Singing the Lord’s Song

This summer, my family attended a High School graduation party for one of our nephews. Now, we really love our respective extended families (they are really very nice people!), but typically when Joan and I get home, we have the same conversation – we don’t relate to many of our family members. We just don’t seem to have much in common with many of them anymore. We don’t relate to their values and they don’t relate to ours. And it seems to stem from being in the world but not of the world. Not all of them you see, but most. Some know the Lord but most don’t. We’ve had our opportunities to share the Gospel. Oh sure, we can carry on other conversations and have a good time but we can’t help seeing how so many people we know are just so trapped in the ‘things’ that the world offers.

In my Bible study for today, one of the readings is Psalm 137. This Psalm was written during the time of the Babylonian Captivity. The Babylonians have captured the nation of Israel and taken many of the people. At this point the people may have realized what they have just done (or not done) and as the Psalmist tells us, ‘By the rivers of Babylon [they] sat and wept when [they] remembered Zion.’ During this captivity, the people are tormented by their captors and forced to sing many of their songs of joy (probably the very psalms we read today) to which the Psalmist asks, ‘How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?’

I can’t help thinking how our country has been captured from within and yes it saddens me that so many of our Christian values are being erased from the public sector under the guise of ‘separation of church and state’ and ‘political correctness.’

Maybe this is a good thing. Christianity thrives when it is persecuted. I have said that I am prepared to be persecuted. Prepared may be too positive of a word. Maybe I mean to say that I was aware that that day would come. I don’t know how prepared I actually am. I pray that I will not be among the captives sitting by the rivers of Babylon weeping over a lost Zion.

Five Scariest Verses in the Bible

I like compiling lists and it's easy to find inspirational verses in the Bible. But here is my Top Five Scariest Verses in the Bible:

5. “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem ? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:4-5)

4. "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'” (The Rich Fool, Luke 12:20)

3. ‘And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.' (The Rich Man and Lazarus, Luke 16:26)

2. “And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.” (The Parable of the Ten Virgins, Matthew 25:10)

And the number one scariest verse in the Bible -

1. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' (Matthew 7:21-23)

Of course this is my own opinion. Please feel free to add your own thoughts to this list.