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Everyone has something or some things that they hold as sacred. Quite often these sacred things are nothing important or sacred in reality, but we treat them as such. Sacred cows are those things which we hold as sacred, but are really only preference, culture, or common social mores. They have nothing to do with the sacred, but we treat them as such. We probably learned them growing up in church, or in our homes as children. (Example: sitting in rows and listening to a sermon, listening to certain music, etc.) Common practice or what has been acceptable for a long period of time easily becomes a sacred cow.

I had the chance to spend the biggest part of a week recently at the nation’s capitol. There was so much traffic and so much to see, I imagine it would be a two week event if you wanted to have the chance to really see a better portion of the more spectacular parts of the whole area. Like all New England regions, you can move back and forth through several states in a relatively short amount of time. Although, from the military base to the capitol building which is eight miles, it can take upwards of one and a half hours to travel this short distance due to traffic. I was able to see where George Washington went to church early in his life (Alexandria, VA). And I had quite a time seeing the Pentagon and the CIA Headquarters, not a normal part of the tours people take. Security is tougher there and everywhere you look there are people with flak jackets and weapons. One wrong move and you are in the basement being questioned or being spoken to by hand.

There are two passages in the Old Testament where we are encouraged not to move the ancient boundary markers.

Prov 22:28 Do not move the ancient boundary which your fathers have set.
Prov 23:10 Do not move the ancient boundary or go into the fields of the fatherless,

In the times of old, land boundaries were often only marked by a stone laid in a particular position or stones in a series of positions. There was no fencing like we would use today to mark our property lines or to keep others out. The fathers knew what the boundaries were when they set the boundary lines, agreements were made long ago.

It is interesting to find that some small church pastor has found himself catapulted into world notice by publicly declaring he was going to burn copies of the Quran. News services from all over the country are, as I write this, converging on the small town in Florida where the pastor and his church are. Apparently he has already determined not to do the burning after the top general of the military and the president of the United States have asked him not to. The threats and pressures have come to bear on this obscure pastor and he has finally chosen a new direction.

This pastor could have continued on quietly, but as a result of the media attention, he has become an icon.

Eccl 7:10 “Do not say, "Why is it that the former days were better than these?" For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.”

Have you ever considered the past…lingering too long on things better left in the past? Everyone reflects on the past, some reflect on it entirely too much and for all of the wrong reasons. There are some good reasons to look back, and there are reasons to not do so.

Luke 17:32 "Remember Lot's wife.”

Gal 4:4 “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,”

My wife and I were talking the other day about how everyone has the same twenty-four hours in a day. Time is not suspended for anyone, although there is that one time in the Old Testament when time stood still so Joshua and the armies of Israel could defeat their enemies. (Joshua 10:13) Oh, and there was that other time when King Hezekiah had his length of days extended with a sign of the sundial turning back. (2 Kings 20) So, other than that, no one gets a different twenty-four hours than anyone else.

Exodus 21:14 "If, however, a man acts presumptuously toward his neighbor, so as to kill him craftily, you are to take him {even} from My altar, that he may die.”

On June 18, 2010 a prisoner was executed in Utah by firing squad. The event was national news since this type of execution is not a normal process in America any more. The event of course has brought with it national controversy. Human rights groups have condemned the execution, seeing it as barbaric unreasonable treatment. Others on the opposing side have debated that it was best to kill the inmate since his crimes warranted the death sentence.

“The flowers are springing up, and the time of singing birds has come, even the cooing of turtledoves.” (Song of Songs 2:12)

It’s finally getting warm enough (at least for me) to open my windows and let the fresh air in. I love this time of year, and I enjoy listening to the frogs croak by the creek near our house and hearing the birds chirping their joyful songs.

As I was opening my windows this morning, my son, David, asked me, “Mom, why do the birds sing?” I told him that I think God made the birds to sing to remind us to sing His praises. I believe God uses all of creation to remind us of Him:

"Ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you. They all know that the LORD has done this. For the life of every living thing is in his hand, and the breath of all humanity.” (Job 12:7, 9, 10)

Whose fool are you?

1 Cor 4:10 "We are fools for Christ's sake…"

I recently posted this verse to my facebook account. I was surprised by the responses I received. One of the responses was negative…not unusual for my posts on facebook actually. So I responded to the comment about my belief being an increasingly unsupported premise:

If an increasingly unsupported premise means holding to, believing in, or otherwise grasping something that has no proof or validity; then I am not a fool in that sense. I would be a fool to believe that Obama is a good president who is doing good things for the country...this is increasingly an unsupported premise.

If I were to believe that God is not there; I would have to believe that nothing produced something, or that random chance produced something as perfect as an eye that functions in a way that is not reproducible by human science with long years of deliberate efforts...truly I would be a fool to believe this.

Have you ever, because of certain events in your life, stumbled upon a Bible verse and winced as you read it? During a very difficult season in my life, I was unable to read Psalm 139 without hurt, anger, and frustration. So, I chose to avoid it, because every time I read “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (v 13), I could only think of the pregnancy losses I had experienced.

Until one day, when forced to read it as part of a Woman’s Bible Study, I realized something. This verse not only applied to my losses, but to me personally. God knew when I was in my mother’s womb the struggles I would have. He knew how the struggles would draw me closer to Him. What a difference it made to know that! It’s still a section of scripture that pulls at my heart when I read it, but the bitterness is no longer there.