gentler the face of the world.

George H.W. Bush

And after wading through several unappealing quotes:

In a world with no systems, with chaos, everything becomes a guerilla struggle, and this predictability is not there. And it becomes almost impossible to save lives, educate kids, develop economies, whatever.

Bill Clinton
 

Franklin Roosevelt relied upon gracious discernment in the media. Today, we must employ our own gracious discernment.  The media will serve up what is salacious and interesting, it is up to us to see what is good, noble and pure. We know for sure these emailed quotes exist, due to sound bytes, and have to dig and have faith remembering the quotes of the pure Presidential intentions exist.  The good, the noble, the pure exist - but unlauded. We're so unlauded, the people caring for the ones we love, we wonder if others exist. And yet God decides each day - His creation goes forth.

Start now, believe in the good, the noble, the pure -act upon it. It's badly needed. One positive thing about the email received - it does not attempt to be like a whitewashed tomb. Pure on the outside, but rotten within.

President Ronald Reagan's first Inaugural speech... "You will once again believe with expectation and genuine hope that God is sovereign and will preserve our great country no matter the winding road we will travel together the next four years."--Ronald Reagan

Never be the salmon who swims with all the others up the stream, without considering if it is the direction you really should be going.

Psalm 51:6
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.


Proverbs 8:1
Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice?



Psalm 90:12
So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.


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1 Corinthians 13 ~

 1 Corinthians 13

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³  If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴  Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶ it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ⁷  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. ¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. ¹² For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

¹³ So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Debate was something I grew up with. Not the debate of a high school club, but thought and ideas. My parents never turned on the television. This doesn't mean it was ideal, I was so very surprised when 25 years of conversations ended. It probably had to do with the drinking. 

So. Let's talk about Abraham Lincoln. Which is kind of a family tradition. Any time there was a disagreement in my Uncle Carey's house - he would leave the table and get a cigar. Light it and his next phrase was, "Let's talk about Napoleon."  And he would. (He was the great-uncle who was leader of the Texas Senate and they graciously allowed him to be Governor of Texas for a day. Political favor becomes a party at the Governor's House.)

And of course this is an analogy for..... debate is great, but it really is for conversation. There is a real gap between:   When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. Hopefully.  I mean when I was a teenager, my parents were absolutely bewildered I enjoyed "The Life of Brian" because I totally bought into the deception they were making fun of people for mistaking Jesus. And later I was horrified I'd enjoyed the movie. It's wrong. It's humorous, but it's wrong.

So today we have Abraham Lincoln - whatever - Vampire Slayer Movie. It takes our over -glamorization of this human man and takes him into dark myth. It de-humanizes the man. It takes away the glory of his real work. 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

John 15:13

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

I seriously doubt the politician Lincoln was would have raised his hand for martyrdom.

Look at the eye of Mr. Lincoln in this first inaugural photo:  

Allow the president to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such a purpose - and you allow him to make war at pleasure.
Abraham Lincoln

A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have.
Abraham Lincoln

A house divided against itself cannot stand.
Abraham Lincoln

This is a man gearing up for a fight. Not the self satisfied look some of the American Presidents have worn. 


Compare this to the second inaugural photo. Lincoln has spent time fighting the beginning of the fight, power struggles with  generals, perfecting the plan, running over civil liberties: 




Those eyes are cold. It isn't just sitting still.  And yes, the tie looks strange.You really could compare these eyes to those of a Box Turtle. They are almost reptilian.

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.
Abraham Lincoln

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
Abraham Lincoln

"I once said, "We will bury you," and I got into trouble with it. Of course we will not bury you with a shovel. Your own working class will bury you."
Nikita Khrushchev - which is exactly what Senator McCarthy thought as well. (And that didn't turn out so well.)

And Lincoln began to win the war. Perhaps with himself as well.

Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world.
Abraham Lincoln

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?

