War and Peace in the Promised Land



Deuteronomy 11:29-32 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal. Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh? For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein. And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.
There is a common belief among Christians that Jesus will come and take us all away before anything really bad happens. God saved Noah from the flood and Lot from the brimstone and Israel from the plagues. I’ve got some bad news for you.

No. He didn’t.

He saved them through tribulation, not from it. Noah was locked up in a boat for months with seven other people and thousands of animals during the most violent storm the world has ever known. Lot walked out of Sodom and took shelter in a small town right while the sky rained down fire and brimstone all around them. The Israelites suffered a number of the plagues right alongside the Egyptians and then had to march through forty years of wilderness to reach the Promised Land. And what did they find when they finally got there? They found both blessing and curse. “Are they not on the other side of the Jordan?”

The Promised Land wasn’t paradise, but it was where God wanted them to be. It was where they needed to be. Growth doesn’t come through leisure, but through joy and suffering, loving and fighting, blessing and cursing.

Yes, there is a place where there are no more tears. But it’s not just over the rainbow rapture. It’s not in the Millennial Kingdom. God wants you to grow a little more between now and the end.

Stupid Is As Stupid Is Told He Is

From a discussion re Brooke Adams' column in the Salt Lake City Tribune:

 WWJD? said...
''Minors need protection 'because they are deemed too unsophisticated to protect themselves or to consent to sexual activity,' '' the court said 

**********

Then why in heavens name are they passing out condoms in junior high and high schools?!?!?!?!?!?
2:15 PM


 SandD said...
Because minors need protection in view of the irresponsible choices they often make regarding sexual activity amongst themselves. We don't want them to contract a deadly disease or conceive a child as a consequence of their poorly made decision. 
3:02 PM



Gee, do you think maybe they might make even more irresponsible choices if they continue to be shielded from the consequences of their previous irresponsible choices? Accountability begets responsibility.

Brought to You by Mercury

I'm up late watching a History Channel documentary about an ancient Chinese emperor who gave himself mercury poisoning while attempting to make himself immortal. They showed the emperor collapsing and spilling his elixir across the table in front of him. Queue dramatic music. Cut to commercial: "This history program has been brought to you in part by Mercury." Of course, they meant the car maker, not the mad maker, but their timing couldn't have been better.

I wonder if they even noticed...