Thought for January 13

 History:

• 1501: First hymnal not in Latin is published in Prague--89 hymns
• 1695: Jonathan Swift ordained Anglican priest
• 1733: James Oglethorpe and 130 colonists arrive in Charleston
• 1785: First issue of the Times of London published
• 1920: NY Times reports that rockets can never fly--and we believe what we read?
• 1930: Mickey Mouse comic strip appears for the first time
• 1938: Church of England accepts the theory of evolution
• 1942: Henry Ford patents method for making plastic auto bodies
• 1962: "The Twist" by Chubby Checker hits #1
• 1978: NASA accepts first women astronauts
• 1979: YMCA sues the Village People over the song "YMCA"
• 1982: Air Florida 737 crashes into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington. We watch witnesses jump into the icy waters of the Potomac to rescue passengers. We see a man repeatedly give up the harness from the helicopter allowing others to be lifted to safety--he drowns. 78 people die.
• Born: Samuel P Chase, Alfred Fuller [Fuller Brush], Robert Stack, Charles Nelson Reilly, Billy Gray [Bud on Father Knows Best], Bob Baffert, Mark O'Meara, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Trace Adkins, Patrick Dempsey, Orlando Bloom, Liam Hemsworth
• Died: Edmund Spencer, George Fox [founded the Quakers], Stephen Foster, Wyatt Earp, James Joyce, Ernie Kovacs, Hubert Humphrey, Carol Wayne

Thought:

Hope you do not suffer from triskaidekaphobia--fear of the number thirteen. This morning I read again the call of Isaiah in chapter 6 and saw the picture of the gospel.

• Holy is the Lord. [6:3] God our creator is holy, perfect, without darkness, pure light, pure love, amazing grace. Baptist have sung #1 in the hymnal for a century--Holy Holy Holy, Lord God Almighty. That is the starting place for a relationship with God. He is holy. 
• Woe is me. I am a man of unclean lips. [6:5] This is the problem. God is holy and I am not. For all have sinned. How does an unholy man have a relationship with a holy God? 
• God touches us an our iniquity is taken away [more about that in chapters 7 and 9]. God sent His only son to touch us--like the leper, our sins are covered and moved as far as east is from west by the touch of the Savior. There was nothing I could do about my condition, I could not erase the sins I committed. I could not live the perfect life. So God sent Jesus to live the perfect life and die the atoning death in my place. Now my sin is forgiven--praise the Lord.
• Forgiven we now respond, Lord, here am I, send me. [6:8] Our only response to the gift of forgiveness is service. So I listen for the Lord--who can I send to care for the children; who can I send to teach the youth; who can I send to visit the sick; who can I send to the lonely and depressed; who can I send to the lost and seeking; who will go for ME. Larry, do you get it. This  is a personal request from your Lord--who will go for ME? 

And like Isaiah we want to respond--here am I send me. There is a recent movie called "Fury" about a tank crew in WWII. The movie is too violent and too vulgar in many places, but at the end the crew is in a disabled tank ordered to hold a crossroads. The Nazis are coming and the men decide to stay and fight knowing their chances were slim. Inside the tank as the crew faces death one of the crew quotes Isaiah 6:8. Sometimes we find ourselves in the battle, forces of darkness seem strong. But we know that we have heard the Master's voice--and He always is sufficient when I respond--here am I, send me. 

Blessings

Larry