Doug Young Comments
%user:name Comments
Certainly Jesus observed a Saturday Sabbath. However, I submit that Jesus did not keep a Saturday Sabbath because He was a Jew. He certainly was Jewish, and kept many Jewish traditions. But, there were multiple Jewish traditions that Jesus harshly criticized. No, Jesus kept the Sabbath not because He was following Jewish tradition, no, but because He kept the Ten Commandments."
I'm not sure that prophecy is "history written in advance". That wasn't the case for Jonah's prophecy about Nineveh: "Yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown!". This prophecy did not come to pass. Not because God was unable to make it come to pass, but because God relented due to Nineveh's heartfelt repentance. If any of us ever feel we have sinned to the point that only doom awaits us, God will hear and forgive, if we engage in heartfelt, deep repentance. All that said, I am not very confident that any segment of this world's population will repent of their evil doings, so the prophecies discussed in this article do indeed look inevitable. But any of us individually, can repent to God, change our ways, and excitedly look forward to the brighter future that will come after the darkness.
Great article. God's laws, especially, are there for OUR good. The principle also is seen in families reaping the consequences of the decisions of the father/husband. See Achan in Joshua 7:25. Daniel's lions-den accusers, Daniel 6:24. The parable of the unforgiving servant, Matthew 18:25.
Certainly you are correct, Helen. Not all women have abandoned that responsibility. And an awful lot of men who don't want to bear the consequences of their actions are to blame, as well. In the San Diego congregation, we are blessed with 3 precious infants under one year old! The pinnacle of God's creation. In its most innocent form. God is a God of life! Abundant life! I, too, was greatly saddened to see a million women promote and support the killing of these miracles.
Referring to President Trump's action this week to revoke funding for international abortion organizations, I saw a post on Facebook showing how it was all men in his office as he signed the directive. The implication was that this is a war on women waged by men. The reality is that it is men stepping up to defend lives. Somebody has to; women have abandoned that responsibility.
I am glad we have "making disciples" as part of our mission statement. It is directly commanded in the Matthew 28 commission, and the point of preaching the gospel in Mark 16's commission is that those who believe and are baptized shall be saved. Our job is not just to issue a witness and a warning, but to make a real difference in the lives of real people. Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:22 "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." Of course, only God saves; only God calls. But Paul believed that what he did made a difference in people's salvation. What we do can make a difference, too.
My mother's uncle (Albert Engel) was a congressman from 1934-1950 and served on the house appropriations committee. He recalled an incident from 1942 where the chairman was presented a request to allocate 2 billion dollars for a secret project in New Mexico, and no details were given. The chairman slammed his fist on the table, "we are NOT approving a request for 2 billion dollars with no details." He was called into a brief, private meeting, after which he came back into the room and slammed his fist on the table, "we ARE approving this request for 2 billion dollars, even though there are no details." It was, of course, for the New Mexico research into the atomic bomb, and the President's representative had informed the chairman. My mom's uncle never knew this until much later.