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Our Daily Thread 6-9+10-18

Good Morning!

Today is Chas and Elvera’s 61st anniversary. 

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

Congratulations!

🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈

🎆🎇🎆🎇🎆🎇🎆

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Anyone have a QoD?

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And now that it’s the 10th, Happy Birthday to Michelle! 

🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂

🌝

 

89 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 6-9+10-18”

  1. Happy Anniversary, Chas and Elvera! What a blessing you two are. Praising God with you for all He has done in your lives and your life together as husband and wife.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Thanks everyone.
    Yes! Sixty one years ago Dr. Archie Ellis said seven words and created family.
    I told you many times before, it was an arranged wedding.

    Liked by 4 people

  5. Good Morning and a most blessed Happy Anniversary to you Chas and Elvera! 💕
    Daylight is breaking through these pines in the forest. It is still and quiet. Even though sleep as alluded me, there is a sense of calm this morning….just hoping it isn’t the calm before a storm!! (How’s that for a pessimistic outlook?!! 😂) off to get another cup of coffee…..

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  9. Congratulations to Chas & Elvera!

    Love the view of the flying buttresses through the windows, and the windows have hexagon panes! Where the original stained glass windows were destroyed during WWII? I wonder. Poland stayed primarily Catholic in the Reformation/Thirty Years War period, so I’m thinking that it was less likely to be puritanical iconoclasts, as happened in England when the Puritans smashed stained glass windows and cut down church bells during the Civil War or in Germany during the Bildersturm when iconoclasts like Karlstadt encouraged the smashing of statuary in the churches.

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  12. Well, husband and sis in law made it to Boise in the wee hours so he should be home today! Which is good because in a few days he is off to truck driving and we would like to see him before then.

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  15. From yesterday’s thread: Jo, if it is like the tropics in Cairn, then I’ll have to stay away, sadly. No humidity for me.

    Speaking of my asthma, it has been irritated the past few days and last night it got really bad for a while. The air is full of pollen out there, but I do have the air conditioner between the outside air and myself. I’m not sure what to think, as whether I stay in or go out, my asthma seems to be equally irritated right now. This morning, while my lungs don’t feel as tight as they did last night, I was coughing as if I had a cold, but I do not, it is just the asthma.

    On how Baptists preach, most of the Baptist pastors I have sat under didn’t preach for a decision. I do not remember many details of my first pastor’s sermons, but they were mild sermons and didn’t seek to get anyone emotionally worked up to make a decision. The second pastor enjoyed preaching about doctrinal issues or apologetics, which are topics not well suited for decision seeking. The third pastor, Pastor A, simply taught the content of the Bible books he went through. His sermons were not at all typical – I remember a friend who attended church with us afterwards complaining that Pastor A’s sermons were like being in a Bible school lecture. Pastor A said later, after his retirement when I told him how much he had taught me, that he trusted the Holy Spirit to do the application in the lives of his congregation, his job was merely to teach them about what God had provided for them in Christ. The fourth Baptist pastor, the one who resigned from the family church, did preach for a decision every Sunday, but he was the most typical of a fundamentalist Baptist preacher in content and style. The substitute pastor (he is also retired and so will not take the pastorate) who is now preaching at the family church is similar in style to Pastor A, and doesn’t go looking for decisions.

    The first, third (Pastor A), and last of those pastors were/are all men who are clearly called to ministry, faithful and humble servants who did/do not lord it over their listeners. The second pastor was quite a young man with a gift for making brilliant sounding sermons; I think he burned out, as he has, the last I heard, left the ministry. The fourth, the one who resigned, has completely turned his back on all that he preached and has reportedly said he no longer believes in evangelicalism. If a man has been given a gift for teaching and exhortation, his listeners will be blessed, no matter how he was trained to preach, because it will be the Holy Spirit who teaches through him; but if he is not in the right calling and just following the style and pattern others have taught him to follow, his sermons will be utterly dead, no matter how brilliantly phrased.

