A Peculiar Glory

I am reading the book of Job.  Job is not one of the Bible's most encouraging books, but many people are drawn to it because it helps them in times of desperation.  Job is an upright man who seems to have everything going for him.   God is speaking with Satan, an accuser, who states that the only reason Job is righteous is because of all his worldly possessions.  Satan then claims that if those possessions were taken from Job, he would stop being righteous.  God allows Satan to take away all that Job has: his position, his possessions, his family and friends and his health.  The middle section of the book is a poetic conversation between Job and four "friends" about God's justice.  The first three friends believe Job must have committed huge sins to deserve such punishment, but Job claims he was righteous, thereby dismissing that argument.  The fourth friend, affirms that God is just and perhaps there are reasons God allows bad things to happen to good people, such as preventing future sins or teaching people more about themselves and God.  The last section of the book is a conversation between God and Job where Job continues to try to understand why there is pain and suffering on the Earth.  God doesn't directly answer the questions but states that while the world is beautiful and awe-inspiring, it is also complex and dangerous.  The world in its current state does not exclude pain and suffering.  Most importantly, while we may not fully understand the "why", God is pleased that we come to him earnestly to try to understand.

The Bible Recap is the Bible reading plan I am currently using, and it directed me to this great song by Shane and Shane with an interlude by pastor and author, John Piper.  I encourage you to take a few minutes to listen.

Babeling Book

I was reading this morning in the book of Genesis about Noah, the flood and the events following the flood.  After the flood killed all living creatures not on the ark, God directed Noah's sons and their wives to be fruitful, multiply and cover the Earth.  That worked for a bit until a group of his descendants settled on the plain of Shinar.  They decided to build a tower there so they could "make a name for themselves" and NOT be scattered over the earth.  This is the first post-flood mention of humanity's ultimate sin: putting ourselves and our needs above God and what he desires for us.  God stepped in, confused their language, and caused them to disperse and cover the Earth as originally directed.  The tower became known as the Tower of Babel.  The Mesopotamian word Babel means "gateway to the gods" and is associated with the Hebrew word, balal, which means to mix, jumble, or confuse.  The Greeks later translated the word Babel to Babylon.  Babylon continues to represent the desires of men and political systems to be greater than God all the way through the Old and New Testaments until its final destruction in Revelation 18: "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great".   God, help us to remember that you are the greatest and that nothing we create can come close to what you have for us.

Bonus fact: While the english word "babble" is actually derived from a Germanic word mimicking infantile, indistinct speech, its proliferation is connected with the biblical account of the Tower of Babel.

Pirate Pay Day

 

It's that time of year when pirates invade Lake Hartwell.  Together, with our good friends down the street, we host Pirate Camp for our grandkids for three fun-filled days.  Captain Hook steals their treasure on the first day which sets off a series of chases on land and sea where the scalawags try to track down Captain Hook and regain the treasure.  They usually find success by the end of the week which keeps them coming back year after year.  While the week is exhausting for us, I continue to believe it is one of the most important things we do all year long.  If you use Facebook, you can check out some of the fun here.   I hope you have the opportunity to invest in your kids and/or grandkids this year!

The pitch seen 'round the world

 I have never played organized soccer, but I did coach my son's 5-year-old team with my brother, Craig.  I confess that by the end of that season, neither I nor our team knew much more about soccer.  My grandkids are a different story.   Most of them play on club teams, and my oldest grandson, Evan, played varsity soccer on the high school team as a freshman this past year.  His team went to the state semi-finals, so my interest in soccer has increased immensely.  The US Team's first World Cup game is in Atlanta on Friday night.  One player to watch will be Christian Pulisic.   Click here to see what we have to look forward to.  Christian has struggled with injuries in the past, but most feel like he is back to full strength.  When asked about a recent injury, he took the opportunity to talk about the role his faith plays in his outlook on soccer.  I love that he is representing US soccer - and our savior.  Click here for the video clip.

Clean-shaven Jesus

 

Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in the popular series, The Chosen, has advanced the perception that Jesus was dark-skinned and bearded.  But a recent discovery may paint a different picture.  Archaeologists in Turkey uncovered what is thought to be the best-preserved early depiction of Jesus ever found.  The third-century fresco depicts Jesus, the Good Shepherd, as light-skinned and clean-shaven.  Additional recent discoveries help show how followers of Jesus grew from a rag-tag bunch of fishermen to one of the world's most important religious movements.  Jesus' clean-shaven face could just be attributed to the artist's perception, as the work was created 200+ years after Jesus' death. However, the more important fact is that we are still talking about Him 2000 years later, and many of us are doing our best to follow and love Him.  Praise God for sending His son to Earth to die for us.

Absolute Intelligence

I am no AI expert.  Most of my experience with AI comes from asking Google questions like, "How do I keep spiders off my dock?"  I find the responses are usually very helpful.  I also need to pay attention to AI for my business.  At a recent meeting with a potential real estate client, I asked him how he found me.  He responded "ChatGPT".   Luckily the search engine optimization work we've been doing was good enough to place us on the list of leaders in my area when he asked "who are top REALTORs at Lake Hartwell?".  But there is plenty of room for concern regarding more important questions like "Is Jesus really the son of God"?   There will be a day (and perhaps that day is already here) when some AI users will take the answers they receive as gospel.  But how does AI decide what the answer is?  My understanding is that it is scanning the internet for relevant articles and posts that can help build the answer.  This could be helpful, but doesn't that really mean the answer is a composite of what most people think?  There are plenty of times when I don't agree with what most people think.  I believe truth originates from my God, the Creator of heaven and earth.  Pope Leo recently released his first encyclical entitled *Magnificia Humanitas* which addresses AI.  One of his conclusions is that he is not so concerned about AI becoming too human, but rather about humans becoming too machine-like. This article in Christianity Today provides a good summary of the encyclical.  This article in Christianity Today provides a good summary of the encyclical.  

Anger Management

 

I am headed south on I-85, and traffic is heavy.  Two eighteen wheelers ahead of me are carrying similar loads.  One is faster going up the hill, and the other is faster going down.  But neither is going fast enough to pass the other.  Traffic is building in the left lane as we all hope the next downhill stretch is long enough for the truck in our lane to pass and move over.   I check my passenger side mirror and see a pickup truck barreling down the right lane passing cars at 80 MPH.   As he approaches the slower eighteen wheeler in his lane, I know what is coming next.  I close the gap between my car and the one ahead to an uncomfortably close distance, but apparently there is still room for him to squeeze in if I slam on my brakes.  I am furious at his disregard for anything that is right.

Do I need to confess yet?  I'm not sure, but I do know that Jesus felt anger.  He was fully man complete with all the emotions that come with being human, but He was also fully God and knew exactly how to process those emotions.

If I follow being cut off by the pickup truck with tailgating him at an unsafe distance while flashing my high beams and blowing my horn,  I believe that I am now sinning.  But, if I back off and acknowledge that his rudeness will probably only cost me about 2 seconds of my day, I believe my temporary anger is not a sin.

There are far more serious things for me to be angry about.  Someone harming a child is at the top of my list.   It is only with Jesus' help that I can know how best to respond.  I pray that he helps me with that today.