Posts with the tag “week-35”

1 Chronicles 5:18; 6:3b-15, 49; 7:1 – 8:28. “News of Record”          In our town, the paper has a section called News of Record, which reports every 911 incident and arrests or violations of the law.  When appropriate, the names of those involved are listed in the paper.  You would think that, because people in this town know they will face public humiliation for breaking the law, even traffic l...  Read More

1 Chronicles 4:24-5:17; Psalm 137; Jeremiah 52:28-30; Ezekiel 32:17-33:20.  “Failed Watchmen”          Before the invention of modern fire suppression systems, it was required for a hotel of significant size to employ a watchman during the night hours to alert guests in the case of fire.  One such hotel in Omaha, Nebraska had a fire on January 23, 1911, and the watchmen failed to notify the guests...  Read More

Ezekiel 32:1-16; 37:1-39:29.  “Taking the Good with the Bad”          In the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, the lead character George Bailey, played by James Stewart, makes the statement that he wished he had never been born.  Those of you who know the movie know that George was given a glimpse of what his family, friends and whole town would have been like if he had not been born.  Even though Geo...  Read More

Ezekiel 34:1-36:38.  “Forgiveness”          Forgiveness is a really curious thing.  All this week we have been thinking about consequences in life.  Now, forgiveness is like the exact opposite of consequences.  When we are forgiven, the one who forgives decides not to bring about potential consequences against us.  For example, some insurance companies offer what is called accident forgiveness.  I...  Read More

Jeremiah 42:1-44:30; Ezekiel 33:21-33.  “Seeking Wisdom”          “The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice” – Proverbs 12:15 (NIV)         Have you ever found yourself asking for advice and yet you have already concluded in your mind what you think should be done?  This is precisely the situation that the leaders of Israel were in.  When Jeremiah gave the answer from...  Read More

2 Kings 25:22-26; Jeremiah 40:7-41:18; Lamentations 5:1-22; Obadiah.  “Compassionate Response”          When hurricane Katrina leveled the gulf coast and nearly destroyed the entire city of New Orleans, I heard someone comment on how they felt the city was being judged because of the excessive sin it promotes.  Now, I do not pretend to know why God allowed that hurricane and the massive damage tha...  Read More

         The reality of the exile has set in, and life as the Israelites knew it is gone.  They are now living with the consequences of their idolatry and disobedience to the Lord’s covenant.  Thus, our theme for this week is consequences.  Whether we want to admit it or not, we all live with consequences.  As we will discover, some consequences are good and some are bad, and all of them are real....  Read More

The reality of the exile has set in, and life as the Israelites knew it is gone.  They are now living with the consequences of their idolatry and disobedience to the Lord’s covenant.  Thus, our theme for this week is consequences.  Whether we want to admit it or not, we all live with consequences.  As we will discover, some consequences are good and some are bad, and all of them are real.  Read More