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  18. I just showed the picture to Mr P. I told him that was a photo of his competition and his wife. 😃😉
    He said he wasn’t worried. He gave me a grandchild. Miss M spent the night last night.

    Liked by 5 people

  19. We were given a questionnaire last week and part of it was asking how we like the message preached. In agreement with Roscuro, I marked them all because, through any of the means, the Spirit can teach and reach.

    1 Tim 4:12 speaks on this: Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.

    It does not say how that teaching or exhortation has to be, just that it be. And God will use it.

    Liked by 3 people

  20. Lovely picture, which makes me smile. Happy anniversary to Chas and Elvera. Such a blessing to be invited into your life, so to speak.

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  22. What a great picture (though I do remember it was posted once before). Happy anniversary to your both! Any special plans?

    I had a restless night as Cowboy was in his pacing habit again and had to be let out a few times — yet he still had an accident. So I cleaned that up in the middle of the night. I almost left the doggie door open just so I could go back to bed and get some sleep, but decided it would just make me too worried. So I was up and down at least 4 times in the very early morning hours.

    I’m off to pick up dog meds at the vet this morning and then to exchange my glass screen protector on my phone which is cracked. They sent me a new one (under the guarantee) that arrived in the mail yesterday and AT&T said they’d take care of putting it on for me and getting the old one off so it could be sent back to the company. So I’ll stop in there afterward.

    And maybe I’ll do some planting this afternoon, I have larger pots to hold the bougainvillea and plumbago I bought a few weeks ago, just haven’t gotten around to re-planting them. Sounds like the bougainvillea is sensitive to transplanting, so we’ll see if it survives.

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  23. I had a rough night as well. The neighbor’s mules were out. I don’t know how many there are because they are normally down in the canyon or outfitting in the wilderness. But last night they were at the end of my driveway about two in the morning, chatting with my horses. That went on for hours. Now they are marching through the other neighbor’s wheat fields.

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  26. DJ, I had a dream the other night about a dog, and I’m pretty sure it was Cowboy. (At least it was a male dog that was your dog.) It seems he was smart enough that he had learned just by watching other people how to turn on the faucet and get himself a drink. I watched discreetly to be sure he understood about turning it off again, and he did. At some point he used the toilet and flushed it. And later still I heard him making sounds like he was throwing up, and I thought, “I’m not going to go out there. A dog smart enough to turn the faucet on and off and flush the toilet surely knows enough to throw up in the toilet or let himself out into the backyard!”

    But apparently that isn’t actually the case. Sorry.

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  27. Donna, would you ever consider crating Cowboy overnight? Our Duke is in a crate every night (he whines and paces if we don’t have him in there). Then any messes would be contained? Of course if he’s never been in a crate it could be tough training him to one.

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  28. Janie knows how to open our backdoor. Instead of a round doorknob, it has one of those lever “knobs” that she jumps up and paws at to open the door. Fortunately, we have a chain lock that we keep locked.

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  30. We had doors like that in Heusenstamm, Germany. Our red cocker spaniel, Mowgli, opened three of them to get herself run over by a truck as I was biking with three of the children to kindergarten.

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  31. I suggested crates to a couple of the people moving on, while the dog was riding in the car. . They said it would not work because their dog liked riding in the front seat. Son then rearended a car because he was texting his sister to say he had safely arrived in Boise. The dog hit the windshield and was terrified of the front seat for months but he has retrained her to sit up there. Where did I go wrong????? Does anybody else see the irony there.

    My growing up family dog was allowed to lie on the floor behind the front seats, in front of the back seats. He knew it and would go right there upon getting in the car. He rode crammed in there a few times under our legs on the trips to California for Christmas. He did not pace, or drool down necks, or throw up, or have the need to steer the car.

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  34. Tess was (is) very amenable to crates, I don’t recall using one ever for Cowboy, though, so it might not be easy to go that route with him. The crates now are all in the garage, they got moved to free up more house space and I’d not like to bring one back in particularly. We’ll see how it goes tonight, both dogs are due for their annual exams in August so unless it gets worse I’ll talk with the vet about it then. Most nights Cowboy sleeps straight through on the dog bed on the floor next to my bed.