Abraham Lincoln

“Recollections of Abraham Lincoln, 1847-1885″ (Ward Hill Lamon, 1911):

About ten days ago, I retired very late. I had been up waiting for important dispatches from the front. I could not have been long in bed when I fell into a slumber, for I was weary. I soon began to dream. There seemed to be a death-like stillness about me. Then I heard subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping. I thought I left my bed and wandered downstairs. There the silence was broken by the same pitiful sobbing, but the mourners were invisible. I went from room to room; no living person was in sight, but the same mournful sounds of distress met me as I passed along. It was light in all the rooms; every object was familiar to me; but where were all the people who were grieving as if their hearts would break?

I was puzzled and alarmed. What could be the meaning of all this? Determined to find the cause of a state of things so mysterious and so shocking, I kept on until I arrived at the East Room, which I entered.

There I met with a sickening surprise. Before me was a catafalque, on which rested a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were stationed soldiers who were acting as guards; and there was a throng of people, some gazing mournfully upon the corpse, whose face was covered, others weeping pitifully. ‘Who is dead in the White House?’ I demanded of one of the soldiers ‘The President’ was his answer; ‘he was killed by an assassin!’ Then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd, which awoke me from my dream.

After President Lincoln’s assassination his casket was, in fact, put on a platform in the East room where soldiers were stationed to act as guards. Dreams are far from meaningless fantasy or random neurological discharge. They are direct communications from the source of being which guide us, grow us, enrich us, and on sad occasion, forewarn us of events destined to change the world.

John 15:13

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Here is Abraham Lincoln. His eyes are rheumy and he is much more complete. My family is Southern. I had a great-great grandmother who ate her cat in Vicksburg and never said the word Yankee without Damn in front of it. My grandmother seriously downplayed the family avoiding the Confederate side of the Union. Shiloh had family die on both sides, the surviving sides were Unionists.  Yet we all agreed, the worst thing for the South and Reconstruction was the assassination of Lincoln.

Respect. It is what the movie lacks.

"Poor is the nation that has no heroes....Shameful is the one that, having them .... forgets." 

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Acts 3:6-9 ~ walking and leaping and praising God

Acts 3:6-9

But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Several decades ago, when my dad left my mom, we used to have a tape called Marinatha with a song called, "Walking and Leaping and Praising God."  My mom, brother and I used to listen to it on summer mornings as we started to work and to pack up our belongings. You know, you'd think we'd have gotten tired of it, but we didn't. It seemed to perk us up and pull us along. Years later I heard it and thought, "Corny." But at the time it was the Word of God to us and the Holy Spirit ministered to us in that song.

I really did not know where it came from in the Bible. 

So many years later, our daughter Isabelle was diagnosed with so many health issues and she would not live. About 10 of the Church Family met us at another Church for their Wednesday night healing and I cried to a friend about Isabelle's left hand not being formed. My reading that night was about Jesus healing a withered hand. I had some hope, but not a lot. Even today, three and a half years later, it causes some pain. 

One of the things about grief, little waves will hit from time to time. And on Saturday, it was beautiful and warm. I stood outside and could see our little lake. The heavens display the glory of God. And I asked, "Why Father God, did You want to give me that reading that causes pain? Why?"  And a Hawk flew by, just as my prayer finished. Our little lake points north and south - the Hawk was beautiful and flew south. We do not often see Hawks.

So I looked up Hawks.

Job 39:26

Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars

and spreads his wings toward the south

And later that day I felt teary eyed as I wondered again. Nothing seemed to change in that remembrance.  But I wondered.

At Needlepoint, last Tuesday, we were talking about Clark bringing things up in Church and people grow from their questions being part of the sermon.

Our Sermon was on Acts 3. 

 http://www.hopepointe.org/index.php?option=com_biblestudy&view=studydetails&id=122&templatemenuid=1&Itemid=130

Psalm 68:19

Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah

It is a beautiful thing to be heard by Father God. To know Isabelle has been healed. Leaping with Joy. Dancing. Knowing the hills and highways of Heaven. Safe and Loved. Cared for by tender hands. In God's Kingdom.  Knowing if her mother and father should forget her, she is not forgotten by God. In the love of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Psalm 87 ~ among those who know me

 Art on the ceiling of a 5th Century Church

 Osios David Thesseloniki - 5th Century House Church in Greece

 Frequently Birthdays and picnics are held on the front porch

Church 4th of July in Conroe.

