Ecclesiastes 12:10

  I bet you might have a few people at your door tomorrow in a scary mask. Normally we put on a mask to scare someone not to stop them from being scared but the Bible tells us of a time when that norm was reversed.   In Exodus 34, we read that when Moses would come down from Sinai his face would literally shine after being in the presence of God. This made everyone fearful. So, Moses made a habit of putting on a mask or veil to cover up when he was with them. They saw Moses but not fully.   Paul uses this historical quirk to explain the response of some Jews to the gospel in 2 nd Corinthians 3:13-18. The veil was a temporary measure but they became so used to it that they thought it was the norm. Because of that distraction, they were not seeing fully what they should be.  People today put on masks. Not just on Halloween, they put on a mask because they are afraid of revealing who they truly are. We downplay our faith, we blend into the world, and we cover t...

   The climax of the book of Nehemiah is in chapter eight when Ezra climbs on a wooden platform and reads aloud to the people the book of the Law. The project of rebuilding the wall has led not just to a structural change in Jerusalem but a spiritual one as well. As the law is read and explained a sound breaks out. The people are weeping. Why? Because they had heard the law.   It is not hard to figure out why. As they listened people began to comprehend just how far they were from God’s plan. They needed to change. Soon they would be confessing those sins and making plans to set things right.  But not that day,    Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep." For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, "Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send porti...

  Sometimes you see information for a restaurant or event that uses the phrase ‘kid friendly. Basically, it tells you that the place will accommodate children or at least won’t try to run them off.   Not all places will do that. I remember reading an article about studios adding offensive content to films to receive an ‘R’ rating. They did this for films geared to adult audiences to ensure kids wouldn’t be allowed. Kids' presence was seen as a turn-off for the target audience.   Not everyone is willing to put with the kids.   How about the church?   I have to admit I have seen some places that don’t hang a sign saying “stay away” but nevertheless the message is there. Children are seen as a nuisance and a distraction. They don’t like the noise they create or the messes they make. The idea is the adults are the audience and children are just  a distraction.  But Jesus would disagree.  In Luke 18:15-16 we read; “ And they were bri...

  On a slow news day in December of 1917, H.L. Mencken decided to write a tongue-in-cheek ‘history’ of the bathtub for his column in the New York Daily Mail. It was intended as a satire piece that he described as “a tissue of absurdities, all of them deliberate and most of them obvious”. The tale made the bathtub a misunderstood contrivance that was derided by critics that called it elitist and dangerous.   It was vilified, over-taxed, and banned until President Filmore put one in the White House did people began to realize they were not so bad after all.  Mencken thought the tale might amuse readers during the dreary days of World War I.   Until people started to quote it as fact.     As Mencken would later right in an article explaining how the joke got out of hand, “ Pretty soon I began to encounter my preposterous ‘facts’ in the writings of other men. . . . They got into learned journals. They were alluded to on the floor of Congress. They...