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  40. Chas – Yes, that is what I was thinking of, that he let his wives turn him from God. That was not wise. Maybe the lesson is that even a wise king can be a sucker for a pretty face? 😉

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  41. Happy Anniversary, Chas and Elvera!

    We just got home (well, about 2 or 3 hours ago, but first I had to put stuff away and start laundry and buy a few things at the store so I could make dinner) from a week in Branson, MO. It was nice being away from the usual responsibilities at work, church, etc.

    We visited a Presbyterian church in a different denomination, and I got to sit next to my husband in church, not just my sons. And my husband got to sing harmony, which he likes (as pastor he can’t normally sing harmony as his strong voice singing something other than melody would throw some people people off – though he makes an exception when we sing Holy, Holy, Holy, and he sings the descant on the last verse). Though they didn’t sing from the hymnal except for the responses, so he only got to sing harmony on the Gloria Patri and the Doxology.

    We went to Sight & Sound and saw Samson, which was very good though my husband didn’t think it was as good as Moses two years ago. Some of that might be the story itself – other than the final scene, there’s nothing quite as visually impressive in Samson’s story as Moses, where you’ve got the burning bush, all those plagues, especially the last one, and then the parting of the Red Sea. But it had a good message, about grace, and why Samson is included in Hebrews 11 (it made me wonder what story they would manage to come up with for Jephthah, whose inclusion in Hebrews 11 I find even more surprising than that of Samson).

    We had only planned on going to one other show, due to the expense, but by being willing to sit through a timeshare sales pitch we got to see two shows for less than I would have paid for one. We were very glad to get away from the salespeople after insisting that we would not buy anything, but I guess considering the money we saved it wasn’t all that terrible a way to spend two hours (though they had promised only 90 minutes). So we went to see the Dublin Irish Tenors and the Celtic Ladies, and the Amazing Acrobats of Shanghai. I enjoyed the Irish music, though they also sang other music as well, most of which I enjoyed (I didn’t care for the opera portion). The acrobats were impressive, though we were surprised how young they were – most looked like teenagers and a couple of them maybe only preteens. (We wondered afterward if they have more than one show, with adults in a different show.) I particularly liked the act where several of the boys juggled hats, which may not be all that acrobatic but I found more fun to watch than where girls bent themselves into strange shapes or a boy balanced on top of I forget how many chairs.

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  42. We also got to go to Silver Dollar City, which I had not planned on due to the expense, but we met someone who was able to get us in free because he has a pass to give visiting missionaries or pastors and their families a chance to go there. So the boys got to go on some rides, and we got to watch a glassblower at work. I had hoped to watch other artisans at work, but we didn’t manage to get there at the right time for any of the others.

    On the whole it was a relaxing week, though I don’t like driving around Branson. Too many cars, too many hills, and it wasn’t our own car that I am familiar with. It was very nice of someone to let us drive his van for the week, which was a lot more comfortable for four adults and all our stuff than in one of our cars. But I will be glad to drive my own car again, on roads I know without having to have the GPS tell me when to turn where.

    I wondered how my garden would do, left to itself for a week, but apparently while we have beautiful sunny weather in Branson, there was lots of rain here. I came home to find my cucumber plants had grown much faster than I expected (I had planned to thin them before they got quite so tall), and my tomato plant already has one good-sized tomato that I don’t remember seeing at all before we left. I also realized after we left that I had forgotten to water my potted begonia, which I got at a Mother’s Day brunch, and I was afraid it would be withering away by the time we got home. (I never get potted plants because of my husband’s allergies; I planned to take this one to work if it seemed to be doing well. So watering plants, other than the garden when the plants are just starting, is not part of my routine.) But instead it had bloomed in our absence, and seems to be doing fine although it was very much in need of water by today.