Psalm 87

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio


On the holy mount stands the city he founded;
2 the Lord loves the gates of Zion
more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.
3 Glorious things of you are spoken,
O city of God. Selah

4 Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;
behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush[a]—
“This one was born there,” they say.
5 And of Zion it shall be said,
“This one and that one were born in her”;
for the Most High himself will establish her.
6 The Lord records as he registers the peoples,
“This one was born there.” Selah

7 Singers and dancers alike say,
“All my springs are in you.”

When you look up Cush, you will find Canaan and Egypt and Ethiopia. It probably is Ethiopia. It was so long ago, scholars debate. And when you look at this generation, they are going to think of hydroponic marijuana. Which will be shocking. But really people, when I think of the Sons of Korah, I think the bureaucracy running the Temple. Yet that is just Wrong. These Sons of Korah did not run out and live with David on the lam. But David acting with more kindness than I have, mostly, loved these Sons of Korah and had them add to the Psalms he probably composed in his mind for decades. David incorporated the old with the incoming Holy Spirit.

Episcopalians have said, since the 1970s, we should interpret the Scriptures for this generation. Sorta. Some truths are eternal. And revolve around, borrowing from my cousin, the Law - which is gravity and Spirit - which is rain, mist, streams, rivers and ocean. Replenishing God's creation.

Generation Y, also known as Generation We, Generation Sell[1], the Millennial Generation (or Millennials),[2][3] Generation Next,[4] the Net Generation[5] the Echo Boomers are the demographic cohort following Generation X.  You have to love this goop. It means like Louis C.K, says, we are self-centered and mostly non-grateful.  This generation has learned from the current generation. We praise ourselves, saying people are better parents. Surely we truly mean look out for number one while trying to look like we blend into either political correctness or pseudo Christian culture.  Very few people are going to give up comfort for suffering. Or go out of their merry way to help one another, it has a cost.


The Church of England was terribly damaged when it read from the liturgy and just kept a stiff upper lip as the bombs of WWII created panic. People kept going to Church during the Blitz, but afterwards, they drifted far, far away.

Why in the world do we sing "Jesus Christ's Triumphant Lay at Easter." That is plain silly. The words need to change. Dust off the old and make the old look beautiful. We dust our homes, why in the world don't we dust our Christian culture.


I love what a really large Methodist Christian Church has done. They have a loft. It used to be a warehouse and they turned it into a Loft. Man, that is GOOD marketing. Loft means hay and barn and baby wrapped in a manger.  And it's a warehouse for urban yuppies, who actually want to live crammed up against one another, without a yard, and just a few blocks from their career. (Not me!)  And it appeals to the teenager, family crowd. Me, I don't want to go where there are trampolines, literally.  But I am funky and with it enough to know - this is where it is happening. And c'mon. I agree with my Priest, who now goes by the Baptist word (now hidden in Churches called Crossing, or Fellowship, or whatever word they are using to hide the fact they belong to 3 Baptist hierarchies of government. Which I happen to think this is a Excellent and Churches require oversight so we all stay on the narrow gate path. And I think it's ridiculous and could be why the Baptist Church is looking down 2% nationally of its membership - How Can we Ask God to bless what is over marketed and psuedo hidden???)(I digress.)

The point is. We all need personal growth. It you are sitting in your pew and you don't go to the youth oriented part of the Church, you just might be in the part we all like to joke about - they will only notice you've died after the congregation clears.  My mother-in-law loves the Theater portion of her large Church. That is called growing in the Spirit. (God loves her!!! I'm pretty sure she is a saint!!!!!!!)


And if you are like Clark used to be - guitars in Church are for when the pipe organs break down - then you are stuck in a rut. And you can't call your minister - Father - then you need to loosen up a bit. 

And if you haven't complained about something at Church - you haven't acted like Zacchaeus, being willing to be noticed. And if you haven't said thank you to the Church Leadership - then you are just plain ungrateful. We tend to vote with our feet and not try to communicate. And after we've communicated, then we can let our feet vote.

