Ain't so tuff!

On the basketball court it's called trash-talk. Baseball players call it chatter.  Back in the day we used to have all kinds of cut-downs.  Brilliant witticisms like, "If you put your brain on the edge of a razor-blade it would look like a B-B on a four lane highway."  

The end of 1 Corinthians 15 sounds a bit like trash talk. 

 

"DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY. 

"O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? 

O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" 

When Paul looked death in the eye and issued his challenge, it wasn't that he doubted death's power.  The Bible speaks of death as an incredibly powerful enemy.  Jesus wept in the presence of death, John 11:35.  Hebrews speaks of the binding strength of the fear of death, 2:15.  Here in 1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle refers to death as the "The last enemy that will be abolished." (26)

 

Rather than a lack of respect for Death's power, Paul's challenge came from his confidence in God's greater power.  For those in Christ, death has robbed of its power.  (Hebrews 2:14-18)

Not so tuff!

  

It's STTA

 

The Ease of Falling and Dying:

"What did she/he die from?"

It's a common question.  We expect an answer like, "Cancer," "He had a car wreck."  or, "She suffered a stroke."  An appropriate answer though is, "The cause of death was being born."  As one somewhat cynical wag observed, "This life is a mess.  None of us are going to get out of it alive."

Some people accuse me of having fallen off of ladders.  Actually, that's not true.  On one occasion a ladder fell out from under me.  On another, I stayed on the ladder until it hit the ground.  The point is on neither occasion did I have to do anything to fall.  More pointedly, in both cases it wasn't what I did.  It was what I didn't do.  Falling or dying will happenwithout effort.  In the case of falling, proper effort will keep it from happening.  When it comes to death, none of us, no matter how hard we try, can stop it.  We might make it come later, or make its arrival less painful, but death will come calling.  While we cannot stop it, we can be prepare.  There is a link below that can help.

  

It's STTA

 

There is lots of information about the one died so that we could have life at our webpage, covingtonbiblechurch.com.  Click on "Life's most important question."

Be Prepared

SOMETHING
TO THINK ABOUT
A friend of mine just retired.  Since my friend is my age. It brings a lot of thoughts, but that's not where I'm going, now.
My friend is moving to a house that is more friendly to people of a "certain age"--no stairs, near stores, church, etc.  A visitor stopped into my friend's new place.  Looking at the hand rails in the bathroom, he said, "You're going to take those down, aren't you?"
My friend doesn't need them and likely won't for a long time, but the assisting devices are staying up.  It's a dose of reality.  Time marches on, and leaves its mark on us all.
I've found myself thinking recently about some of the things one buys--things that last a while--"This might be the last one I buy."  The truth is that's not only true about refrigerators, and air-conditioners, it might be true about anything I buy.  It could be that before my can of shaving cream is empty, the undertaker will be shaving me for my last showing.  
My friend is wise to prepare.

Most of us hope to have years of gently growing old, enjoying friends and grandchildren.  We dare not forget, though, the "Then What?" question.  Again, it is wise to prepare.

Lord willing, Sunday at CBC we'll look death in the eye.
 It's the first in our What's Next?
series.

It's STTA

Affordable Time Travel:

Nerd alert:

   

 I really like Star Trek.

One of the interesting things that often happens in S.T. while they are "boldly going where no one has gone before," is they travel not only through space, but through time.  I found myself wishing for the ability to travel through time over the past two weekends.  I would love to be there three and a half millennia ago to hear Joshua deliver his farewell address to Israel.
Last night I was able to take advantage of time travel--sort of.
Though I live in a mostly blue-collar, not especially affluent area, it is common for people to travel extensively.  Right now some of my friends are visiting another nation.  However, there is a much cheaper, totally accessible  kind of travel--time travel of a sort--of which few take advantage. 
Last night my wife and I traveled back in time forty years.  We didn't have to get in a Delorean, or listen to a know-it-all dog. 

 

Our church is involved in doing small groups this summer.  The group we are in is, so far, quite small, two couples, Kathy, me, and a dating couple the age of our oldest grandchild.  Kathy and I are looking forward to more time-travel.  I encourage you to reach across the generations and enjoy the experience.  These young adults are there to learn from us, and we, no less, want to learn from them.  

As Marty McFly would say, "Far-out!

  

It's STTA

SOMETHING WRONG IN THE TRANSMISSION:

It would take me forty-seven more years to achieve the age of Joshua when he stood before the assembled house of Israel and delivered his farewell address.  If I had a time machine I'd go and listen.  You can read the transcript in Joshua 24.  Unfortunately, no video is available.  Joshua challenged the people to fear and serve the Lord, and put away all competing gods, so-called.

Even with the cautions that Joshua put forth, the people promised to serve the Lord, and they did.

 

Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of the Lord which He had done for Israel. (31)

 

Then what happened?

 

The book of Judges.

That time when everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.  Read it.  It was an unmitigated mess.  

Somehow there was a failure to pass on what the next generation, and the one after that needed to continue to serve the Lord.  Ephesians 6:4 gives fathers the responsibility of bringing up children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.  I figure that Father's Day is a good time for us to ask:   How can we dads pass on not only what our children need to serve the Lord, but what they need to raise the next generation to do so, as well?

  

It's STTA

ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE:

I am very impressed with the Apostle Paul's life of gratitude. For example, look at his words in Philippians chapter 1. 

 "I thank my God in all my remembrance 

of you," 

Even more impressive are the thanks that Paul offered in regard to the problem-riddled Church at Corinth. 

"I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you Christ Jesus," 

It seems that the Apostle's psyche was wired with athank-o-meter. If at all possible he found something in the live's of others for which to show gratitude.

Maybe I spend too much time reading blogs where it seems the stock in trade is identifying and lambasting idiocy, but I find the attitude of Christianity's greatest Theologian all too rare.

For what can I offer thanks?  

Lord, help me to ask that question a whole lot more.

It's STTA