    It’s nice to have a washing machine handy again, and a kitchen sink where the water gets as hot as I want it, and enough dishes that I don’t have to wash after every meal if I don’t want to. (I normally wash dishes after dinner.) And it’s nice to have my own computer to use instead of taking a few minutes on my husband’s laptop, because I really don’t like the keyboards on laptops. Plus this one has all my links and favorites.

    One more day to relax, then back to work. And a one-day conference on Thursday near Chicago, so I’ll drive up Wednesday evening. (The first two years I went, I left at 5 in the morning to get to the conference by 8 or 9, but then my supervisor said she’d be glad to approve the expense of an overnight stay at a motel.)

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  44. Note to rkessler: We’ll be passing thru NM July 2, but don’t know if we’ll have time to stop. We’ll be trying to drive straight thru to Tucson along US 54 to Alamogordo and on to Las Cruces.

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  45. I thought of Peter L when we took the cave tour at Silver Dollar City. A very different cave from the one Peter L gives tours at, not as much to look at (or at least not as much you’re given the opportunity to look at), and we pretty much had to stay in line and keep moving (I guess they have to do it that way with 60 people in each group). But impressive for the sheer size of the cave. They gave a lot of warnings about it being strenuous, supposedly 500 steps on the way down and 200 going back up (until you reach the cable cars that take you the rest of the way up). My husband couldn’t possibly have made it, even before his knee got so bad. I counted only 365 steps going down, though there were also some places where it was a sloping path instead of steps, but I don’t think that took us anything like another 135 steps further down. I was able to get a few pictures, though I haven’t looked at them yet – another reason I’m glad to be back home at my own computer and I can do that now.

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  47. My garden is in– very late at Janet me 9.

    Just in from a fancy dinner and since I was driving, we drove through some of the Fountaingrove streets to see how fire rebuilding is going– or mostly not.

    Shocking to see a stucco house in an otherwise empty neighborhood. The fires were bizarre and capricious.

    Windy day today and it bothered me. I used to love the wind.

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  48. Michelle, we planted our second seeding of green beans today. Now we’re done planting.

    The last few nights the wind has been from just the right direction for us to smell faint smoke/burned forest smell. It is uncomfortable. The first night I got up and went to all the windows and then outside for a bit, just to be sure.

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  49. Just got back from a farewell for one of my student’s families who are returning to the Netherlands. A sweet time.
    Another person is injured from walking on these steep roads covered with loose gravel. I may begin driving to church as that was the steep road that he was on. It is treacherous.
    oh, hello 49

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  50. Morning! What is it with 3AM? Seems to be my new wake up time. My neighbor and I experienced a dust devil last evening while we were taking our walk…truly we thought we would be picked up and plopped down in the land of Oz! The winds bring much concern in these dry hot days…asking for relief and trusting Him through the wonder of it all….

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  52. Happy, Happy Anniversary to Chas and Elvera!!!!
    Sorry I missed it yesterday. These days are way too busy and complicated.

    I look forward to church and going to our new traditional service. I will try to go to at least part of the second service with life group time sandwiched between.

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  54. Pauline- Thanks for the review of Marvel Cave. I haven’t been to that one yet. Mrs L would have trouble with all the steps, especially going up. When we were in the area we heard that the cable cars weren’t running, so she never would have been able to make the long climb to the top.

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  65. Yes, happy birthday Michelle.

    I smile every time I see that picture. 🙂

    I’m feeling very tired this weekend, out of energy, the week was way too stressful for my tastes and I can’t seem to rebound. I feel ‘spent.’

    Last night was better sleep-wise, though. I wanted to go to bed early and I couldn’t find the cat (who was somewhere outdoors) so I decided to leave the outdoor lights on and the doggie door open. I don’t think the dogs used it at all, Cowboy slept like a rock next to me on the floor all night, thankfully. And the cat came in sometime in the early morning hours. She doesn’t wander, she merely hunkers down under a bush in the backyard, typically, and sleeps. At least I think that’s what she does. Who really knows?