How can the Church fix what is broken if you don't complain. Aren't you part of the Holy Spirit - the spring? Living Water? 

 “All my springs are in you.”


And what about a thank you???? 


Glorious things of you are spoken,

O city of God. Selah

Zacchaeus has several messages for us. Not to stay in the trees above one another. Not to stay hidden in the crowd. Not to play it safe. To give God our heart's desire. To do what He says to Honor and LOVE Him.  To prepare our hearts in prayer to receive HIM.  To be grateful. Not to be a grumbler at the blessings of others.

LORD! I want to be Zacchaeus! Luke is the only one to record Zacchaeus, but Luke stayed to the end. What an important and heartfelt statement. Luke acted as the disciple John to Paul. And the LORD honored Luke as well. Telling us of a changed heart, one that prepared a place for JESUS and did want to Honor and LOVE Him.

The heavens declare his righteousness and all the peoples see his glory. 

In all our circumstances, we are always invited to look UP. Jesus Christ our LORD. For us.


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2 Chronicles 24:17-25 ~ “May the Lord see and avenge!”

Jehoash Inscription - a list of repairs done to the First Temple. Some experts debunk this find, others find the patina and the spelling similarities to other artifacts to be correct. Just like the James Ossuary, it is a matter of faith.

2 Chronicles 24:17-25

Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them. 18 And they abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. 19 Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord. These testified against them, but they would not pay attention.

20 Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’” 21 But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. 22 Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, “May the Lord see and avenge!”

23 At the end of the year the army of the Syrians came up against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. 24 Though the army of the Syrians had come with few men, the Lord delivered into their hand a very great army, because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Joash.

25 When they had departed from him, leaving him severely wounded, his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.

Like Saul, Joash has killed a Priest. Unlike Jesus, or Stephen, Zechariah has called for the LORD to avenge his murder. We could say this is another example of the cruelties of the Old Testament. Jesus knew HIS sacrifice took away sin, it was the highest purpose. Stephen knew Grace abounded. Why did Zechariah ask for this as his last request? He knew the people would not learn unless the incorrect ways were pointed out to them. Judah would continue in sin. 

We are always faced with injustices in life. Sometimes we are asked to look the other way, to forgive and forgive 77 times. What shall we do when the 77 times are up? And when the hatred becomes intense. It is matter for private prayer.  When turning the other cheek has not worked. When you have tried and tried to overcome evil with good.

James 4:7

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Luke 6:28

bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you

Praying for someone blesses them.

1 Peter 3:9

Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

And the Scriptures don't say to be passive aggressive, but to discuss the situation.

Matthew 18:15-16

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 


It has been said that happier people bounce. They just don't let it get to them. Forgiveness brings that joy. Not the joy of burying it, but discussing it and continuing down the journey of life God gives us. Paul has said life is an adventure. And he had people who gave him trouble, we all do.


Psalm 37:8
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret--it leads only to evil.

Deuteronomy 28:6
Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

1 Peter 3:9
Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.


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Matthew 18:21-35 ~ forgive your brother from your heart

Matthew 18:21-35

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio

²¹ Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” ²² Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

²³ “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.^{[bondservant] 24} When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.^{[talent was monetary unit worth about 20 years wages] 25}  And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. ²⁶ So the servant^{[bondservant]} fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ ²⁷ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.  

²⁸ But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii,^{[day's wages]} and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ ²⁹ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ ³⁰ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.  

³¹ When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. ³² Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³  And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴  And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,^[torturers] until he should pay all his debt. ³⁵  So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Perhaps we should begin with another Scripture:

Matthew 10:16
“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

This Scripture is a wicked servant, who is as wise as serpent. We all trade places, but it is good to hear a story of the Wise, Mature one being wise and innocent.

