These are the US Presidents of my lifetime:
Roosevelt, Franklin D. - 3/04/33 - 4/12/45
Truman, Harry S. - 4/12/45 - 1/20/53
Eisenhower, Dwight D. - 1/20/53 - 1/20/61
Kennedy, John F. - 1/20/61 - 11/22/63
Johnson, Lyndon B. - 11/22/63 - 1/20/69
Nixon, Richard M. - 1/20/69 - 8/9/74
Ford, Gerald R. - 8/9/74 - 1/20/77
Carter, Jimmy - 1/20/77 - 1/20/81
Reagan, Ronald W. - 1/20/81 - 1/20/89
Bush, George H.W. - 1/20/89 - 1/20/93
Clinton, William J. - 1/20/1993 - 1/20/2001
Bush, George_W. - 1/20/2001 - 1/20/2009
Obama, Barack - 1/20/09 - 1/20/2017
Trump, Donald – 1/20/17 – 1/20/2021
The Bible says in1 Timothy 1-4: "First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made in behalf of all people, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (NASB)
I am a Republican; did I pray with any consistency for the Republican presidents? No. Did I pray with and consistency for any of the Democratic presidents? No. Once I became a Christian should I have? Yes. Will I in the future change my habits and pray for and about government officials, including president-elect Biden? My intention is that I will. I think other believers should too.
Thursday, January 7, 2021
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
THE WORD MUST FIRST BE SPOKEN
“Modern” people often say that Paul (or Peter, or James, or John, etc.) wrote as they did because they came from an old culture. They would say the 2000s represent a different culture; so, we do not have to apply their writings to ourselves in the same way. Behind that issue is the assumption that Paul (or Moses, or David, or Elijah, etc.), not God, was the author of these words. They might even say, "We do not have to accept them as scripture because God did not write them" . In contrast, we believe every page of the Bible is inspired by God; they are all his words.
How did the men that God used to select which scriptures were cannon (like a letter from Paul to the Hebrews)? Was it because a man like Paul wrote it and was obvious to those men that Paul was God's tool, he having lived in the time Jesus actually worked and lived? Maybe it was because of who the authors were: Apostles or "blood relatives" of the Lord Jesus. They might have accepted the book of Hebrews because of the sheer logic and brilliance of the writing.
Paul’s days were days when public discourse was oral. Even written words were not dominant because there was yet no printing press. So, all common discourse tended to be local. Yet the fame of Paul was widespread. If this was not a sign of God's working through Paul, at least it is a sign of the magnitude of his importance. Since his words were copied and recopied there had to be something more behind them than a mere letter of a churchman.
We remind ourselves, as the Bible says, that God was:
- manifest in the flesh
- justified in the spirit
- seen of Angels
- preached to the gentiles
- believed on in the world
- received up into glory
At the time of the events of the Bible God was working in real living people who were doing and saying things among other living people. They wrote it down soon after it happened. God worked among people you could have heard with your own ears and could touch. God is working among men in the church today. Although what they write will not be in the Bible.
A book like Hebrews is "high I cannot attain to it". God gives it to us so that we can grow toward it. A piano teacher knows his student cannot do all that he can, yet he still teachers knowing the student someday will. God gives us Hebrews so that we, someday, will improve to higher Heights.
How did the men that God used to select which scriptures were cannon (like a letter from Paul to the Hebrews)? Was it because a man like Paul wrote it and was obvious to those men that Paul was God's tool, he having lived in the time Jesus actually worked and lived? Maybe it was because of who the authors were: Apostles or "blood relatives" of the Lord Jesus. They might have accepted the book of Hebrews because of the sheer logic and brilliance of the writing.
Paul’s days were days when public discourse was oral. Even written words were not dominant because there was yet no printing press. So, all common discourse tended to be local. Yet the fame of Paul was widespread. If this was not a sign of God's working through Paul, at least it is a sign of the magnitude of his importance. Since his words were copied and recopied there had to be something more behind them than a mere letter of a churchman.
We remind ourselves, as the Bible says, that God was:
- manifest in the flesh
- justified in the spirit
- seen of Angels
- preached to the gentiles
- believed on in the world
- received up into glory
At the time of the events of the Bible God was working in real living people who were doing and saying things among other living people. They wrote it down soon after it happened. God worked among people you could have heard with your own ears and could touch. God is working among men in the church today. Although what they write will not be in the Bible.
A book like Hebrews is "high I cannot attain to it". God gives it to us so that we can grow toward it. A piano teacher knows his student cannot do all that he can, yet he still teachers knowing the student someday will. God gives us Hebrews so that we, someday, will improve to higher Heights.
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