They still haven't called me with the MRI results.
The good news is, I'm on vacation for the next week. And I feel pretty much ok.
Possible space shuttle problems. Engineers for the Space Shuttle Endeavour are investigating launch pictures that show debris breaking off the fuel tank and striking the craft.
Father, please protect these people. Let's not have another space shuttle disaster!
You're here to defend the defenseless,
to make sure that underdogs get a fair break;
Your job is to stand up for the powerless,
and prosecute all those who exploit them." (The Message)
"We are here briefly taught that a just and well-regulated government will be distinguished for maintaining the rights of the poor and afflicted. Rulers are appointed to be the defenders of the miserable and oppressed, both because such persons stand in need of the assistance of others, and because they can only obtain this where rulers are free from avarice, ambition, and other vices. The end, therefore, for which judges bear the sword is to restrain the wicked, and thus to prevent violence from prevailing among men, who are so much disposed to become disorderly and outrageous."
Later in the reading, Calvin also insists that the judges and magistrates are responsible even if the afflicted do not cry out for help. "Oppression utters a sufficiently load cry of itself; and if the judge, sitting on a high watch-tower, seems to take no notice of it, he is here plainly warned, that such connivance shall not escape with impunity."
(Commentary from Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms)
"The Teaching Preacher"
John 21:15-19
15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, �Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?� He said to him, �Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.� He said to him, �Feed my lambs.� 16 He said to him a second time, �Simon, son of John, do you love me?� He said to him, �Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.� He said to him, �Tend my sheep.� 17 He said to him the third time, �Simon, son of John, do you love me?� Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, �Do you love me?� and he said to him, �Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.� Jesus said to him, �Feed my sheep. 18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.� 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, �Follow me.� (ESV)
The greatest periods of reformation and renewal seem to be sparked by a renewed emphasis on biblical preaching. The great men who were part of the Protestant Reformation devoted much time to the preaching of God's Word.
We generally make a distinction between teaching and preaching. Teaching is generally a simple concept; that of transfering content or information through a variety of media. Preaching is more characterized by exhortation and practical application. However, there is a good bit of overlap between the two. "Good preaching must include teaching in which the application is grounded, and good teaching always carries with it an impetus toward holy living."
Both teaching and preaching are tools that God uses to "feed my sheep." That was Jesus's instruction to Peter as Peter was "restored" in the passage in John 21. "Such nourishment comes through the proclamation of biblical doctrine. This is a basic truth, but it must be heard anew in our day since there are too many professing Christians who seem to want their pastor to be anything but a man competent in doctrine and thoroughly grounded in Scripture."
Martin Luther said that good preachers must "teach systematically."
"Wrath and Love"
1 Peter 2:24
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. (ESV)
During the time that Jesus was hanging on the cross, total darkness came over the land for three hours. During that time, it is said that Jesus "drank the cup of God's wrath in our place."
We don't know everything that happened during that time period. "We do know that the physical suffering Jesus endured was only a feeble picture of the suffering of His soul." We know the cry that Jesus uttered toward the end of his physical life, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" For a brief moment in time, Jesus was left alone. "God turned His back on His own dearly loved Son."
In 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul states that "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (NIV)
"Should this not make us bow in adoration at such matchless love, that the Father would subject the object of His supreme delight to His unmitigated wrath for our sake?"
Amen.
I pray for everyone who is a preacher of the gospel, that they might also be good teachers. I pray for the state of preaching in our world today. Father, there are many "preachers" who have abandoned the truth of the Scriptures in favor of pop psychology or "feel-good" preaching. I pray that those false preachers would be brought down and replaced by true preachers of the gospel. Your sheep are starving, Lord! I pray for ministers who will feed them.
And lastly, Father, I give you humble praise and adoration for the sacrifice that Jesus went through on our behalf. As I read yesterday, we are unworthy of such a deed, and most undeserving of the salvation that Jesus procured for us. I am infinitely grateful for the pain that he suffered, both physically and spiritually (not to mention emotionally and mentally), and he suffered willingly!
Your love for us, Father, is matched by no other. THere is nothing more valuable to me.
Grace and peace, friends.