    Some bits and pieces of the discussion at the dog park yesterday had me pondering last night and still today — there were several of us there, kind of the ‘usuals,’ so some of the conversations were between two people that I only heard parts of. But in general, things like this were being said: God isn’t real, but you can make something up to give you personal peace and ‘healing’ and it’s all the same thing; doesn’t matter that ‘god’ doesn’t exist (that’s a given among smart, modern people) because “praying” (even to nothing) — or “meditating” with your dog at the ocean, or doing yoga, or fill in the blank — helps you feel calmer inwardly, so it’s ‘whatever works’; considering the vast expanse of the universe, we are infinitesimal and really of no importance (or value?); and besides, someone else added, we’ll all die very quickly in the grand scheme of things anyway; we’re mere ‘blips’ that come and go, only tiny pieces of a big universe.

    It was really such a bleak picture of human existence! Yet they seem all “good” with that idea.

    (I suspect that may go back to the comfort of being able to believe that we are not accountable to any higher purpose or calling, but I don’t know.)

    I’m obviously the only believer in that particular group mix and it all left me thinking about ‘evangelism at the dog park’ and how that looks (and I just don’t really know). Talking about our faith, to me, is less daunting when it’s one on one, but with a ‘group’ it’s a bit perplexing and really quite intimidating to me. I’m not a natural evangelist, by any stretch. I have always found it somewhat awkward, especially in a “group.” Give me easy, small-talk banter and I’m more in my element. But surely I’m (always) where God puts me for a larger, underlying purpose? I feel more like a Jonah in those settings, I’m afraid, looking for that boat going the other way (by way of changing the subject).

    And of course, it really all starts with the question of caring about others; do I pray for them? (I’m starting now) — so that’s kind of where I’m beginning with all of that in my own mind and heart. Does it matter to me that they’re lost? Should I not be more seriously bothered by that when I see most of them once a week? Should I not be actively praying for their salvation?

    I am not confrontational by nature nor do I want to be; and once engaged, I don’t think well “on my feet” during important discussions like these. But it’s also OK to listen, to ask questions and listen some more. Again, easier (for me) with one person rather than five or six.

    Alas, I didn’t even get that far yesterday. It was something of an eye-opener. I’ve long been aware they are not believers (and they know that I am), but rarely has the “subject” been so openly discussed.

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  66. Oh, and happy birthday to Chickadee, too!

    Ah, I remember 26. It seemed kind of ‘old’ at the time (no longer being a teenager or in my early 20s).

    Could 30 be far behind?

    Nope, it wasn’t, as it turned out

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  67. Luke 17:34-36 (ESV) says:

    “I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”

    These verses are often used to illustrate the Rapture. I’ve heard another interpretation that it is merely talking about death – the person taken is the soul and one left is the body.

    I’m curious as to how some of you may interpret this, as we come from varying denominations with varying interpretations.

    Here is the whole segment, for the sake of context:

    20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

    22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

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  68. A couple of days ago, I mentioned that in seminary, they taught “Preaching is for decision”. Some seemed to think that I meant every sermon was an evangelistic message.
    Today, our pastor preached from II Tim. 2;1-7. He never mentioned what he was wanting us to decide, they almost never do.
    But judging from the sermon, I think he wanted us to decide to reproduce. “The gospel came to you because it was supposed to go to someone else.” That concept, “reproduce” is part of a series of messages.
    Teaching is to impart understanding, Preaching is for decision. There may be elements of each in both.

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  69. Karen, Jesus is talking about his return. To say it has something to do with death makes no sense, in context. The key to all of this is “in that day”. That day is what Jesus is speaking about. Everything has to be understood in that light. All of Matt 24 & at least part of 25 has to do with one word. WATCH.
    I don’t believe in “Imminent return”, I believe that Christians will go through at least part of the tribulation.
    But my mother did. She spent most of her life hoping and looking for the return of Christ. He never came during her lifetime.
    But when she appeared before the Lord, I suspect she discovered that she was doing the right thing all the time.