I went off at age 16 to part of a Christian renewal weekend movement for teenagers. It was filled with the Holy Spirit and I really was looking forward to being the camp counselor instead of the participant. And we arrived early and the Wise, Mature Priest asked us to gather, the 4 early birds, to read the Word. Now, I knew I was pretty biblically illiterate.So when we got to the word Yahweh, I had No idea what word it was. As a first time participant, I had cringed because every time they said, "Jesus Christ," it was a curse word from my dad.  I'd been to parochial school and had a priest step-grandfather, so I knew that was terrible every single time my dad said it. But parochial school had been over for 5 years and I still was cringing every time. So, I looked at the Wise, Mature Priest when we got to my reading for "Yahweh" and he looked expectantly at me.  And I thought, wing it, 4 people. And I said, "Yahoo."   And everyone fell about the place. And I thought OMG, great beginning.

And the Priest came up afterwards and started asking me about me background. I was embarrassed and explained. Still he was semi-laughing at me and semi-thinking I was a disaster. Until we prayed. My hands grew red hot. And the Priest quit laughing and asked me how often this happened. I said, "Oh from time to time, but mostly when we have quiet time in the meetings and sing."  He didn't say much.  And I looked expectantly at him. His only reply was, "And in one so young." 

So after the kids went to bed, the staff, including 'Yahoo', sat up talking. Trouble began to brew. I was part of the group trouble.  But the story broke when I wasn't there. I was more innocent than not. The end result was one of the male teenage staff was driving away in the next 15 minutes. He'd told lies to the Priest. You know, no one ever asked me my part of the story. The Priest merely told me, he'd taken care of it. A young man in our group found JESUS CHRIST the LORD and his heart was called to the Holy Spirit by the Holy Spirit. The Angels sang.

It is my belief that Priest knew what was what. He acted as a dove who understood the  serpent. He had very little to say. 

When events swirl around us and we cannot understand all that others think and say and do.

We trust the LORD to sort it out. In prayer. In faith. 

Psalm 131

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
    my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
    too great and too marvelous for me.
² But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
    like a weaned child with its mother;
    like a weaned child is my soul within me.

³  O Israel, hope in the Lord
    from this time forth and forevermore.

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Psalm 81 ~ Sing aloud to GOD our strength

Cedar Falls, Arkansas

Psalm 81

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio


Sing aloud to God our strength;
shout for joy to the God of Jacob!
2 Raise a song; sound the tambourine,
the sweet lyre with the harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
at the full moon, on our feast day.

4 For it is a statute for Israel,
a rule of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a decree in Joseph
when he went out over the land of Egypt.
I hear a language I had not known:
6 “I relieved your shoulder of the burden;
your hands were freed from the basket.
7 In distress you called, and I delivered you;
I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9 There shall be no strange god among you;
you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

11 “But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to follow their own counsels.
13 Oh, that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would walk in my ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him,
and their fate would last forever.
16 But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”



We speak so many different languages. Some people speak the language of food. Some the language of flowers or gardening. Some the language of praise. Some the language of constant bitter complaint. Sometimes we are tired of hearing. I know I was kidded today for something I once sang.  Our words matter to people. 

We are all complainers, but we truly contemplate change - it is so bewildering.  The language of change.  I saw today a complaint from Woody Allen saying, "Nothing lasts." Yet really, there is a Psalm that says one day follows the next. And it goes along with both thoughts. Life is like the Mississippi River, pushing us along.

It is how we face life. With hope or fear. My house has a college graduate. It is the exact mirror image of a High School recent graduate. Change like water running over waterfalls. The cross roads of life. We have to face it with hope. Even on the days it is overwhelming, boring or just medium.

Today was a day of on going thunder. Not rain, but thunder from clouds.  Even on the days when the heavens speak. We can say it was an ordinary day, or we can rejoice in what was different about the day.

Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

Even waterfalls have a destination.

In You, O Lord, we have our being. Help us to abide in You and dwell in hope, faith and Love.
In the name of Jesus Christ Our LORD.   Amen.

Psalm 84:5
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.


Ezekiel 43:2
and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with his glory.


Psalm 77:18
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook.


Psalm 42:7
Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.

Psalm 130:1

 A song of ascents. Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD

Psalm 24:3

Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?

