For the day of the Lord is near,
against all the nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you;
what you deserve will return on your own head. [Obadiah 1:15]
I found myself rummaging through the Minor Prophets last week. With vigor and passion, Obadiah discusses nations who passively stood by and watched their neighbors be invaded and robbed and assaulted. The “nations” even pridefully “gloated” over their neighbors’ harm and plight.
I am not real clear about how or if God will judge individual nations in the End. So much of the New Testament speaks of the individual’s judgment. But if he does…yikes!
For your reading accompaniment: “Fall on Me” by Andrea and Matteo Bocelli
Enjoy this beautiful piece filled with pathos from this father/son duet.
Smart words—about fasting
“Fasting is the natural, inevitable response of a person to a grievous, sacred moment in life” (Scot McKnight in his book Fasting). “The deep Christian tradition is all about…the response of Christians to grievous or serious sacred moments and not…the desire for some tangible reward.” McKnight’s is a fresh and accessible read that urges the reader to see that biblical fasting is not “instrumental” (what we get) but “responsive” (to a sacred, grievous moment in life).
Will you fast during Lent?
Smart words—about the Super Bowl
Philadelphia General Manager Howie Roseman on winning for Philadelphia:
“The football gods have been hard on me, the football gods have been hard on a lot of people here, and I think at the end of the day, the football gods wanted him [defensive coordinator Vic Fangio] to win his first world championship as a Philadelphia Eagle.”
Travis Kelce about President Trump being in attendance:
“It’s a great honor. No matter who the president is, I’m excited because it’s the biggest game of my life. And having the president there, you know, it’s the best country in the world. So, that’d be pretty cool.”
Perspective from losing quarterback Patrick Mahomes:
“It’s important to me every single day. It’s not about football, it’s just giving glory to God for being able to walk around and live my life, to have a beautiful family, to be able to have the impact on others and I’m going to use that stage and that platform win or lose to give glory back to Him, to hopefully bring others closer to Him and that they can have the same love for life that I have because of that.”
More smart words—about the Super Bowl
“You want me to make a movie about a football conspiracy?” (My vote for the cleverest Super Bowl commercial.)
Smart words—about parenting
“Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence… From all wild beasts, a child is the most difficult to handle.” [Plato]
Some good insight on the subject and challenge of parenting can be found here.
More smart words—about parenting
From a city bar and grille:
Smart words—about our weight
The CDC claims that “nearly 74% of Americans are overweight.”
So…will you be fasting for Lent? 😊
Smart words—about pornography
“There is no dignity when the human dimension is eliminated from the person. In short, the problem with pornography is not that it shows too much of the person but too little.” [Pope John Paul II, on our humanness being more than body (material) but also spirit/soul (immaterial)]
The National Institutes of Health report that 91.5% of men and 60.2% of women admit to having accessed pornography in the last month. What about fasting “that” for Lent?
“Dear Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I hold up all my weakness to your strength, my failure to your faithfulness, my sinfulness to your perfection, my loneliness to your compassion, my little pains to your great agony on the Cross. I pray that you will cleanse me, strengthen me, and hide me, so that, in all ways, my life may be lived as you would have it lived, without cowardice and for you alone. Amen.”
[Mother Janet Stuart, 1857–1914]
