ECCE

      This week, we marked "Juneteenth" as a national observance. Two years after Lincoln freed the slaves, a union general came to Texas to post fliers in order to inform those still kept in slavery by that they were free. Those who owned the slaves in Texas never told them of their freedom in order to benefit from their slaves continued free labor. Juneteenth marks and memorializes that delayed freedom. Our nation continues to be deeply divided over many issues: racial, cultural, political, economic, and more. God is both just and jealous and we have offended the Most High God with this wickedness.      The prophet Micah wrote of the LORD's voice that cries to the city. The wise hear and discern the source of that cry, yet the wicked continue in their wickedness in order to accumulate treasure through deception and theft. The prophet wrote of the LORD: "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly , an...

      My father used to say, "Do as I say, not as I do."  I ended up following this advice as I grew older. We can find this idea in scripture also as we will see.       The Ten Commandments address a principle of parenthood: "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." (EX. 20:12, see also Deut. 5:16 ). This commandment and fatherhood come with a blessing connected to them. Jesus assured His listeners that He came to fulfill the law and the prophets and promised that all would be fulfilled. He also warned: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat; All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not . For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." (Mt. 5:17-18, Mt. 23:1-4). Jesus explained that ...

      Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks is approaching, which we also know as Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out in spiritual tongues of fire upon the disciples in the upper room. This event followed the Feast of First Fruits, when Jesus was resurrected from the dead. As it is written in 1 Corinthians 15, both Christ and those who are in Christ are first fruits of the resurrection (v. 20-23). I am therefore concerned with the words and behavior of those professing Christ. Who are those who are truly in Christ? Should those who profess to be in Christ be calling for violence, revolution and a new civil war as I have heard them doing?      How does Christ behave and speak? In Mt. 12, Jesus scolded the religious Pharisees saying: "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out o...