Well, the heat wave seems to be over, at least for now. At one point we were one degree hotter than Death Valley (though not for long) and 23 degrees hotter than Las Cruces, New Mexico. The record was 105 WITHOUT factoring in the heat index. The Weather Channel seems to think that this is the shape of summers to come thanks to global warming. I certainly hope not but I am afraid they are right.
We have finally finished the Book of Esther and are now onto the Book of Galatians. The more I read Esther the less I like it. I certainly cannot accept it as history. Tragedy? Farce? I asked Pastor where would I look in Herodotus to find the events mentioned in Esther and he hemmed and hawed and said that Herodotus (who was the leading historian of his day) did not directly talk about the events in Esther but we know Esther has to be true because Herodotus confirms many of the details of court life in the Persian empire. I wonder does he know the difference between history and historical fiction? But of course there is no historical fiction in the Bible.
But let's see. I know I've touched on these things before but Esther isn't about a bunch of obscure people living in an unknown area. One of the main characters is the Persian king himself. In Esther he comes off as a buffoon. Let's see--he orders the massacre of the Jews at the instigation of Haman then turns around when Esther says that she and her people are in mortal danger and says "But what do you mean? Who has ordered this?" You mean you are the most powerful person in the Middle East at that time and YOU DO NOT KNOW? That doesn't sound like a very competent ruler. Later when he allows the Jews to engage in a countermassacre of terrifying proportions he says to Esther, "What more do you want?" and Esther, meek, obedient Esther, says she wants yet another day of slaughter. Am I the only one to see a note of sarcasm in his request: "75,000 slaughtered in the provinces--Haman and all his sons dead--are you happy now?" Apparently. Well, the survivors all live happily ever afterwards and every year are commanded to celebrate in the holiday of Purim.
So we are on to Paul's letter to the Galatians. Pastor spent quite a bit of time on the opening verses and he talked about how the name of Jesus is so often taken in vain when really it is the most sacred name on earth. What he did not talk about and what I would have liked to hear about is why do people take the Lord's name in vain? How did it come about that Jesus became a swear word and why? He said people swear out of ignorance. Well, maybe many do, but I am willing to bet that the reason that Jesus became a curse word is because of the many raised expectations surrounding this name, expectations that are not always met. Prayers that were not answered. There is a lot of anger behind the exclamation "Jesus Christ!" The anger is because one has been led to believe something that is not true, a promise that was not kept.
Today we had the annual budget review and God has abundantly blessed our church, thanks be to Him. They are so confident that He will continue to bless this particular church even though there are other area churches that have been foreclosed upon and lost their buildings that they have raised the budget for next year. God. God. God. God has provided. God has done this. And I am thinking what about the people in the seats around me who contributed their hard-earned money--God didn't contribute that money, THEY did. But what thanks do any of us get? What credit do any of us get? None. It is all God. God. God. One could be forgiven perhaps in thinking well if God did all of this then He doesn't need any of my money. He doesn't need my help or participation. Because we in the seats simply don't count. Is it any wonder that someone might burst out in anger "Jesus!" So many times God gets all the credit and the people who did the grunt work go unmentioned. In the theater we know better than that. When we do our final bows--the next time you go to a show, watch--we bow, then turn one hand toward the light and sound booth then the other towards backstage, acknowledging everyone that worked behind the scenes to help make this a successful show. The applause is not just ours alone. But apparently where God is concerned the applause IS all His.
We have finally finished the Book of Esther and are now onto the Book of Galatians. The more I read Esther the less I like it. I certainly cannot accept it as history. Tragedy? Farce? I asked Pastor where would I look in Herodotus to find the events mentioned in Esther and he hemmed and hawed and said that Herodotus (who was the leading historian of his day) did not directly talk about the events in Esther but we know Esther has to be true because Herodotus confirms many of the details of court life in the Persian empire. I wonder does he know the difference between history and historical fiction? But of course there is no historical fiction in the Bible.
But let's see. I know I've touched on these things before but Esther isn't about a bunch of obscure people living in an unknown area. One of the main characters is the Persian king himself. In Esther he comes off as a buffoon. Let's see--he orders the massacre of the Jews at the instigation of Haman then turns around when Esther says that she and her people are in mortal danger and says "But what do you mean? Who has ordered this?" You mean you are the most powerful person in the Middle East at that time and YOU DO NOT KNOW? That doesn't sound like a very competent ruler. Later when he allows the Jews to engage in a countermassacre of terrifying proportions he says to Esther, "What more do you want?" and Esther, meek, obedient Esther, says she wants yet another day of slaughter. Am I the only one to see a note of sarcasm in his request: "75,000 slaughtered in the provinces--Haman and all his sons dead--are you happy now?" Apparently. Well, the survivors all live happily ever afterwards and every year are commanded to celebrate in the holiday of Purim.
So we are on to Paul's letter to the Galatians. Pastor spent quite a bit of time on the opening verses and he talked about how the name of Jesus is so often taken in vain when really it is the most sacred name on earth. What he did not talk about and what I would have liked to hear about is why do people take the Lord's name in vain? How did it come about that Jesus became a swear word and why? He said people swear out of ignorance. Well, maybe many do, but I am willing to bet that the reason that Jesus became a curse word is because of the many raised expectations surrounding this name, expectations that are not always met. Prayers that were not answered. There is a lot of anger behind the exclamation "Jesus Christ!" The anger is because one has been led to believe something that is not true, a promise that was not kept.
Today we had the annual budget review and God has abundantly blessed our church, thanks be to Him. They are so confident that He will continue to bless this particular church even though there are other area churches that have been foreclosed upon and lost their buildings that they have raised the budget for next year. God. God. God. God has provided. God has done this. And I am thinking what about the people in the seats around me who contributed their hard-earned money--God didn't contribute that money, THEY did. But what thanks do any of us get? What credit do any of us get? None. It is all God. God. God. One could be forgiven perhaps in thinking well if God did all of this then He doesn't need any of my money. He doesn't need my help or participation. Because we in the seats simply don't count. Is it any wonder that someone might burst out in anger "Jesus!" So many times God gets all the credit and the people who did the grunt work go unmentioned. In the theater we know better than that. When we do our final bows--the next time you go to a show, watch--we bow, then turn one hand toward the light and sound booth then the other towards backstage, acknowledging everyone that worked behind the scenes to help make this a successful show. The applause is not just ours alone. But apparently where God is concerned the applause IS all His.
