Thought for April 22, 2024

  •  1864: First appearance of "In God We Trust" on coins--2 cents
  • 1876: Tchaikovsky completes "Swan Lake"
  • 1914: Babe Ruth pitches first professional game---wins 6-0
  • 1915: First use of poison gas in warfare--Germans use chlorine
  • 1934: 5,000 pastors and laymen form the "Confessing Church" relying on the Reformation confessions of faith rather than Nazi racial theories and propaganda
  • 1940: Eighteen months before Pearl Harbor, Admiral Taussig testifies before the Senate that war with Japan is inevitable
  • 1966: Atlanta Braves win their first game
  • 1976: Barbara Walters becomes first woman nightly network news anchor
  • 1993: Holocaust Memorial Museum dedicated
  • 1994: Hutus slaughter 7,000 Tutsi's in Rwanda
  • 2018: Gunman opens fire in a Nashville Waffle House killing 4. James Shaw wrestles the rifle from the gunman.
  • Born: Muhammad, Queen Isabella, Henry Fielding, Immanuel Kant, Lenin, Robert Oppenheimer, Eddie Albert, Steve Fossett [first to fly solo, non-stop around the world in a balloon; born in Jackson TN], 
  • Died: Cervantes, Henry Royce, Jane Froman, Ansel Adams, Cesar Chavez, Richard Nixon, Erma Bombeck, Pat Tillman, 
Thought:
Reading in the Book of Micah this morning. The first chapters are a condemnation of Judah for its wicked ways, rebellion. These chapters also condemn the priests, the religious leaders, for failing to warn the people of the coming judgment. Look at 3:5-12. The people, leaders, and priests are condemned by the Lord:
  • They hate justice and twist and contort the truth and the law to reach unrighteous and unjust decisions. [3:9]
  • They build with violence. [3:10]
  • Politicians take bribes [3:11]
  • Priests change their teaching based on who is paying them. [3:11]
  • Prophets divine not based on what the Lord says, but on who is paying them. [3:11]
  • And the message is everything is good, everything is safe, everything is getting better because we give lip service to God. [3:11]
Does any of that sound familiar? Politicians vote in a way to get re-elected or to please their financial supporters, rather than for the good of our nation. Preachers don't want to upset anyone, especially the big givers. And we the people just want to get along as long as the politicians and preachers do and say what we want them to say and do. The end of chapter 3 is scary. Read 3:12--because of us and our rebellion and wicked ways, the nation becomes a heap of ruins--a desolate place. 

Lord, these verses make me ask myself, "am I part of the problem or the solution?" Do I really want leaders, both political and religious, who are noble and good; or, do I just want them to do and be for those things that I like and agree with. Help me seek Your will, Your kingdom, Your glory---walk in Your ways. And help me be discerning toward our leaders and those that seek to lead. Scripture comes to my mind, there is a way that seems right to man, but the end thereof is destruction. [Proverbs 14:12] Help me see Your right way and then be careful to walk in it. 

Blessings
Larry

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