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  70. Kizzie, what I have heard about that passage in Matthew 24 is that those who are “taken away” are those taken away in judgment, while the righteous are left, just as the wicked in Noah’s day were taken away by the flood. So it is about judgment at Christ’s return but not the “rapture.”

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  71. Pauline, there is no instance in scripture where anyone is “taken away” in judgment. The way I read the Bible, the judgment of the unsaved is the great white throne.’
    People come up with all sorts of theories to explain something that is clearly stated because it doesn’t fit a theory.
    Read the entire section carefully and see how that fits.

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  73. I have heard the same interpretation as Pauline, that the ones taken are the ones being judged and the ones left behind are those who are preserved in Christ. There are two reasons from the context that commentators give for such an interpretation:
    1) In Matthew 24, the parallel passage to Luke 17, it says in the verses preceding the section being discussed:
    “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:37-39)
    Those who were taken away in Noah’s day were not the righteous, but the unrepentant, and Christ is saying the same thing will happen at his return.

    2) In the Luke passage, the disciples ask where those who are taken will go, and Jesus replies: “Where the corpse is, there the vultures [translated ‘eagles’ in KJV] will gather.” (Luke 17:37) Those who are taken into judgement will suffer death, and their corpses will be eaten by carrion birds, as in Revelation 19:21:
    “And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”

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  75. The interpretation that those left behind are the ones who are saved is not exclusive to one brand of eschatology. I have seen that interpretation from several different eschatological camps. The premillenialists who hold the view that those left behind are the believers still believe in a rapture, but hold that the passage in Matthew 24/Luke 17 isn’t talking about the rapture – See link: https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/ice_thomas/Mat24-25/Mat24-25_Part34.cfm.

    Others reject the idea of a rapture in their eschatological framework, yet hold the same interpretation of the passage that those taken are the ones judged and those left behind are the ones saved, as in this quote from http://www.equip.org/article/whos-been-left-behind/:

    “Scripture often uses the word “taken” to refer to someone’s death (e.g., Job 24:24; 34:20; Ps. 10:2; 59:12; Prov. 11:6; Isa. 17:1; Jer. 6:11; Ezek. 21:24; Dan. 11:12; etc.). This is the case, also, of those “taken” in the flood in Matthew 24:39. This would seem to be the case, likewise, in the verses that follow, in which one person is “taken” (that is, he dies) in judgment, and the other is “left” (i.e., left unharmed and remains alive).

    The Jewish eschatology of the Old Testament did not look for the removal of the righteous from the earth. Rather, God has “given [the earth] to the children of men” (Ps. 115:16). According to Romans 4:13, God’s promise was that Abraham’s seed (Christ) would inherit “the world” (not heaven). Psalm 2:8 declares that Christ is to receive “the nations for [His] inheritance, And the ends of the earth for [His] possession.”

    According to the Old Testament, the righteous will reign with the Messiah over this planet, but only after the wicked are removed:

    For the upright will dwell in the land,
    And the blameless will remain in it;
    But the wicked will be cut off from the earth,
    And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it. (Prov. 2:21–22)

    For evildoers shall be cut off;
    But those who wait on the LORD,
    They shall inherit the earth.
    For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place,
    But it shall be no more.
    But the meek shall inherit the earth. (Ps. 37:9–11)

    The language of this latter Psalm is echoed in Jesus’ third beatitude: “Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5).

    The idea that God would ultimately take away the righteous to a different place, and leave the planet to the rebels to destroy and defile, was a concept foreign to the Jewish mind. The New Testament does not contradict the Jewish expectation. Christ’s disciples will “reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:10).”

    So, the interpretation is not dependent on any one eschatological system.

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  77. Re roscuro & Pauline’s answers, same here.

    Good day at church, had the second of a three-part sermon on the 7th commandment.

    Our pastor, around my age, a couple years younger only, and like me grew up in the ‘television age,’ his dad also was an actor (and a boxer, maybe both part-time), made the comment that prime time television ‘comedies,’ through the years, have become some of the worst purveyors of infidelity messages, all in good humor of course and all without consequences in the following week’s episode. (I think comedies are far more insidious than most of TV’s dramas — you can go back to popular shows like the “Golden Girls” to see how a culture has become so immune to these themes, all under the guise of being “funny.”)