I relieved your shoulder of the burden;
your hands were freed from the basket.
In distress you called, and I delivered you

Revelation 19:6

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns."

Psalm 16

 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
² I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
     I have no good apart from you.”

³ As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
    in whom is all my delight.

⁴ The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;
    their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
    or take their names on my lips.

⁵ The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
    you hold my lot.
⁶  The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

⁷ I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
    in the night also my heart instructs me.
⁸  I have set the Lord always before me;
    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
    my flesh also dwells secure.
¹⁰ For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
     or let your holy one see corruption.

¹¹ You make known to me the path of life;
    in your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

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Psalm 33 ~ He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast Love of the Lord.

Listen

Psalm 33
רַנְּנוּ צַדִּיקִים, בַּיהוָה;    לַיְשָׁרִים, נָאוָה תְהִלָּה


English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio

Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
Praise befits the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

4 For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
he puts the deeps in storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

13 The Lord looks down from heaven;
he sees all the children of man;
14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.
16 The king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.


Today, listening to the Scriptures is a good thing. Caroline Holland in Notebooks of a Spinster Lady, 1919. Holland attests Queen Victoria said, "We are not amused."  And of course, Queen Victoria was talking to some lout who had offended all the ladies at the Court. She actually was a better sort than we give her credit for being.

Listening to the Scripture today gives us a different feeling. A collective feeling. People joined together to praise Him. 

And of course the LORD is way above us in all respects. So, what would the Big Bang have sounded like. Perhaps it is where the idea of Thor's hammer comes from. Now is it sacrilegious to think of a lesser god? No. The Scripture refers to sons from heaven having children with the sons of men. So many wonders and mysteries. Powers and principalities. Wonder stretches us. As we stay rooted and grounded in God, soaking in the love of Jesus Christ the LORD.

As I listened to the Psalm today, it reminded me of the Big Bang Theory. As a 4-ish year old child, I used to love the cadence of words. And I used to repeat them, savoring the sound. Until. One Day. The word DON"T absolutely exploded within me as violently as an atomic bomb, not even leaving a scorch mark. And it followed with a very gentle. My Child. And boy howdy, never again did I repeat words. 


I believe this is what the Big Bang sounded like. Different from Elijah's still, quiet voice. Yet the same. My Child. Except perhaps, except, for the Author, the words would be in small letters. However. It was. Comfort.  And where was I standing? In our garage and with bare, summer time, gritty feet. My next thought, as I reached for the garage door handle to the house, was we'd have fun tonight; my godparents were coming over, Bill and Jim with them. But over the next few days, I thought of it -like while eating ice cream. Not a care in the world. I never even felt the need to tell anyone. Huh. It was pretty comfortable. And maybe the LORD wanted me to be interested in all His words and not just getting stuck on one. At the time, I didn't even put thought to it being God. We didn't go to Church much.


What would we, together, compare this to? This memory from 4 decades ago. It would be similar to Exodus 19. What would the Children of Israel have that would have been louder than a trumpet? Not even a gun. They make a difference between the noise and lightning. We might compare the noise to something like a terrific explosion. God told Moses not to let the people through and not to go up the mountain. Instead.

Exodus 20:18 

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance.

Exodus 20:19 

and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."

Remember, with me. This was before God decided to dwell among us. And we'd say, but God is omnipotent. God longs for us. To Love Him. Yet. He Loves us first. And always best.

1 Kings 19:12

And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Let us stand in the gap with Elijah. The gap that is filled by the prayers, the Love and the mediation in Jesus' sacrifice. And say silently or a loud.

Psalm 95:1-7

English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.


 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is Good,
     for His steadfast Love endures Forever.
 Give thanks to the God of gods,
    for His steadfast Love endures Forever.
 Give Thanks to the Lord of lords,
    for His steadfast Love endures Forever!


Blessed are You, LORD GOD. Father and God Almighty. Sharing Your Love with the Generations. In Jesus Christ, Your Son. Our LORD. Amen.


Forever and ever. Aaaaaaaaaaaameeeeeeeeeeen.


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