The great leaders have always stage-managed their effects.
– Charles de GaulleTherefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
– Paul (II Corinthians 4:1-2)
In my last post on the “By what authority” question, we looked at the way the claims of Jesus to be the Messiah triggered the question (as usual, I recommend you read that as background on this post). The religious leaders asked who authorised Him to behave as Messiah, to do things that only Messiah could rightly do.
Our Lord was not playing a tit-for-tat game — “If you won’t answer, I won’t answer, so there!” He never refused to answer an appropriate question. In this case, the question was appropriate — and He answered it, despite what we might think on a casual reading.
Normal disclaimer: A link is not an endorsement of everything in these articles. It means I found the article thought-provoking or challenging. Today’s links are not news-related or controversial, but geared towards daily Christian life. Onward….
Rejoicing in trials:
Dave Doran talks about James 1:2-4 after his son was hit by a semi-truck (articulated lorry) and thrown 115 feet by the impact.
Learning humility in trials:
This is the only advantage I’ve discovered from losing the ability to speak; I no longer say things that I regret! (Bill, coping with ALS, “What would you do if…?“). This is really compelling, I’ve been meaning to link to it for a long time.
Trusting the Lord with changes in life:
“So I sort through the years of things that have filled our home and I yield to the sharpness that comes from leaving the places that have been most pleasant and I trust that even though it hurts, God’s going to make it come out clean.” (Five in Tow)
Dangerous temptations:
JD Blom doesn’t like gophers, but he uses them to illustrate Satan’s traps. Standard advice to preachers: be careful about being the hero of your own illustrations. JD makes himself the villain, the Satan figure! 🙂
How to starve yourself spiritually:
Reading sappy emotionalism makes me want to wash my eyes to get rid of the sticky sweet stuff. Blech. I’ll forgive Kenny for his sappy stuff, since he also has things like this. 🙂 Read Matthew 22:1-14 first, then read Rags at the Banquet.
How to starve yourself spiritually (part two):
Leslie Allenbach, “It’s time many of us stop idolizing our gadgets and start making our relationships with God and people our top priority.”
Finally, your lifeline responsibility:
Mike Tardive at Proclaim & Defend draws a challenge for us from two tragedies in Ireland: “What Do You Want Me to Do About It?“
Recently, I wrote on a question the Pharisees and Herodians asked Jesus the Tuesday before His death, and His answer, “Render unto Caesar….” (here and here). I’ll follow that by looking at some other interactions our Lord had that day.
The first question of the day came from the religious authorities in Jerusalem — “By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?” We’ll start by looking at “these things” — the Lord’s claims to be the promised Messiah.
Do your duty and a little more, lad. Most men do their duty. It is the little more that makes the difference between one man and the other.
– G.A. HentyAnd thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
– The Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 12:30-31)
Miriam wasn’t an angel, but sometimes the Lord does things in ways that we just can’t understand. He lets us reach the point where we need something, anything, to happen, and then He reminds us, “I am the LORD, and I am here.”
Unless you are in our church or have one of our hymnals, you don’t know this hymn — but now you can learn it! We took the words from a great old hymn by Samuel Medley and recast them to fit Jeremiah Clarke’s “Trumpet Tune in D Major” (the tune is sometimes attributed to Henry Purcell). You can click on the video to play the tune and sing along — you’ll just have to click play again for each verse.
The emphasis of this hymn is on the fact that the Risen Jesus lives for me. A great message with great music.
Mind Renewers 