    He contrasted that rather flippant attitude toward the subject with a woman he remembered counseling some years ago — she had been married 25 years, they had 3 children, and her husband began seeing another woman. It eventually led to a divorce and my pastor said he’d never (up to then) witnessed such hurt and anguish in a person he’d counseled as he saw in that woman. She told him if her husband had died, she’d at least have 25 years of good memories. But this only left her in ruins.

    Anyway, very sobering sermon for all of us — and he reminds us that the commandments are “summary commands” that include all kinds of sub categories of thought and behavior that can be mined going wide and deep. No one escapes.

    Sounds like next week’s sermon will focus on our culture’s latest obsession, same-sex marriage. Our pastor was writing occasional opinion columns for our editorial pages back in the day and I think I remember that the one he did on “Brokeback Mountain” never made it into print. Apparently too hot to handle as the popular tide was turning on that issue even then.

    Liked by 3 people

  78. DJ – Speaking of TV shows. . .Have you checked out the new NBC series “Reverie”? It’s pretty good. For some reason, I thought of you, that you might like it, since you and l both liked the first season of “Wayward Pines” (not that it’s the same kind of show, though). (There was supposed to be a third season of “Wayward Pines”, but it never happened. I was curious as to what they would do next in the show.)

    Liked by 1 person

  79. Thank you!

    Half packed, just talked to my brother and the gang is headed this way in a few hours before scattering again.

    Since it’s MY party, we’re having cake and ice cream at 4 and will eat spaghetti at 5:15.

    It think it’s important to keep folks off balance in my family and anyway, I need to eat cake earlier in the day rather than after dinner.

    Knee is unhappy today. 😦

    I asked at the store about those bags that you snap and it makes a chill pack, but the pharmacist had never heard of them before.

    We bought some at a pharmacy in Venice three years ago . . . .

    That didn’t convince her.

    I’ll just bring a ziplock bag and beg the flight attendant for some. Not looking forward to the cramped flight.

    Otherwise, a lovely day!

    Liked by 4 people

  80. It is too bad that sitcoms are so bad these days, because it’s nice to be able to watch a funny show now and then. “The Middle” was a genuinely funny, sweet show with no (or very rare) sexual humor. It was on for nine seasons, and critics and fans liked it, but it didn’t get the “buzz” that shows like “Modern Family” get.

    Liked by 2 people

  81. 🎂 🍨 🎂 🍨 🎂 🍨 ¡Feliz cumpleaños, Michelle! 🍨 🎂 🍨 🎂 🍨 🎂

    There, now all of us can have some cake and ice cream before supper.

    Liked by 1 person

  82. kizzie, no, haven’t seen or heard of ‘reverie’ but will check it out. I think Hallmark has some of their new mystery shows running these days, too, for the summer.

    Like

  83. I remember one of the things I read in a Christian publication or blog about the program Mad Men once — it made the point that the show most definitely (and regularly) shined a light on the consequences of the misbehaviors (sins, we’d say of course) of the characters in the plot lines; heartbreaking divorces and the sad impacts on children among them. There was always a price to be paid.

    Liked by 2 people

  84. Early on I watched a season or two of “Modern Family,” very well done, of course (the producer also was the dad of one of our younger reporters). I haven’t seen it in several years. It’s a good picture of how normalizing same sex marriage, for example, was so successfully done via a well-made, very popular, very funny sitcom.

    Liked by 1 person

  86. Putting this on here although it contains a prayer request. My mother just phoned me. Last night, my father developed shoulder pain and shortness of breath. After phoning the Telehealth nurse for advice, they headed into the ER. They examined him, gave him an X-ray, and found blood clots on his lungs. My mother said that he is doing all right, completely conscious and with it – the doctor said it was amazing he wasn’t in more serious condition with the way his lungs looked – but is being cared for in the ICU.

    Liked by 5 people

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