Thought for January 21

 History:

• 1525: Swiss Anabaptist movement begins when about 15 people baptize each other in Zurich
• 1549: Parliament establishes the Book of Common Prayer
• 1672: A church in Bedford England calls John Bunyan as pastor--he is in prison for preaching
• 1813: First reference to pineapple cultivation in Hawaii
• 1880: First US sewage disposal system [not a storm drain]--Memphis TN
• 1887: AAU forms
• 1915: Kiwanis founded in Detroit
• 1921: Agatha Christie publishes her first novel
• 1954: Launch of USS Nautilus--1st nuclear submarine
• 1968: Battle of Khe-Sanh
• 1976: First commercial Concorde flight
• 1984: Scott Hamilton wins US Figure Skating Championship
• 1994: Lorena Bobbitt found temporarily insane
• Born: Stonewall Jackson, John Browning, Rasputin, Karl Wallenda [high wire walker], Barney Clark [first permanent artificial heart], Paul Scofield, Telly Savalas, Benny Hill, Jack Nicklaus, Placido Domingo, Paul Allen [Microsoft], Hakeem Olajuwon
• Died: Lenin, George Orwell, Cecil B DeMille, Col. Tom Parker, Jack Lord, Peggy Lee, Bill Johnson [1st American to win alpine gold medal in the Olympics]

Thought:

Still consuming Isaiah 40 this morning. Thinking about verse 8, "the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." Yesterday we were comforted because the mouth of the Lord had spoken. Today, we understand that what He speaks stands forever. He does not change so His word does not change with the theories of man, the fads of the times, the fashionable, or socially acceptable. His word stands eternally. We may not like it, we may not understand it, we may find it difficult--but His word stands forever--His written word and His Living Word. A few days ago, Pope Benedict died. He was considered harsh, old-fashioned, stuck in the past, unable to understand the needs and wants of the current generation. But I think he understood that the word of the Lord is eternal.

What does that verse mean to me? I don't need to read some new book about a new look at the historical Jesus. I don't need to try and make the scripture fit with current culture. No, the truth is current culture needs to conform to scripture. When we try to make scripture say what we want it to say to make us feel better or get along with others, we err. Paul got it right--do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds--and that renewal does not start anywhere other than God's eternal word. 

So let's speak truth, but speak it in love with compassion and understanding but without compromise. Jesus said he did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. Lord help me follow Your teaching and be filled with Your Spirit. 

Blessings

Larry